(Calvin on Hosea, part 9)
Lecture Ninth.
We have now to consider the second clause, respecting King
David. The Prophet tells us, that when the Israelites shall be moved
with the desire of seeking God, they shall also seek David their
king. They had, as it is well known, departed from their allegiance
to him; though God had set David over the whole people for this end,
- that they might all be happy under his power and dominion, and
remain safe and secure, as though they beheld God with their own
eyes; for David was, as it were, the angel of God. Then the revolt
of the people, or of the ten tribes, was like a renunciation of the
living God. The Lord said to Samuel, 'Thee have they not despised,
but rather me,' (1 Sam. 8: 7:) this must have been much more the
case with regard to David, whom Samuel, by God's command, had
anointed, and whom the Lord had honored with so many bright
commendations; they could not have cast away his yoke, without
openly rejecting, as it were, God himself. Hence Hosea, speaking of
the people's repentance, does not, without reasons distinctly
mention this, that they shall return to David their king: for they
could not sincerely and from the heart seek God, without subjecting
themselves to that lawful authority to which they had been bound,
not by men, nor by chance, but by God's command.
It is indeed true that David was then dead; but Hosea sets
forth here, in the person of one man, that everlasting kingdom,
which the Jews knew would endure as the sun and moon: for well known
to them all was this remarkable promise, 'As long as the sun and
moon shall shine in heaven, they shall be faithful witnesses to me,
that the throne of David shall continue,' (Psal. 72: 5, 18.) Hence,
after the death of David, the Prophet shows here that his kingdom
would be forever, for he survived in his children; and, as it
evidently appears, they commonly called their Messiah the son of
David. We must now of necessity come to Christ: for Israel could not
seek their king, David, who had been long dead; but were to seek
that King whom God had promised from the posterity of David. This
prophecy, then, no doubt extends to Christ: and it is evident that
the only hope of the people being gathered was this, that God had
testified that he would give a Redeemer.
We now then see what the Prophet had in view: the Israelites
had become degenerate; and, by their perfidy, they ceased to be the
true and genuine people of God, as long as they continued alienated
from the family of David. The Prophet, speaking of their full
restoration, now joins David with God; for they could not be
restored to the body of the Church, without uniting with the Jews in
honoring one and the same head. But we must, at the same time,
remember, that the king, whom the Prophet mentions, is not David,
who had been long dead, but his son, to whom the perpetuity of his
kingdom had been promised.
This doctrine is especially useful to us; for it shows that God
is not to be sought except in Christ the mediator. Whosoever, then,
forsakes Christ, forsakes God himself; for as John says, 'He who has
not the Son, has not the Father,' (1 John 2: 23.) And the thing
itself proves this; for God dwells in light inaccessible; how great,
then is the distance between us and him? Except Christ, then,
presents himself to us as a middle person, how can we come to God?
But then only we begin really to seek God, when we turn our eyes to
Christ, who willingly offers himself to us. This is the only way of
seeking God aright.
Some, with more refinement, contend, that Christ is Jehovah,
because the Prophet says, that he is to be sought not otherwise than
as God is. By the word, seeking, the Prophet indeed means, that the
Israelites bad no other way of being safe and secure than by fleeing
under the guardianship and protection of their legitimate king, whom
they knew to have been divinely ordained for them. This, then, would
not be sufficient to confute the Jews. I take the passage in a
simpler way, as meaning, that they would seek their God in the
person of the king, whose hand and efforts God intended to employ in
the preservation of the people.
It further follows, "And they shall fear Jehovah and his
goodness in the last days". The verb "pachad" means sometimes; to
dread, to be frightened as they are who are so terrified as to lose
all courage. But in this place it is to be taken in a good sense, to
fear, as it appears evident from the context. Then he says, "They
shall fear God and his goodness". The Israelites had before shaken
off the yoke of God: for it was a proof of wanton contempt in them
to build a new temple; to devise, at their own will, a new religion;
and, in a word, to allow themselves an unbridled licentiousness.
Hence he says, They shall hereafter begin to fear God, and shall
continue in his service.
And he adds, "and his goodness"; by which he means that God
would not be dreaded by them, but that he would sweetly allure them
to himself, that they might obey him spontaneously and freely, and
even joyfully: and doubtless God does then only make us really to
fear him, when he gives us a taste of his goodness. For God's
majesty strikes terror into us; and we, in the meantime, seek hiding
places; and were it possible for us to withdraw from him, each of us
would do so gladly; but it is not to worship God with due honor,
when we flee away from him. It is then a sense of his goodness that
leads us reverentially to fear him. 'With thee,' says David, 'is
forgiveness, that thou mayest be feared,' (Ps. 130: 4:) for except
men know God to be ready to be at peace with them, and feel assured
that he will be propitious to them, no one will seek him, no one
will fear him, for without knowing this, we could not but wish his
glory to be abolished and extinguished, and that he should be
without authority, lest he should become our judge. But every one
who has tasted of God's goodness, so orders himself as to obey God.
What the Prophet then means when he says, "They shall then fear
God", is this, that they shall understand that they were miserable
as long as they were alienated from him, and that true happiness is
to submit to his authority.
But further, this goodness is to be referred to Christ. Some
take "tuvo" for glory, as in Exod. 33; but the connection of this
passage requires the word to be taken in its proper sense. And God's
goodness, we know, is so exhibited to us in Christ, that not a
particle of it is to be sought for anywhere else: for from this
fountain must we draw whatever refers to our salvation and happiness
of life. Let us then know that God cannot from the heart be
worshipped by us, except when we behold him in the person of his
Son, and know him to be a kind Father to us: hence John says, 'He
who honors not the Son, honors not the Father,' (John 5: 23.)
Lastly, he adds, "In the extremity of days"; for the Prophet
wished again to remind the Israelites of what he had said before, -
that they had need of long affliction, by which God would by degrees
reform them. He then shows that their perverseness was such, that
they would not soon be brought into a right mind; but that this
would be "in the extremity of days". At the same time he relieves
the minds of the godly, that they might not, through weariness, grow
faint: for though they were not at first to taste of God s goodness,
the Prophet reminds them that there was no reason to despair,
because the Lord would manifest his goodness in the extremity of
days. We may add, that this extremity of days had its beginning at
the return of the people. When liberty was granted to the Jews to
return to their own country, it was the extremity or fulness of
days, of which the Prophet speaks. But a continued series from the
people's return to the coming of Christ, must at the same time be
understood; for the Lord then performed more fully what he declares
here by his Prophet. Hence everywhere in Scripture, especially in
the New Testament, the manifestation of Christ is placed in the last
times. This chapter is now explained. The fourth now follows.
Chapter 4.
Hosea 4:1,2
Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath
a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because [there is]
no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing
adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
This is a new discourse by the Prophet, separate from his
former discourses. We must bear in mind that the Prophets did not
literally write what they delivered to the people, nor did they
treat only once of those things which are now extant with us; but we
have in their books collected summaries and heads of those matters
which they were wont to address to the people. Hosea, no doubt, very
often descanted on the exile and the restoration of the people,
forasmuch as he dwelt much on all the things which we have hitherto
noticed. Indeed, the slowness and dullness of the people were such,
that the same things were repeated daily. But it was enough for the
Prophets to make and to write down a brief summary of what they
taught in their discourses.
Hosea now relates how vehemently he reproved the people,
because every kind of corruption so commonly prevailed, that there
was no sound part in the whole community. We hence see what the
Prophet treats of now; and this ought to be observed, for hypocrites
wish ever to be flattered; and when the mercy of God is offered to
them, they seek to be freed from every fear. It is therefore a
bitter thing to them, when threatening are mingled, when God sharply
chides them. "What! we heard yesterday a discourse on God's mercy,
and now he fulminates against us. He is then changeable; if he were
consistent, would not his manner of teaching be alike and the same
today?" But men must be often awakened, for forgetfulness of God
often creeps over them; they indulge themselves, and nothing is more
difficult than to lead them to God; nay, when they have made some
advances, they soon turn aside to some other course.
We hence see that men cannot be taught, except God reproves
their sins by his word; and then, lest they despond, gives them a
hope of mercy; and except he again returns to reproofs and
threatening. This is the mode of address which we find in all the
Prophets.
I now come to the Prophet's words: "Hear", he says, "the word
of Jehovah, ye children of Israel, the Lord has a dispute", &c. The
Prophet, by saying that the Lord had a dispute with the inhabitants
of the land, intimates that men in vain flatter themselves, when
they have God against them, and that they shall soon find him to be
their Judge, except they in time anticipate his vengeance. But he
also reminds the Israelites that God had a dispute with them, that
they might not have to feel the severity of justice, but reconcile
themselves to God, while a seasonable opportunity was given them.
Then the Prophet's introduction had this object in view - to make
the Israelites to know that God would be adverse to them, except
they sought, without delay, to regain his favor. The Lord then,
since he declared that he would contend with them, shows that he was
not willing to do so. for had God determined to punish the people,
what need was there of this warning? Could he not instantly execute
judgment on them? Since, then, the Prophet was sent to the children
of Israel to warn them of a great and fatal danger, God had still a
regard for their safety: and doubtless this warning prevailed with
many; for those who were alarmed by this denunciation humbled
themselves before God, and hardened not themselves in wickedness:
and the reprobate, though not amended, were yet rendered twice less
excusable.
The same is the case among us, whenever God threatens us with
judgment: they who are not altogether intractable or unhealable,
confess their guilt, and deprecate God's wrath; and others, though
they harden their hearts in wickedness, cannot yet quench the power
of truth; for the Lord takes from them every pretext for ignorance,
and conscience wounds them more deeply, after they have been thus
warned
We now then understand what the Prophet meant by saying, that
God had a dispute with the inhabitants of the land. But that the
Prophet's intention may be more clear to us, we must bear in mind,
that he and other faithful teachers were wearied with crying, and
that in the meantime no fruit appeared. He saw that his warnings
were heedlessly despised, and that hence his last resort was to
summon men to God's tribunal. We also are constrained, when we
prevail nothing, to follow the same course: "God will judge you; for
no one will bear to be judged by his word: whatever we announce to
you in his name, is counted a matter of sport: he himself at length
will show that he has to do with you." In a similar strain does
Zechariah speak, 'They shall look on him whom they have pierced,'
(Zech. 12: 10:) and to the same purpose does Isaiah say, that the
Spirit of the Lord was made sad. 'Is it not enough,' he says, 'that
ye should be vexatious to men, except ye be so also to my God?'
(Isa. 7: 13.) The Prophet joined himself with God; for the ungodly
king Ahab, by tempting God, did at the same time trifle with his
Prophets.
There is then here an implied contrast between the dispute
which God announces respecting the Israelites, and the daily strifes
he had with them by his Prophets. For this reason also the Lord
said, 'My Spirit shall no more strive with man, for he is flesh,'
(Gen. 6: 3.) God indeed says there, that he had waited in vain for
men to return to the right way; for they were refractory beyond any
hope of repentance: he therefore declared, that he would presently
punish them. So also in this place, '"The Lord has a trial at law";
he will now himself plead his own cause: he has hitherto long
exercised his Prophets in contending with you; yea, he has wearied
them with much and continual labour; ye remain ever like yourselves;
he will therefore begin now to plead effectually his own cause with
you: he will no more speak to you by the mouth, but by his power,
show himself a judge.' The Prophet, however, designedly laid down
the word, dispute, that the Israelites might know that God would
severely treat them, not without cause, nor unjustly, as though he
said, "God will so punish you as to show at the same time that he
will do so for the best reason: ye elude all threatenings; ye think
that you can make yourselves safe by your shifts: there are no
evasions by which you can possibly hope to attain any thing; for God
will at length uncover all your wickedness." In short, the Prophet
here joins punishment with God's justice, or he points out by one
word, a real (so to speak) or an effectual contention, by which the
Lord not only reproves men in words, but also visits with judgment
their sins.
It follows, "Because there is no truth", no kindness, no
knowledge of God. The dispute, he said, was to be with the
inhabitants of the land: by "the inhabitants of the land", he means
the whole body of the people; as though he said, "Not a few men have
become corrupt, but all kinds of wickedness prevail everywhere." And
for the same reason he adds, "that there was no truth", &c. in the
land; as though he said, "They who sin hide not themselves now in
lurking-places; they seek no recesses, like those who are ashamed;
but so much licentiousness is everywhere dominant, that the whole
land is filled with the contempt of God and with crimes." This was a
severe reproof to proud men. How much the Israelites flattered
themselves, we know; it was therefore necessary for the Prophet to
speak thus sharply to a refractory people; for a gentle and kind
warning proves effectual only to the meek and teachable. When the
world grows hardened against God, such a rigorous treatment as the
words of the Prophet disclose must be used. Let those then, to whom
is intrusted the charge of teaching, see that they do not gently
warn men, when hardened in their vices; but let them follow this
vehemence of the Prophet.
We said at the beginning, that the Prophet had a good reason
for being so warm in his indignation: he was not at the moment
foolishly carried away by the heat of zeal; but he knew that he had
to do with men so perverse, that they could not be handled in any
other way. The Prophet now reproves not only one kind of evil, but
brings together every sort of crimes; as though he said, that the
Israelites were in every way corrupt and perverted. He says first,
that there was among them no faithfulness, and no kindness. He
speaks here of their contempt of the second table of the law; for by
this the impiety of men is sooner found out, that is, when an
examination is made of their life: for hypocrites vauntingly profess
the name of God, and confidently arrogate faith to themselves; and
then they cover their vices with the external show of divine
worship, and frigid acts of devotion: nay, the very thing mentioned
by Jeremiah is too commonly the case, that 'the house of God is made
a den of thieves,' (Jer. 7: 11.) Hence the Prophets, that they might
drag the ungodly to the light, examine their conduct according to
the duties of love: "Ye are right worshipers of God, ye are most
holy; but in the meantime, where is truth, where is mutual
faithfulness, where is kindness? If ye are not men, how can ye be
angels? Ye are given to avarice, ye are perfidious, ye are cruel:
what more can be said of you, except that each of you condemns all
the rest before God, and that your life is also condemned by all?'
By saying that truth or faithfulness was extinct, he makes them
to be like foxes, who are ever deceitful: by saying that there was
no kindness, he accuses them of cruelty, as though he said, that
they were like lions and wild beasts. But the fountain of all these
vices he points out in the third clause, when he says, that they had
no knowledge of God: and the knowledge of God he takes for the fear
of God which proceeds from the knowledge of him; as though he said,
"In a word, men go on as licentiously, as if they did not think that
there is a God in heaven, as if all religion was effaced from their
hearts." For as long as any knowledge of God remains in us, it is
like a bridle to restrain us: but when men become wanton, and allow
themselves every liberty, it is certain that they have forgotten
God, and that there is in them now no knowledge of God. Hence the
complaints in the Psalms, 'The ungodly have said in their heart,
There is no God,' (Ps. 14: 1:) 'Impiety speaks in my heart, There is
no God.' Men cannot run headlong into brutal stupidity, while a
spark of the true knowledge of God shines or twinkles in their
minds. We now then perceive the real meaning of the Prophet.
But after having said that they were full of perfidiousness and
cruelty, he adds, "By cursing, and lying, and killing", &c., "'Alah"
means to swear: some explain it in this place as signifying to
forswear; and others read the two together, "'aloh wechachesh", to
swear and lie, that is to deceive by swearing. But as "'alah" means
often to curse, the Prophet here, I doubt not, condemns the practice
of cursing, which was become frequent and common among the people.
But he enumerates particulars in order more effectually to
check the fierceness of the people; for the wicked, we know, do not
easily bend their neck: they first murmur, then they clamour against
wholesome instruction, and at last they rage with open fury, and
break out into violence, when they cannot otherwise stop the
progress of sound doctrine. How ever this may be, we see that they
are not easily led to own their sins. This is the reason why the
Prophet shows here, by stating particulars, in how many ways they
provoked God's wrath: 'Lo,' he says 'cursings, lyings, murder,
thefts, adulteries, abound among you.' And the Prophet seems here to
allude to the precepts of the law; as though he said, "If any one
compares your life with the law of God, he will find that you
avowedly and designedly lead such a life, as proves that you fight
against God, that you violate every part of his law."
But it must be here observed, that he speaks not of such
thieves or murderers as are led in our day to the gallows, or are
otherwise punished. On the contrary, he calls them thieves and
murderers and adulterers, who were in high esteem, and eminent in
honor and wealth, and who, in short, were alone illustrious among
the people of Israel: such did the Prophet brand with these
disgraceful names, calling them murderers and thieves. So also does
Isaiah speak of them, 'Thy princes are robbers and companions of
thieves,' (Isa. 1: 23.) And we already reminded you, that the
Prophet addresses not his discourses to few men, but to the whole
people; for all, from the least to the greatest, had fallen away.
He afterwards says, "They have broken out". The expression no
doubt is to be taken metaphorically, as though he said, "There are
now no bonds, no barriers." For the people so raged against God,
that no modesty, no shame on account of the law, no religion, no
fear, prevailed among them, or checked their intractable spirit.
Hence "they broke out". By the word, breaking out, the Prophet sets
forth the furious wantonness seen in the reprobate; when freed from
the fear of God, they abandon themselves to what is sinful, without
any moderation, without any restraint.
And to the same purpose he subjoins, "Bloods are contiguous to
bloods". By bloods he means all the worst crimes: and he says that
bloods were close to bloods, because they joined crimes together,
and as Isaiah says, that iniquity was as it were a train; so our
Prophet says here, that such was the common liberty they took to
sin, that wherever he turned his eyes, he could see no part free
from wickedness. Then bloods are contiguous to bloods, that is,
everywhere is seen the horrible spectacle of crimes. This is the
meaning. It now follows -
Hosea 4:3
Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein
shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of
heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
The Prophet now expresses more clearly the dispute which he
mentions in the first verse; and it now evidently appears, that it
was not a judgment expressed in words, for God had in vain tried to
bring the people to the right way by threats and reproofs: he had
contended enough with then; they remained refractory; hence he adds,
"Now mourn shall the whole land"; that is, God has now resolved to
execute his judgment: there is therefore no use for you any more to
contrive any evasion, as you have been hitherto wont to do; for God
stretches forth his hand for your ultimate destruction. Mourn,
therefore, shall the land, and "cut off shall be every one that
dwells in it", as I prefer to render it; unless the Prophet, it may
be, means, that though God should for a time suspend the last
judgment, yet the Israelites would gain nothing, seeing that they
would, by continual languor, pine away. But as he mentions mourning
in the first place, the former meaning, that God would destroy all
the inhabitants, seems more appropriate. He adds, "gathered shall
they be all", or destroyed, (for either may suit the place,) "from
the beast of the field, and the bird of heaven, to the fishes of the
sea". The Prophet here enlarges on the greatness of God's wrath; for
he includes even the innocent beasts and the birds of heaven, yea,
the fishes of the sea. When Godly vengeance extends to brute
animals, what will become of men?
But some one may here object and say, that it is unworthy of
God to be angry with miserable creatures, which deserve no such
treatment: for why should God be angry with fishes and beasts? But
an answer may be easily given: As beasts, and birds, and fishes,
and, in a word, all other things, have been created for the use of
men, it is no wonder that God should extend the tokens of his curse
to all creatures, above and below, when his purpose is to punish
men. We seek, indeed, for the most part, some vain comforts to
delight us, or to moderate our sorrows when God shows himself angry
with us: but when God curses innocent animals for our sake, we then
dread the more, except, indeed, we be under the influence of extreme
stupor.
We now then understand why God here denounces destruction on
brute animals as well as on birds and fishes of the sea; it is, that
men may know themselves to be deprived of all his gifts; as when a
person, in order to expose a wicked man to shame, pulls down his
house and burns his whole furniture: so also does God do, who has
adorned the world with so much and such varied wealth for our sake,
when he reduces all things to a waste: He thereby shows how
grievously offended he is with us, and thus constrains us to become
humble. This then is the Prophet's meaning.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that since we are at this day as guilty before
thee as the Israelites of old were, who were so rebellious against
thy Prophets, and that as thou hast often tried sweetly to allure us
to thyself without any success, and as we have not hitherto ceased,
by our continual obstinacy, to provoke thy wrath, - O grant, that
being moved at least by the warnings thou givest us, we may
prostrate ourselves before thy face, and not wait until thou puttest
forth thy hand to destroy us, but, on the contrary, strive to
anticipate thy judgment; and that being at the same time surely
convinced that thou art ready to be reconciled to us in Christ, we
may flee to Him as our Mediator; and that relying on his
intercession, we may not doubt but that thou art ready to give us
pardon, until having at length put away all sins, we come to that
blessed state of glory which has been obtained for us by the blood
of thy Son. Amen.
Calvin on Hosea
(continued in part 10...)
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