(Calvin on Hosea, part 2)
Lecture Second
Hosea 1:3,4
So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived,
and bare him a son.
And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little
[while], and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of
Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.
We said in yesterday's Lecture, that God ordered his Prophet to
take a wife of whoredoms, but that this was not actually done; for
what other effect could it have had, but to render the Prophet
contemptible to all? and thus his authority would have been reduced
to nothing. But God only meant to show to the Israelites by such a
representation, that they vaunted themselves without reason; for
they had nothing worthy of praise, but were in every way
ignominious. It is then said, "Hosea went and took to himself Gomer,
the daughter of Diblaim." "Gomer", means in Hebrew, to fail; and
sometimes it signifies actively, to consume; and hence "Gomer" means
consumption. But "Diblaim" are masses of figs, or dry figs reduced
to a mass. The Greeks call them "palathas". The Cabalists say here
that the wife of Hosea was called by this name, because they who are
much given to wantonness at length fall into death and corruption.
So consumption is the daughter of figs, for by figs they understand
the sweetness of lusts. But it will be more simple to say, that this
representation was exhibited to the people, that the Prophet set
before them, instead of a wife, consumption, the daughter of figs;
that is, that he laid before them masses of figs or "palathas",
representing Gomer, which means consumption and that he adopted a
similar manner with mathematicians, when they describe their
figures, - "If this be so much, then that is so much." We may then
thus understand the passage, that the Prophet here named for his
wife the corrupt masses of figs; so that she was consumption or
putrefaction, born of figs, reduced into such masses. For I still
persist in the opinion I expressed yesterday, that the Prophet did
not enter a brothel to take a wife to himself: for otherwise he must
have begotten bastards, and not legitimate children; for, as it was
said yesterday, the case with the wife and the children was the
same.
We now then understand the true meaning of this verse to be,
that the Prophet did not marry a harlot, but only exhibited her
before the eyes of the people as though she were corruption, born of
putrified masses of figs.
It now follows, the wife "conceived", - the imaginary one, the
wife as represented and exhibited. She "conceived", he says, "and
bare a son: then said Jehovah to him, Call his name Jezreel". Many
render to "Jizre'el", dispersions and follow the Chaldean
paraphraser. They also think that this ambiguous term contains some
allusion; for as "zera'" is seed, they suppose that the Prophet
indirectly glances at the vain boasting of the people; for they
called themselves the chosen seed, because they had been planted by
the Lord; hence the name Jezreel. But the Prophet here, according to
these interpreters, exposes this folly to contempt; as though he
said, "Ye are Israel; but in another respect, ye are dispersion: for
as the seed is cast in various directions so the Lord will scatter
you, and thus destroy and cast you away. You think yourselves to
have been planted in this land, and to have a standing from which
you can never be shaken or torn away; but the Lord will, with his
own hand, lay hold on you to cast you away to the remotest regions
of the world." This sense is what many interpreters give; nor do I
deny but that the Prophet alludes to the words sowing and seed; with
this I disagree not: only it seems to me that the Prophet looks
farther, and intimates that they were wholly degenerate, not the
true nor the genuine offspring of Abraham.
There is, as we see, much affinity between the names Jezreel
and Israel. How honourable is the name, Israel, it is evident from
its etymology; and we also know that it was given from above to the
holy father Jacob. God, then, the bestower of this name, procured by
his own authority, that those called Israelites should be superior
to others: and then we must remember the reason why Jacob was called
Israel; for he had a contest with God, and overcame in the struggle,
(Gen. 32: 28.) Hence the posterity of Abraham gloried that they were
Israelites. And the prophet Isaiah also glances at this arrogance,
when he says, 'Come ye who are called by the name of Israel,' (Isa.
48: 1;) as though he said, "Ye are Israelites, but only as to the
title, for the reality exists not in you."
Let us now return to our Hosea. "Call", he says "his name
Jezreel;" as though he said, "They call themselves Israelites; but I
will show, by a little change in the word, that they are degenerate
and spurious, for they are Jezreelites rather than Israelites." And
it appears that Jezreel wag the metropolis of the kingdom in the
time of Ahab, and where also that great slaughter was made by Jehu,
which is related in the tenth chapter of 2 Kings. We now perceive
the meaning of the Prophet to be, that the whole kingdom had
degenerated from its first beginning, and could no longer be deemed
as including the race of Abraham; for the people had, by their own
perfidy, fallen from that honour, and lost their first name. God
then, by way of contempt, calls them Jezreelites, and not
Israelites.
A reason afterwards follows which confines this view, "For yet
a little while, and I will visit the slaughters of Jezreel upon the
house of Jehu". Here interpreters labour not a little, because it
seems strange that God should visit the slaughter made by Jehu,
which yet he had approved; nay, Jehu did nothing thoughtlessly, but
knew that he was commanded to execute that vengeance. He was,
therefore, God's legitimate minister; and why is what God commanded
imputed to him now as a crime? This reasoning has driven some
interpreters to take "bloods" here for wicked deeds in general: 'I
will avenge the sins of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu.' Some say,
"I will avenge the slaughter of Naboth:" but this is wholly absurd,
nor can it suit the place, for, "upon the house of Jehu," is
distinctly expressed; and God did not visit the slaughter on the
house of Jehu, but on the house of Ahab. But they who are thus
embarrassed do not consider what the Prophet has in view. For God,
when he wished Jehu with his drawn sword to destroy the whole house
of Ahab, had this end as his object, - that Jehu should restore pure
worship, and cleanse the land from all defilements. Jehu then was
stirred up by the Spirit of God, that he might re-establish God's
pure worship. When a defender of religion, how did he act? He became
contented with his prey. After having seized on the kingdom for
himself, he confirmed idolatry and every abomination. He did not
then spend his labour for God. Hence that slaughter with regard to
Jehu was robbery; with regard to God it was a just revenge. this
view ought to satisfy us as to the explanation of this passage; and
I bring nothing but what the Holy Scripture contains. For after Jehu
seemed to burn with zeal for God, he soon proved that there was
nothing sincere in his heart; for he embraced all the superstitions
which previously prevailed in the kingdom of Israel. In short, the
reformation under Jehu was like that under Henry King of England;
who, when he saw that he could not otherwise shake off the yoke of
the Roman Antichrist than by some disguise, pretended great zeal for
a time: he afterwards raged cruelly against all the godly, and
doubled the tyranny of the Roman Pontiff: and such was Jehu.
When we duly consider what was done by Henry, it was indeed an
heroic velour to deliver his kingdom from the hardest of tyrannies:
but yet, with regard to him, he was certainly worse than all the
other vassals of the Roman Antichrist; for they who continue under
that bondage, retain at least some kind of religion; but he was
restrained by no shame from men, and proved himself wholly void of
every fear towards God. He was a monster, and such was Jehu.
Now, when the Prophet says, "I will avenge the slaughters of
Jezreel" upon the house of Jehu, it is no matter of wonder. How so?
For it was the highest honour to him, that God anointed him king,
that he, who was of a low family, was chosen a king by the Lord. He
ought then to have stretched every nerve to restore God's pure
worship, and to destroy all superstitions. This he did not; on the
contrary, he confirmed them. He was then a robber, and as to
himself, no minister of God.
The meaning of the whole then is this: "Ye are not Israelites,
(there is here only an ambiguity as to the pronunciation of one
letter,) but Jezreelites;" which means, "Ye are not the descendants
of Jacob, but Jezreelites;" that is, "Ye are a degenerate people,
and differ nothing from king Ahab. He was accursed, and under him
the kingdom became accursed. Are ye changed? Is there any
reformation? Since then ye are obstinate in your wickedness, though
ye proudly claim the name of Jacob, ye are yet unworthy of such an
honour. I therefore call you Jezreelites."
And the reason is added, "For yet a little while, and I will
visit the slaughters upon the house of Jehu". God now shows that the
people were destitute of all glory. But they thought that the memory
of all sins had been buried since the time that the house of Ahab
had been cut off. "Why? I will avenge these slaughters," saith the
Lord. It is customary, we know, with hypocrites, after having
punished one sin, to think that all things are lawful to them, and
to wish to be thus discharged before God. A thief will punish a
murder, but he himself will commit many murders. He thinks himself
redeemed, because he has paid God the price in punishing one man;
but he lets go others, who have been his accomplices, and he himself
hesitates not to commit many unjust murders. Since, then, hypocrites
thus mock God, the Prophet now justly shakes off such senselessness,
and says, "I will avenge these slaughters". "Do ye think it a deed
worthy of praise in Jehu, to destroy and root out the house of Ahab?
I indeed commanded it to be done but he turned the vengeance
enjoined on him to another end." How so? Because he became a robber;
for he did not punish the sins of Ahab, because he did the same
himself to the end of life, and continued to do the same in his
posterity, for Jeroboam was the fourth from him in the kingdom.
"Since, then, Jehu did not change the condition of the country, and
ye have ever been obstinate in your wickedness, I will avenge these
slaughters."
This is a remarkable passage; for it shows that it is not
enough, nay, that it is of no moment, that a man should conduct
himself honourably before men, except he possesses also an upright
and sincere heart. He then who punishes evil deeds in others, ought
himself to abstain from them, and to measure the same justice to
himself as he does to others; for he who takes to himself a liberty
to sin, and yet punishes others, provokes against himself the wrath
of God.
We now then perceive the true sense of this sentence, "I will
avenge the slaughters of Jezreel", to be this, that he would avenge
the slaughters made in the valley of Jezreel on the house of Jehu.
It is added "and I will abolish the kingdom of the house of Israel".
The house of Israel he calls that which had separated from the
family of David, as though he said, "This is a separated house." God
had indeed joined the whole people together, and they became one
body. It was torn asunder under Jeroboam. This was God's dreadful
judgement; for it was the same as if the people, like a torn body,
had been cut into two parts. But God, however, had hitherto
preserved these two parts, as though they were but one body, and
would have become the Redeemer of both people, had not a base
defection followed. And the Israelites having become, as it were,
putrified, so as now to be no part of his chosen people, our
Prophet, by way of contempt and reproach, rightly calls them the
house of Israel. It now follows -
Hosea 1:5
And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of
Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
This verse was intentionally added; for the Israelites were so
inflated with their present good fortune, that they laughed at the
judgement denounced. They indeed knew that they were well furnished
with arms, and men, and money; in short, they thought themselves in
every way unassailable. Hence the Prophet declares, that all this
could not prevent God from punishing them. "Ye are," he says,
"inflated with pride; ye set up your velour against God, thinking
yourselves strong in arms and in power; and because ye are military
men, ye think that God can do nothing; and yet your bows cannot
restrain his hand from destroying you. But when he says, "I will
break the bow", he mentions a part for the whole; for under one sort
he comprehends every kind of arms. But as to what the Prophet had in
view, we see that his only object was to break down their false
confidence; for the Israelites thought that they should not be
exposed to the destruction which Hosea had predicted; for they were
dazzled with their own power, and thought themselves beyond the
reach of any danger, while they were so well fortified on every
side. Hence the Prophet says, that all their fortresses would be
nothing against God; for "in that day", when the ripe time for
vengeance shall come, the Lord will break all their bows, he will
tear in pieces all their arms, and reduce to nothing their power.
We are here warned ever to take heed, lest any thing should
lead us to a torpid state when God threatens us. Though we may have
strength, though fortune (so to speak) may smile on us, though, in a
word, the whole world should combine to secure our safety, yet there
is no reason why we should felicitate ourselves, when God declares
himself opposed to and angry with us. Why so? Because, as he can
preserve us when unarmed whenever he pleases, so he can spoil us of
all our arms, and reduce our power to nothing. Let this verse then
come to our minds whenever God terrifies us by his threatening; and
what it teaches us is, that he can take away all the defences in
which we vainly trust.
Now, as Jezreel was the metropolis of the kingdom, the Prophet
distinctly mentions the place, "I will break in pieces the bow of
Israel in the valley of Jezreel"; that is, the Lord sees what sort
of fortress there is in Samaria, in Jezreel; but he will make an end
of you there, in the very midst of the land. Ye think that you have
there a place of safety and a firm position; but the Lord will bring
you to nothing even in the valley of Jezreel. It follows -
Hosea 1:6
And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And [God] said unto
him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the
house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.
The Prophet shows in this verse that things were become worse
and worse in the kingdom of Israel, that they sinned, keeping within
no limits, that they rushed headlong into the extremes of impiety.
He has already told us, by calling them Jezreelites, that they were
from the beginning rejected and degenerate; as though he said, "Your
origin has nothing commendable in it; ye think yourselves to be very
eminent, because ye derive your descent from holy Jacob; but ye are
spurious children, born of a harlot: a brothel is not the house of
Abraham, nor is the house of Abraham a brothel. Ye are then the
offspring of debauchery." But he now goes farther and says, that as
time advanced, they had ever been falling into a worse state; for
this word, Loruchamah, is a more disgraceful name than Jezreel: and
the Lord also denounces here his vengeance more openly, when he
says,
"I will no more add to pursue with mercy the house of Israel".
"Racham" means to pity, and also to love: but this second meaning is
derived from the other; for "racham" is not simply to love, but to
show gratuitous favour. By calling the daughter, then, Lo-ruchamah,
God intimates that his favour was now taken away from the people. We
know, indeed, that the people had been freely chosen; for if the
cause of adoption be inquired for, it must be said to have been the
mere mercy and goodness of God. Now then God, in repudiating the
people, says, "Ye are like a daughter whom her father casts away and
disowns, because he deems her unworthy of his favour." We now, then,
comprehend the design of the Prophet; for, after having shown the
Israelites to have been from the beginning spurious, and not the
true children of Abraham, he now adds, that, in course of time, they
had become so corrupt, that God would now utterly disown them, and
would no longer deem them as his house. He, therefore, charges them
with something more grievous than before, by saying, 'Call this
daughter Lo-ruchamah;' for she was born after Jezreel. Here he
describes by degrees the state of the people, that it continually
degenerated. Though they were at the beginning depraved; but they
were now, after the lapse of some time, utterly unworthy of God's
favour.
"I will no more add", he says, "to pursue with favour the house
of Israel". God here shows what constant forbearance he had
exercised towards this people. "I will no more add", he says; as
though the Lord had said, "I do not now sally forth at the first
heat of wrath to take vengeance on you, as passionate men are wont
to do, who seize the sword as soon as any affront is given; I become
not so suddenly hot with anger. I have, therefore, hitherto borne
with you; but now your obstinacy is intolerable; I will not then
bear with you any more." The Prophet, as we see, evidently intimates
that the Israelites had very long abused the Lord's mercy, while he
spared them, so that now the ripe time of vengeance had come; for
the Lord had, for many years showed his favour to them, though they
never ceased at any time to seek destruction to themselves. Hence we
learn, as stated yesterday, that the Prophet's vehemence was not
hasty: for God had before given warnings, more than sufficient, to
the Israelites; he had also forgiven them many sins; he had borne
with them until the state of things proved that they were altogether
incurable. Since, then, the forbearance of God produced no effect on
them, it was necessary to come to this last remedy, that the Lord
should, as it were, with a drawn sword, appear as a judge to take
vengeance.
He afterwards says, "ki naso esa lahem". This sentence is
variously explained. Some think that the verb is derived from the
root "nasah", with a final "he"; which means "to forget", as though
it was said "By forgetting, I will forget them;" and the sense is
not unsuitable. The Chaldean paraphraser wholly departs from this
meaning, for he renders the clause, "By sparing, I will spare them."
There is no reason for this; for God, as the context clearly shows,
does not yet promise pardon to them; this meaning, then, cannot
stand. They come nearer to the design of the Prophet who thus
translate, "I will bring to them," that is, the enemy; for "nasa"
signifies to take, and also to bring into the middle. But I prefer
embracing their opinion who consider that "lahem" is placed here for
"otam"; for the servile letter "lamed", has often the same meaning
with the particle "et", which is prefixed to an objective case. Then
the rendering is, literally given, "For, by taking away, I will take
them away:" and the Hebrews often use this mode of speaking, and the
sense is plainer, "By taking away, I will take them away." Some
render the passage, "I will burn them;" but this explanation is
rather harsh. I am satisfied with the meaning, to take, but I
understand it in the sense of taking away. Then it is, "By taking
away, I will take them away."
And this is what the following verse confirms; for when the
Prophet speaks of the house of Judah, the Lord says, "With mercy
will I follow the house of Judah, and will save them." The Prophet
sets "to save" and "to take away" in opposition the one to the
other.
We may then learn by the context what he meant by these words,
and that is, that Israel had hitherto stood through the Lord's
mercy; as though he said, "How has it happened that ye continue as
yet alive? Do you think yourselves to be safe through your own
valour? Nay, my mercy has hitherto preserved you. Now, then, when I
shall withdraw my favour from you, your ruin will be inevitable; you
must necessarily perish, and be brought to nothing: for as I have
hitherto preserved you, so I will utterly tear you away and destroy
you." A profitable lesson may be farther gathered from this passage,
and that is, that hypocrites deceive themselves when they boast of
the present favour of God, and, at the same time, exult without any
fear against him; for as God for a time spares and tolerates them,
so he can justly destroy and reduce them to nothing. But the next
verse must be also joined.
Hosea 1:7
But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by
the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor
by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.
This verse sufficiently proves what I said yesterday, that the
Prophet was specifically appointed to the kingdom of Israel; for he
seems here to speak favourably of the Jews, who yet, we know, had
been severely and deservedly reproved by their own teachers. For
what does Isaiah say, after having spoken of the dreadful
corruptions which then prevailed in the kingdom of Israel? 'Come,'
he says, 'into the house of Judah, they at least continue as yet
pure: there,' he says, 'all the tables are full of vomiting; they
are drunken; there reigns also the contempt of God and all impiety,'
(Isa. 28: 8.) We see then that the Jews were not a virtuous people,
of whom the Prophet has spoken so honourably. For though the
exterior worship of God continued at Jerusalem, and the temple, at
least under Uzziah and Jotham, was free from every superstition, and
also under king Hezekiah; yet the morals of the people, we know,
were very corrupt. Avarice, and cruelty, and every kind of fraud,
reigned there, and also filthy lusts. The conduct, then, of that
people was nothing better than that of the Israelites. Why, then,
does the Prophet dignify them with so great an honour as to exempt
them from God's vengeance? Because he had an eye to the people to
whom he was appointed a Prophet. He therefore institutes a
comparison. He interferes not with the Jews, for he knew that they
had faithful pastors who reproved their sins; but he continued among
his own hearers. But this comparison served, in an especial manner,
to touch the hearts of the people of Israel; for the Prophet, we
know, made this reference particularly for this end, to condemn
fictitious worship. He now sets the worship at Jerusalem in
opposition to all those superstitions which Jeroboam first
introduced, which Ahab increased, and all their posterity followed.
Hence he says, "I will show favour" to the house of Judas.
That we may better understand the mind of the Prophet, it may
be well to repeat what we said yesterday: - The kingdom of Judah was
then miserably wasted. The kingdom of Israel had ten tribes, the
kingdom of Judah only one and a half, and it was also diminished by
many slaughters; yea, the Israelites had spoiled the temple of the
Lord, and had taken all the gold and silver they found there. The
Jews, then, had been reduced to a very low state, they hardly dared
to mutter; but the Israelites, as our Prophet will hereafter tell
us, were like beasts well fed. Since, then, they despised the Jews,
who seemed despicable in the eyes of the world, the Prophet beats
down this vain confidence, and says, "With mercy will I follow the
house of Judah". "The house of Judah seems now to be almost nothing,
for they are few in number, nor are they very strong, and wealth
abounds not among them as among you; but with them shall dwell my
favour, and I will take it away from you."
It after arts follows, "And I will save them by Jehovah their
God". Salvation is here set in opposition to the destruction which
the Prophet mentioned in the last verse. But Hosea shows that
salvation depends not in the least either on arms or on any of the
intervenients, as they say, of this world; but has its foundation
only on God's favour. "I will save them", he says - why? "because my
favour will I show them". This connection ought to be carefully
noticed. Where the Lord's favour is, there is life. 'Thou art our
God, then we shall never perish,' as it is written in the first
chapter of Habakkuk. Hence the Prophet here connects salvation with
God's gratuitous favour; for we cannot continue safe, but as long as
God is propitious to us. He has, on the other hand, declared that it
would be all over with the Israelites as soon as God would take away
from them his favour.
But he says, "By Jehovah their God". An antithesis is to be
understood here between the false gods and Jehovah, who was the God
of the house of Judah. It is the same as though the Prophet said,
"Ye indeed profess the name of God, but ye worship the devil and not
God: for ye have nothing to do with Jehovah, with the God who is the
creator and maker of heaven and earth; for he dwells in his own
temple; he pledged his faith to David, when he commanded him to
build a temple for him on mount Zion; he dwells there between the
cherubim, as the Prophets invariably declare: but the true God is
become exiled from you." We hence see how he condemns here all the
worship which the Israelites then so highly valued. Why did he do
so? Because it was not acceptable to God.
And this passage deserves to be noticed, for we see how stupid
men are in this respect. When once they are persuaded that they
worship God, they are seized by some fascination of Satan so as to
become delighted with all their own dotages, as we see to be the
case at this day with the Papists, who are not only insane, but
doubly frantic. If any one reproves them and says, that they worship
not the true God, they are instantly on fire - "What! does not God
accept our worship?" But the Prophet here shows by one word that
Jehovah is not in any place, except where he is rightly worshipped
according to the rule of his word. I will save them, he says - How?
"By Jehovah their God"; and God himself speaks: He might have said,
"I will save them by myself;" but it was not without reason that he
used this circuitous mode of speaking; it was to show the Israelites
that they had no reason to think that God would be propitious to
them. How so? Because God had chosen an habitation for himself on
mount Zion and in Jerusalem. A fuller declaration afterwards
follows, "I will save them neither by the bow, nor by the sword, nor
by war, nor by horses, nor by horsemen". But this clause, by God's
favour, I will explain tomorrow.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as we were from our beginning lost,
when thou wert pleased to extend to us thy hand, and to restore us
to salvation for the sake of thy Son; and that as we continue even
daily to run headlong to our own ruin, - O grant that we may not, by
sinning so often, so provoke at length thy displeasure as to cause
thee to take away from us the mercy which thou hast hitherto
exercised towards us, and through which thou hast adopted us: but by
thy Spirit destroy the wickedness of our heart, and restore us to a
sound mind, that we may ever cleave to thee with a true and sincere
heart, that being fortified by thy defence, we may continue safe
even amidst all kinds of danger, until at length thou gatherest us
into that blessed rest, which has been prepared for us in heaven by
our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Calvin on Hosea
(continued in part 3...)
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