Hosea 13:4

ar of God leads to prosperity, but sin to ruin; a truth most visibly exemplified in the sin and punishment of Ephraim, Hos 13:1-3. As an aggravation of their guilt, God reminds them of his former favors, Hos 13:4, Hos 13:5; which they had shamefully abused, Hos 13:6; and which now expose them to dreadful punishments, Hos 13:7, Hos 13:8. He, however, tempers these awful threatenings with gracious promises; and, on their repentance, engages to save them, when no other could protect them, Hos 13:9-11. But, alas! instead of repenting, Ephraim is filling up the measure of his iniquity, Hos 13:12, Hos 13:13. Notwithstanding this, God promises to put forth has almighty power in behalf of his people, and, as it were, raise them from the dead, Hos 13:14; although, in the meantime, they must be visited with great national calamities, compared first to the noxious and parching east wind, Hos 13:15, and described immediately after in the plainest terms, Hos 13:16. Verse 1 When Ephraim spake trembling - When he was meek and humble, of a broken heart and contrite spirit. He exalted himself in Israel - He became great in God's sight; he rose in the Divine esteem in proportion as he sank in his own. But this did not continue. He offended in Baal - He became an idolater. He died - The sentence of death from the Divine justice went out against him. This has been differently understood: "As soon as Ephraim spake (To your tents, O Israel!) There was a trembling or commotion: then the kingdom was exalted in Israel." Thus taken, it refers to the division of the ten tribes from Rehoboam, son of Solomon, 1Kgs 12:16, etc., and the establishment of the kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam in opposition to that of Judah; which breach was never healed. Verse 2 And now they sin more and more - They increase in every kind of vice, having abandoned the great Inspirer of virtue. Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves - This was the test. If there be a Jew that pretends to sacrifice, and whose conversion is dubious, let him come openly and kiss the calves. This will show what he is; no real Jew will do this. If he be an idolater, he will not scruple. This was the ancient method of adoration. 1. They kissed the idol. 2. When the statue was too high or too far off, they presented the hand, in token of alliance. 3. They brought that hand respectfully to their mouths, and kissed it. This was the genuine act of adoration; from ad, to, and os, oris, the mouth. So Pliny, Hist. Nat., lib. xxviii., c. 1. Adorando, dexteram ad oscula referimus. And Apuleius, Asin., lib. iv: Admoventes oribus suis dexteram, ut ipsam prorsus deam religiosis adorationibus venerabantur. See Calmet, and see the note on Job 31:17. Verse 3 Therefore they shall be as the morning Cloud - as the early Dew - as the Chaff - as the Smoke - Four things, most easy to be driven about and dissipated, are employed here to show how they should be scattered among the nations, and dissipated by captivity. Verse 4 I am the Lord thy God - This was the first discovery I made of myself to you, and the first commandment I gave; and I showed you that besides me there was no Savior. There is a remarkable addition in the Septuagint here: "But I am Jehovah thy God, who stretched out the heavens and created the earth. And I showed them not to thee, that thou shouldest walk after them. And I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt," etc. This might have been once in the Hebrew text. Verse 5 I did know thee - I approved of thee; I loved thee; and by miraculously providing for thee in that land of drought, I demonstrated my love. Verse 6 According to their pasture - They had a rich pasture, and were amply supplied with every good. They became exalted in their heart, forgat their God, and became a prey to their enemies. "He that exalteth himself shall be abased." Verse 7 I will be unto them as a lion - שחל shachal is supposed to mean here the black lion, frequent in Ethiopia. As a leopard - נמר namar, so termed from its spotted skin, for to be spotted is the signification of the root. Will I observe them - The leopard, tiger, and panther will hide themselves in thick bushwood, near where they expect any prey to pass; and as soon as it comes near, spring suddenly upon it. To this is the allusion in the text: "By the way will I observe them;" watch for them as the leopard does. They shall be greatly harassed even on their way to Assyria, when going into captivity. Verse 8 As a bear - bereaved - This is a figure to denote excessive ferocity. See the note on 2Sam 17:8 (note), where a remarkable instance is given. And will rend the caul of their heart - Every savage beast goes first to the seat of the blood when it has seized its prey; as in this fluid they delight more than in the most delicate parts of the flesh. There will I devour them like a lion - לביא labi, the old strong lion; drinking the blood, tearing the flesh, and breaking the bones to extract the marrow. The wild beast shall tear them - Probably this refers to the chakal or jackal, who frequently hunts down the prey, which the lion takes the liberty to devour, while the jackal stands by, and afterwards picks the bones. Hence he has been called the lion's Provider, and the lion's waiting-man. Verse 9 O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself - These evils come not by my immediate infliction; they are the consequences of thy own crimes. In the above terrifying figures of the ferocious beasts, the prophet only shows what they would meet with from the hand of the Assyrians in the war, the famine, and the captivity; God being represented as doing what he only permits to be done. But in me is thine help - "Though thou hast destroyed thyself, yet in me alone can thy help be found" - Newcome. And others read, And who will help thee? reading מי mi, who, for בי bi, in me. Though this is countenanced by the Syriac, yet there is no evidence of it in any of the MSS. yet collated, nor do I think it to be the true reading. Verse 10 Give me a king and princes? - Referring to the time in which they cast off the Divine theocracy and chose Saul in the place of Jehovah. Verse 11 I gave thee a king in mine anger - Such was Saul; for they highly offended God when they clamoured to have a king like the heathen nations that were around them. Took him away in my wrath - Permitted him and the Israelites to fall before the Philistines. Others think that Shalmaneser was the king thus given, and Hoshea the king thus taken away. Verse 12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up - It is registered in my court of justice; the death warrant is in store, and will be produced in due time. Though there be not at present the judgment inflicted which such glaring transgressions demand, yet it will surely come. Such crimes cannot go unpunished. Verse 13 The sorrows of a travailing woman - These judgments shall come suddenly and unavoidably. The place of the breaking forth of children - As there is a critical time in parturition in which the mother in hard labor may by skillful assistants be eased of her burden, which, if neglected, may endanger the life both of parent and child, so there was a time in which Ephraim might have returned to God, but they would not; therefore they are now in danger of being finally destroyed. And, speaking after the manner of men, he must be deemed an unwise son, who if he had power and consideration, would prolong his stay in the porch of life, where he must necessarily be suffocated; so is Ephraim, who, though warned of his danger, having yet power to escape, continued in his sin, and is now come to destruction. I could illustrate the allusion in the text farther, and show the accurate propriety of the original; but the subject forbids it. Verse 14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave - In their captivity they are represented as dead and buried, which is a similar view to that taken of the Jews in the Babylonish captivity by Ezekiel in his vision of the valley of dry bones. They are now lost as to the purpose for which they were made, for which God had wrought so many miracles for them and for their ancestors; but the gracious purpose of God shall not be utterly defeated. He will bring them out of that grave, and ransom them from that death; for as they have deserved that death and disgraceful burial, they must be redeemed and ransomed from it, or still lie under it. And who can do this but God himself? And he will do it. In the prospect of this the prophet exclaims, in the person of the universal Redeemer, "O death, I will be thy plagues;" I will bring into thy reign the principle of its destruction. The Prince of life shall lie for a time under thy power, that he may destroy that power. O grave, I will be thy destruction - I will put an end to thy dreary domination by rising from the dead, and bringing life and immortality to life by my Gospel, and by finally raising from the death the whole human race in the day of the general resurrection. שאול sheol, which we translate grave, is the state of the dead. מות maveth, which we translate death, is the principle of corruption that renders the body unfit to be longer the tenement of the soul, and finally decomposes it. Sheol shall be destroyed, for it must deliver up all its dead. Maveth shall be annihilated, for the body shall be raised incorruptible. See the use which the apostle makes of this passage, 1Cor 15:54, 1Cor 15:55; but he does not quote from the Hebrew, nor from any of the ancient versions. He had to apply the subject anew; and the Spirit, which had originally given the words, chose to adapt them to the subject then in hand, which was the resurrection of the dead in the last day. Instead of דבריך debareycha, thy plagues, one of my oldest MSS., ninety-six of Kennicott's and thirty-two of De Rossi's, have דברך debarcha, thy plague, that which shall carry thee off, as the plague does them who are affected by it. To carry off, carry away, is one of the regular meanings of the verb דבר dabar. Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes - On these points I will not change my purpose; this is the signification of repentance when attributed to God. Verse 15 Though he be fruitful - יפריא yaphri; a paronomasia on the word אפרים ephrayim, which comes from the same root פרה parah, to be fruitful, to sprout, to bud. An east wind shall come - As the east wind parches and blasts all vegetation, so shall Shalmaneser blast and destroy the Israelitish state. Verse 16 Samaria shall become desolate - This was the capital of the Israelitish kingdom. What follows is a simple prophetic declaration of the cruelties which should be exercised upon this hapless people by the Assyrians in the sackage of the city. Introduction By the terri

Reproofs and Threatenings. ( b. c. 722.) 1 When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died. 2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. 3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney. 4 Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me. Idolatry was the sin that did most easily beset the Jewish nation till after the captivity; the ten tribes from the first were guilty of it, but especially after the days of Ahab; and this is the sin which, in these verses, they are charged with. Observe, I. The provision that God made to prevent their falling into idolatry. This we have, v. 4 . God did what was fit to be done to keep them close to himself; what could have been done more? 1. He made known himself to them as the Lord their God, and took them to be his people in a peculiar manner. Both by his word and by his works all along from the land of Egypt he declared, I am the Lord thy God; he told them so from heaven at Mount Sinai, that he was the Lord and their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt. This he continued both to declare and to prove to them by his prophets and by his providences. 2. He gave them a law forbidding them to worship any other: " Thou shalt know no God but me; not only shalt not own and worship any other, but shalt not acquaint thyself with any other, nor make the rites and usages of the Gentiles familiar to thee." Note, It is a happy ignorance not to know that which we ought not to meddle with. We find those commended who have not known the depths of Satan. 3. He gave them a good reason for it: There is no saviour besides me. Whatever we take for our God we expect to have for our saviour, to make us happy here and hereafter; as, where we have protection, we owe allegiance, so where we have salvation, and hope for it, we owe adoration. II. The honour that Ephraim had, while he kept himself clear from idolatry ( v. 1 ): While Ephraim spoke trembling, or with trembling (that is, as Dr. Pocock understands it, while he behaved himself towards God as his father Jacob did, with weeping and supplications, and spoke not proudly and insolently against God and his prophets, while he kept up a holy fear of God, and worshipped him in that fear) so long he exalted himself in Israel, that is, he was very considerable among the tribes and made a figure. Jeroboam, who was of that tribe, exalted himself and his family. When he spoke there was trembling, that is, all about him stood in awe of him; so some understand it. Note, Those that humble themselves, especially that humble themselves before God, shall be exalted. When people speak with modesty and jealousy of themselves, with a diffidence of their own judgment and a deference to others, they exalt themselves, they gain a reputation. But as for Ephraim he soon lost himself: When he offended in Baal he died, that is, he lost his reputation, his honour soon dwindled and sunk, and was laid in the dust. Baal is here put for all idolatry; when Ephraim forsook God, and took to worship images, the state received its death's wound and was never good for any thing afterwards. Note, Deserting God is the death of any person or persons. III. The lamentable growth of idolatry among them ( v. 2 ): Now they sin more and more. When once he began to offend in Baal the ice was broken, and he grew worse and worse, coveted more idols, doted more upon those he had, and grew more ridiculous in the worship of them. Note, The way of idolatry, as of other sins, is down-hill, and men cannot easily stop themselves. It is the sad case of all those who have forsaken God that they sin yet more and more. Let us trace them in their apostasy. 1. They made themselves molten images, proud to have gods that they could cast into what mould they pleased; probably these were the calves in miniature like the silver shrines for Diana; the zealots for the calf-worship carried about with them, it may be, images of the gods they worshipped, made on purpose for themselves. 2. They made them of their silver, and then doubted not of their property in them, when they purchased them with their own money or made them of their own plate melted down for that purpose. See what cost they put themselves to in the service of their idols, which they honoured with the best they had, and therefore made their molten images of silver. 3. They made them according to their own understanding, according to their own fancy. They consulted with themselves what shape they should make their idol in, and made it accordingly, a god according to the best of their judgment. Or according to their own likeness, in the form of a man. And, when they made their idols men like themselves in shape, they made themselves stocks and stones like them in reality; for those that make them are like unto them, and so is every one that trusts in them. 4. It was all the work of the craftsmen. Their images did not pretend, like that of Diana, to have come down from Jupiter ( Acts xix. 35 ); no, perhaps the workmen stamped their names upon them, such an idol was such a man's work. See ch. viii. 6 ; Isa. xliv. 9 , &c. 5. Though they were thus the work of their hands, yet they were the beloved of their souls; for they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. Either the priests called upon the people thus to pay their homage, or the people, who were not allowed to come so near themselves, called upon the men that sacrificed, the priests that attended for them, to kiss the calves in their name and stead, because they could not reach to do it, so very fond were they of paying their utmost respects to such an idol as they were taught to have a veneration for. Though they were calves, yet, if they were gods, the worshippers, by themselves or their proxies, thus made their honours to them. They kissed the calves, in token of the adoration of them, affection for them, and allegiance to them, as theirs. Thus we are directed to kiss the Son, to take him for our Lord and our God. IV. Threatenings of wrath for their idolatry. The Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God, and will not give his glory to another; and therefore all those that worship images shall be confounded, especially if Ephraim do it, Ps. xcvii. 7 . Because they are so fond of kissing their calves, therefore God will give them sensible convictions of their folly, v. 3 . They promise themselves a great deal of safety and satisfaction in the worship of their idols, and that their prosperity will thereby be established; but God tells them that they shall be disappointed, and driven away in their wickedness. This is illustrated by four similitudes:—They shall be, 1. As the morning cloud, which promises showers of rain to the parched ground. 2. As the early dew, which seems to be an earnest of such showers. But both pass away, and the day proves as dry and hot as ever; so fleet and transitory their profession of piety was ( ch. vi. 4 ), and so had they disappointed God's expectation from them, and therefore it is just that so their prosperity should be, and so their expectations from their idols should be disappointed, and so will all theirs be that make an idol of this world. 3. They are as the chaff, light and worthless; and they shall be driven as the chaff is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, Ps. i. 4 ; xxv. 5 ; Job xxi. 18 . Nay, 4. They are as the smoke, noisome and offensive (see Isa. lxv. 5 ), and they shall be driven away as the smoke out of the chimneys, that is soon dissipated and disappears, Ps. lxviii. 2 . Note, No solid lasting comfort is to be expected any where but in God.

Thou shalt know - I forbad thee to know any other God but me, in gratitude thou shouldest know no other.