Hosea 5
1
“Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of
ear, O house of the king;” - The
persons here addressed comprise all
the estates of the realm — priests, people, and princes.
The house of
is the northern kingdom; and the house of the king is the
members of the
king’s family, of his court and of his government. Thus the rulers and the
ruled, the spiritual teachers and the taught, are comprehended in this
address. Neither priestly office, nor popular power, nor
princely dignity
was to be exempted. But, though all are summoned to give
audience, the
heads of the people, the men of light and leading, are
first arraigned. For
judgment is toward you, as the clause is correctly
rendered; not, “it
devolves on you to maintain judgment,” as some understand
it. It
had,
indeed, been the
province of the priest to teach, and of the king to execute
the judgments of God
in
judgment. Judgment was now to begin at the house of the king and of
the
priest (see I Peter 4:17); God was about to execute
judgment upon them — the
judgment from that judgment-seat where justice never
miscarries, and where
no mistake is ever made. The cause of this is assigned – “because ye have been
a snare on Mizpah, and a net
spread upon Tabor.” Instead of being
safeguards of the people, they had been a snare to them; instead of being
true leaders, as God had intended them, they had misled them; instead of
contributing to their security, they had seduced them to
sin and so helped
to prepare them for destruction; they had been a snare to
entrap and a net
to entangle. East as well as west of the
wrought ruin. Mizpah, now es-Salt, was on the east of the river among
the
hills of
solitary cone or sugar-loaf, rises up from the plain of Jezreel, or Esdraelon,
on the west of the river. On the wooded slopes of Tabor and
the beacon-hill
of Mizpah game, no doubt,
abounded and found covert, and hence the
origin of the figure here used; but they had probably
become scenes of
idolatry or wickedness.
2 “And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, (or,
profuse in murders or in sacrifices, or in dealing corruptly), though I have
been a rebuker of them all.” - (rather, but I am [bent upon] chastisement
for
them all). The literal
rendering of the first clause is, slaughtering they have
made deep, which is an
idiom analogous to “they have deeply revolted;”
literally, “they have made revolting deep” (Isaiah 31:6).
The slaughtering,
though understood by Wunsche of
sacrifices, is rather meant
of the destruction and carnage which the revolters caused to the people.
Rashi explains it literally in this way: “I said, Every one that
goes not up to
the stated feasts transgresses a positive precept; but they
decree that every
one who goes up to the stated feasts shall be slain.” This
seems to imply
that liers-in-wait were set
probably on Mizpah and Tabor, the places
mentioned in the preceding verse, to slay the Israelites
that were found
going up to the feasts at
continuing the sentiment of the first, interprets as
follows: “Ye have been a
snare on Mizpah that ye might not
allow them to go up to the feasts to the
house of the Lord; and to slay (victims) in the usual way.”
The revolters or
apostates he takes to be the worshippers of Baal (the modern equivalent
to me, and this is no stretch of the imagination, is those who condone and
champion
the tenets of THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES
who lie in wait, in the courts, to ambush anyone who would venture to espouse
God’s
side in the public arena – CY – 2012). “They made deep,” he adds in his
exposition, “the snares, those that are mentioned, that passersby
might not see them; but I will chastise all of them for
this evil which
they have done, since it is not hidden from me why they
have hid (made) it
so deep.” The slaughtering is thus understood by Aben Ezra of slaying the
sacrificial victims. Similarly Kimchi
interprets thus: “He says that the
revolters who are the worshippers of idols, who depart from the ways
of
God — blessed be he! — and from his service, like a woman
who is a
revolter from under her husband, have made deep their revolt,
slaying and
sacrificing to idols.” He would understand the slaughtering
neither of
victims with Kimchi and Aben Ezra; nor of literally slaying Israelites to
prevent persons going up to
worship; but of the destructive consequences which the
conduct of these
apostates brought on the people. The work of chastisement God now takes
in hand in good earnest. Droppings of the coming shower there had been;
but now the full flood is to descend, for God presents Himself to THE
MISLEADERS and to THE MISLED alike under the sole aspect of rebuke.
“I,” he says, “am chastisement” (give myself to it). A like form of
expression
occurs in Psalm 109:4, “I am prayer;” that is, am a man of
prayer, or give
myself to prayer.
royal. Thus Kimchi explains the idiom: “The
prophet says,
Say not that no man shall correct and reprove them, therefore they
sin; for I
am the person who reproves them all, and day by day I reprove
them, but they
will not hearken to me. But raani
moser wants the word ish,
man, as (in
Psalm 109:4) raani tephilah, which we have explained raani
ish tephilah.”
3 “I know Ephraim, and
Israel is not hid from me:” - All attempts
at concealment are vain, though sinners try ever so much
to hide their sins
from the Divine Majesty. However deep they dig
downward, God will
bring their evil doings up and out to the light of day and
punish them.
(“For there is
nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid,
that shall not be known.
Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in
darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye
have spoken in
the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the
housetops.” - Luke 12:3-4 -
“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the
world, and
men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds
were evil.
For every one that doeth evil hateth
the light, neither cometh to the
light, lest his deeds be reproved.” - John 3:19-20) – “for now, O Ephraim,
thou committest whoredom, and
kingdom, and Ephraim, being the most powerful tribe,
is often identified
with
as a whole, and Ephraim is its leading tribe. This powerful
tribe, ever envious
of
idolatries; and through Ephraim’s evil influence the other tribes, and so ALL
ISRAEL,
WERE DEFILED!
4 “They will not frame
(literally, give, direct)
their doings to turn unto their
God:” In this
verse their evil doings are traced to an evil spirit of whoredoms
that is, of idolatries, which impels them blindly and resistlessly to
evil, while at
the same time it expels the knowledge of God. This first clause
is differently
rendered. The textual rendering of the Authorized Version, as above, denotes
their total and absolute refusal to repent or to bring
forth fruits meet for
repentance. The actions are an index of the state of the heart,
but neither the
thoughts of
were in the direction of repentance. In heart and life
they were impenitent.
This rendering is supported by most of the Hebrew
commentators. Rashi says,
“They forsake not their evil way;” Aben Ezra,” They
perform not works so as
to turn.” Kimchi also gives an alternative
sense: “Or the sense of the words is
thus: They cling so
closely to their evil works, that even should they for once
conceive in their heart the idea of turning, they immediately
repent them of it.”
The marginal rendering also yields a good sense; it is, Their doings
will not suffer
(allow) [them] to turn unto their God. The
pronominal suffix for “them” is
wanting, yet it may be dispensed with, as the appending of
it to “doings”
and “God” makes the sense sufficiently explicit. It is
favored by Ewald,
Keil, the Targum, and Kimchi, who explains: “Their evil works do not
allow them to return to their God, as if he said, To such extent have they
multiplied transgression that there is no way left them to
return, until they
receive their punishment.” Such and so great was the power of their evil
habits that they could not break them off or break away
from them by
repentance; or so intimately connected is a change of heart
with a change
of life that, in the absence of the latter, the former is
impossible. According
to either rendering, the reason assigned is contained in
the next clause: “for
the spirit of whoredoms is in the
midst of them, and they have not
known the Lord.” So overmastered were they, as though by some fiendish
spirit that held them in check and exercised despotic power
over them, that
they rushed headlong down the steep incline, like the Gadarene herd of
swine, which, when the unclean spirits entered into them,
ran violently
down a steep place into the sea (Matthew 8:28-34). Neither
was there any
counteracting force to turn them back or reverse their
course. Such a force
might have been found in the knowledge of God, of His
covenant mercy,
of His power, love, grace, and goodness (Holy Spirit – in our day - CY – 2012).
But this was wanting, and the absence of this knowledge at
once increased
their impenitence
and aggravated their guilt. It was
Israel’s privilege and Israel’s
duty to know the Lord; for He had revealed Himself to them
as to no other
nation; He had given them His Law, He had made them
depositaries of His
truth and the conservators of His living oracles; their
ignorance, therefore,
was altogether inexcusable, while it evinced greatest
ingratitude to Jehovah,
who had taken them into covenant with Himself, and
declared HIMSELF
TO BE THEIR GOD!
5 “And the pride of
excellency of
context. They knew not God,
notwithstanding the special advantages they
enjoyed for that knowledge; they had no liking to the knowledge of God,
they did not
concern themselves about it; and now
Jehovah, who should
have been their excellency and
glory, but who had been thus slighted by
them, will testify against them
and bear witness to their face by judgments.
But another interpretation recommends itself as equally or
more suitable.
prosperous state and flourishing
condition of which
rather, perhaps, the haughtiness
of
circumstances of worldly wealth
and greatness.
This vain pride and self-exaltation was the great obstacle
in the way of their turning
to the Lord. If this sense of the word be accepted, the
verb had better be rendered
“humbled,” a
meaning which it often has; thus, “humbled
shall be the pride
of
Septuagint: Ταπεινωθήσεται
ἡ ὕβρις του Ἰσραήλ
εἰς πρόσωπον
αὐτοῦ, -
Tapeinothaesetai hae hubris tou
The pride of
shall be humbled while they see it;" the Syriac has, "The pride of
humbled in his presence," or before his eyes. Aben Ezra also takes the idea of the
verb to be humiliation or depression; while Kimchi takes gaon not so much in the
sense of the inward feeling, as of those outward circumstances that promoted it -
their greatness and grandeur and glory; and, alluding to the words of the Chaldee
rendering, "in their sight," he says, "While they are still in their land before their
captivity, they shall
perceive their humiliation and degradation, instead of the
glory which they had at the beginning." Kimchi, however, as well as most other
commentators, seems to have understood the verb in the sense of "testify;" thus,
"
Therefore shall
with them. Pride usually goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
(Proverbs
16:18)The consequence of
tribes composing the northern kingdom fell into gross and
grievous sin, and
therefore also into long-suffering and sore sorrow. Even
Ephraim, that
tribe pre-eminent for power as for pride, and the perpetual
rival of
shall fall as well as and with the rest.
Benjamin, participating in the same evil course, fell like
Israel into sin,
and, though more than a century later, into ruin. (See Jeremiah 3:7-11)
.
God Arraigns the Sins of Princes,
Priests, and People (vs. 1-5)
is no formal catalogue given of those sins, yet they are
incidentally exhibited in the
reproofs and rebukes
which follow.
directed to the high and to the
low alike; to the rich and to the poor; it
speaks to every grade in society
and every rank in life; there is none so high
as to be above its teaching, and
none so lowly as to be beneath its notice.
To sovereigns as to the meanest
subjects of their realm; to magistrates and
men in authority, as well as to
those under their jurisdiction, the warnings
and admonitions of
Scripture reach. To all, of every
class and condition,
of every caste and clime, the
Divine Word is offered as a light to their test
and a lamp to their path. (Psalm 119:105)
The judgments of God are denounced
against ALL WORKERS OF
INIQUITY — from the poorest
and meanest of the people to the priests who
should be their
instructors and examples, and to the princes and principal
men, who should not
only rule and guide, but protect and preserve them
to the utmost of their
power. And yet there is a distinction; for those who,
through their exalted position
or extensive influence, seduce others to sin,
expose themselves to sorer
condemnation. But, while those who entrap
others into sin are doubly
guilty, the
persons entrapped are not on that
account guiltless. (“my people love to have it so” - Jeremiah 5:31).
Subjects sometimes suffer through
the mistakes of their sovereigns;
but when subjects and sovereigns
are both involved in guilt,
they must expect to have their
respective share in punishment. When God
has a controversy with a people,
and His judgments are approaching, it is a
time for serious consideration
and solemn reflection. Hence we have a
triple call to attention in this
first verse:
Ø
“Hear ye this,”
Ø
“hearken ye”,
Ø
“give ye ear.”
It was an earnest time and an
emphatic call; for God “will at last force
audience and
attention from the most stubborn.”
to have belonged to all ranks
and to have comprehended all classes. If the
“slaughter” which they made refers to the slaying of sacrifices (Is
there
not a smidgeon of sympathy by
animal rights’ activists today? – CY – 2012),
it is spoken of with contempt, because those sacrifices, whether from defects
in their own nature, or
imperfection in the manner in which they were offered,
or the wrongness of the motive with
which they were presented, were
unacceptable to God. Accordingly
he speaks of them disparagingly; for
“though the prophet spake of sacrifices, he no doubt called sacrificing in
contempt killing; as though we should call the temple the
shambles, and
the killing of victims slaughtering.” If, on the other hand, the slaughter
referred to be understood literally of actual murder, the
criminality is still
greater, and they bear the brand of red-handed assassins. In either
case, the
idiom employed
is a very energetic mode of expression “The slaughter they
have made
deep,” or, “they have gone deep in slaughtering,” conveys the idea
of the
great length to which they had gone, either in sacrifices to idols and
contrary to legal appointment, or
in murderously shedding blood, or even
in the more modified sense of
causing destruction. They had gone to an
extreme in the direction
indicated, whichever sense is assigned to
slaughtering. It is not so much
that they hid their doings deep, as that they
went deeply into their works, or
sunk deeply in their sin. Further, the
aggravation of their sin
consisted in its being without excuse. They could
not plead ignorance, for they
had had line upon line, and precept upon
precept (Isaiah
28:13). They
could not say that they had been left to
themselves without let or
hindrance, for had they not enjoyed the instructions
and admonitions of those
prophets of God whose sphere of labor lay in the
northern kingdom? Warnings they had
had from Ahijah, Elijah, Elisha,
and others; corrections moderate in measure and salutary in design they
had,
no doubt, been favored with. Yet all
had been to no purpose; they sunk
deeper and deeper in the slough of
sin, so that their sin had become exceeding
sinful.
EYE OF OMNISCIENCE. Many are the pretences
men make to cover
their sins, and artful the
pretexts by which they seek to hide them. But
however men may strive to
conceal their sins from their fellow-men,
however they may gloss them
over so as to deceive their own souls, and
however they may cloak them,
as though it were possible to cheat the
Almighty; yet all such
artifices, by which they try to deceive their
neighbors, or blind
themselves, or even escape the eye of Omniscience,
will prove
miserable evasions, leaving them at last — even the
inmost thoughts and intents of
their hearts — OPEN and NAKED
BEFORE THE EYES
WITH WHOM WE HAVE TO DO!
(Hebrews 4:12-13) “The Lord seeth
not as man seeth: for man
looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the
heart”
(I Samuel 16:7). The sin of Ephraim, the
premier tribe of
was known to God, and He pronounced it
whoredom, spiritual whoredom,
that is, idolatry. The effect of that sin,
which, originating with Ephraim,
infected all the
other tribes of
from the omniscient One (neither
can the pornographic nature of American
Society in her departing from
Jehovah God – CY – 2012), and He
denounced it as defilement —
pollution loathsome as sinful. Many a
specious excuse had been
offered, we cannot doubt, for the worship of the
calves. Did it not originate
with Jeroboam, that patriot king who came to
the rescue of the people, and
delivered them from unjust and grinding
taxation? Was not
to be the gathering-place of the
tribes? Was not
— a holy spot from that early
time when Jacob had his wondrous vision of
the ladder connecting earth with
heaven? Was not Dan conveniently
situated for the northern and remoter tribes? These, and such arguments as
these, might serve to palliate THE WILL-WORSHIP OF EPHRAIM
AND THE IDOLATRY OF
it all; for now, whatever
excuse might be alleged; now, whatever plausibility
might be employed; now, whatever
veil might be thrown over their
procedure; — it stood out in its true colors, and in the
sight of Heaven,
idolatry,
defilement — sin in inception and sin in execution,
sin in
act and sin in
effect. Thus Omniscience is proof
against all the plausible
pretexts with which men surround
their sins by way of excuse, apology,
or palliation.
company? Does not “EVERYBODY DOING IT” make it more
reasonable? “Because
sentence against an evil work is not executed
speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of
men is fully set in them
to do evil.” – Ecclesiastes 8:11 –
CY – 2012) How
often one sin leads
to another, and that, again, to
many more! Sins not infrequently are linked
together.
the links of that chain were
many. (The chains of habit are too light to be
felt until they are to strong to
be broken – this is attributed to
Buffet on the internet – CY –
2012) Beginning our enumeration with
idolatry, we find in its wake impenitence, ignorance, insolence, and
iniquity in general.
Ø
It is bad enough when
men fall into sin, but worse when they persist in
it; nor is there any real
repentance unless there are fruits meet for
repentance (Matthew 3:8).
But when men will not have recourse to any
of those outward means that
might tend toward repentance, the
obduracy of their heart is extreme and their
condition desperate.
Thus was it with
turn unto their God.” (v.4)
Ø
The alternative
rendering of these words shows us THE SLAVERY
OF SIN. Never was
there a more cruel bondage than that of
INIQUITY. “Their doings will not suffer them to turn;” they have
put the yoke on their neck, and having worn it long
they are loath to
part with it; and if they would
they could
not. “Can the Ethiopian
change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do
good, that are accustomed to do evil.” (Jeremiah 13:23). So
in
Peter we read of persons “having
eyes full of adultery, and that
cannot cease from sin.” (II Peter 2:14)
Ø
When men continue long
in a course of sin, hardening themselves
against remonstrance and
reproof, and holding out against all
inducements and invitations
to repent, God may, and sometimes
does, give them up to JUDICIAL
BLINDNESS of one kind
or
other. An evil spirit of idolatry or impunity, or both, had taken
possession
of the people’s heart at this period.
“A strong man
armed
keepeth his palace — his goods are in peace” (Luke
11:21);
so the infatuation of a particular course of
sin, like a Satanic spirit
and
with Satanic power, COMPLETELY OVERMASTERED
and DOMINATED
THEM!
Ø
Profession without
practice is both hypocritical and vain. The Israelites
at this time had a
profession of religion, for God is called “their God,”
which could only be by
their profession, or owing to the original
covenant engagement, the
conditions of which they had fallen away
from, or by reason of His
long-suffering mercy waiting for their return.
It is, rather, the first of
these that justified the use of the possessive
in this case. And that
being so, they claimed to possess knowledge
of
God; but “as they did not like to retain God in their
knowledge,
God gave
them over to a reprobate mind” (Romans
1:28), or, as the
margin
has it, “to a mind void of judgment.” Continuance
in sin proves
men’s
ignorance of THE TRUE CHARACTER OF GOD, of
the
beauty
of holiness, of the hatefulness of sin, and of
the dreadful
consequences
of backsliding. The custom of sinning
deprives men
of
whatever knowledge of such things they had or seemed to
have,
so
that “he
that hath not, from him shall be taken even that
which he hath.” (Mark 4:25)
Ø
This ignorance was
evidence of their ingratitude. “The prophet,” says
Calvin, “extenuates not the
sin of the people, but, on the contrary,
amplifies their ingratitude,
because they had forgotten their God
who had so indulgently
treated them. As they had been
redeemed by
God’s hand, as the teaching of the Law had continued among them,
as they had been preserved
to that day through GOD’S CONSTANT
KINDNESS, it was truly an evidence of MONSTROUS
IGNORANCE that they could in an instant adopt ungodly forms
of
worship, and embrace those
corruptions which they knew were
condemned in the Law.”
envy of
of the birthright forfeited by
Jacob’s firstborn had been shared by these
tribes. Joseph got the double
portion in connection with Ephraim and
Manasseh; and Judah gained the
pre-eminence. Though
both numerically and by largeness
of territory in the land of promise,
Ephraim enjoyed countervailing
advantages. All along from the blessing of
Jacob Ephraim was inspired with
the hope of great things for himself and
tribe. The Ephraimites
had the choicest of the land, and a central position
contributing to their influence
over the other tribes. Joshua, the chosen
chief who had led the people
into the land of promise and settled them in it,
sprang from Ephraim; Samuel, the
last of the judges, was a native of
remained at
that tribe had highly
distinguished themselves in the war with Midian,
securing the fords of
and Zeeb,
who had escaped at the head of fifteen thousand men. Nor were
they slow to assert their
claims; such was their pride, that they could not
brook a subordinate position,
but insisted on pre-eminence. Their self-
assertion and even unreasonable
petulance were severely chastised by
Jephthah. For a time the superiority inclined or actually belonged
to
Ephraim; but the preponderance
given to
and Solomon his son, completely
turned the scale. Moreover, the
transference to
Ephraim, and greatly increased
the rivalry with
put upon Ephraim there is a
distinct reference in several verses of the
seventy-eighth psalm; thus, “God was wroth, and greatly abhorred
so that He forsook the tabernacle of
among men” (vs. 59-60); and again,
“He refused the tabernacle of
Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim: but chose the
tribe of
they held out against David;
they were the strength of the Absalom’s
rebellion; they abetted the usurpation of
Jeroboam, and
accepted the idolatrous worship
which, for political purposes, he
commended to them; and all from
their pride and overweening estimate
of themselves, and envy towards
their brethren of
Ø
This overbearing
spirit of
tribe, was sorely crushed,
and the pride of both sadly humbled, when,
as had been foretold, they
first went into captivity.
Ø
The other rendering of
testify is well explained by the following
observations of Pusey:
“They could not give up this sin of Jeroboam
without endangering their
separate existence as
superiority of
Democrats and Republicans
in Congress today? “Then
were the
people of
followed Tibni the
son of Ginath to make him king; and half
followed Omri” –
CY – 2012). From
this complete self-surrender
to God their pride shrank
and held them back. The pride which
thus showed in refusing to
turn to God, and in PREFERRING
THEIR SIN TO THEIR GOD! itself, he says, witnessed against
them, and condemned them.”
Ø
It must have been an
addition to
snare to
slough of sin, and EVENTUALLY INTO THE SAME
CATASTROPHE with themselves.
Ø
But how are we to
account for the seeming contradiction between the
safety previously promised
Calvin’s reply to a similar
inquiry is pertinent and plain. “The prophet,”
He says, “speaks here not
of those Jews who continued in true and
Pure religion, but of those
who had with the Israelites alienated
themselves from the only
true God and joined in their superstitions.
He thus refers here to the
degenerate, and not to the faithful Jews;
for to all who worshipped God aright salvation had been
already
promised.” (Dear
Reader: ponder this: – “Then they
that
feared the LORD spake
often one to another: and the
LORD
hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance
was written before Him for them that feared
the LORD, and
that
thought upon His name. And they shall be mine, saith
the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make
up my jewels;
and I
will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that
serveth
him. Then shall ye return, and discern
between the
righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God
and
him that serveth him not.” (Malachi 3:16-18); - As a
sequel to Ecclesiates 8:11, cited above – “Though a sinner do
evil an hundred times, and his days be
prolonged, yet surely
I know that it shall be well with them that
fear God, which
fear before Him: But it shall not
be well with the wicked,
neither shall he prolong his days, which are
as a shadow;
because he feareth not before God” (Ecclesiastes 8:12-13).
In
addition: “Say
ye to the righteous, that it shall be well
with
him: for they shall eat the fruit of
their doings.
Woe unto the wicked!
It shall be ill with him: for
the reward of his hands shall be given him” (Isaiah 3:10-11).
Finally: “When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips
quivered
at
the voice: rottenness entered into my
bones, and I trembled
in
myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he
cometh up unto the people, he will invade
them with his troops.
Although the fig
tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be
in the vines;
the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields
shall yield no meat;
the flock shall be cut off from the fold,
and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will
rejoice in
the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD
God is my strength, and He will make my feet
like hinds’
feet,
and He will make me to walk upon mine high
places.”
(Habakkuk 3:16-19)
In vs. 6-10 the prophet details the unavailing and
ineffectual efforts of
6 “They shall go with
their flocks and with their herds to seek
the Lord;” - In this way they attempt to break, if not prevent, their
fall. With
numerous and costly sacrifices they endeavor to
propitiate Jehovah. With
sheep and goats out of their flocks, and with bullocks
and heifers out of their herd,
they try to make reparation for the past or to secure present
and
future favor. But in vain.
withdrawn Himself from them.” Their repentance came TOO LATE
or when it did come it lacked sincerity; or it was a wrong
motive which
prompted it — fear of approaching calamity and not love to
their Creator;
or their sins ran parallel with their sacrifice. Forgetting that OBEDIENCE
IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE, they cherished a disobedient
spirit or
continued in their course of disobedience notwithstanding
their outward
sacrificial service. For
one cause or other they fail in their efforts to find Him;
for, instead of being a present help in time of trouble (Psalm 46:1),
He has withdrawn beyond their reach; He has removed
the
Shechinah-glory of His presence FROM
AMONG THEM and He has
loosed Himself from all those ties that once bound Him in
mercy to them, just
as a husband frees himself from all responsibilities and
disarms all liabilities on
behalf of a faithless partner whom he has been forced to
divorce. And such
is the specific reason assigned in the next verse.
7 “They have dealt treacherously against the Lord: for they
have begotten strange children:” - This may
refer to intermarriages
with
idolaters, when
the offspring of such forbidden unions
DEPARTED
STILL FURTHER FROM THE
WORSHIP OF JEHOVAH or the
children of GODLESS JEWISH PARENTS reflected yet more
the
wicked works and
ways of such parents. In consequence of the infidelity
of the wife, the children were not the offspring of lawful wedlock or conjugal
union; in other words,
they were children of whoredom — an
adulterous
generation.
godless race — children strange and supposititions
in the spiritual sense –
“now shall a month devour them with their portions.”
Lord;” and the sense is that a short time shall see the end of them —
Not only of their persons, but
their properties, that is, their hereditary
Portions in Palestine.
feasts celebrated at that
season, will only ruin, not
relieve, them. Their
sinful
sacrifices and vain oblations, on
which they now placed their
reliance, will procure, not their salvation, BUT THEIR PERDITION!
8 “Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah:” - Intimation
had been given in the preceding verse that the period of
their fast-approaching
destruction was at hand; that, as Kimchi
expresses it, the now moon would soon
come at which their enemies would destroy them. Now
he pictures them as already
on the march, and just advancing to execute the work
of destruction; while the terror
and alarm consequent thereon are here presented with
great vividness, but at
the same time with much brevity. A similar scene is
depicted at full length
by Isaiah 10:28-32, where the line of the Assyrians’ march
seems to be
indicated, if, indeed, it be not a poetic representation of
it, which the
prophet gives. Thus from Aiath (el-Tell)
to the pass of Michmash, now
Mukmas, where he lays up his baggage; forward to Geba, where they
quarter for the night; then on to Nob, where he halts in
sight at the holy
city, and scarce an hour’s march distant. The alarm was to
be sounded with
the shophar, or
far-sounding cornet, made of curved horn, and the
chatsotserah, or straight trumpet, made of brass or silver, used in war
or at
festivals. This signal of hostile invasion was to he
sounded in Gibeah, now
Tuleil-el-Ful, some four miles north of
Ram, two miles further
distant. Both these towns, situated on eminences,
as the names denote, belong to the northern boundary of
Benjamin. The
overthrow of the northern kingdom is thus presented as an
already
accomplished fact; while the invading host has already
reached the frontier
of the southern kingdom – “cry aloud at Beth-aven, after thee, O
Benjamin.” This cry is the sound at
the war-signals already mentioned, and
the repetition intensifies the nature of the alarm and the
urgency of the
case. Beth-aven was either
or a town nearer Michmash,
belonging to Benjamin. The meaning of the
somewhat obscure words in the concluding clause can give
little trouble,
when read in the light of the context. The sounding of the
alarm of war
indicates with tolerable plainness what was coming behind
Benjamin; nor is
there need to supply the words, “the enemy rises behind
thee,” with same,
or” the sword rages behind thee,” with others. The signals
announce the
foe as arrived at the frontier of
Benjamin, in close pursuit after thee, upon thy very heels.
9 “Ephraim shall be
desolate in the day of rebuke:” - The day of rebuke
is the season when God rebukes sin by punishment;
the punishment in this case is
no slight rebuke or temporary chastisement. On the
contrary, it is extreme in
severity and final in duration. Famine, or pestilence, or
war might lay a
country desolate for a time, and yet relief might soon
ensue and recuperative
power be vigorously developed. NOT SO
HERE! Ephraim is made
more than desolate partially and for a short period; it
becomes a desolation
— “an entire
desolation,” as the words literally
mean. In this desolation the
other tribes would be involved. Nor was the menace lightly
to be regarded
or treated as meaningless; it was
firm — well grounded as the word of the
Eternal, and IRREVERSIBLE AS HIS DECREE!
10 “The princes of
Bound:” - The individual who had the temerity to remove his
neighbor’s
landmark was not only guilty of a great sin, but obnoxious
to a grievous
curse. Thus Deuteronomy 19:14, “Thou
shall not remove thy neighbor’s
landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance;” and
again
Ibid. ch.27:17, “Cursed be he that removeth his neighbor’s landmark.
And all the people shall say, Amen.” The removal of the landmark
characterizes the conduct of men entirely regardless of the
rights of others
— utterly reckless. The Jewish nobles, the king’s ministers
and high
officers of state, are compared to those who remove the
landmark,
disregarding alike what was due to their fellow-men and to
their God. The
Jewish commentators differ in their exposition between tact
and figure —
some of them taking the removal of the boundary as a matter
of fact, the
caph being for
confirmation; thus D. Kimchi; while I. Kimchi explains it of
the rejection of the appeal for justice against removers of
landmarks; others
understanding it figuratively, and the whole AS
EXPRESSING GENERAL
LAWLESSNESS,
thus Rashi: “Like a man who removes his neighbor’s
landmark, just so they hasten to hold fast the ways of
neighbors… according to the literal sense, They grasped at
the fields; but
this, in my opinion, is harsh, for then the prophet must
have written merely
ygysm,
and not ygysmn.” Similarly Aben Ezra: “They
exercise violence
towards those who are in their power, whilst they are like
those who
secretly remove the landmark.” The
people of
like
“therefore I will
pour out my wrath upon them like water.”
The word
“wrath” here is from a root
which signifies “to overflow;” it is thus THE
OVERFLOWING OF DIVINE INDIGNATION, while the outpouring
thereof denotes the full flood of
wrath that will overwhelm THOSE
LAWLESS LEADERS of a misguided and misgoverned people.
The execution of the threatening was reserved for the
Assyrians.
who, under Tiglath-pileser and
Sennacherib, invaded and laid waste the
land. And yet those judgments, though so severe and
plentiful, were not to
end in total and lasting devastation as in the case of
vs. 11-15 teach the inevitable nature of the judgments that
were coming
upon both
COULD DELIVER THEM!
The only relief
possible depended on
their seeking God in the day of their distress.
They would seek the Lord with sacrifices from the flock and
from the herd,
but they would not find Him; they multiplied sacrifices,
but the Lord had
withdrawn Himself. Thus in the New Testament we read that Esau “found
no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully
with tears;”
or, according to the Revised Version, “even when he
afterward desired to
inherit the
blessing, he was rejected (for he found no
place of repentance),
though he sought
it diligently with tears” (Hebrews 12:17). In one of our
Lord’s parables — the parable of the ten virgins — we read
that after those
who were ready had gone in with him to the marriage, “the door was shut”
(Matthew 25:10).
This brief sentence is in one aspect of it among the most
impressive and solemn in the whole Word of God. The
sentiment conveyed
by it is somewhat, indeed much, akin to that of the
statement of the prophet
in reference to
that liveth for ever and ever…….THAT
THERE SHOULD BE
TIME NO LONGER:” – Revelation 10:5-6 – TODAY IS THE
DAY OF SALVATION - see How to be Saved - # 5 – this web site –
CY – 2012)
WITHDRAWAL. The loss
of earthly friends or their estrangement
from us is much to be deplored; how much sadder it is when we
FORFEIT THE FAVOR OF HEAVEN and God
withdraws
Himself! On earth friends may, from misconduct on our part, or
misconception on their part, or misrepresentation
on the part of some
intermeddler, or misapprehension
of one
kind or other, shut the door
against us, or we may shut the
door against
ourselves. But however
such an event is to be
regretted, still a proper understanding may reopen
the once friendly door, or time
may unbar
it, or the kindly interposition
of mutual friends may again open
it; or, failing
all this, another door
may be opened in its stead, and
other friends replace
those whose
friendship has been lost, or
even better friends may be raised up in their
room. But when the Lord shuts to the door and withdraws Himself,
no
interposition shall unbar it, no time reopen it, no explanation ever
fling or force it back; nothing
shall ever be able to remove the bar that
closes it (“And
beside all this, between us and you there is a
great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from thence
to you cannot; neither can they pass to us,
that would come
from thence.” - Luke 16:26).
Once shut, it is shut forever; once closed,
it never opens; once locked,
no key can enter its wards; once bolted,
THAT BOLT REMAINS AN
EVERLASTING FIXTURE!
WITHDRAWS HIMSELF AND IS NO LONGER TO BE FOUND.
There may be some difficulty in
ascertaining the precise times when God
withdraws Himself and is no
longer found.
Ø
One thing, however, is
abundantly certain, that in the case of sinners
who live and die in sin,
impenitent and unpardoned, this withdrawal
takes place AT
DEATH for there is neither
knowledge nor device in
the grave (Ecclesiastes
9:10). Then:
o
the day of grace
is concluded,
o
then the time of
probation ends,
o
then the means of
salvation terminate,
o
then the space for
repentance is past, and
o
God has forever
withdrawn Himself.
Death seals the sinner’s
doom irreversibly; the last opportunity
is gone, and for ever;
prayer is then powerless and penitence
hopeless. There remains
only the dooming, damning sentence,
“I know you not
whence ye are” (Luke 13:25). Hollow-hearted
hypocrites ye must have
been, workers of iniquity, and nothing more
and nothing better, false
professors, fruitless fig trees, cumbering and
cursing the rich vineyard
soil. Children of God ye never were; I never
owned you as such; I cannot
do so now. And thus He withdraws,
leaving them to their fate.
Ø
But even before death
this withdrawal may take place, at least in a
certain sense. We are
warned in Scripture that the Spirit will not always
strive (Genesis 6:3). To the Israelites of old He swore that they
would
never enter into His rest
(Hebrews 4:2-3), and so a whole
generation
of them was
excluded from the land of promise; in
reference to which
the inspired penman utters
the solemn warning,
“Let us labor therefore
to enter into that
rest, lest any man fall after the same example of
unbelief” - Ibid. v.11 – (“disobedience,” Revised Version and
margin). In this very book
God’s abandonment of Ephraim and
consequent withdrawal are
affirmed. “Ephraim is joined to his idols:
let him alone” (ch. 4:17). Let us, then, beware of provoking God
to withhold or withdraw the
gracious influences of His Spirit, and thus
leave us to judicial
blindness. LET US BEWARE OF SINNING
AWAY OUR DAY OF
GRACE and in this respect outliving
it.
Ø
We would not venture
to limit the mercy of God, or set bounds to His
sovereign grace.
“While
the lamp holds out to burn
The
vilest sinner may return.”
But God at any moment may withdraw
the breath of His Spirit, or
withhold the oil of His
grace, and the lamp go out in everlasting darkness!
Pusey makes a very
interesting distinction, as follows: “The general rule
of His dealings is this:
that when the time of each judgment is actually
come, then as to that judgment
it is too late to pray. It is not too late for
other mercy, or for final
forgiveness, so long as man’s state of probation
lasts; but it is too late
as to this one.”
WITHDRAWS HIMSELF.
This frequently takes place, we doubt not, in
consequence of men silencing
conscience and stifling convictions.
Conscience may become callous or
seared (I Timothy 4:2), and convictions
may wear gradually weak, nay: at
length cease altogether. The same result
may be brought about by allowing
any sin to have the mastery, and in
consequence of not seeking grace
to resist it, or not summoning up resolution
to break its yoke.
Ø
The people
particularly referred to by the prophet had not sought the
Lord in time. It was only
when ruin stared them in the face that they
bethought themselves of
seeking God; it was fear drove them to
His service.
Ø
They were only
half-hearted in His service, and it was a divided
allegiance they rendered;
but God claims the whole heart of His
worshippers, otherwise He
will not be found of them.
Ø
Their repentance was
not genuine; it appears to have been outward
sacrifice, not inward
service. They brought their herds, not their
hearts; their flocks, not
the feelings of their souls.
Ø
Their faithlessness
had a prospective as well as present evil influence.
Their children,
instead of being trained in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord (Ephesians
6:4), inured to idolatry and
irreligion both by the precept and example of their parents, would,
as a matter of course,
prove as faithless and godless, or more so than
they.
Ø
No wonder God set a
time to ease Him of his adversaries and avenge
Him of His enemies (Isaiah
1:24). That time, a month, was certain,
short, and sudden.
provocations of sinners. He
warns them of the evil of their ways; He
apprises them of the ruinous
consequences of their sinful courses.
Ø
He threatens before he
inflicts the blow; He gives notice of His
judgments before they
arrive. Dark clouds precede the coming
storm. Milder judgments are
sent as precursors of more severe
visitations. It is of God’s mercy that men are not only informed of
their duty, but
apprised of their danger. Ministers of
the gospel
are to sound the alarm,
that men may flee from the wrath to come.
Ø
When God’s judgments
are near at hand, their approach has a startling
effect. Those who made
light of them, or thought them far off, are
confounded and amazed;
while this confusion may be reflected in the
very abruptness of the
expression, “After thee, O Benjamin;”
at thy back comes the enemy
— disaster, destruction, desolation.
Ø
The judgments of God,
thus announced as near, at the very door, are
represented as sure. They
are no mere menaces or make-believes;
they are not meant merely
to alarm; they are dread realities, which
impenitent sinners can by
no means escape or evade. “Among the
tribes of
(v.9). To all notice had been given, so that no one
could urge the
plea of ignorance on his
own part, nor charge precipitancy on the
part of God. In His mercy
He had made it known to all without
exception, in His truth He
will make it sure. They had been warned,
called to repentance,
chastened paternally; but they had despised all
this. And the
day of mercy is now past; the time of judgment is
come; THE FINAL DOOM, fixed and irreversible, is announced.
(How sad the scripture “The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
AND WE ARE NOT SAVED.” (Jeremiah 8:20 – CY - 2012).
When princes, MAKING THEIR WILL LAW trample on the
privileges of their people,
or infringe the Law of God, or in any way
set aside sacred and solemn
obligations, they incur a fearful
responsibility. When, not
only by their edicts but by their example,
they set aside the
enactments of Heaven, and encourage their subjects
to do likewise, they open
upon themselves the flood-gates of Divine
wrath which God pours out
upon them, like the waters of the deluge
on the guilty
antediluvians. Pusey supposes that the reference to the
princes of
some such allusion as the
following: “Since the prophet had just
pronounced the desolation
of
of taking warning from the
threatened destruction and turning to God,
they thought only how the
removal of Ephraim would benefit them by
the enlargement of their
borders. They might hope also to increase their
private estates out of the
desolate lands of Ephraim their brother.”
11 “Ephraim is oppressed
and broken in judgment,” - The expression retsuts
mishpat
is:
according to which mishpat would be the genitive of the agent as
mukkeh
Elohim. But “crushed of
judgment” or in judgment is justly preferred by
others, the genitive taking the
place of the accusative. Again, though the
combination of ‘ashuq with rutsuts
is frequent, occurring as early as
Deuteronomy 28:33, the latter is
the stronger term.
their subjects, according
to Aben Ezra, “Their kings oppressed and cheated
them;” nor the injustice
practiced by the people of Ephraim among
themselves, as implied by the
Septuagint - “Ephraim
altogether prevailed
against his adversary, he trod judgment underfoot.”
by the heathen nations around; thus Rashi
explains, “Oppressed is Ephraim
ever by the hand of the heathen — chastised with chastisements;” so
also
Kimchi, “By the hand of the heathen who oppressed and crushed
them
through hard judgments.” The
construction is asyndetous, like Song of
Solomon 2:11, “The rain is over, is gone.”
“because he willingly walked after the commandment.” This
clause assigns
the reason of Ephraim’s oppression. They evinced
ready willing-hood in following:
is thus understood by Aben Ezra, and in like manner Ewald
explains it to
mean an arbitrary or
self-imposed precept.
“for he began to go after vanities (τῶν ματαίων – ton mataion –
pursuit
of idols);” which the Chaldee
and Syriac follow.
But it
is rather the commandment of Jeroboam about the worship of the
calves which lay at the root of
the nation’s sin. It is welt explained by
Kimchi: “Although the word ‘Jeroboam’ is wanting, so that he
makes no
mention of it after tsar,
such is the scriptural usage in certain places, i.e. to
omit a word where the sense is
plain. For it was a well-known fact that in
that generation they walked not
after the commandment, but after that of
Jeroboam; therefore he has
abbreviated the word to indicate the
worthlessness, and used tsav instead of mitsvah.” Perhaps it may have
the concrete sense of the object
of idolatrous worship.
12 “Therefore will I be
unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of
as rottenness.” This verse is well explained by Calvin as follows:
“The meaning
of the prophet is by no means obscure, and that is, that
the Lord would by a slow
corrosion consume both the people; and that, though
He would not by one onset
destroy them, yet they
would pine away until they
became wholly rotten.”
The two agents of destruction here named — the moth
which eats away clothes,
and the woodworm which gnaws away wood — figuratively represent SLOW
BUT SURE DESTRUCTION!
They
are found together in Job 13:28. Kimchi
explains the sense in like manner:
“Like the moth which eats away garments, and
like the woodworm which
consumes bones and wood, so shall I consume you.”
The pronoun at the beginning of the verse is emphatic: “I your God, who
would have been
your protector and preserver, whom you have sinfully
forsaken, and whose commandments you have arbitrarily set
aside —
even I am to you as the
source of rottenness, and of slow but sure ruin.”
13 “When Ephraim saw his
sickness, and
went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to King Jareb:” - Both kingdoms
BECAME CONSCIOUS
OF THEIR DISEASE AND DECLINE.
Ephraim felt its sickness or internal consumption,
external corruption (mazor,
a festering wound, from zur, to squeeze out);
they were both conscious of rottenness in their
condition. That diseased
condition was rather SPIRITUAL
APOSTASY than political adversity,
though
these were connected as cause and effect. But, instead of applying to
Jehovah, Ephraim
had recourse to Assyria and its king for health and help,
but in vain; for NO EARTHLY POWER COULD AVERT THE DIVINE
JUDGMENTS.
The
punishment threatened in the twelfth verse prompts the
efforts to obtain succor mentioned here. The general sense
of the verse is given
by Kimchi as follows: “When
Ephraim and Judah saw that the enemies were
constantly invading and plundering them, they seek help
from the King of
and blood, which, however, cannot help them when it is not
my pleasure.”
course to Ephraim, but the
second to
understands Ephraim’s visit of
that to Pul, recorded in II Kings 15., and the
message of
years lay between the two events
thus described as synchronous. Rashi
explains the former clause of Hoshea’s visit to Shalmaneser the
King of
the former to Menahem visiting Pul, and the
second of Ahaz to Tiglathpileser
(compare II Chronicles 28:21).
supposed reference to
both to Ephraim, and accounts
for the restriction as follows: “Why, then,
does he name only Ephraim? Even
because the beginning of this evil
commenced in the
the King of Assur,
that they might, by his help, resist their neighbors, the
Syrians; the Jews afterwards followed
their example. Since, then, the
Israelites afforded a precedent
to the Jews to send for aids of this kind, the
prophet expressly confines his
discourse to them.” He admits, however,
that the accusation had respect
to both in common; or Ephraim may have
applied on behalf of
opinion with regard to the word “Jareb.” Some
take it
Ø
for a proper name,
either of an Assyrian king or of some place or
city in the country of
Kimchi; but the absence of the article is opposed to this,
neither is
Jeremiah 37:1, “and Zechariah reigned as king” (vayyimloch
melech), a proper parallel.
Ø
Others more correctly explain as a qualifying
epithet to “king,”
that is, “pleader,” “striver,” or “warrior,” in
ether words, a warlike
or champion king,
like the epithet of σωτήρ –
sotaer – deliverer;
savior - among the Greeks. The indefiniteness in this case gives the
idea of majesty or might,
as in Arabic; thus, “a champion king,
and
such a king!”
“yet could he not (yet
shall he not be able to) heal you
(plural, and so Ephraim and
from hostile invasion or
domestic troubles, those degenerate kings had recourse to
foreigners for aid.
With the profitlessness as well as the sinfulness of
such attempts
they are here
sharply rebuked. Thus Calvin: “Here God declares that whatever
the Israelites might seek would be in vain. ‘ Ye think,’ He
says, ‘ that you
can escape my hand by these remedies; but your folly will
at length betray
itself, for he will avail
you nothing; that is, King Jareb will not heal you.’”
The last two verses assign a reason for the powerlessness
even of the mighty
Assyrian monarch to help; and that
reason is the DIVINE IMPOSITION.
The irresistible Jehovah Himself (the
addition of the pronoun intensifies,
yet more its repetition) now interferes for the destruction
of the apostate and
rebellious people.
14 “For I will be unto (For I am unto) Ephraim as a
lion, and as
a young lion to the house of
Jehovah’s mode of procedure is now changed. Before it had been slow
and
silent, though sure destruction, as signified by the moth and
woodworm;
but now it will be PUBLIC AND PATENT TO THE EYES OF ALL, as
well as decisive and powerful, as intimated by the comparison
of a lion
and young lion. Nor is that all:
lion-like – “I, even I, will tear
and go away;
I will take away, and none shall rescue
him.” He will rend before removing
the prey — A TEARING IN PIECES and then A CARRYING AWAY!
This well-known habit of the
lion finds its counterpart in the subsequent facts
of Hebrew history. The northern kingdom was first
rent or broken up by
Shalmaneser; subsequently the population were carried away into captivity; in
like manner the southern kingdom suffered at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.
15 “I will go and return to my place,” - The
figurative comparison with a lion
is continued. The
lion tears his victim and carries it away, then he retires into his
cave or den; so Jehovah, after bringing calamity upon
withdraws from the scene and retires to His own place in heaven, though
the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him. There, in that unapproachable
ether, HE IS INACCESSIBLE TO AND BEYOND THE REACH OF
THE GUILTY NATIONTHAT KNEW
NOT NOR VALUED THE
FORMER TIMES OF MERCIFUL VISITATION! - “till they
acknowledge their offence, and seek my
face:” - One remedy,
and only one, is left and that is found in penitence and
prayer. Once
they find out their guiltiness and humble themselves in
repentance, they may
hopefully seek His face and favor. Turning away from human
help, and
supplicating the gracious help of the Divine presence, they
are encouraged
by the prospect of relief and revival; while the means to
that end are, no
doubt, painful, yet profitable – “in their affliction they will seek me
early.” In THE SCHOOL OF AFFLICTION they learnt penitence
and were brought to their knees in prayer!
God’s
Judgments Differ Both in Degree and Kind (vs. 11-15)
Ephraim had obeyed man rather than God, and God gives them
over to
man for punishment. The men who oppressed Ephraim acted
unjustly, but
God, in permitting that unjust oppression, was exercising
His prerogative of
justice. Neither could Ephraim palliate their sin by
alleging compulsion on
the part of their rulers, nor throw, the blame entirely on
the ungodly
commandment of an ungodly king, or those who might enforce
it by pains
and penalties. They obeyed it, not by constraint, but
willingly; not through
compulsion, but of a ready mind.
JUDGMENTS. The moth
and woodworm may symbolize lesser
judgments. Such visitations frequently
have for their object the repentance
and reformation of the people or
persons so visited. God’s design in
sending them is gracious; His
purpose is merciful. The process,
notwithstanding, is painful and
the affliction grievous. It goes on silently,
so that little alarm is made;
noiselessly, so that little apprehension is felt;
hence it is that grace is needed for men to know the time of such
visitation. It
proceeds slowly, so that time is allowed men to mend
their ways, and space given them
for repentance. The judgments here
spoken of proceed gradually, and
are designed to prevent greater.
Thus mercy is mingled with judgment; for judgment
is God’s strange
work (Isaiah
28:21), while mercy
is His darling attribute.
sickness, they suffered from their painful wound, and became
conscious of
rottenness in their state. They did not discern with equal
clear-sightedness
the cause of that sickness, nor perceive the source whence
that rottenness
proceeded. They were equally blind to the right way of relief. Had
they
seen their sin in their suffering, God’s hand in their stroke,
and His justice in
its infliction, they would have been nearer the right way to
the remedy.
They sought help from the
creature, not from the Creator; from the
monarch of
them and helped them not. So with men too
often in time of their distress.
They put confidence in human
means, but find at last that they are leaning
on broken reeds; they hew out for themselves cisterns, but
find too late
that they are broken cisterns, that can hold no water. (Isaiah
36:6;
Jeremiah 2:13). Not only so, by such sinful expedients they
are in no
way bettered, but rather get worse, and increase thereby at
once their
sin and their sorrow.
RESORTED TO.
The lion and the young lion are emblematical of the
severer judgments. God threatens to deal with the people of
moth and a worm; I shall come like a lion to you, with an open
mouth to
devour you.... I will rage against you as a fierce wild beast:
your grievance
shall not now be from moths and worms; but you shall have an
open and
dreadful contest with the lion and the young lion....” Men, when they
attempt to oppose vain helps to the wrath of God, gain only this,
that they
more and more provoke and inflame His wrath against themselves.
After
God has first gnawed, He will at
length devour; after He has pricked, He
will deeply wound; after He has struck, He will wholly destroy.
punishment is represented as executed in lion-like fashion: he is not
forced
to retreat, nor is there any possibility of rescue, nor does
he retire stealthily
and with fox-like secrecy and cunning, but openly, powerfully,
and
victoriously. When God visits with judgments, He comes forth out of His
place and men are forced to feel His presence; when His
corrections are
completed, He returns to His place, and there, though He seems to
take no
notice of, and to be far removed from, His people, He has taken
His place on
the mercy-seat and is waiting to be gracious. God here speaks
after the
manner of men; “for He neither so hides Himself in heaven that He
neglects
human affairs, nor withdraws His hand but that He sustains the
world by the
continued exercise of His power, nor even takes His Spirit from men,
especially when He would lead them to repentance; for men never of their
own accord turn themselves to God, but by His hidden
influence.”
Jesus said, “No man can come to me, except the Father
which hath
sent me draw him” (John
6:44). Thus, when God had punished both
though unmindful of them, and having neither care nor regard for them.
This hiding
of His face ALLOWED TIME FOR REPENTANCE!
His purpose was to induce them to repent and return to Him.
This was
THE TRUE AND ONLY
REMEDY!
step men take as they return to God is confession of sin —
“they
acknowledge their offence;” the first part in the process of healing
is the
correct diagnosis of the disease and discovery of its cause. The
second
thing required for reconciliation with God is to “seek his face.”
(May
our attitude be “When thou sadist, Seek ye my face; my heart
said unto thee, THY FACE, LORD, WILL I SEEK” (Psalm 27:8).
Thus repentance and faith go
hand in hand; not that either of them is the
meritorious cause of pardon. The one is a condition — a suitable
condition
or proper qualification
for pardon; the other is the cordial
acceptance of
pardon, or
rather of that righteousness which is the true ground of pardon.
The mercy of God is
transparent throughout the entire process, while a
practical realization of persons acknowledging their offence and
seeking
the face of God is found in the case of Daniel, as may be seen
by a perusal
of the ninth chapter of the book of that prophet. (Daniel 9:3-19)
the long and dreary period of the seventy years’ captivity in
captives had a convenient season to repent of their sins and return
to the
Lord; nor did they ever again backslide into
idolatry. During the present
prolonged dispersion of that wonderful people, many of them will
repent of
their national rejection of Messiah and return to God, looking
unto Him
whom their forefathers pierced (Zechariah 12:10) with tearful
eyes; and
at the close of the period in question, though “blindness
in part is
happened to
all
When we are under the convictions of sin and the
corrections of the rod, our
business is to seek God’s face.... And it may reasonably be expected that
affliction will bring those to God that had long gone astray from
Him, and kept
at
a distance. Therefore God for a time turns away
from us, that
He may turn
us to
Himself and then return to us.”
Words
for Thought
National Sin Divine Withdrawal Divine
Judgment
The Sharing of Sin Fruits of Affliction National
Depravity
Unfaithfulness Too Late Decay
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