(Calvin on Hosea, part 3)
Lecture Third
We have to explain first this clause, "I will save the house of
Judah neither by the bow, nor by the sword, nor by war, nor by
horses, nor by horsemen". What the Prophet had touched upon before
is here more clearly expressed, and that is, that God has no need of
foreign aids, for he is content with his own power. But Hosea
continues his contrast; for the people of Israel, as they possessed
much carnal power, thought themselves, as they say, beyond the reach
of darts: but the kingdom of Judah was exposed to all dangers, as it
was not powerful in forces and arms. This folly the Prophet exposes
to contempt, and says, that safety is dependent on God alone, that
men in vain trust in their own velour, and that there is no reason
why the needy and destitute should despair of their safety, as God
alone is abundantly sufficient to preserve the faithful. The meaning
then is, that though the destitute condition of the kingdom of Judah
was an object of contempt to all, yet this would be no obstacle,
that it should not be preserved through God's favour, though it
obtained no aid from men. And let us learn from this place, that we
are not so preserved by the Lord, that he never employs any natural
means; and further, that when he has no recourse to them, he is
abundantly sufficient to secure our safety. We ought then so to
ascribe our safety to the Lord as not to think that any thing comes
to us through ourselves, or through angels, or through men. Let us
now proceed -
Hosea 1:8,9
Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.
Then said [God], Call his name Loammi: for ye [are] not my people,
and I will not be your [God].
The "weaning" the Prophet mentions here is by some understood
allegorically; as though he said, that the people would for a time
be deprived of prophecies, and of the priesthood, and of other
spiritual gifts: but this is frigid. The Prophet here, I have no
doubt, sets forth the patience of God towards that people. The Lord
then, before he had utterly cast away the Israelites, waited
patiently for their repentance, if, indeed, there was any hope for
it; but when he found them be ever like themselves, he then at
length proceeded to the last punishment. Hence Hosea says, that the
daughter, who was the second child, was weaned; as though he said,
that the people of Israel had not been suddenly cast away, for God
had with long patience borne with them, and thus suspended heavier
judgement, until, having found their wickedness to be unhealable, he
at length commenced what follows, "Call" the third child Lo-ammi.
The reason is added "For ye are not my people, and I will not
hereafter be yours". This, as I have said, is the final disowning of
them. They had been before called Jezreelites, and then by the name
of the daughter God testified that he was alienated from them; but
now the third name is still more grievous, "Ye are not my people";
for God here abolishes, in a manner, the covenant he made with the
holy fathers, so that the people would cease to have any pre-
eminence over other nations. So then the Israelites were reduced to
a condition in which they differed nothing from the profane
Gentiles; and thus God wholly disinherited them. The Prophet,
doubtless, was not well received, when he denied them to be God's
people, who had yet descended from Abraham according to the flesh,
who had ever been so accounted, and who continued proudly to boast
of their election.
But let us hence learn, that those awfully mistake who are
blind to their own vices, because God spares and indulges them. For
we must ever remember what I have said before, that the kingdom of
Israel was then opulent; and yet the Prophet denies them, who
flourished in strength, and power, and riches, to be God's people.
There is then no reason for hypocrites to felicitate themselves in
prosperity; but they ought, on the contrary, to have regard to God's
judgement. But though these, as we see to be the case, heedlessly
despise God, yet this passage reminds us carefully to beware lest we
abuse the present favours of God. It follows -
Hosea 1:10
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the
sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to
pass, [that] in the place where it was said unto them, Ye [are] not
my people, [there] it shall be said unto them, [Ye are] the sons of
the living God.
Now follows consolation, yet not unmixed. God seems here to
meet the objections which we know hypocrites had in readiness,
whenever the Prophets denounced destruction on them; for they
accused God of being unfaithful if he did not save them. Arrogating
to themselves the title of Church, they concluded that it would be
impossible for them to perish for God would not be untrue in his
promises. "Why! God has promised that his Church shall be for ever:
we are his Church; then we are safe, for God cannot deny himself."
In what they took as granted they were deceived; for though they
usurped the title of Church, they were yet alienated from God. We
see that the Papists swell with this pride at this day. To excuse
all their errors they set up against us this shield, "Christ
promised to be with his own to the end of the world. Can the spouse
desert his Church? Can the Son of God, who is the eternal Truth of
the Father, fail in his faithfulness?" The Papists magnificently
extol the faithfulness of Christ, that they may bind him to
themselves: but at the same time, they consider not that they are
covenant breakers; they consider not that they are manifestly the
enemies of God; they consider not that they have divorced themselves
from him.
The Prophet, therefore seeing that he had to do with proud men,
who were wont to arraign the justice of God, says, "The number of
the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea"; that is,
"When the Lord shall cut you off, still safe will remain this
promise which was given to Abraham; 'Look at the stars of heaven,
number, if thou can't, the sand of the sea; so shall thy seed be,'"
(Gen. 22: 5.) We indeed know, that whenever the Prophets severely
reproved the people and denounced destruction, this was ever opposed
to them, "What! can it be that the Lord will destroy us? What would
then become of this promise, Thy seed shall be as the stars of
heaven and as the sand of the sea?" Hence the Prophet here checks
this vain-confidence, by which hypocrites supported themselves
against all threatening, "Though God may cut you off, he will yet
continue true and faithful to the promise, that Abraham's seed shall
be innumerable as the sand of the sea."
I indeed admit that the Prophet here gave hope of salvation to
the faithful; for it is certain that there were some remaining in
the kingdom of Israel. Though the whole body had revolted, yet God,
as it was said to Elijah, had preserved to himself some seed. The
Prophet then was unwilling to leave the faithful, who remained among
that lost people, without hope of salvation; but, at the same time,
he had regard to hypocrites, as we have already stated. We now see
the design of the Prophet, for he teaches that there would be such a
vengeance as he had spoken of, though God would not yet be forgetful
of his word; he teaches that there would be such a casting away of
the people, though God's election would yet remain firm and
unchangeable; in short, he teaches that the adoption by which God
had chosen the offspring of Abraham as his people would not be void.
This is the import of the whole. Then the number of the children of
Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which is not to be measured
nor numbered.
He afterwards adds, "And it shall be in the place where it had
been said to them", (shall be said, literally,) "Ye are not my
people; there it shall be said, Ye are the sons of the living God".
It has been asked, whether this prophecy belongs to the posterity of
those who had been dispersed. This, indeed, would be strange; for so
long a time has passed away since their exile, and dejected and
broken, they dwell at this day in mountains and in other desert
places; at least many of them are in the mountains of Armenia, some
are in Media and Chaldea; in short, throughout the whole of the
East. And since there has been no restoration of this people, it is
certain that this prophecy ought not to be restricted to seed
according to the flesh. For there was a prescribed time for the
Jews, when the Lord purposed to restore them to their country; and,
at the end of seventy years, a free return was granted them by
Cyrus. Then Hosea speaks not here of the kingdom of Israel, but of
the Church, which was to be restored by a return, composed both of
Jews and of Gentiles. So Paul, a fit interpreter of this passage,
reminds us, 'Whom he has called, not only of the Jews, but also of
the Gentiles; as he says by Hosea, I will call a people, who were
not mine, my people; and her beloved, who was not beloved: and it
shall be, where it had been said to them, Ye are not my people;
there shall they be called the sons of the living God,' (Rom. 9: 24,
&c.) Paul applies this passage, and that rightly, to the whole body
of the faithful, collected without any difference, from the Jews as
well as from the Gentiles: for otherwise, as we have said, the
correctness and truth of prophecy would not be evident: and this
view also agrees best with the design of the Prophet which I have
just explained. For, since hypocrites in a manner tie to themselves
the power of God, the Prophet says, that God can, if he chooses,
raise up in an instant a new Church, which would exceed in number
the sand of the sea. How so? God will create a Church for himself.
From what? From stones, from nothing: for, as Paul says elsewhere,
'he calls those things which are not, as though they were,' (Rom. 4:
17.) At the same time, God, as it has been said, by his goodness
contended with the wickedness of that people; for though they
rejected his favour, yea, and obstinately thrust it away from
themselves, yet such perverseness did not hinder the Lord from
preserving a remnant for himself.
Now, this passage teaches, that they are very perverted in
their notions, who, by their own feelings, form a judgement of the
state of the Church, and accuse God of being unfaithful, when its
external appearance does not correspond with their opinion. So the
Papists think; for except they see the splendour of great pomp, they
conclude that no Church remains in the world. But God at one time so
diminishes the Church, that it seems to be almost reduced to
nothing; at another time, he increases and multiplies it beyond all
hope, after having raised it, as it were, from death. Isaiah says in
the tenth chapter, ver. 22, 'Were the number of the children of
Israel as the sand of the sea, a remnant only shall be saved.' The
Prophet there designedly exposes to scorn the hypocrites, who
falsely pleaded that prophecy, 'Look on the stars of heaven, and on
the sand of the sea, if thou can't number them; so shall thy seed
be.' Since, then, Isaiah saw that hypocrites, relying on that
prophecy, were rising so perversely against him, he said, "Be it so,
be it so, that ye are as the stars of heaven, and as the sand of the
sea; yet a remnant only shall be saved;" which means, "The Lord will
at last cut you down, and reduce you to so small a number, that ye
shall be extremely few." Now, on the other hand, Hosea says, That
after the Israelites shall be reduced to a very small number, that
nothing but waste and solitude will appear, then the Lord will
restore the Church beyond all human thoughts and will prove that he
had not in vain promised to Abraham that his seed would be as the
sand of the sea. Since, then, the Lord wonderfully defends his
Church, and preserves it in this world, so that at one time he seems
to bury it, and then he raises it from death; at one time he cuts it
down as to its outward appearance, and then afterwards he renews it;
we ought to take heed, lest we measure according to our own
judgement and carnal reason, what the Lord declares respecting the
preservation of his Church. For its safety is often hid from the
eyes of men. However the case may be, God does not bind himself here
to human means, nor to the order of nature, but his purpose is to
surpass by his incredible power whatever the minds of men can
conceive.
Thus then ought this passage, "The number of the children of
Israel shall be as the sand of the sea", to be expounded: God will
gather his Church from all quarters, from the Gentiles as well as
from the Jews when the whole world will think it to be extinct.
"And it shall be in the place where it had been said, Ye are
not my people; there it shall be said, Ye are the sons of the living
God". The Prophet, in these words, amplifies by a comparison the
grace of God; as though he said, "When God shall restore anew his
Church, its state shall be more excellent than before." How so?
"They shall not only," he says, "be the people of God, but also the
sons of the living God;" which means, that God will more familiarly
show himself a Father to those, whom he will thus suddenly gather
into one body. I indeed allow that the ancients under the law were
honoured with this title; but we ought to attend to the present
passage; for the Prophet contrasts the two clauses, the one with the
other: "And it shall be in the place where it had been said, Ye are
not my people; it shall be said there, Ye are the sons of the living
God". He might have said, "And it shall be in the place where it had
been said, Ye are not my people; there it shall be said, Ye are nosy
my people:" but he ascends higher; God will confer more honour on
his new people, for he will more clearly manifest his favour to them
by this title of adoption: and it belongs in common to all, to the
Gentiles as well as to the Israelites. We ought not to apply this,
as it is commonly done, exclusively to the Gentiles: for Hosea
speaks not here only of the Church which God attained for himself
from the Gentiles, but of the whole Israel of God, a part of whom is
the seed of Abraham. Let us then know that God here offers his grace
generally, to the Israelites as well as to the Gentiles, and
testifies, that after having justly cast away this people, he would
make all to know that he had not been unmindful of his covenant, for
he would attain to himself a much larger Church - from whom? From
the children of Abraham, as it has been said, as well as from
strangers.
And there is an important meaning in the verb, 'It shall be
said:' "It shall be where it had been said, Ye are not my people,
there it shall be said", - The Prophet means, that our salvation
appears not, before the Lord has begun to testify to us of his
good-will. Hence the beginning of our salvation is God's call, when
he declares himself to be propitious to us: without his word, no
hope shines on us. Hosea might have said, 'It shall be in the place
where it had been said, Ye are not my people, there they shall begin
to be the sons of God:' but he expresses more, 'It shall be where it
had been said, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said, Ye are
the sons of the living God.'
As to the first clause, it must be referred to the threatening
which have been already explained; and in this way was also checked
the contumacy of the people, who heedlessly despised all the
Prophets. "What! God has bound himself to us: we are the race of
Abraham; then we are a holy and elect nation." But the Prophet here
claims authority to himself as a teacher: "I am a herald of God's
vengeance, and seriously proclaim to you your rejection: there is
then no reason why ye should now harden your hearts and close your
ears; for now at length will follow the execution of that vengeance
which I now declare to you." The Prophet then declares here that he
had not rashly pronounced what we before noticed, that it was not an
empty bug bear, but that he had spoken in the Lord's name; as Paul
also says, 'Vengeance is prepared by us against all them who extol
themselves against Christ,' (2 Cor. 10: 6.) And we see also what was
said to Ezekiel, 'Go and besiege Jerusalem; turn thy face, and stand
there until thou stormest it, until thou overthrowest it.' The
prophet was not certainly furnished with an army, so that he could
make an attack upon Jerusalem: but God means there that there is
power enough in his word to destroy all the ungodly. So also Hosea
signifies the same here: "When by the word alone the Israelites
shall be cast away it shall be said, Ye are the sons of the living
God." Let us then know, that God rises upon us with certain
salvation, when we hear him speaking to us. It follows
Hosea 1:11
Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be
gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall
come up out of the land: for great [shall be] the day of Jezreel.
The Prophet speaks here peculiarly of the children of Abraham;
for though God would make no more account of them than of other
nations, he yet wished it to be ascribed to his covenant, that they
in honour excelled others; and the right of primogeniture, we know,
is everywhere given to them. Then as Abraham's children were
first-begotten in the Church, even after the coming of Christ, God
here especially addresses them, "Ascend together from the land shall
the children of Israel and the children of Judah, and they shall
assemble together, and appoint for themselves one head". In the last
verse, Hosea spake of the universal gathering of the Church; but now
he confines his address to the natural race of Abraham. Why? Because
God commenced a restoration with that people, when he extended his
hand to the miserable exiles to bring them back from the Babylonian
captivity to their own country. As then this was the beginning of
the gathering, the Prophet, not without reason, turns his address
here to them, and thus sets them in higher honour, not that they
were worthy, not that they could by any merit claim this dignity;
but because God would not make void his covenant, and because he had
chosen them that they might be the first-begotten, as it has been
already stated, and as they are also elsewhere called, 'My
first-begotten is Ephraim,' (Jer. 31: 9.) We now then understand
the order and arrangement of the Prophet, which is to be carefully
noticed, and the more so, because interpreters confound all these
things, and make no distinctions, when yet the Prophet has not here
mingled together the children of Israel and the children of Judah
with the Gentiles, except for a certain purpose.
Let us now consider the words of the Prophet. "Assembled
together", he says, "shall be the children of Israel and the
children of Judah". No doubts the Prophet has in view the
scattering, which had now lasted more than two hundred years, when
Jeroboam had led away the ten tribes. Inasmuch as the body became
then torn asunder, the Prophet says, "Together shall be gathered the
children of Judah and the children of Israel". And designedly does
he thus speak, lest the Israelites should felicitate themselves on
their own power; since they were a mutilated body without a head;
for the king of Israel, properly speaking, was not legitimate. The
Lord had indeed anointed Jeroboam; and afterwards Jehu, I admit, had
been anointed; but it was done for the sake of executing judgement.
For when the Lord intended really to bless the people, he chose
David to rule over them; and then he committed the government over
all the children of Abraham to the posterity of David. There was
therefore no legitimate head over the people of Israel. And the
Prophet intended distinctly to express this by saying, "Gathered
together shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel";
which means this, "Ye are now secure, because fortune smiles on you;
because ye are overflowing with money and all good things; because
ye are terrible to your neighbours; because ye have cities well
fortified; but your safety depends on another thing, even on this, -
that ye be one body under one head. For ye must be miserable except
God rules over you; and the only way in which this can be is, that
ye be under the government of David. Your separation, then, proves
your state to be accursed; your earthly happiness in which you
felicitate yourselves, is unhappiness before God." The Prophet then
reminded the people of Israel, that God would at last deal kindly
with them by restoring them to their first unity. The import of the
whole then is, that the children of Abraham shall then at length be
blessed, when they shall unite again in one body, and when one head
shall rule over them. They "shall" then "be gathered together, and
appoint one head". The Prophet shows here also what kind of
assembling this will be which he mentions, which was to be this, -
they shall be gathered under the government of one king. For
whenever God speaks of the restoration of the people, he ever calls
the attention of the faithful to David: 'David shall rule, there
shall be one shepherd.' Then one king and one head shall be among
them. We now perceive the design of the Prophet.
But this passage clearly teaches, that the unity of men is of
no account before God, except it originates from one head. Besides,
it is well known that God set David over his ancient people until
the coming of Christ. Now, then, the Church of the Lord is only
rightly formed, when the true David rules over it; that is, when all
with one consent obey Christ, and submit to his bidding, and how
Christ designs to rule in his Church, we know; for the sceptre of
his kingdom is the gospel. Hence, when Christ is honoured with the
obedience of faith, all things are safe; and this is the happy state
of the Church, of which the Prophet now speaks. It seems, indeed,
strange, that what is peculiar to God should be transferred to men -
that is, to appoint a king. But the Prophet has, by this expression,
characterised the obedience of faith; for it is not enough that
Christ should be given as a king, and set over men, unless they also
embrace him as their king, and with reverence receive him. We now
learn, that when we believe the gospel we choose Christ for our
king, as it were, by a voluntary consent.
He afterwards subjoins, "They shall ascend from the land". He
expresses more than at the beginning of the verse; for he says, that
God would restore them from exile to their own country. He then
promises what was very necessary, that exile would be no hindrance
to God to renew his Church; for it was the people's ruin to be
removed far from their country, and consequently to be deprived of
their promised inheritance during their dispersion among heathen
nations. The Lord then takes away this difficulty, and distinctly
declares, that though for a time they should be as wholly destroyed,
they should yet come again to their own land. They "shall",
therefore, "ascend", (this is said with regard to Judea, for it is
higher than Chaldea) - they "shall", therefore, "ascend" from
Chaldea and other places in which they had been dispersed. We now
understand what the Prophet means by saying, "Gathered together
shall be the children of Israel and the children of Judah" - that
is, into one body; and further, they shall appoint for themselves
one head. This is the manner of the gathering; and it must be also
added, that the Church then obeys God, when all, from the first to
the last, consent to one head: for it is not enough to be
constrained, unless all willingly offer themselves to Christ; as it
is said in Psalm 110:, 'There shall be a willing people in the day
in which the King will call his own.' Then the Prophet intended to
express the obedience of faith, which the faithful will render to
Christ, when the Lord shall restore them.
And they "shall ascend", he says, "from the land; for great
shall be the day of Jezreel". It may be asked, why does he here call
the day of Jezreel great; for it seems contrary to prophecy? This
passage may be explained in two ways. Great shall be the day of
Jezreel, some say, because Goal will sow the people whom he had
before scattered. So they think that the Prophet, as in a former
instance, alludes to the word, Jezreel. But the sense seems to me to
be another. I do not restrict this clause to the last, nor to the
promise, but apply it to the slaughter which has been before
mentioned; for they correspond with one another. "They shall ascend
from the land; for great shall be the day of Jezreel". The
Israelites were as yet resting in their nests, and thought that they
could not by any means be torn away; besides, the kingdom of Judah
did not then fear a near destruction. The Prophet, therefore,
intimates here, that there would be a need of some signal and
extraordinary remedy; for it shall be the severe and dreadful
slaughter in the day of Jezreel. We now perceive the real meaning of
the Prophet, "They shall ascend from the land; for I great shall be
the day of Jezreel".
They might, indeed, have otherwise objected, and said, "Why
dost thou thus prophesy to us about ascending? What is this
ascending? Do we not rest quietly in the inheritance which God
formerly promised to our fathers? What meanest thou, then, by this
ascending?" The Prophet here rouses them, and reminds them that they
had no reason to trust in their now quiet state, as wine settled on
its lees; and this very similitude is even used in another place,
(Jer. 48: 11.) The Prophet here declares, that there would be a most
dreadful slaughter, which Would call for the signal mercy of God;
for he would in a wonderful manner restore the people, and draw them
out like the dead from their graves: "for great" then shall be the
day of Jezreel; that is, "As the calamity which the Lord shall bring
on you will be grievous and dreadful, I do not in vain promise to
you this return and ascending." This seems to be really the meaning
of the Prophet.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as we have not only been redeemed from
Babylonian exile, but have also emerged from hell itself; for when
we were the children of wrath thou didst freely adopt us, and when
we were aliens, thou didst in thine infinite goodness open to us the
gate of thy kingdom, that we might be made thy heirs through thy
Son, - O grant that we may walk circumspectly before thee, and
submit ourselves wholly to thee and to thy Christ, and not feign to
be his members, but really prove ourselves to be his body, and to be
so governed by his Spirit, that thou mayest at last gather us
together into thy celestial kingdom, to which thou daily invites us
by the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Calvin on Hosea
(continued in part 4...)
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