(Calvin on Hosea, part 20)
Lecture Twentieth.
Hosea 7:13
Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them!
because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed
them, yet they have spoken lies against me.
Here the Prophet takes away from the Israelites the hope of
pardon, and declares that it was all over with them, for God had now
resolved to destroy them. For as God everywhere declares himself to
be ready and inclined to pardon, hypocrites hope that God will be
propitious to them; and entertaining this vain confidence, they
despise his threatening and boldly rise up against him. Hence the
Prophet here shows, that God would hereafter be inexorable to them,
because they had too long pertinaciously abused his patience. "Woe
to them!" he says, "for they have withdrawn from me: desolation to
them! for they have acted perfidiously towards me". There is then no
reason, says the Prophet, for them to delude themselves in future
with vain confidence, as they have hitherto done; for this has been
once for all determined by God - to indict on them his extreme
vengeance, for their defection deserves this.
He then adds, "I will redeem them, and they have spoken lies
against me". They who render the first word in the future tense,
think that the Prophet asks a question, "Shall I redeem them? for
they have spoken lies against me:" and they think it to be an
indefinite mode of speaking - "Should I redeem them, men of no
faith; for what good should I do by such kindness?" Others give this
expositions - "Though I wished to redeem them, yet I found that this
would not be beneficial nor just, because they speak lies against
me;" as though God did not express here what he had done, but what
he had wished to do. But the past tense is not unsuitable to this
place; and we know how common and familiar to the Hebrews was the
change of tenses. The meaning, then, will be, "I have redeemed them,
and they have spoken lies against me;" that is, "I have often
delivered them from death, when they were in extreme peril; but they
have not changed their disposition; nay, they have deprived me of
the praise due for their deliverance, and they have lived in no way
better after their deliverance. Since, then, I have hitherto
conferred my benefits to no good purpose, nothing now remains but
that I must destroy them." And this seems to me to be the Prophet's
meaning.
He then declares, in the first clause, that they hoped for
mercy in vain from God, because their ultimate destruction was
decreed. Then follows the reason for this, because they had
foolishly and impiously abused the favor of God, inasmuch as, having
been redeemed by him, they yet went on in their own wickedness, and
even acted perfidiously towards God, while yet they pretended to act
differently. Since, then, there was no change for the better, God
now shows that he would spend his favor no longer on men so impious.
Now this place teaches how intolerable is our ingratitude, when,
after having been redeemed by the Lord, we keep not the faith
pledged to him, and which he requires from us; for God is our
deliverer on this condition, that we be wholly devoted to him. For
he who has been redeemed ought not so to live, as if he had a right
to himself and to his own will; but he ought to be wholly dependent
on his Redeemer. If, then, we thus act perfidiously towards God,
after having been delivered by his grace, we shall be guilty of such
impiety and perfidiousness as deserve a twofold vengeance: and this
is what the Prophet here teaches.
We indeed know how mercifully God had spared the people of
Israel: after they had fallen away into superstitious worship, and
had also violated their faith to the posterity of David, the Lord
did not yet cease to show to that people many favors,
notwithstanding their unworthiness. We know also, that under
Jeroboam prosperity had attended them beyond all human expectation.
But they yet hardened themselves more and more in their wickedness,
so far were they from returning to the right way. Let us now proceed
-
Hosea 7:14
And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled
upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, [and]
they rebel against me.
The Prophet here again reproves the Israelites for having not
repented, after having been so often admonished; for, as it was said
yesterday, all the chastisements which God by his own hand inflicts
on us, have this as the object - to heal us of our vices. Now the
Prophet says here that the Israelites had not cried to God, which is
yet the chief thing in repentance. But this expression is to be
noticed. "They have not cried to me with their heart"; that is
sincerely. We indeed know that some worship of God had ever remained
among them; though the Israelites devised for themselves many gods,
yet the name of the true God had never been wholly obliterated among
them; but they blended the worship of God with their own inventions;
God, at the same time, could not endure these fictitious
invocations. Hence he says, "that they cried not from the heart". He
accuses them, not that they performed no outward act, but that they
did not bring a real desire of heart; nay, they only cried to God
dissemblingly. We now perceive what the Prophet meant by saying,
They slave not cried to me with their heart. As calling on God is
the chief exercise of religion, and especially manifests our
repentance, the Prophet expressly notices this defect in the
Israelites - that they cried not to the Lord. But as they might
object and say, that they had formally prayed, he adds, that they
did not do so from the heart; for the outward act (ceremonial)
without the exercise of the heart, is nothing else but a profanation
of God's name. In short, the Prophet shows here to the Israelites
their hardness; for when they were smitten by God's hand, they did
not flee to him and supplicate pardon, at least they did not do this
from the heart or sincerely.
He then adds, "Because they howled on their beds". Some explain
the particle "ki" adversatively; as though the Prophet had said,
"Though they howl on their beds, they do not yet direct their
petitions to me." But we may take it in its proper sense, and the
sentence would thus run better: They howl then on their beds, that
is, "They bring not their concerns to me; for like brute animals
they utter their howlings:" and this we see to be the case with the
unbelieving; for they fear the presence of God, and the very mention
of him is dreaded by them; hence they howl, that is, they pour forth
their impetuous feelings, but at the same time they shun every
access to God as much as they can. The sense then is, "They cry not
to me from the heart, for they only howl; but it is only by an
animal effort without any reason." If, however, any one prefers to
take the particle "ki" adversatively, the sense would not be
unsuitable, "Though they howl on their beds, they do not yet cry to
me;" that is, "Though grief urges them to make great noises, they
are yet mute as to any cry of prayer." If any one more approves of
this meaning, I say nothing against it: but as the particle "ki" is
commonly taken as a causative, I prefer thus to explain it, "As they
cry on their beds, they raise not up their voice to God."
Then it follows, "They assemble", or, will assemble "themselves
for corn and wine". This place is explained in two ways. Some think
that the Israelites are here in an indirect way reproved, inasmuch
as when they found wine and corn in the market, having obtained
their wishes, they went on heedlessly in their sins, and despised
God, as if they had no more need of his help. They then ran together
for wine and corn; that is, as soon as they heard of wine or corn,
they provided themselves with provisions, and afterwards neglected
God. But this sense seems too frigid and strained. The Prophet then,
I doubt not, opposes the running together of which he speaks, to
true and sincere attention to prayer; as though he said, "They are
not touched with grief for having offended me, though they see by
evident proofs that I am displeased with them; they regard not my
favor or my displeasure, provided they enjoy plenty of wine and
corn: this satisfies them, and it is all the same with them whether
I am adverse or propitious to them." This seems to be the genuine
meaning of the Prophet.
But that this reproof may be more evident, we must observe what
Christ teaches, that we ought first to seek the kingdom of God. For
men act strangely when they anxiously 1abour only for this life, and
strive only to procure for themselves food, and what is needful for
the wants of the flesh: we ever make a beginning here; and yet it is
a most thoughtless anxiety, when we are so attentive to a frail
life, and in the meantime neglect the kingdom of God. Inasmuch then
as men by this perverted feeling derange the whole order of
religion, the Prophet here shows that the Israelites did not truly
and from the heart cry unto God, because they were only solicitous
about wine and corn; for except when they were hungry, they despised
God, and allowed him to rest quietly in heaven: hence penury and
want constrained them. As brute beasts, when they are hungry, go to
the stall, and seek not to be fed by the Lord; so also did the
Israelites, when they were touched by some feeling of need; but at
the same time they were contented with their wine and corn; nor had
they any other God. Hence they so cried, that their voice did not
come to God, as they did not indeed go really and directly to him.
The Prophet then does here, by a particular instance, convict the
Israelites of impious dissimulation, inasmuch as they did not seek
God, but were only intent on food; and provided the stomach was well
supplied, they neglected God, and desired not his favor, and only
wished to have full barns and full cellars; for plenty of
provisions, without the paternal favor of God, was their only
desire. It is hence sufficiently evident that they did not cry to
the Lord.
This place is worthy of being observed; for we here see that
our prayers are faulty before God, if we begin with wine and bread,
and seek not first the kingdom of God, that is, his glory; and if we
apply not our minds to this - to live, so to have God propitious to
us. When we go to Him, the fountain of divine blessing, God only
desire to glut ourselves with the abundance of the good things which
he has to bestow, then all our prayers are deservedly rejected by
him. We see this to be the case with the Papists; when they present
their supplications, they are wholly like animals. They indeed
implore God for rain and for dry weather; but have they any desire
of reconciling themselves to God? By no means; for they wish, as
much as possible, to be at the farthest distance from him: but when
want and famine constrain them, they then ask for rain, - for what
purpose? only that they may abound in bread and wine. We ought then
to preserve a legitimate order in our prayers. If the Lord shows to
us proofs of his wrath, we must strive first to return into favor
with him, and then his glory must be regarded by us, and he is to be
sought with the real feeling of piety, that he may be a Father to
us: and then may be added in their place the things which belong to
the condition and preservation of the present life.
We must also notice what he adds, "They have revolted from me".
The verb "sur" means, "to recede," and also "to revolt;" and this
second sense is the most suitable; for the Prophet said before that
they had receded or departed from God; but now he seems to signify
something more grievous, and that is, that they had revolted from
God. Thus hypocrites, when they pretend to seek God in a circuitous
course, betray their own revolt; for they are unwilling to be
reconciled to him on the condition that they are to change for the
better their life, to cast away the affections of the flesh, to
renounce themselves and their depraved desires. These things they by
no means seek. Hence then it becomes evident that they are witnesses
to their own revolt, and also to dissimulation in their prayers,
even when there is some appearance of piety. It follows -
Hosea 7:15
Though I have bound [and] strengthened their arms, yet do they
imagine mischief against me.
God again reproaches the Israelites for having in a base manner
abused his goodness and forbearance. Some consider the verb "yasar"
as meaning, "to chastise," because God had disciplined the
Israelites; and, as I have said yesterday, it is often taken in this
sense. But as it signifies sometimes "to bind," it seems a fitter
metaphor for this place. "I have bound and strengthened their arms";
as though God had said, that he had caused their arms not to be
enervated. For we know that the strength of the arm depends on the
structure of the nerves. Except the bones were bound together by the
nerves, a dissolution would immediately follow. Hence God says, I
have bound and strengthened their arms; which two things combine for
the same end, and the notion of chastising seems not to me to be in
any way suitable to the context. The meaning is, that the Israelites
had hitherto continued, because God had sustained them by his power.
As when one binds up and strengthens a weak or a loosened arm, so
God here reminds Israel that he had preserved them in their
position. And the Prophet, I have no doubt, alludes here to the many
calamities by which the strength of Israel might have been broken,
had not a timely remedy been applied by the Lord.
God then compares himself here to a physician or a surgeon,
when he says that he had bound the arm of Israel and strengthened
it, when it might have been otherwise broken: for they had been
often as it were enervated, but the Lord restored them. We now
understand the meaning of the Prophet to be, that God had not only
by his power sustained the Israelites, but had also performed the
office of a surgeon or a physician, when he saw their arms broken,
when they were wasted by slaughters in wars, and by other
adversities.
Now the Israelites were so far from being grateful to to God
and mindful of him, that they were even devising evil against him.
For after having obtained victories, after having been restored and
even replenished with fulness of all blessiggs, they the more boldly
conspired against him; for under this pretence were superstitions
established, and then followed the indulgence of all vices; for
pride, and cruelty, and ambition, and frauds, prevailed more and
more. Since then the Israelites had thus perverted the blessings of
God, was not the hope of pardon and salvation justly cut off from
them? Now we are reminded in this place, that whenever God heals our
evils, and raises us up in adversity and succors us, we ought
devoutly to acknowledge his favor, and not to meditate evil against
him, when he so kindly extends his hand to us. Let us now proceed -
Hosea 7:16
They return, [but] not to the most High: they are like a deceitful
bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their
tongue: this [shall be] their derision in the land of Egypt.
The Prophet again assails the perverse wickedness of Israel,
and also their fraud and perfidiousness. Hence he says that they
feigned some sort of repentance, but it was nothing else than false;
for they returned not to God. "They return", he says, "but not to
God". Some however think that "'al" is a preposition, and that
something is understood, as if it were an elliptical phrase: "They
return, but not for anything;" that is, when they return, were any
one to inquire what is in their minds, or what is their purpose, he
would find it to be mere form and nothing real. But this exposition,
as we see, is strained. Besides, the context requires that we should
consider "'al" to be for God, as it is also in other places; for
this is nothing new. Then it is, "They return not to God".
The Prophet then declares here that the Israelites were wholly
perverse, so that God could force out of them no repentance; that
when they pretended something it was mere deceit, for they did not
come in a direct way to God. For hypocrites, as it has been said
before, when God's hand presses hard on them, seem indeed to be
different from what they were previously, but they always shun God.
The Lord does not in vain exhort the people by Jeremiah to return to
him, 'If thou wilt return, O Israel,' he says, 'return unto me,'
(Jer. 4: 1.) For he knew that by devious windings men always go
astray and keep not to the straight course. This is the meaning.
Then the Prophet adds, that "they there like a deceitful bow".
This is an explanation of the last sentence; and hence we conclude
that the word "'al" cannot be otherwise taken than for God. The
Prophet shows how the Israelites withdrew themselves from God, while
they seemed to repent, for "they were", he says, "like a deceitful
bow". Some expound it, the bow of darting or shooting; and no doubt
"ramah" means to dart and to shoot; but this sense cannot be taken
here, for we see that what the Prophet had in view was to show, that
the Israelites put on a guise, and did nothing but deceive, when
they made a show of repentance. To confirm this, he says, that they
were like an oblique bow. For the archer, when he intends to shoot
an arrow, first levels at a certain mark; then the arrow seems to be
directed to that place which the archer fixes on by his eyes. Now if
the bow is oblique, the arrow will fly elsewhere; or the bow may
slip, so as to throw back the arrow to the archer himself. The like
comparison is found in Ps. 78, where it is said, that the Jews were
turned back 'like a deceitful bow;' and in that passage this very
word occurs. But there is here no ambiguity; for God accuses the
people that they had turned back; that is, that they had turned
backward their course, even like a deceitful bow. If one reads "the
bow of darting," or, "of shooting," there will be no sense; nay, it
will be vapid and absurd. It is then better to render the expression
here, 'a deceitful bow.'
And we must notice the import of the similitude, to which I
have already referred, that is, that as archers aim the arrow to the
mark, as they direct its flight by winking and leveling, and shoot;
so hypocrites seem to strive with great effort, but, at the same
time, they are deceitful bows; that is, their mind is driven back,
and they fly away from God, and, by tortuous windings, go astray, so
that they never come to God, but rather turn their backs on him.
He then adds, "Their princes shall fall by the sword for the
pride of their tongue". The Prophet again denounces vengeance on the
Israelites, that they might feel assured that the heavenly decree
respecting their destruction could not be changed. For though
hypocrites always dread, and cannot hope anything from God, yet they
never cease to flatter themselves, and always to contrive some new
hope. Inasmuch then as they are so bountiful in vain promising, the
Prophet says that there was no reason for the Israelites to hope for
any remedy in their distresses. "Their princes" then "shall fall":
and in saying 'princes,' he takes a part for the whole; for God does
not thus threaten princes, or denounces ruin on them, as though he
intended to except the common people; but he implies, that that
destruction would be common to all, which not even the princes
themselves would escape. And we know that in battles, when a great
slaughter is made, the common soldiers lie dead in great numbers,
and but few of the chiefs. But God says here, "I will take away the
whole flower of the people. And if none of the princes shall remain,
what will become of the ignoble vulgar, who are deemed of no
account?" "The princes" then "shall fall by the sword".
He then adds, "For the pride of their tongue". Some expound
this phrase actively, as though the Prophet had said, that they had
provoked God's wrath by their blasphemies and profane speeches; but
I rather take it for their high vaunting: For the pride of their
tongue, he says, they shall fall; that is, because they haughtily
boasted of their strength, and held in contempt all the prophecies,
because they dared to vomit forth their blasphemies against God, and
dared, also, no less obstinately than proudly, to defend their own
impious and depraved forms of worship, I will revenge, he says,
"this pride." We hence see that "pride," here, is to be taken for
that disdain which the impious show by their high vaunting, as it is
said elsewhere, 'They raise to heaven their tongues,' (Ps. 73: 9.)
"This will be their derision in the land of Egypt". As the
Israelites, then relying on the cursed treaty which they had made
with the Egyptians, continued perverse against God, he says, "I will
expose them to derision among their confederates: they boast of the
power of Egypt: they think themselves beyond the reach of harm, as
they can instantly call the Egyptians, to their aid, were any one to
oppose them, or were any enemy to invade them. Since, then, their
confidence so rests on Egypt, I will make," he says, "the Egyptians
to regard them with scorn; and they shall not only be counted
ignominious by those who rival or envy them, but also by the friends
in whom they glory. I will give them up to every kind of dishonor
among their lovers." He indeed compares, as we have before seen, the
Egyptians as well as the Assyrians, to lovers, and compares his
people to an unfaithful wife, who, having deserted her husband,
prostitutes her own chastity. "Thou," he says, "sellest thyself to
thy lovers, and strives to please them, and faintest and adornest
thyself to allure them: I will cover thee all over with everything
disgraceful and ignominious, that thy lovers shall abhor thy very
sight." So also in this place, he says that the Israelites shall be
for derision in the land of Egypt; that is, not enemies, whom they
fear, shall have them in derision; but they shall be a
laughing-stock to those who they think will be their defenders, and
through whose arms they imagine that they shall be free from every
disgrace. The eighth chapter follows.
Chapter 8.
Hosea 8:1
[Set] the trumpet to thy mouth. [He shall come] as an eagle against
the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant,
and trespassed against my law.
Interpreters nearly all agree in this, that the Prophet
threatens not the kingdom of Israel, but the kingdom of Judah, at
the beginning of this chapter, because he names the house of God,
which they take to be the temple. I indeed allow, that the Prophet
has spoken already, in two places, of the kingdom of Judah, but as
it were in passing. He has, it is true, introduced some reproofs and
threatening, but so that the distinction was quite clear; and we see
that he now goes to the kingdom of Judah, but in the second verse,
he names Israel, and yet continues hid discourse. "To thy mouth", he
says, "the trumpet", &c.; and afterwards he adds, "To me" shall they
cry, My God; we know thee, Israel. Here, certainly, the discourse is
addressed to the ten tribes. I am therefore by no means induced to
explain the beginning of the chapter by applying it to the kingdom
of Judah: and I certainly do wonder that interpreters have mistaken
in a matter so trifling; for the house of God means not only the
temple, but also the whole people. As Israel retained this boast,
that they were a people holy to God, and that they were his family,
he says, "Put or set the trumpet to thy mouth, and proclaim the war,
which is now nigh at hand; for the enemy hastens, who is to attack
the house of God, that is, this holy people, who cover themselves
with the name of God, and who, trusting in their election and
adoption, think that they shall be free from all evils; war shall
come as an eagle against this house of God."
Had the Prophet added any thing which could be referred
peculiarly to the kingdom of Judah, I should willingly accede to
their opinion, who think that the house of God is the sanctuary. But
let the whole context be read, and any one may easily perceive, that
the Prophet speaks of Israel no less in the first verse than in the
second and third. For, as it has been said, he lays down no
difference, but pursues throughout his teaching or discourse in the
same strain.
He says first, "A trumpet to thy mouth", or, "Set to thy mouth
the trumpet." It is an exhibition, (hypotyposis;) for we know that
God, in order to affect more powerfully the people, clothes his
Prophets with various characters. The Prophet then is introduced
here as a herald who proclaims war, or a messenger, or by whatever
name you may be pleased to call him. Here then the Prophet is
commanded, not to speak with his mouth, but to show by the trumpet
that war was nigh, as though God himself by his trumpet declared war
against Israel, which was to be carried on soon after by earthly
enemies. The enemies were soon after to come, and the herald was to
come in the usual manner to declare war. The Greeks call them
"kerukes", proclaimers, we says "Les heraux". As these earthly kings
have their proclaimers, or "keurkes", or heralds, or messengers, who
proclaim war; so the Lord sends his Prophet with the usual charge to
declare war: "Go then, and let the Israelites know, not now by thy
mouth, but even by thy throat, by the sound of the trumpet, that I
am an enemy to them, and that I am present with a strong army to
destroy them." It is indeed certain that the Prophet did not use a
trumpet; but the Lord by this representations as I have already said
increased the reality of what was taught that the Israelites might
perceive, that it was not in sport or in play that the Prophet
threatened them, but that it was done seriously, as though they now
saw the heralds who was to proclaim war; for this was not usually
done except when the army is already prepared for battle.
He then says, "As an eagle against the house of Jehovah". We
have already said what the Prophet means by the house of Jehovah,
even that people who thought that they would be exempt from every
evil, because they had been adopted by the Lord. Hence the
Israelites called themselves God's household; and though under this
cover, they impiously and profanely abandoned themselves to every
kind of turpitude, yet they thought that they were on the best of
terms with God himself. "There shall come," he says, "a common ruin
to you all; this boasting shall not prevent me from taking vengeance
at last on your sins." But he adds "As an eagle", that the
Israelites might not think that there was to be a long delay; for
the impious procrastinate, when they see any danger at hand. Hence,
that the Israelites might not continue torpid in their vices, the
Prophet says, that the destruction of which he spoke would be like
the eagle; for in a moment the eagle goes over an immense distance,
and we wonder when we see it over our heads, though a little before
it did not appear. So also the Prophet says, that destruction,
though not yet seen, was however nigh at hand, that being smitten
with terror, though now late, yet as the Lord was thus urging them,
they might return to him.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that since thou continues daily to restore us
to thyself, both by scourges and by thy word, though we cease not to
go astray after sinful desires, - O grant, that by the direction of
thy Spirit, we may at length so return to thee, that we may never
afterwards fall away, but be preserved in pure and true obedience,
and thus constantly continue in the pure worship of thy majesty and
in true, obedience, that after this life past, we may at last reach
that blessed rest, which is reserved for us in heaven, through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
Calvin on Hosea
(continued in part 21...)
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