HOSEA 14 COMME�TARYEDITED BY GLE�� PEASE

Repentance to Bring Blessing

1 [a]Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall!

BAR�ES, "O Israel, return - (now, quite) unto the Lord your God The heavy and scarcely interrupted tide of denunciation is now past. Billow upon billow have rolled over Ephraim and the last wave discharged itself in the overwhelming, indiscriminating destruction of the seat of its strength. As a nation, it was to cease to be. its separate existence was a curse, not a blessing; the offspring of rivalry, matured by apostasy; the parent, in its turn, of jealousy, hatred, and mutual vexation.

But while the kingdom was past and gone, the children still remained heirs of the promises made to their fathers. As then, before, Hosea declared that Israel, after having long remained solitary, should in the end “seek the Lord and David their king” Hos_3:5, so now, after these manifold denunciations of their temporal destruction, God not only invites them to repentance, but foretells that they should be wholly converted.

Every word is full of mercy. God calls them by the name of acceptance, which he had given to their forefather, Jacob; “O Israel.” He deigns to beseech them to return; “return now;” and that not “toward” but “quite up to” Himself, the unchangeable God, whose mercies and promises were as immutable as His Being. To Himself, the Unchangeable, God invites them to return; trod that, as being still their God. They had cast off their God; God had “not cast off His people whom He foreknew” Rom_11:2.

: “He entreats them not only to turn back and look toward the Lord with a partial and imperfect repentance, but not to leave off until they were come quite home to Him by a total and sincere repentance and amendment.” He bids them “return quite to” Himself, the Unchangeable God, and their God. “Great is repentance,” is a Jewish saying , “which maketh men to reach quite up to the Throne of glory.”

For thou hast fallen by thine iniquity - “This is the first ray of divine light on the sinner. God begins by discovering to him the abyss into which he has fallen,” and the way by which he fell. Their own iniquity it was, on which they had stumbled and so had fallen, powerless to rise, except through “His” call, whose “voice is with power” Psa_29:4, and “Who giveth what He commandeth.” : “Ascribe not thy calamity,” He would say, “to thine own weakness, to civil dissension, to the disuse of miltary discipline, to want of wisdom in thy rulers, to the ambition and cruelty of the enemy, to reverse of fortune. These things had not gone against thee, hadst not thou gone to war with the law of thy God. Thou inflictest the deadly wound on thyself; thou destroyedst thyself. Not as

fools vaunt, by fate, or fortune of war, but ‘by thine iniquity hast thou fallen.’ Thy remedy then is in thine own hand. ‘Return to thy God. ‘“

: “In these words, ‘by thine iniquity,” he briefly conveys, that each is to ascribe to himself the iniquity of all sin, of whatsoever he has been guilty, not defending himself, as Adam did, in whom we all, Jews and Gentiles, have sinned and fallen, as the Apostle says, ‘For we were by nature the children of wrath, even as others’ Eph_2:3. By adding actual, to that original, sin, Israel and every other nation falleth. He would say then, O Israel, be thou first converted, for thou hast need of conversion; ‘for thou hast fallen;” and confess this very thing, that ‘thou hast fallen by thine iniquity;’ for such confession is the beginning of conversion.”

But wherewith should he return?

CLARKE, "O Israel, return unto the Lord - These words may be considered as addressed to the people now in captivity; suffering much, but having still much more to suffer if they did not repent. But it seems all these evils might yet be prevented, though so positively predicted, if the people would repent and return; and the very exhortation to this repentance shows that they still had power to repent, and that God was ready to save them and avert all these evils. All this is easily accounted for on the doctrine of the contingency of events, i.e., the poising a multitude of events on the possibility of being and not being, and leaving the will of man to turn the scale; and that God will not foreknow a thing as absolutely certain, which his will has determined to make contingent. A doctrine against which some solemn men have blasphemed, and philosophic infidels declaimed; but without which fate and dire necessity must be the universal governors, prayer be a useless meddling, and Providence nothing but the ineluctable adamantine chain of unchangeable events; all virtue is vice, and vice virtue, or there is no distinction between them, each being eternally determined and unalterably fixed by a sovereign and uncontrollable will and unvarying necessity, from the operation of which no soul of man can escape, and no occurrence in the universe be otherwise than it is. From such blasphemy, and from the monthly publications which avouch it, good Lord, deliver us!

GILL, "O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God,.... From whom they had revolted and backslidden; whose worship and service they had forsaken, and whose word and ordinances they had slighted and neglected, and had served idols, and had given into idolatry, superstition, and will worship; and are here exhorted to turn again to the Lord by repentance and reformation, to abandon their idols, and every false way, and cleave to the Lord with full purpose of heart; and the rather, since he was their God; not only their Creator, Preserver, and kind Benefactor, but their God, by his special choice of them above all people; by his covenant with them; by his redemption of them; and by their profession of him; and who was still their God, and ready to receive them, upon their return to him: and a thorough return is here meant, a returning "even unto" (w), or quite up to the Lord thy God; it is not a going to him halfway, but a going quite up to his seat; falling down before him, acknowledging sin and backslidings, and having hold upon him by faith as their God, Redeemer, and Saviour: hence, from the way of speaking here used, the Jews (x) have a saying, as Kimchi observes,

"great is repentance, for it brings a man to the throne of glory;''

the imperative may be here used for the future, as some take it; and then it is a prediction of the conversion of Israel, "thou shalt return, O Israel" (y); and which was in part fulfilled in the first times of the Gospel, which met with many of the Israelites dispersed among the Gentiles, and was the means of their conversion; and will have a greater accomplishment when all Israel shall be converted and saved:

for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity; or "though thou art fallen" (z); into sin, and by it into ruin, temporal and spiritual; from a state of great prosperity and happiness, both in things civil and religious, into great adversity, and calamities of every sort; yet return, repent, consider from whence thou art fallen, and by what; or thou shall return, be recovered and restored, notwithstanding thy fall, and the low estate in which thou art. The Targum is,

"return to the fear of the Lord.''

HE�RY 1-3, "I. A kind invitation given to sinners to repent, Hos_14:1. It is directed to Israel, God's professing people. They are called to return. Note, Conversion must be preached even to those that are within the pale of the church as well as to heathen. “Thou are Israel, and therefore art bound to thy God in duty, gratitude, and interest; thy revolt from him is so much the more heinous, and thy return to him so much the more necessary.” Let Israel see, 1. What work he has made for repentance: “Thou has fallen by thy iniquity.” Thou has stumbled; so some read it. Their idols were their stumbling-blocks. “Thou has fallen from God into sin, fallen off from all good, fallen down under the load of guilt and the curse.” Note, Sin is a fall; and it concerns those that have fallen by sin to get up again by repentance. 2. What work he has to do in his repentance: “Return to the Lord thy God; return to him as the Lord whom thou has a dependence upon, as thy God, thine in covenant, whom thou has an interest in.” Note, It is the great concern of those that have revolted from God to return to God, and so to do their first works. “Return to him from whom thou has fallen, and who alone is able to raise thee up. Return even to the Lord, or quite home to the Lord; do not only look to him, or take some steps towards him, but make thorough work of it.” The ancient Jews had a saying grounded on this, Repentance is a great thing, for it brings men quite up to the throne of glory.

II. Necessary instructions given them how to repent. 1. They must bethink themselves what to say to God when they come to him: Take with you words. They are required to bring, not sacrifices and offerings, but penitential prayers and supplications, the fruit of thy lips, yet not of the lips only, but of the heart, else words are but wind. One of the rabbin says, They must be such words as proceed from what is spoken first in the inner man; the heart must dictate to the tongue. We must take good words with us, by taking good thoughts and good affections with us. Verbaque praevisam rem non invita sequentur - Those who master a subject are seldom at a loss for language. Note, When we come to God we should consider what we have to say to him; for, if we come without an errand, we are likely to go without an answer. Ezr_9:10, What shall we say? We must take with us words from the scripture, take them from the Spirit of grace and supplication, who teaches us to cry, Abba, Father, and makes intercession in us. 2. They must bethink themselves what to do. They must not only take with them words, but must turn to the Lord; inwardly in their hearts, outwardly in their lives.

III. For their assistance herein, and encouragement, God is pleased to put words into their mouths, to teach them what they shall say. Surely we may hope to speed with God, when he himself has ordered our address to be drawn up ready to our hands, and his

own Spirit has indited it for us; and no doubt we shall speed if the workings of our souls agree with the words here recommended to us. They are,

1. Petitioning words. Two things we are here directed to petition for: - (1.) To be acquitted from guilt. When we return to the Lord we must say to him, Lord, take away all iniquity. They were now smarting for sin, under the load of affliction, but are taught to pray, not as Pharaoh, Take away this death, but, Take away this sin. Note, When we are in affliction we should be more concerned for the forgiveness of our sins than for the removal of our trouble. “Take away iniquity, lift it off as a burden we are ready to sink under or as the stumbling-block which we have often fallen over. Lord, take it away, that it may not appear against us, to our confusion and condemnation. Take it all away by a free and full remission, for we cannot pretend to strike any of it off by a satisfaction of our own.” When God pardons sin he pardons all, that great debt; and when we pray against sin we must pray against it all and not except any. (2.) To be accepted as righteous in God's sight: “Receive us graciously. Let us have thy favour and love, and have thou respect to us and to our performances. Receive our prayer graciously; be well pleased with that good which by thy grace we are enabled to do.” Take good (so the word is); take it to bestow upon us, so the margin reads it - Give good. This follows upon the petition for the taking away of iniquity; for, till iniquity is taken away, we have no reason to expect any good from God, but the taking away of iniquity makes way for the conferring of good removendo prohibens - by taking that out of the way which hindered. Give good; they do not say what good, but refer themselves to God; it is not good of the world's showing (Psa_4:6), but good of God's giving. “Give good, that good which we have forfeited, and which thou has promised, and which the necessity of our case calls for.” Note, God's gracious acceptance, and the blessed fruits and tokens of that acceptance, are to be earnestly desired and prayed for by us in our returning to God. “Give good, that good which will make us good and keep us from returning to iniquity again.”

2. Promising words. These also are put into their mouths, not to move God, or to oblige him to show them mercy, but to move themselves, and oblige themselves to returns of duty. Note, Our prayers for pardon and acceptance with God should be always accompanied with sincere purposes and vows of new obedience. Two things they are to promise and vow: - (1.) Thanksgiving. “Pardon our sins, and accept of us, so will we render the calves of our lips.” The fruit of our lips (so the Septuagint), a word they used for burnt-offerings, and so it agrees with the Hebrew. The apostle quotes this phrase (Heb_13:15), and by the fruit of our lips understands the sacrifice of praise to God, giving thanks to his name. Note, Praise and thanksgiving are our spiritual sacrifice, and, if they come from an upright heart, shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock,Psa_69:30, Psa_69:32. And the sense of our pardon and acceptance with God will enlarge our hearts in praise and thankfulness. Those that are received graciously may, and must, render the calves of their lips - poor returns for rich receivings, yet, if sincere, more acceptable than the calves of the stall. (2.) Amendment of life. They are taught to promise, not only verbal acknowledgements, but a real reformation. And we are taught here, [1.] In our returns to God to covenant against sin. We cannot expect that God should take it away by forgiving it if we do not put it away by forsaking it. [2.] To be particular in our covenants and resolutions against sin, as we ought to be in our confession, because deceit lies in generals. [3.] To covenant especially and expressly against those sins which we have been most subject to, which have most easily beset us, and which we have been most frequently overcome by. We must keep ourselves from, and therefore must thus fortify ourselves against, our own iniquity, Psa_18:23. The sin they here covenant against, owning thereby that they had been guilty of it, is giving that

glory to another which is due to God only; this they promise they will never do, First, By putting that confidence in creatures which should be put in God only. They will not trust to their alliances abroad: Asshur (that is, Assyria) shall not save us. “We will not court the help of the Assyrians when we are in distress, as we have done (Hos_5:13; Hos_7:11; Hos_8:9); we will not contract for it, nor will we confide in it, or depend upon it. Having a God to go to, a God all-sufficient to trust to, we scorn to be beholden to the Assyrians for help.” They will not trust to their warlike preparations at home, especially not those which they were forbidden to multiply: “We will not ride upon horses, that is, we will not make court to Egypt,” for thence they fetched their horses, Deu_17:16; Isa_30:16; Isa_31:1, Isa_31:3. “When our enemies invade us we will depend upon our God to succour our infantry, and will be in no care to remount our cavalry.” Or, “We will not post on horseback, for haste, from one creature to another, to seek relief, but will take the nearest way, and the only sure way, by addressing ourselves to God,” Isa_20:5. Note, True repentance takes us off from trusting to an arm of flesh, and brings us to rely on God only for all the good we stand in need of. Secondly, Nor will they do it by paying that homage to creatures which is due to God only. We will not say any more to the works of our hands, You are our gods. They must promise never to worship idols again, and for a good reason, because it is the most absurd and senseless thing in the world to pray to that as a god which is the work of our hands. We must promise that we will not set our hearts upon the gains of this world, nor pride ourselves in our external performances in religion, for that is, in effect, to say to the work of our hands, You are our gods.

3. Pleading words are here put into their mouths: For in thee the fatherless find mercy. We must take our encouragement in prayer, not from any merit God finds in us, but purely from the mercy we hope to find in God. This contains in itself a great truth, that God takes special care of fatherless children, Psa_68:4, Psa_68:5. So he did in his law, Exo_22:22. So he does in his providence, Psa_27:10. It is God's prerogative to help the helpless. In him there is mercy for such, for they are proper objects of mercy. In him they find it; there it is laid up for them, and there they must seek it; seek and you shall find. It comes in here as a good plea for mercy and grace and an encouraging one to their faith. (1.) They plead the distress of their state and condition: “We are fatherless orphans, destitute of help.” Those may expect to find help in God that are truly sensible of their helplessness in themselves and are willing to acknowledge it. This is a good step towards comfort. “If we have not yet boldness to call God Father, yet we look upon ourselves as fatherless without him, and therefore lay ourselves at his feet, to be looked upon by him with compassion.” (2.) They plead God's wonted lovingkindness to such as were in that condition: With thee the fatherless not only may find, but does find, and shall find, mercy. It is a great encouragement to our faith and hope, in returning to God, that it is his glory to father the fatherless and help the helpless.

JAMISO�, "Hos_14:1-9. God’s promise of blessing, on their repentance: Their abandonment of idolatry foretold: The conclusion of the whole, the just shall walk in God’s ways, but the transgressor shall fall therein.

fallen by thine iniquity — (Hos_5:5; Hos_13:9).

CALVI�, "Verse 1Here the Prophet exhorts the Israelites to repentance, and still propounds some hope of mercy. But this may seem inconsistent as he had already testified that there

would be no remedy any more, because they had extremely provoked God. The Prophet seems in this case to contradict himself. But the solution is ready at hand, and it is this, — In speaking before of the final destruction of the people, he had respect to the whole body of the people; but now he directs his discourse to the few, who had as yet remained faithful. And this distinction, as we have reminded you in other places, ought to be carefully noticed; otherwise we shall find ourselves perplexed in many parts of Scripture. We now then see for what purpose the Prophet annexed this exhortation, after having asserted that God would be implacable to the people of Israel; for with regard to the whole body, there was no hope of deliverance; God had now indeed determined to destroy them, and he wished this to be made known to them by the preaching of Hosea. But yet God had ever some seed remaining among his chosen people: though the body, as a whole, was putrid and corrupt; yet some sound members remained, as in a large heap of chaff some grains may be found concealed. As God then had preserved some (as he is wont always to do,) he sets forth to them his mercy: and as they had been carried away, as it were by a tempest, when iniquity so prevailed among the people, that there was nothing sound, the Prophet addresses them here, because they were not wholly incurable.

Let us then know that the irreclaimable, the whole body of the people, are now dismissed; for they were so obstinate that the Prophet could address them with no prospect of success. Then his sermon here ought to be especially applied to the elect of God, who, having fallen away for a time, and become entangled in the common vices of the age, were yet not altogether incurable. The Prophet now exhorts them and says Return, Israel, to Jehovah thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity This reason is added, because men will never repent unless they are made humble; and whence comes true and genuine humility, except from a sense of sin? Unless then men become displeased with themselves, and acknowledge that they are worthy of perdition, they will never be touched by a genuine feeling of penitence. These two things are then wisely joined together by Hosea, that Israel had fallen by their iniquities, and then, that it was time to return to Jehovah. How so? Because, when we are convinced that we are worthy of destruction, nays that we are already doomed to death for having so often provoked God, then we begin to hate ourselves; and a detestation of sin drives us to seek repentance.

But he says, Turn thou, Israel, to thy God The Prophet now kindly invites them; for he could not succeed by severe words without mingling a hope of favour, as we know that there can be no hope of repentance without faith. Then the Prophet not only shows what was necessary to be done, but says also, ‘Thou art Israel, thou art an elect people.’ He does not, however, as it has been already stated, address all indiscriminately, but those who were the true children of Abraham, though they had for a time degenerated. “Turn thou, Israel, then to thy God; for how much soever thou hast for a time fallen away, yet God has not rejected thee: only return to him, and thou shalt find favour, for he is placable to his own people.”

BE�SO�, ". O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God — O Israel, return now at

length, after thou hast suffered so many evils, to the Lord by true repentance and reformation of conduct. The whole family of Israel, in both its branches, seems to be here addressed. For thou hast fallen — From God’s love and favour into his displeasure, and consequently into misery, by thine iniquity — Which has involved thee in endless troubles, and will be the cause of thy destruction. Take with you words — Make your confessions, present your petitions, and signify your promises and resolutions unto God, not only in your thoughts, but also by words well chosen and digested; sanctioned by the Holy Scriptures, and agreeable to the will of God. The prophet here prescribes a form of confession, petition, and supplication very proper to be used upon their repentance and conversion. It implies in substance, Confess your sins, entreat for pardon, and promise amendment. And turn to the Lord — In heart and life, in faith, love, and new obedience, otherwise your confessions and prayers will be to little purpose. Say, Take away all iniquity, &c. —Deliver us from the guilt and power of our sins, internal and external; take entirely away the sinful principle within us, the carnal heart of the old Adam. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me; and receive us graciously —Accept our persons and performances of thy mere grace and favour, thy unmerited mercy and love. But this clause may be rendered, Give us what is good; that is, bestow thy grace and blessing upon us: or, accept the good; that is, when we are begotten again unto holiness by thy Spirit, accept, as good, what we, thus regenerated, shall be enabled to perform. So will we render the calves of our lips —That is, the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving uttered by our lips. By calling vocal devotions calves, (or bullocks, as Bishop Horsley renders the word פרים,) “is shown, that this form of supplication is prepared for those times, when animal sacrifices will be abolished, and prayer and thanksgiving will be the only offering.”

TRAPP, "Hosea 14:1 O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.

Ver. 1. O Israel, return unto the Lord] Usque ad Dominum, all the way to God, as far as to the Lord: give not the half, but the whole turn; and take it for a mercy that you are yet called upon to return, and may be received; "that yet there is hope in Israel concerning this thing," Ezra 10:2. All the former part of the prophecy had been mostly denunciations; this last chapter is wholly consolatory; the Sun of Righteousness loves not to set in a cloud.

Return unto the Lord thy God] He is yet thy God: no such argument for our turning to God as his turning to us, Zechariah 1:3. See the note there. Tantum velis et Deus tibi praeoccurret. If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat, &c. The father’s plenty brought home the prodigal; he had but a purpose to return, and his father met him, Isaiah 65:24. See Joel 2:12-13, Isaiah 55:6-7, Jeremiah 31:18, Hosea 3:5, Acts 2:38. This is the use we should make of mercy. Say not, He is my God, therefore I may presume upon him; but, he is mine, therefore I must return unto him. Argue from mercy to duty, and not to liberty, for that is the devil’s logic, which the apostle holds unreasonable, yea, to a good heart impossible, Romans 6:1-2. His mercy is bounded

with his truth, with which it therefore goes commonly coupled in Scripture. It is a sanctuary for the penitent, but not for the presumptuous.

For thou hast fallen by thine iniquity] i.e. "Consumption is decreed, yet a remnant reserved," Isaiah 10:22-23. Thou hast fallen into great calamity, and that by thine iniquity, which puts a sting into thy misery. This it is fit thou shouldst be sensible of; for conviction is the first step to conversion. But if thou art fallen, wilt thou there lie and not rise again by repentance, and return to him that smiteth thee? wilt thou not submit to his justice, and implore his mercy? Here, then, is another motive to conversion; as indeed this verse abounds with arguments to that purpose, Pareus well observeth. First, thou art a prince of God, who hath greatly graced thee above all people: return to him therefore. 2. Thou hast run away from him by thine iniquity; and turned upon him the back, and not the face: return therefore. 3. He is the author of thy being and well-being. 4. He is God, to whom thou must either turn or burn for ever: aut poenitendum, aut pereundum; he can fetch in his rebels. 5. He is thy God in covenant with thee, and will accept of pence for pounds, desires for deeds, sincerity for perfection. 6. Thou hast fallen by thine iniquity; and yet wilt fall farther, and never rise again, as Amos 8:14, if thou stop not, step not back by repentance, and stir up thyself to take hold of God.

SIMEO�, "DIRECTIO�S FOR A� ACCEPTABLE APPROACH TO GOD

Hosea 14:1-3. O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. Asshur shall not save us: we will not ride upon horses; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our Gods: for in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

FOR the encouragement of all who feel the burthen of their sins, God has declared, yea has sworn, that “he has no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live:” and the whole Scriptures bear testimony to that blessed truth. But, lest any should be discouraged by the idea that they know not how to approach him acceptably, it has pleased God to prescribe the very “words” whereby he would have them address him. And assuredly, if he had consulted all the weary and heavy-laden sinners in the universe, and had permitted them, or any individual among them, to dictate to him what expressions he should prescribe, the whole world could never have suggested any that were more suited to the necessities of men, or more satisfactory to their minds, than those recorded in our text.

In the words before us, we see, not merely our general warrant for returning to the Lord, but more particularly,

I. What petitions to offer—

[What would any one who felt the burthen of sin, and a restoration to the Divine

favour, desire? What but a full remission of all his sins, and a free communication of all spiritual and eternal blessings? He would wish for pardon to be complete; because if so much as one sin were left upon his soul, it would inevitably plunge him into everlasting perdition — — — He would also wish for his reception to be perfectly gratuitous, because he can never do any thing to merit it at the hands of God — — — Behold then, it is precisely in this way that we are directed to pray; “Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously.” And let it be remembered, that this address is not put into the mouths of those only who have contracted a less measure of guilt than others, but of all, to whatever extent “their iniquities” may have abounded, and to whatever depth they may have “fallen” by them. If only we have a desire to “return to the Lord our God,” we are the persons invited and commanded to return in this way.]

In our text, we are further told,

II. What promises to make—

We must not imagine that we can make to God any adequate return for his mercies towards us; nor must we presume to offer any thing to him as an inducement to exercise mercy towards us: nor in any point of view whatever must we promise any thing in our own strength. But his mercies undoubtedly call for the best return that we can make; and they lay us under an obligation to do our utmost to please and serve him. Whatever tribute we can render to him, we should: and he here tells us what he will accept at our hands, namely, the tribute of,

1. A grateful heart—

[The blood of bulls or “calves” is no longer required of us: there are other and better sacrifices which he expects us to offer, namely, “the calves of our lips,” or the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving [�ote: Psalms 50:13-14; Psalms 50:23.]. And these are the offerings which all who are looking to him for mercy desire to offer. In fact, the more any persons are bowed down with a sense of sin, the more they are ready to say, ‘How shall I praise God, if ever I should obtain mercy at his hands! If ever God should admit me to a participation of his kingdom and glory, there will not be one in heaven that will shout the praises of redeeming love so loud as I.’ This tribute therefore the pardoned sinner will delight to pay — — —]

2. A devoted life—

[To turn from sin, and especially from our besetting sins, is indispensably required of all who seek for mercy at God’s hands [�ote: Hebrews 12:1.] — — — The besetting sins of Israel were, creature-confidence, and idolatry: they were always looking to Egypt or Assyria for help, rather than to God; and giving to dumb idols the worship that was due to him alone. These evils therefore they were to renounce; and an engagement to renounce them was required of all who desired the remission of their former sins. Thus, in approaching the Most High God, and supplicating mercy from him, we should determine, with God’s help, never more to provoke the

Lord to jealousy by a renewal of those sins of which we profess to have repented. Our besetting sins in particular must be searched out: and whatever they may have been, whether of a spiritual or carnal nature, we must engage, through grace, to mortify and subdue them — — — We must engage, in dependence upon God, to “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”]

As great earnestness is required in our prayers, we are taught,

III. What pleas to urge—

[God indeed is not, nor can be, wrought upon by any considerations that we can propose: but for the stirring up of our own souls it is proper and necessary that we should enforce our petitions with becoming pleas. But where shall we find any consideration fit to be presented to the Deity? �o where, but in his own perfections, or in his gracious promises. Here however we are at no loss: the compassions of our God are infinite; and may well be pleaded by those who feel their need of mercy. “In him the fatherless findeth mercy:” in him, too, the guilty, as well as the destitute, find mercy. Search the records of his word; and this truth will be seen written as with a sun-beam. Mark that stupendous effort of mercy, the gift of his only dear Son to the accursed death of the cross! Mark the invitations, the promises, the expostulations, the complaints; “Wilt thou not be made clean? O! when shall it once be?” Mark these, I say; and they form such a plea, as must satisfy the most doubting mind, and turn to transports of joy the apprehensions of every desponding soul —— —]

Address—

1. o those who refuse to turn to God—

[Alas! how many turn a deaf ear to the solicitations of heaven! “How often would the Saviour gather us under his wings, and we will not?” But, if you will not turn at God’s reproof, what will ye answer him in the day when he shall judge the world? Low as “ye are fallen,” he now is willing to raise you up: but all possibility of recovery will then be past; and you will sink yet lower still, even into the bottomless abyss of misery. “O consider this, ye that forget God; lest he tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver you.”]

2. To those who are beginning to return—

[Mind that you return in his appointed way. Seek not merely a deliverance from wrath, but a restoration to the state from whence ye are fallen. Look back on man in his primeval state, and see how Adam walked with God in Paradise: that is the pattern that you should endeavour to follow, and the standard to which you should aspire. Or, if he be too far removed from your apprehensions, look at the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, and see how he walked in the midst of this ungodly world: and endeavour to “walk as he walked.” For the remission of your sins, and your

restoration to the Divine favour, let the mercy of God in Christ Jesus be your only plea, your only hope: and, for the honouring of your reconciled God, let the sacrifice of praise be continually offered to him on the altar of your hearts, and every defilement be banished without hesitation or reserve. Thus coming to him, you shall never be cast out; but shall surely be received to a participation of his favour, and to a possession of his glory.]

PETT, "‘O Israel, return to YHWH your God, for you have fallen by your iniquity.’Hosea’s initial call is for Israel to return to YHWH their God from the iniquity (inherent wickedness, total disloyalty) into which they have fallen (see Hosea 4:8; Hosea 5:5; Hosea 7:1; Hosea 8:13; Hosea 9:7; Hosea 9:9; Hosea 13:12). The need for Israel to ‘return’ has been consistently made clear throughout the prophecy (Hosea 2:7; Hosea 2:9; Hosea 3:5; Hosea 5:4; Hosea 6:1; Hosea 7:10; Hosea 7:16; Hosea 11:5; Hosea 12:6), and is mentioned four times in this chapter (Hosea 14:1-2; Hosea 14:4; Hosea 14:7). The idea of ‘returning to YHWH’ comes initially from Deuteronomy 1:45; Deuteronomy 30:2; Deuteronomy 30:8. Once they have been carried off into exile it is the message that he wants them to carry with them. It will be a reminder to them that God had not finally finished with them, but that any return could only be on condition of full repentance and a recognition of Him in His uniqueness as Saviour, Deliverer and Covenant God, rather than as a figure to be manipulated through ritual. He is ‘YHWH their God’, the One Who is revealed to them in their ancient records as the Deliverer from Egypt (Hosea 12:9; Hosea 12:13; Hosea 13:4), the God of Sinai, the Only Saviour (Hosea 13:4), and the Upholder of the Davidic dynasty (Hosea 1:11; Hosea 3:5; Hosea 8:4; Hosea 13:11). And it is to Him in this capacity that they must return (Hosea 3:5).

Verses 1-9Israel Are Called On To Return To YHWH With The Assurance That When They Do So YHWH Will Restore Them And Love Them Freely, And They Then Learn Of All The Good Things That He Has In Store For Them As A Result(Hosea 14:1-9).

YHWH’s terms for His people’s return to Him are now clearly laid out. They include a call from them to return to Him and to be forgiven, and an assurance that they will no more look to Assyria, or to their military arms, or to their idols. And once they do this YHWH assures them that He will heal their backslidings and love them freely, because His anger will be turned away from them.

Once this is so He will water them with His dew, so that they will blossom and flourish, and the result will be that those who live under the new Israel’s protecting shadow will also revive and blossom and flourish. They will repudiate idols, and walk in the right ways of the Lord. Comparison can be made with Hosea 6:1-3 where the same principles are in mind.

Hosea has, however, previously made clear that this would in practise not happen until Israel had suffered the chastening of exile., and these words may well have been spoken in the last days of Israel before Samaria was finally destroyed offering

hope for the future, but only once they had undergone their chastening.

Analysis of Hosea 14:1-9.

a O Israel, return to YHWH your God, for you have fallen by your iniquity (Hosea 14:1).b Take with you words, and return to YHWH. Say to him, “Take away all iniquity, and accept what is good, so will we render as bullocks the offering of our lips (Hosea 14:2).c Assyria will not save us, we will not ride on horses, nor will we say any more to the work of our hands, “Our gods”, for in you the fatherless find mercy (Hosea 14:3).d I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for my anger is turned away from him (Hosea 14:3).e I will be as the dew to Israel, he will blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches will spread, and his beauty will be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon (Hosea 14:4-6).d Those who dwell under his shadow will return, they will revive as the grain, and blossom as the vine, their scent will be as the wine of Lebanon (Hosea 14:7).c Ephraim will say, “What have I to do any more with idols? I have answered, and will regard him. I am like a green fir-tree, from me is your fruit found.” (Hosea 14:8).b Who is wise, that he may understand these things? Prudent, that he may know them? (Hosea 14:9 a)a For the ways of YHWH are right, and the righteous will walk in them, but transgressors will fall in them (Hosea 14:9 b).�ote that in ‘a’ Israel have fallen by their iniquity, and in the parallel transgressors will fall in the ways of YHWH. In ‘b’ they are to come to YHWH with words indicating that they will no longer look elsewhere than YHWH, and in the parallel they are asked who is wise to understand, and prudent to know such things. In ‘c’ they will no more call the work of their hands gods, and in the parallel they will ask what they have more to do with idols. In ‘d’ YHWH will heal their backsliding and love them freely, and in the parallel they will return to YHWH and will revive and blossom Centrally in ‘e’ they will flourish under the effects of YHWH’s dew.

K&D 1-3, "After the prophet has set before the sinful nation in various ways its own guilt, and the punishment that awaits it, viz., the destruction of the kingdom, he concludes his addresses with a call to thorough conversion to the Lord, and the promise that the Lord will bestow His grace once more upon those who turn to Him, and will bless them abundantly (Hos_14:1-8). Hos_14:1. (Heb. Bib. v. 2). “Return, O Israel, to Jehovah thy God; for thou hast stumbled through thy guilt.Hos_14:2. Take with you words, and turn to Jehovah; say ye to Him, Forgive all guilt, and accept what is good, that we may offer our lips as bullocks.Hos_14:3. Asshur will not help us: we will not ride upon horses, nor say 'Our God' any more to the manufacture of our own hands; for with Thee the orphan findeth compassion.” There is no salvation for fallen man without return to God. It is therefore with a call to return to the Lord their God, that the prophet opens the announcement of the salvation with which the Lord will bless His people, whom He has brought to reflection by means of the judgment (cf. Deu_4:30;

Deu_30:1.). שוב�עד�יי, to return, to be converted to the Lord, denotes complete

conversion; שוב�אל is, strictly speaking, simply to turn towards God, to direct heart and

mind towards Him. By kâshaltâ sin is represented as a false step, which still leaves it possible to return; so that in a call to conversion it is very appropriately chosen. But if the conversion is to be of the right kind, it must begin with a prayer for the forgiveness of sin, and attest itself by the renunciation of earthly help and simple trust in the mercy of God. Israel is to draw near to God in this state of mind. “Take with you words,” i.e., do not appear before the Lord empty (Exo_23:15; Exo_34:20); but for this ye do not require outward sacrifices, but simply words, sc. those of confession of your guilt, as the Chaldee has correctly explained it. The correctness of this explanation is evident from

the confession of sin which follows, with which they are to come before God. In �ל־��א�עון

, the position of col at the head of the sentence may be accounted for from the emphasis

that rests upon it, and the separation of ‛âvōn, from the fact that col was beginning to acquire more of the force of an adjective, like our all (thus 2Sa_1:9; Job_27:3 : cf. Ewald,

§289, a; Ges. §114, 3, Anm. 1). Qach�tōbh means neither “accept goodness,” i.e., let

goodness be shown thee (Hitzig), nor “take it as good,” sc. that we pray (Grotius, Ros.); but in the closest connection with what proceeds: Accept the only good thing that we are able to bring, viz., the sacrifices of our lips. Jerome has given the correct interpretation, viz.: “For unless Thou hadst borne away our evil things, we could not possibly have the good thing which we offer Thee;” according to that which is written elsewhere (Psa_

37:27), “Turn from evil, and do good.” ונש,מה ... שפתינו, literally, “we will repay (pay) as young oxen our lips,” i.e., present the prayers of our lips as thank-offerings. The

expression is to be explained from the fact that shillēm, to wipe off what is owing, to pay,

is a technical term, applied to the sacrifice offered in fulfilment of a vow (Deu_23:22;

Psa_22:26; Psa_50:14, etc.), and that pârı3m, young oxen, were the best animals for

thank-offerings (Exo_24:5). As such thank-offerings, i.e., in the place of the best animal sacrifices, they would offer their lips, i.e., their prayers, to God (cf. Psa_51:17-19; Psa_

69:31-32). In the Sept. rendering, 4ποδώσοµεν�καρπ@ν�χείλεων, to which there is an

allusion in Heb_13:15, ריםG has been confounded with ריG, as Jerome has already

observed. but turning to God requires renunciation of the world, of its power, and of all idolatry. Rebellious Israel placed its reliance upon Assyria and Egypt (Hos_5:13; Hos_7:11; Hos_8:9). It will do this no longer. The riding upon horses refers partly to the military force of Egypt (Isa_31:1), and partly to their own (Hos_1:7; Isa_2:7). For the expression, “neither will we say to the work of our hands,” compare Isa_42:17; Isa_

not “Thou with whom,” but “for with Thee” ('ăsher as in Deu_3:24). The ,אשר�Iך� .44:17thought, “with Thee the orphan findeth compassion,” as God promises in His word (Exo_22:22; Deu_10:18), serves not only as a reason for the resolution no longer to call the manufacture of their own hands God, but generally for the whole of the penitential prayer, which they are encouraged to offer by the compassionate nature of God. In response to such a penitential prayer, the Lord will heal all His people's wounds, and bestow upon them once more the fulness of the blessings of His grace. The prophet announces this in Isa_44:4-8 as the answer from the Lord.

SBC, "While the freeness of God’s mercy is the leading idea suggested by these words, it

is not the only one; on the contrary, the condition of our nature is accurately expressed, as is the mode by which alone it can be ameliorated.

I. Consider, first, the state into which man has brought himself. There are few things more important, whether we view mankind collectively or individually, than the fastening on the sinner all the blame of his sin. God may invite the prodigal to return, but God has nothing to do with his wandering away into the desert. Thou hast not fallen through an inherent inability to stand; He has so constituted thee that thou mightest have stood. Thou hast not fallen through the ground being slippery, and thick-set with snares; He placed thee where thy footing was firm, and thy pathway direct. Upon man himself come home wholly all the effects of the fall. In whatever degree there may be a necessity of sinning, in no degree is there a necessity of perishing. God places no man in such a moral condition that his falling into perdition is unavoidable. Let a man have once heard of Christ, and from that moment forward salvation is within arm’s length of this man. Is he willing to be saved? Then he may be saved. Is he unwilling? Then, at least, he perishes by his own choice; and our righteous, and merciful, and redeeming God is clear in judgment when He leaves the obdurate one to the fruit of his own folly.

II. Observe the mode of deliverance, as it may be gathered from the invitation: "O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God." (1) The fall did not do away with God’s claim on man. Man could not cease to belong to God as a creature, when man had given himself to Satan; and this important fact is assumed, if not asserted, in the words of our text. The party addressed is the fallen, but the party addressing is still the Lord his God. Disobedience has removed man from the centre to the outskirts of the universe, but in one great sense it could not remove him from God, "who is that infinite sphere," as expressed by an old writer, "whose centre is everywhere, and circumference nowhere." (2) We gather an inference of consolation from the fact that thou, "Israel, hast fallen by thine iniquity." There is the groundwork of hope, that God will yet look mercifully upon us and restore us, seeing that, notwithstanding our alienation, He is still our God. The message, "Return unto the Lord thy God," is full of consolation, because it invites us to the Being from whom all our rebellion has not been able to divide us. (3) That which God invites us to do must be possible for us to do. If God calls on us to return we are not at liberty to question that there lies no impossibility against our returning. Now this assumes two things: (i) that God has removed all existing obstacles: (ii) that He bestows all requisite assistance in the performance of it.

H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2143.

Hosea 14:1-2

How to return to God.

I. The first act of the awakened soul is usually an act of prayer, and it is most natural, and indeed most proper, that it should be so. The very act of expressing our need has a tendency both to bring about clearer views of what it is that we need, and to intensify our desire. Inward silence and reserve tend to benumb the faculties and to check the rising desires of the soul, when the outpouring of earnest supplication seems to stir us to our inmost depths.

II. Notice the urgency of this utterance, which God’s love puts as it were in our mouths. There is only one kind of prayer that is at all appropriate in the lips of an awakened

sinner, who finds himself without God in the world, but who desires to arise and go to His Father: and that is the urgent, specific entreaty for present forgiveness and salvation.

III. The divinely suggested utterance of our text is not only an urgent prayer, but it is also the expression of a distinct change in our moral attitude towards God. It marks the end of the life of aversion from God, and the beginning of a true conversion to God. "Take with you words" says the voice of Heavenly Love, "and turn unto the Lord." Let there be a distinct reversal of your former attitude of independence and alienation.

IV. When thus with all our hearts we truly seek Him, it will not be long before we become aware of something that seems at first to rise like a barrier between Him and us, shutting us off from all contact with Him. What about our sins? This experience is evidently foreseen in our text, where we have a most definite and specific request for an immediate and most necessary benefit. There stands the barrier, and nothing can be done until it is removed; and so the Father’s love bids us pray, "Take away all iniquity."

When this fatal barrier is removed, then is the way clear and open to the Father’s house; and may we not say into the Father’s arms? "Receive us graciously." We need not fear going home to God. Their are no taunts on His lips, no frown on His brow; only infinite tenderness in His heart. He is too great to be otherwise than gracious; He has done too much to open up the new and living way not to be ready to welcome us home when at length we do come.

W. Hay Aitken, The Mission Pulpit, No. 72.

BI, "O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God.

Man’s evil estate, and hope of deliverance

While the freeness of God’s mercy is the leading idea suggested by the text, it is not the only one: the condition of our nature is accurately expressed, as is the mode by which alone it can be ameliorated.

I. The state into which man has brought himself. There are few things more important than the fastening on the sinner all the blame of his sin. Adam might have obeyed the simple injunction, and, holding on his probation, might have won for himself and his descendants a hereafter fenced up against the spoiler. God foreknew that Adam would transgress, and prepared for the contingency. We can see that if there had been no ruin there could have been no restoration. The work of redemption takes, of course, for granted the apostasy of our race. On Adam must be fastened all the blame of his transgression. There was no extenuating plea which the offender could in justice have urged. The blame of the fall belongs individually to man. Thou hast not fallen through an inherent inability to stand; He has so constituted thee that thou mightest have stood. Thou hast not fallen through the ground being slippery, and thick-set with snares. He placed thee where thy footing was firm, and thy pathway direct. So that upon man himself comes home wholly all the effect of the fall. We argue from this the unqualified gratuitousness of God’s interposition on man’s behalf. In whatever degree there may be a necessity of sinning, in no degree is there a necessity of perishing. God places no man in such a moral condition that our falling into perdition is unavoidable. Let a man have once heard of Christ, and from that moment forward salvation is within arm’s length of this man. Man can have no right to take off the burthen of responsibilities and cast it on the secret decrees of his Maker.

II. The mode of man’s deliverance. “Return unto the Lord thy God.” It comes not within our power to destroy or diminish God’s title to our service. The fall did not do away with God’s claim on man. Some teach that God proportions His demands to our impaired capacities, and will be satisfied with the honest endeavour, seeing that we cannot come up to the thorough performance. But this is making God answerable for the apostasy of man. We may, however, gather an inference of consolation as well as one of admonition. There is the groundwork of hope, that God will yet look mercifully upon us, and restore us, seeing that, notwithstanding our alienation, He is still our God. Man of himself hath no power to turn unto God; but since God invites, He surely enables. He bestows all requisite assistance, and a clear pathway has been made. (H. Melvill, B. D.)

On repentance

In the history of the children of Israel we see the perverseness and ingratitude of man, and the forbearance and goodness of God. Israel’s sins were peculiarly aggravated by their having been committed after repeated and wonderful deliverances, after signal chastisements and mercies. At the period of Hosea’s prophecy Israel’s continued rebellion against God had nearly exhausted His patience toward that people. Though these words were primarily addressed to Israel, we shall consider them—

I. As conveying a gracious exhortation to all sinners to “return unto the lord.”

1. We must “return unto the Lord” with consideration. “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways.”

2. With weeping and supplication. A proper review of our past follies and perverse wanderings, and of God’s mercies and patience towards us, will produce sorrow of heart, will cause tears of compunction to flow.

3. With humility. Our lofty imaginations and high opinion of ourselves must be brought low.

4. Through the Mediator. We cannot expect to find mercy unless, we seek mercy through Christ. Of this righteousness, not our own, we must make mention.

5. Without delay. This may be urged from the shortness and uncertainty of life, and from the greatness of the work which we have to do.

II. As declaring the reasonableness of the exhortation. “For thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.” The text is applicable to the case of backsliders who have fallen from their steadfastness. But all mankind have fallen from God. Adam fell, and in him fell all his posterity.

1. Man is fallen from the favour of God, and is under the displeasure of God.

2. Man is fallen under the dominion of sin and the curse of the law.

3. Man is fallen into the snares and power of the devil.

4. Man, if not recovered by Divine grace, will at last fall into the bottomless pit.

Apply to those who are still in their fallen state, and are wandering from God.

1. Yield to the solemn and affecting truth that you have fallen by your iniquity, and let this truth stir you up to inquire with solicitude, “What must I do to be saved?”

2. Listen to God’s gracious invitation, and believe His willingness to receive you.

3. Contemplate what has been done to accomplish the great work of your redemption.

4. Consider the awful doom of the finally impenitent transgressor. (E. Edwards.)

Repentance as return

The Divine love is content with nothing less than return. And nothing less and nothing else will give safety. There must not only be a cessation of the present journey, but a definite and conclusive retracement of the steps. What the prophet sighs for, and what his God so earnestly commands, is not the mere inactive terror of proceeding onwards when the fiery abyss stretches to the view, nor the attempt, while that terror lasts, to breathe a hasty vow or utter a disordered prayer. What the Divine love insists on is a decided and complete retreat, such as when, conscious of peril and aware of only one refuge, and that in God, he eagerly seeks Him with the whole heart. “I will arise and go to my Father” is his earnest and practical resolution. (John Eadie, D. D. , LL. D.)

A message to backsliding Israel

I. The lord’s address unto His backsliding ones. “O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God.” God glorifies His sanctifying grace in some, and His pardoning grace in others. Let the children of God be in what state they may, as it respects their acts of grace or sin, this makes no alteration in the Lord’s love unto them. As they have the body of sin and death dwelling within them, there is a continual propensity in their fallen natures, to slide into themselves, and to backslide from the Lord Jesus Christ. Israel’s case was extreme. Be could not return unto the Lord by any strength of his own. He must be fallen by his iniquity into a state and kind of desperation. This was the fruit of his iniquity. It is the Lord Himself who here speaks. He does so in the language of commiseration. From these words what an infinity of grace and blessed encouragement may be derived, so as to encourage the people of the Lord to trust and hope in Him. None but backsliders know and feel the sorrows which arise from the same.

II. One substantial reason for the return of backsliding Israel to God. “O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God.” It lies in their relation to Him, and His relation to them. All sin is the effect of unbelief. Every act of departure from the Lord is the fruit of it; let it be mental, or let it be open and manifest. Backsliders need great encouragement, even from the Lord Himself, to return to Him. He is pleased to give it them. The interest the Lord God hath in His people can never be broken in upon, neither can their interest in Him ever be impaired or cease. It is always the same on both sides. The intercourse between the Lord and His people may be interrupted. But God is immutable in His love and mercy.

III. The reason made use of to hasten God’s people’s return to Him. “Thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.” The mercy of God in Christ Jesus exceeds the very uttermost of our minds to receive any adequate ideas of. Guilt in the conscience produces fear in the heart; so long as we indulge the same it weakens our faith and keeps us from Christ. (Samuel Eyles Pierce.)

A call to repentant return

In Hosea’s days idolatry was first universally set up and countenanced by regal power. Here we have—

I. An exhortation to repentance, with the motives enforcing the same. Every word hath its weight, and in a manner is an argument to enforce this returning. “Israel” is a word of covenant. Return unto the “Lord Jehovah,” who is the chief good, the fountain of all good. “Thy” God in covenant, who will make good His gracious covenant unto thee. Thou hast fallen by thine iniquity; thine own inventions have brought these miseries upon thee, and none but God can help thee out of these miseries. God comes not as a sudden storm upon His people, but gives them warning before He smites them. He is a God of long-suffering, and has a special regard to His own children. Another point—

II. The best provision for preventing of destruction is spiritual means. Of all spiritual means the best is, to return to the Lord. In this returning there must be a stop. To make this stop there must be examination and consideration, humiliation and displeasure against ourselves, judging and taking revenge of ourselves, for our ways and courses. There must be a resolution to overcome impediments. In the original it is a very emphatic, “Return even to Jehovah.” Do not only begin to return, but so return as you never cease coming till you come to Jehovah. Where there is a falling into sin there will be a falling into misery and judgment. The cause of every man’s misery is his own sin. Then take heed of sin. Pray to God to make our way plain before us, and not to lead us into temptation. “Take with you words.” They who would have help and comfort against all sins and sorrows must come to God with words of prayer. Barrenness and want of words to go unto God are blameworthy. This is for consolation: if they can take words, and can pray well, they shall speed well. (R. Sibbes, D. D.)

Sin separates from God

You may sometimes see in the ocean a pile of rock rising steeply to a considerable height, and having on it here and there, where a patch of soil covers it, the remains of what was once a luxuriant vegetation. If you examine it, and also the mainland a few furlongs off, you will come to the conclusion that they were at one time, now long gone by, united together. They have become separated by the action of the sea. At first there was but a small inlet, scarcely large enough for a single boat to anchor in; this was gradually enlarged by the incessant beating of the surf until it became a broad bay, and at last the sea, striking with more and more force upon the cliffs every year, cut its way completely through, and now what was once part of the mainland is but a solitary and desolate isle. One of the most direct and appalling effects of sin is the breach which it makes between the human heart and God. Man is made in the likeness of God; he is an offspring of the Divine thought and love; he is endowed with the same moral and spiritual capacities as those which God Himself possesses; but let sin be suffered to find an entrance into his heart, and, like the gnawing, devouring, destructive sea, it will eat away all the holy and sacred ties which bind his:heart to God, and cut him off from God, and leave him inwardly lonely and desolate. (B. Wilkinson, F. G. S.)

How to return to an earnest Christian life

As long as the bright summer sun shines into the forest glades the fungus has no chance to flourish; but when the sunshine wanes, in the months of autumn, the woods are filled with these strange products of decay. It is because we drift from God that our lives are

the prey to numberless and nameless ills. Make the best of all new starts, and returning to the more earnest habits of earlier days, or beginning them from now, give yourself to God, believing that He will receive and welcome you, without a word of remonstrance or a moment of interval. Form habits of morning and evening prayer; especially in the morning get time for deep communion with God, waiting at His footstool, or in the perusal of the Bible, till He speaks to you. Take up again your habits of attendance at the house of God: in the morning and the evening go with the multitude that, with the voice of praise, keeps holy-day, and in the afternoon find some niche of the Christian service, in your home or elsewhere. Then, inasmuch as you do not wish to be a slip-carriage, which, when the couplings are unfastened, runs for a little behind the express, but gets slower and slower till it comes to a stand, ask the grace of the Holy Spirit to confirm these holy desires, keeping you true to them, causing you to be steadfast, immovable, and set on maintaining life on a higher level. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)

God always watching for our return

Bianconi, the introducer of the car system in Ireland, on leaving his home in Italy, found his most trying leave-taking in separating from his mother. She fainted as he left her. Her last words were words which he never forgot: “When you remember me, think” of me as waiting at this window watching for your return.” We may think of God in the same way if we have departed from Him at all. In spite of all our faults, all our sins, He is always watching for our return, for “His mercy endureth for ever.”

For thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.

Our fall by sin

The sight of fallen greatness is exceedingly affecting to the mind of a thoughtful man, and excites inquiries concerning the cause or causes of it. The prophet looked on the kingdom of Israel fallen from its past strength and honour, and declares the cause of the fall to be—iniquity.

I. The fall by sin is the most grievous in human experience.

1. The fall by sin is from the highest relationships the soul can enjoy. No relationships, how distinguished and valued soever, can equal those of God, There are none so essential to the soul’s good and safety. Without holiness no true relationship with Him can be sustained.

2. The fall by sin is from life’s great purpose. Short as life is, it has a great mission to fulfil. Eternal life has to be secured. The world’s truest good has to be promoted. Sin causes a lamentable failure.

3. The fall by sin is a loss of truest power. A right life wields a great influence. No power can be compared with that of a holy character. This power is lost by sin.

4. The fall by sin is from truest content of soul. The hallowed quiet and peace depart. Painful misgivings and pangs of remorse tear the breast. The consciousness of guilt prevents the light and joy of hope.

II. This fall is the inevitable result of sin. The course of sin is the act of man’s free will. But if he choose the path he cannot escape the ruin.

1. The path of sin leads to ruin.

(1) The pleasures of the way cannot avert the consequences.

(2) The fall may be delayed, but it will come.

2. None can pursue the path of sin and escape the ruin. The individual cannot; the Church cannot; the nation cannot.

III. For this fall man himself is responsible. He falls by his own iniquity,

1. None can compel another to sin.

2. As none can compel another to sin, so none can compel his fall.

Apply—

1. Sin with such power and consequences should have our intensest hate, and should be guarded against.

2. He who is fallen should forsake his sin, and seek mercy and grace from God. God’s mercy can cover the past, and His grace can sanctify and secure the future. (Rombeth.)

Message to the remnant

So the admonition of Hosea has ended, and the note of destruction has been sounded. It only remains to look for a remnant out of the fallen nation, which by repentance and faithfulness may plead with God for their own rescue if not for the nation’s restoration. Hope, unwilling to be quenched in the pious patriarch’s breast, suggests words of returning to God, to relinquishment of human politics, and reliance on His faithfulness. To such a remnant, be it small or great, the everlasting mercy of God offers out of the jaws of ruin, as out of death and the grave, the possibility of return to Him who is not afar from every one of us. If there are any that will understand, let them not charge their Maker with folly. He has dealt justly by sinful Israel, and will deal mercifully with all men repentant. (Rowland Williams, D. D.)

God’s call to the fallen

God seems to find an argument in the very fact of our fall. He is moved with compassion at the spectacle. He sees from what a height to what a depth man has fallen.

1. The call to return implies that we had wandered away. Our fall has indeed been occasioned by our wandering. All sin originates in the apostasy of the human heart from God. Sin would never have entered human hearts, and defiled the lives of men, if man had been true to his primal relations with God. As with the race, so with the individual. Moral deterioration and corruption naturally and necessarily ensue from the apostasy of the soul from God. Evil works naturally flow from the corrupt condition. The fallen soul not only loses contact and fellowship with God, but comes under the influence of a certain feeling of aversion, and almost of antipathy, towards God which leads him to shrink from the very thought of God. The apostate man is fallen not only in position, but in character. Innocence has been forfeited instead of being developed, and sin reigns where moral beauty should be crowned. Man needs no revelation to convince him of his fall. He alone of all the animals fails to live up to his own proper ideal, and violates in many cases systematically the laws of his own nature. Fallen in position and character, he is fallen in conduct also. Then the first

thing needful for the fallen and falling is to return to God. He who invites us wants us to come back to Him. (W. Hay Aitken, M. A.)

NISBET, "COME BACK! COME BACK!

Hosea 14:1

All sin is departing from God. Holiness is living near to God. The first thing a sinner has got to do is to return. Repentance is returning to God. How is a sinner to return? God in His infinite mercy and condescension has given to us a form of prayer, an inspired litany of repentance—which may be used by every repentant sinner. There are five petitions in this inspired litany of repentance.

I. Take away all iniquity.—The first thing is deliverance from sin, not from punishment. Though all desire to escape punishment, all do not wish to be freed from sin. Take away all iniquity. Some are apt to pray, Take away all iniquity—except that trick of trade, that habit of mine, that friendship. Others, like Augustine, pray, Lord save me—but not yet. We cannot break away from sin of ourselves. God can help us to do it. He can take it away, and He will, if we come with this petition to Him in sincerity.

II. Receive us graciously.—Receive us into Thy favour. We are in disgrace. In disgrace with God, what wretchedness it brings! A mother who had great power in her eye, looked her disapproval of some wrong act. ‘Mother,’ said her child, ‘punish me, but don’t look at me like that.’ What kind of sinners said this prayer? (see Hosea 4). How can God receive us graciously? Hosea does not tell us, but St. Paul does. ‘He hath made Him to be sin for us Who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.’ For Christ’s sake He receives us graciously.

III. So will we render the calves of our lips.—Calves of our lips means sacrifices of our lips. ‘As long as we live we will praise Thy Name.’ The sinner does not merely wish to get off, but to live to this praise. If only sin is forgiven, he will praise God as long as he lives.

IV. Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses, etc.—This, rendered in twentieth century language, means, We will renounce all trust in an arm of flesh. We must not trust to anything we can do ourselves. So many trust in what they can do, instead of Christ. Prayers, tears, religious ordinances, won’t save us.

‘Nothing in my hand I bring,

Simply to Thy Cross I cling.’

V. For in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy.—This is a beautiful finish to the prayer. I’m your Father. Who so fatherless as he who has gone away from God! Though the prodigal son, I’m your Father. ‘When his father saw him he had compassion upon him, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.’ To all who use this litany of repentance, the promise is given, ‘I will heal their back-sliding. I will love them freely, for Mine anger is turned away from him.’

PULPIT, "The foregoing part of this book abounds with denunciations of punishment; this closing chapter superabounds with promises of pardon. Wave after wave of threatened wrath had rolled over Israel and come in unto their soul; now offer after offer of grace is made to them. O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God. The invitation to return implies previous departure, or distance, or wandering from God. The return to which they are invited is expressed, not by אל, to or towards, but by ער, quite up to, or as far as right home; the penitent, therefore, is not merely to turn his mind or his face toward God, but to turn his face and his feet home to God; he is not to go half the way and then turn aside, or part of the way and then turn back, but the whole way; in other words, his repentance is to be complete and entire, wanting nothing, according to the state merit of the psalmist, "It is good for me to draw near to God." As punishment was threatened in case of obstinate impenitence, so mercy is promised on condition of thorough repentance. For thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. A reason is here assigned for the preceding invitation; kashalta is properly "thou hast stumbled," "made a false step," fallen, yet so that recovery was among future possibilities. The same thought may be included in the fact that Jehovah continues to call his erring people by the honored and honorable name of Israel, and to acknowledge himself their God. Further, many and grievous were the calamities into which by their fall they had been precipitated; neither were any to blame but themselves—their iniquity or their folly was the cause, nor was there any one to lift them up, now that they lay prostrate, save Jehovah. After referring to the desolation of Samaria and the ruthless destruction of its inhabitants, as portrayed in the last verse of the previous chapter, Jerome adds, "All Israel is invited to repentance, that he who has been debilitated, or has fallen headlong in his iniquities, may return to the physician and recover health, or that he who had fallen headlong may begin to stand." The penitent is to direct his thoughts to Jehovah; to him as Center he is attracted, and in him he finds his place of rest; nor is there ether means of recovery or source of help. Thus Kimchi says, "For thou seest that through thine iniquity thou hast fallen, therefore it behooves thee to return to Jehovah, as nothing besides can raise thee from thy fall but thy return to him." "There is none," says Aben Ezra, "can raise thee from thy fall but the Eternal alone."

MACLAREN, "ISRAEL RETURNING

Hosea is eminently the prophet of divine love and of human repentance. Both streams of thought are at their fullest in this great chapter. In Hos_14:1-3 the very essence of true return to God is set forth in the prayer which Israel is exhorted to offer, while in Hos_14:4-8 the forgiving love of God and its blessed results are portrayed with equal poetical beauty and spiritual force. Hos_14:9 closes the chapter and the book with a kind of epilogue.

I. The summons to repentance.

‘Israel,’ of course, here means the Northern Kingdom, with which Hosea’s prophecies are chiefly occupied. ‘Thou hast fallen by thine iniquity’-that is the lesson taught by all its history, and in a deeper sense it is the lesson of all experience. Sin brings ruin for nations and individuals, and the plain teachings of each man’s own life exhort each to ‘return unto the Lord.’ We have all proved the vanity and misery of departing from Him; surely, if we are not drawn by His love, we might be driven by our own unrest, to go back to God.

The Prophet anticipates the clear accents of the New Testament call to repentance in his expansion of what he meant by returning. He has nothing to say about sacrifices, nor

about self-reliant efforts at moral improvement. ‘Take with you words,’ not ‘the blood of bulls and goats.’ Confession is better than sacrifice. What words are they which will avail? Hosea teaches the penitent’s prayer. It must begin with the petition for forgiveness, which implies recognition of the petitioner’s sin. The cry, ‘Take away all iniquity,’ does not specify sins, but masses the whole black catalogue into one word. However varied the forms of our transgressions, they are in principle one, and it is best to bind them all into one ugly heap, and lay it at God’s feet. We have to confess not only sins, but sin, and the taking away of it includes divine cleansing from its power, as well as divine forgiveness of its guilt. Hosea bids Israel ask that God would take away all iniquity; John pointed to ‘the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ But beyond forgiveness and cleansing, the penitent heart will seek that God would ‘accept the good’ in it, which springs up by His grace, when the evil has been washed from it, like flowers that burst from soil off which the matted under-growth of poisonous jungle has been cleared. Mere negative absence of ‘evil’ is not all that we should desire or exhibit; there must be positive good; and however sinful may have been the past, we are not too bold when we ask and expect that we may be made able to produce ‘good,’ which shall be fragrant as sweet incense to God.

Petitions are followed by vows. On the one hand, the experience of forgiveness and cleansing will put a new song in our mouths, and instead of animal sacrifices, we shall render the praise which is better than ‘calves’ laid on the altar. Perhaps the Septuagint rendering of that difficult phrase ‘the calves of our lips,’ which is given in Heb_13:15, ‘the fruit of our lips,’ is preferable. In either case, the same thought appears-that the penitent’s experience of forgiving and restoring love makes ‘the tongue of the dumb sing,’ and it will bind men’s hearts more closely to God than anything besides can do, so that their old inclinations to false reliances and idolatries drop away from them. The old fable tells us that the storm made the traveller wrap his cloak closer round him, but the sunshine made him throw it off. Judgments often make men cling more closely to their sins, but forgiving mercy makes them ‘cast off the works of darkness.’ The men who had experienced that in God, the Israel, which by its sins had brought down the punishment of His repudiation of being its father (Hos_1:9), had found mercy, would no longer feel temptation to turn to Assyria for help, nor to seek protection from Egypt’s cavalry, nor to debase their manhood by calling stocks and stones, the work of their own hands, their gods. What earthly sweetness will tempt, or what earthly danger will affright, the heart that is feeling the bliss of union with God? Would Judas’s thirty pieces of silver attract the disciple reclining on Jesus’ bosom? We are most firmly bound to God, not by our resolves, but by our experience of His all-sufficient mercy. Fill the heart with that wine of the kingdom, and bitter or poisonous draughts will find no entrance into the cup.

II. God’s welcoming answer.

The very abruptness of its introduction, without any explanation as to the speaker, suggests how swiftly and joyfully the Father hastens to meet the returning prodigal while he is yet afar off. Like pent-up waters rushing forth as soon as a barrier is taken away, God’s love pours itself out immediately. His answer ever gives more than the penitent asks-robe and ring and shoes, and a feast to him who dared not expect more than a place among the hired servants. He gives not by drops, but in floods, answering the prayer for the taking away of iniquity by the promise to heal backsliding, going beyond desires and hopes in the gift of love which asks for no recompense, is drawn forth by no desert, but wells up from the depths of God’s heart, and strengthens the new, tremulous trust of the penitent by the assurance that every trace of anger is effaced from God’s heart.

The blessings consequent on the gift of God’s love are described in lovely imagery,

drawn, like Hosea’s other abundant similes, from nature, and especially from trees and flowers. The source of all fruitfulness is a divine influence, which comes silently and refreshing as the ‘dew,’ or, rather, as the ‘night mist,’ a phenomenon occurring in Palestine in summer, and being, accurately, rolling masses of vapour brought from the Mediterranean, which counteract the dry heat and keep vegetation alive. The influences which refresh and fructify our souls must fall in many a silent hour of meditation and communion. They will effloresce into manifold shapes of beauty and fruitfulness, of which the Prophet signalises three. The lily may stand for beauty of purity, though botanists differ as to the particular flower meant. Christians should present to the world ‘whatsoever things are lovely,’ and see to it that their goodness is attractive. But the fragrant, pure lily has but shallow roots, and beauty is not all that a character needs in this world of struggle and effort. So there are to be both the lily’s blossom and roots like Lebanon. The image may refer to the firm buttresses of the widespread foot-hills, from which the sovereign summits of the great mountain range rise, or, as is rather suggested by the accompanying similes from the vegetable world, it may refer to the cedars growing there. Their roots are anchored deep and stretch far underground; therefore they rear towering heads, and spread broad shelves of dark foliage, safe from any blast. Our lives must be deep rooted in God if they are to be strong. Boots generally spread beneath the soil about as far as branches extend above it. There should be at least as much underground, ‘hid with Christ in God,’ as is visible to the world.

But beauty and strength are not all. So Hosea thinks of yet another of the characteristic growths of Palestine, the olive, which is not strikingly beautiful in form, with its strangely gnarled, contorted stem, its feeble branches, and its small, pointed, pale leaves, but has the beauty of fruitfulriess, and is green when other trees are bare. Such ‘beauty’ should be ours, and will be if the ‘dew’ falls on us.

In Hos_14:7 there are difficulties, both as to the application of the ‘his,’ and as to the reading and rendering of some of the words. But the general drift is clear. It prolongs the tones of the foregoing verses, keeping to the same class of images, and expressing fruitfulness, abundant as the corn and precious as the grape, and fragrance like the ‘bouquet’ of the choicest wine.

Hos_14:8 offers great difficulties on any interpretation. The supplement ‘shall say’ is questionable, and it is doubtful whether Ephraim is the speaker at all, and whether, if so, he speaks all the four clauses, and who speaks any or all of them, if not he. To the present writer, it seems best to take the supplement as right, and possible to regard the whole verse as spoken by Ephraim, though perhaps the last clause is meant to be God’s utterance. The meaning will then come out as follows. The penitent Israel again speaks, after the gracious promises preceding. The tribal name is, as usual in Hosea, equivalent to Israel, whose penitent cry we heard at the beginning of the passage. Now we hear his glad response to God’s abundant answer. ‘What have I to do any more with idols?’ He had vowed (Hos_14:3) to have no more to do with them, and the resolve is deepened by the rich grace held forth to him. Hosea had lamented Ephraim’s mad adherence to ‘his idols’ (Hos_4:17), but now the union is dissolved, and by penitence and reception of God’s grace, he is joined to the Lord, and parted from them. His renunciation of idolatry is based, in the second clause, on his experience of what God can do, and on his having heard God’s gracious voice of pardon and promise. If a man hears God, he will not be drawn to worship at any idol’s shrine.

Further, in the third clause, Ephraim is joyfully conscious of the change that has passed on him, in accordance with the great promises just spoken, and with grateful astonishment that such verdure should have burst out from the dry and rotten stump of

his own sinful nature, exclaims, ‘I am like a green fir-tree.’ That is another reason why he will have no more to do with idols. They could never have made his sapless nature break into leafage. But what of the fourth clause-’From Me is thy fruit found’? Can we understand that to mean that Ephraim still speaks, keeping up the image of the previous clause, and declaring that all the new fruitfulness which he finds in himself he recognises to be God’s, both in the sense that, in reality, it is produced by Him, and that it belongs to Him? He comes seeking fruit, and He finds it. All our good is His, and we shall be happy, productive, and wise, in proportion as we offer all our works to Him, and feel that, after all, they are not ours, but the works of that Spirit which dwells in penitent and believing hearts. Some have thought that this last clause must be taken as spoken by God; but, even if so taken, it conveys substantially the same thought as to the divine origin of man’s fruitfulness.

The last verse is rather a general reflection summing up the whole than an integral part of this wonderful representation of penitence, pardon, and fruitfulness. It declares the great truth that the knowledge of the pardoning mercy of God, and of the ways by which He weans men from sin and makes them fruitful of good, makes us truly wise. That knowledge is more than intellectual apprehension; it is experience. Providence has its mysteries, but they who keep near to God, and are ‘just’ because they do, will find the opportunity of free, unfettered activity in God’s ways, and transgressors will stumble therein. Therefore wisdom and safety lie in penitence and confession, which will ever be met by gracious pardon and showers of blessing that will cause our hearts, which sin has made desert, to rejoice and blossom like the rose.

2 Take words with you and return to the Lord.Say to him: “Forgive all our sinsand receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.[b]

BAR�ES, "Take with you words - He bills them not bring costly offerings, that they might regain His favor; not whole burnt-offerings of bullocks, goats or rams; with which, and with which alone, they had before gone to seek Him (see the note above at Hos_5:6); not the silver and gold which they had lavished on their idols; but what seems the cheapest of all, which any may have, without cost to their substance; “words;” worthless, as mere words; precious when from the heart; words of confession and prayer, blending humility, repentance, confession, entreaty and praise of God. God seems to assign to them a form, with which they should approach Him. But with these words, they were also to turn inwardly “and turn unto the Lord,” with your whole heart, and not your lips alone. “After ye shall be converted, confess before Him.”

Take away all iniquity - (Literally and pleadingly, “Thou will take away all iniquity”.) They had “fallen by their iniquities;” before they can rise again, the stumbling-blocks must be taken out of their way. They then, unable themselves to do it, must turn to God, with whom alone is power and mercy to do it, and say to Him, “Take away all iniquity,” acknowledging that they had manifold iniquities, and praying Him to forgive all, “take away all. All iniquities!” “not only then the past, but what we tear for the future. Cleanse us from the past, keep us from the future. Give us righteousness, and preserve it to the end.”

And receive us graciously - (Literally, “and receive good” ). When God has forgiven and taken away iniquity, He has removed all hindrance to the influx of His grace. There is no vacuum in His spiritual, anymore than in His natural, creation. When God’s good Spirit is chased away, the evil spirits enter the house, which is “empty, swept, and garnished” Mat_12:44, for them. When God has forgiven and taken away man’s evil, He pours into him grace and all good. When then Israel and, in him, the penitent soul, is taught to say, “receive good,” it can mean only, the good which Thou Thyself hast given; as David says, “of Thine own we have given Thee” 1Ch_29:14. As God is said to “crown in us His own gifts;” (“His own gifts,” but “in us” ;) so these pray to God to receive from them His own good, which they had from Him. For even the good, which God giveth to be in us, He accepteth in condescension and forgiving mercy, “Who crowneth thee in mercy and lovingkindness” Psa_103:4.

They pray God to accept their service, forgiving their imperfection, and mercifully considering their frailty. For since “our righteousnesses are filthy rags,” we ought ever humbly to entreat God, not to despise our dutifulness, for the imperfections, wanderings, and negligences mingled therewith. For exceedingly imperfect is it, especially if we consider the majesty of the Divine Nature, which should be served, were it possible, with infinite reverence.” They plead to God, then, to accept what, although from Him they have it, yet through their imperfection, were, but for His goodness, unworthy of His acceptance. Still, since the glory of God is the end of all creation, by asking Him to accept it, they plead to Him, that this is the end for which He made and remade them, and placed the good in them, that it might redound to His glory. As, on the other hand, the Psalmist says, “What profit is there in my blood, if I go down into the pit” Psa_30:9, as though his own perishing were a loss to God, his Creator, since thus there were one creature the less to praise Him. : “‘Take from us all iniquity,’ leave in us no weakness, none of our former decay, lest the evil root should send forth a new growth of evil; ‘and receive good;’ for unless Thou take away our evil, we can have no good to offer Thee, according to that, ‘depart from evil, and do good.’ Psa_37:27.”

So will we render the calves of our lips - Literally, “and we would fain repay, calves, our lips;” i. e., when God shall have “forgiven us all our iniquity,” and “received”

at our hands what, through His gift, we have to offer, the “good” which through His good Spirit we can do, then would we “offer” a perpetual thankoffering, “our lips.” This should be the substitute for the thank-offerings of the law. As the Psalmist says, “I will praise the Name of God with a song, and magnify Him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord, better than a bullock that hath horns and hoofs” Psa_69:30-31. They are to bind themselves to perpetual thanksgiving. As the morning and evening sacrifice were continual so was their new offering to be continual. But more. The material sacrifice, “the bullock,” was offered, consumed, and passed away. Their “lips” were offered, and remained; a perpetual thank-offering, even a “living sacrifice,” living on like the mercies for which they thanked; giving forth their “endless song” for never-ending mercies.

This too looks on to the Gospel, in which, here on earth, our unending thanksgiving is beginning, in which also it was the purpose of God to restore those of Ephraim who would return to Him. : “Here we see law extinguished, the Gospel established. For we see other rites, other gifts. So then the priesthood is also changed. For three sorts of sacrifices Were of old ordained by the law, with great state. Some signified the expiation of sin; some expressed the ardor of piety; some, thanksgiving. To those ancient signs and images, the truth of the Gospel, without figure corresponds. Prayer to God, ‘to take away all iniquity,’ contains a confession of sin, and expresses our faith, that we place our whole hope of recovering our lost purity and of obtaining salvation in the mercy of Christ. ‘Receive good.’ What other good can we offer, than detestation of our past sin, with burning desire of holiness? This is the burnt-offering. Lastly, ‘we will repay the calves of our lips,’ is the promise of that solemn vow, most acceptable to God, whereby we bind ourselves to keep in continual remembrance all the benefits of God, and to render ceaseless praise to the Lord who has bestowed on us such priceless gifts. For ‘the calves of’ the ‘lips’ are orisons well-pleasing unto God. Of which David says, ‘Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt-offerings and whole burnt-offerings; then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine altar.’ (Ps. 51 ult.).”

CLARKE, "Take with you words - And you may be assured that you pray aright, when you use the words which God himself has put in your mouths. On this very ground there is a potency in the Lord’s Prayer, when offered up believingly, beyond what can be found in any human composition. And it may be presumed that it was this consideration that induced our reformers to introduce it so frequently in the public liturgy.

See the order of God’s directions here: -

1. Hearing these merciful invitations, believe them to be true.

2. Cast aside your idols; and return to God as your Maker, King, and Savior.

3. Take with you the words by which you have been encouraged, and plead them before God.

4. Remember your iniquity, deeply deplore it, and beg of God to take it all away.

5. Let faith be in exercise to receive what God waits to impart. “Receive us

graciously;” וקח�טוב vekach�tob, receive, or let us receive good; when thou has emptied us of evil, fill us with goodness.

6. Be then determined, through grace, to live to his glory, “so shall we render thee the

calves” (פרים parim, for which the versions in general read פרי peri, fruits, omitting

the ם mem) “of our lips;” the sacrifices of praise, thanksgiving, gratitude, and the

hearty obedience which our lips have often promised.

7. Having thus determined, specify your resolutions to depend on God alone for all that can make you wise, useful, holy, and happy. The resolutions are: -

1. Asshur shall not save us - We will neither trust in, nor fear, this rich and powerful king. We will not look either to riches or power for true rest and peace of mind.

2. We will not ride upon horses - We shall no more fix our hopes on the proud Egyptian cavalry, to deliver us out of the hands of enemies to whom thy Divine justice has delivered us. We will expect no rest nor happiness in the elegances of life, and gratification of our senses.

3. Neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods - We will not trust in any thing without us; nor even in any good thing we are able to do through thy grace; knowing we have nothing but what we have received. We will trust in thy infinite mercy for our final salvation.

4. And we will do all this from the conviction, that in thee the fatherless findeth mercy; for we are all alike helpless, desolate, perishing orphans, till translated into thy family.

GILL, "Take with you words, and turn to the Lord,.... Not mere words without the heart, but such as come from it, and express the true sense of it; words of confession, as the Targum; by which sin is acknowledged, and repentance declared, and forgiveness asked. Kimchi's note is a very good one;

"he (that is, God) does not require of you, upon return, neither gold nor silver, nor burnt offerings, but good works; therewith confessing your sins with your whole hearts, and not with your lips only;''

and which best agrees with evangelical repentance and Gospel times, in which ceremonial sacrifices are no more; and not any words neither; not tautologies and multiplicity of words, or words of man's prescribing, but of the Lord's directing to and dictating; the taught words of the Holy Ghost, which he suggests and helps men to, who otherwise know not how to pray, or what to pray for; and these expressed under a sense of sin, and sorrow for it, and in the strength of faith, and are as follow:

say unto him, take away all iniquity; which is to be understood, not of the taking away of the being of sin; which, though very desirable, is not to be expected in this life: nor of the expiation of sin by the sacrifice of Christ, which is done already; he has taken the sins of his people from them to himself, and has bore them, and carried them away, and removed them out of the sight of divine justice, which is satisfied for them: nor of the taking away of the power and dominion of sin; which is done by the Spirit of God, and the efficacy of his grace on the hearts of converted persons: nor of an extinguishing all sense of sin in men; for none have a quicker sense of it than pardoned sinners, or are more humble on the account of it, or more loath it; but of the taking of it away from the conscience of a sensible truly penitent sinner or backslider, by a fresh application of pardoning grace and mercy: sin is a burden, a heavy one, when the guilt of it is charged and lies upon the conscience; pardon of sin applied is a lifting up, as the word here used signifies, a taking off of this burden from it, a causing it to pass away; which is done by the fresh sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, which purges the conscience from sin, and clears it from the guilt of it, and speaks peace and comfort; and which is the blessing

here prayed for, and every backslider, sensible of his case, sees he stands in need of, and even to have "all" taken away; for, if but one sin remains, and the guilt of it continues, he can have no peace, nor stand up under it; but, when God forgives sin, he forgives "all" sin;

and receive us graciously; receive into grace and favour, that is, openly and manifestly; the free love and favour of God is always the same, but the manifestations of it are different; sometimes more or less, and sometimes scarce any, if any at all, and is the ease here; and therefore a petition is made for the remembrance of it, for a renewed discovery and application of it: or accept us in a gracious manner; acceptance with God is not on account of the merits of men, but his own grace and mercy; not through any works of righteousness done by them, which are impure and imperfect; but through Christ the Beloved, in whom God is well pleased with the persons, and services, and sacrifices of his people, and receives all for his sake, and which is here asked for; as well as that he would take them into his protection, and open affection. It is, in the original text, only, "receive good" (a); meaning either their good hearts, made so by the grace of God; their broken hearts and contrite spirits, which are sacrifices not despised by him, but acceptable to him through Christ: or their good words they were bid to take, and did take, nod use; their good prayers offered up through Christ, in his name, and in the exercise of faith, which are the Lord's delight: or their good works, done from a principle of love, in faith, to the glory of God, and with which sacrifices he is well pleased: or rather, as the same word signifies, to give as well as receive; see Psa_68:18. It may be rendered, "give good" (b); take good, and give it to us, even all good things, temporal and spiritual, especially all spiritual blessings in Christ; all which good things come from God, and are his gifts; particularly the good Spirit of God, and his grace, which the Lord gives to them that ask; and all supplies of grace from Christ; and more especially, as some interpreters of note explain it, the righteousness of Christ imputed and applied; which goes along with pardoning grace, or the taking away of sin, Zec_3:4; and is the good, the better, the best robe; a gift, the gift of grace; a blessing received from the Lord, and to be asked for of him:

so will we render the calves of our lips; not calves, bullocks, and oxen, for sacrifice, as under the law; but the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving for pardoning grace, for a justifying righteousness, and for all good things: these are the fruit of the lips, as the apostle interprets it, Heb_13:15; and which are sacrifices more acceptable to God than calves of a year old, or an ox or bullock that has horns and hoofs, Psa_69:30. This shows that the text and context refer to Gospel times, to the times of the Messiah; in which the Jews themselves say all sacrifices will cease but the sacrifice of praise. The Targum is,

"turn to the worship of the Lord, and say, let it he with thee to forgive sins, and may we be received as good, and the words of our lips be accepted with thee as bullocks for good pleasure upon the altar.''

JAMISO�, "Take with you words — instead of sacrifices, namely, the words of penitence here put in your mouths by God. “Words,” in Hebrew, mean “realities,” there being the same term for “words” and “things”; so God implies, He will not accept empty professions (Psa_78:36; Isa_29:13). He does not ask costly sacrifices, but words of heartfelt penitence.

receive us graciously — literally “(for) good.”

calves of our lips — that is, instead of sacrifices of calves, which we cannot offer to Thee in exile, we present the praises of our lips. Thus the exile, wherein the temple service ceased, prepared the way for the gospel time when the types of the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament being realized in Christ’s perfect sacrifice once for all, “the sacrifice of praise to God continually that is the fruit of our lips” (Heb_13:14) takes their place in the New Testament.

SBC, "There is a porch even within the sanctuary of repentance. There is a pause of preparation, words selected, distinct movement, accurate speaking, an order in prayer, a new relation to God recognized, an audience asked, reception given,—leading up to self-dedication.

I. Words are immense helps to thoughts. You will never think accurately, nor think continuously, nor think without wandering, without words. Therefore, never be indifferent to the language in which you clothe your religion. "Take with you words."

II. When the words are ready, "turn." Adjust the attitude of your mind. It only wants a real "turn." The back where the face was, and the face where the back was; looking the other way,—away from the world, away from the past, straight into the love of Christ.

III. Words are sacrifice. It is a pleasant and a holy thought that we all of us carry about with us wherever we go the means of sacrifice to God. We should offer all we have. Our lips should make sacrifice. Sacrifice, in its high propitiatory sense we cannot, and we need not, offer sacerdotally. There is no sacrifice in any Christian worship. We only plead one sacrifice, made once and for ever for the sins of the whole world. But spiritually every one of us is a priest. And there is not a believer who has not a sacrifice to offer: himself, his heart, his life, his soul, his body, his lips.

J. Vaughan, Sermons, 10th series, p. 173.

CALVI�, "Verse 2He afterwards shows the way of repentance: and this passage deserves to be noticed; for we know that men bring forward mere trifles when they speak of repentance. Hence when the word, repentance, is mentioned, men imagine that God is to be pacified with this or that ceremony, as we see to be the case with those under the Papacy. And what is their repentance? Even this, — if on certain days they fast, if they mutter short prayers, if they undertake vowed pilgrimages, if they buy masses, — if with these trifles they weary themselves, they think that the right and the required repentance is brought before God: but all this is altogether absurd. As then the world understands not what repentance means, and to what it leads, the Prophet here sets forth true repentance by its fruits. He therefore says, Take with you words, and turn to Jehovah; and say to him, Take away all iniquity and bring good, and we will render to thee the calves of our lips When he bids them to take or find words to present instead of sacrifice, he no doubt alluded to what the law teaches.

First, it is certain that the Prophet speaks not of feigned words; for we know what God declares by Isaiah,

‘This people draw nigh me with their lips, but their heart is from me far distant,’ (Isaiah 29:13.)

But he bids them to take words, by which they might show what was conceived and felt in their heart. Then he means this first, that their words should correspond with their feeling.

It must, secondly, be noticed, that the Prophet speaks not here of any sort of words, but that there is to be a mutual relation between the words of God and the words of men. How are we then to bring words to God, such as prove the genuineness of our piety? Even by being teachable and submissive; by suffering willingly when he chastises us, by confessing what we deserve when he reproves us, by humbly deprecating vengeance when he threatens us, by embracing pardon when he promises it. When we thus take words from God’s mouth, and bring them to him, this is to take words according to what the Prophet means in this place. We hence see the import of the Prophet’s exhortation, when he bids us to take words: but I cannot proceed further now.

COFFMA�, Verse 2"Take with you words, and return unto Jehovah: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and accept that which is good: so will we render as bullocks the offering of our lips."

Despite some uncertainties regarding the text, the meaning is certified to us by the �ew Testament references to this very place (Hebrews 13:15; 1 Peter 2:5), leading to our absolute confidence that "fruit from our lips" are the new sacrifices God will receive, that animal sacrifices would be offered no more, and that "spiritual sacrifices" (1 Peter 2:5) would alone be offered, and that "that is all that would be needed."[9] It would be impossible accurately to associate any of this with Judaism. This was destined to be a characteristic of the gospel age and the kingdom of Christ.

"Take away all iniquity ..." There is a positive reference in this to the forgiveness of sins, as indicated in the �ew English Bible margin (b) which renders it, "Thou wilt surely take away iniquity." The great prophecy of the �ew Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-35 clearly made the forgiveness of sins to be the distinctive hallmark of the �ew Covenant; and thus this is another sure and certain indicator that Hosea in this chapter has that �ew Covenant and the �ew Israel of God in Christ Jesus in constant view. He was prophesying of Christianity. Ward rendered these words, "Forgive all guilt, that we may receive what is good and offer the fruit of our lips."[10] We believe that catches the thought exactly.

"Take with you words ..." Mauchline commented thus: "Do not take with you lambs and rams for sacrificial offerings as you have been wont to do ... but take words."[11] The cessation of animal sacrifice never occurred until the proclamation of the gospel after Pentecost and the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70. It is of those later times, the present dispensation of God's grace, that the prophet wrote in these lines. Butler's brilliant and eloquent summary of the meaning of this chapter is as follows:

"The idyllic portrait of the Messianic Age now comes to a climax from the artist Hosea. God's gracious invitation is responded to by the �ew Israel who finds God able to do exceeding abundantly above all that can be imagined."[12]

ELLICOTT, "(2) Say unto him.—This putting of words into the lips of penitents and others is found in Psalms 66:3; Isaiah 48:20; Jeremiah 31:7. In the latter part of the verse render, Accept of good, and we will render as calves (or sacrificial offering) our lips—i.e., the words of true repentance which we take with us shall be our offerings in place of calves. (Comp. Psalms 51:17.)

TRAPP, "Hosea 14:2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive [us] graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.

Ver. 2. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord] Confess your sins, beg pardon, and promise amendment. Sue to God to give you those words that he bids you take: go to him in his own words, put his promises in suit; crave the help of his Holy Spirit, without which what can we do? Romans 8:26. Say to God, as Job 37:19, "Teach us what we shall say unto thee: for we cannot order our words, by reason of darkness." David promiseth not only to pray, but to marshal up his prayers, to put them in good array, so the word signifieth, Psalms 5:3, "In the morning will I direct my prayer," order it in the best manner: his words should be nec lecta, nec neglecta, neither curious nor careless, but such as are humble, earnest, and direct to the point, avoiding vain babblings. Here is a form prescribed in the text (forms of prayer therefore are not so unlawful as some conceive them), words put into their mouths (as the phrase is, 2 Samuel 14:3), that they might not miss. Men must as well look to their words as to their feet, when they come before God; and see that their affections in prayer be not without answerable expressions. Take with you such words as may testify that ye turn heartily to the Lord, and not from the teeth outward, as they in the Psalmist, Psalms 78:36-37. Turn before ye begin to pray; for God heareth not sinners, since their incense smells of their hand that offereth it, Isaiah 1:13.

Say unto him] Mentally and vocally; with spirit and speech. True it is, that prayer is not the labour of the lips, but the travail of the heart; and God hath promised to answer his people before they call, Isaiah 65:24. By calling upon his name we neither inform him of what he knoweth not, nor move him to show us more mercy than he intendeth. But yet prayers are necessary, as means which God will have used, that we may receive what he of free mercy giveth. Besides, it prepareth us holily to enjoy the things received; and makes us ready, either to wait for them, or to want them; and to be content that he may be glorified, though we be not gratified. And although God knoweth our thoughts, and understands the mind of the spirit, as being the searcher of hearts, Romans 8:27, yet he calls for the calves of our lips, the service of our tongues, James 3:9, guiding them now and then in a wonderful manner, far beyond all natural apprehension: and strangely enabling his praying servants, who do also find no small benefit by this practice of pouring out their

hearts before him, both of the preventing of distractions, and kindling affections, and discerning their profiting in holy desires; for the more worthy effect followeth where more fervent affection went before.

Take away all iniquity] Few words, but full of matter: O quam multa, quam paucis! (Cicero, de Bruti epistola). What a short but pithy prayer is this! Such was that of the publican, Luke 18:13; that of our Saviour in his agony, when yet he is said to pray more fervently; that also which he taught us to pray, Matthew 6:7-8, &c., set in fiat opposition to Paganish battologies. This in the text is not much unlike that perfect pattern; for here they are taught to beg, Ut auferantur sua maleficia, conferantur Dei beneficia, Take away all evil, and give good; and then to restipulate thanks, "So will we render," &c. Take away from us, as an unsupportable burden, such as we cannot stand under, all iniquity, stain and sting, crime and curse, power and punishment, that there be no later reckonings; cross out the black lines of our sins with the red lines of thy Son’s blood, that Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world by his merit and Spirit, by his value and virtue; that true scape goat, that carrieth the sins of his people into the wilderness, John 1:29, Hebrews 9:28.

And receive us graciously] Heb. Receive good, that is (as some interpret it), Accept, out of thy fatherly favour, the true witnesses and effects of our thorough conversion. But better they that thus sense it, Take good, to wit, to bestow upon us, as Psalms 68:19 cf. Ephesians 4:8. And it is not improbable (saith Dr Reynolds) that the prophet here secretly leadeth us to Christ the Mediator, who first receiveth gifts from his Father, and then poureth out them forth upon his Church, Acts 2:33.

So will we render the calves of our lips] Thy benefits shall not be cast away upon unthankful persons; but we will present unto thee a sacrifice that will please thee better than an ox or bullock, that hath horns and hoofs, Psalms 69:31. This cannot be done but by a sound convert; for the leper’s lips must be covered according to the law; and the sacrifice of the wicked is abomination to the Lord. To the wicked God saith, "What hast thou to do to take my name into thy mouth," &c.; he liketh not a good motion from an ill mouth, as that state in the story: The lip of excellence becometh not a fool, [Proverbs 17:7] no more than lying doth a worthy man that is renowned for his wisdom. It well becometh the saints to be thankful, to cover God’s altar with the calves of their lips. This expression implieth (saith one) that God’s people should not offer their thankfulness to God of that which cost them nothing; but bring, 1. A calf; do something to farther God’s worship, or relieve the necessities of others. 2. It must be a dead calf, that is, it must proceed from humble and mortified minds. 3. A sacrificed calf: where is required, 1. An altar; our praises must be tendered in the mediation of Christ; 2. Fire; for the bare throwing out of words, though in the name of Christ, will not serve without feeling, ardency, and zeal. 3. We must lay our hands on the head of the calf; that is, in all humility, confess our unworthiness of the blessings we give thanks for, as being less than the

least, Genesis 32:10.

PETT, "Verse 2-3‘Take with you words, and return to YHWH. Say to him, “Take away all iniquity, and accept what is good, so will we render as bullocks the offering of our lips. Assyria will not save us, we will not ride on horses, nor will we say any more to the work of our hands, “Our gods”, for in you the fatherless find mercy.’The way in which YHWH must be approached when they return to Him is not through ritual but through ‘words’. This is not a lessening of requirements but because they have committed ‘sins with a high hand’ for which sacrifices cannot avail (compare David’s sentiments in Psalms 51). Their only hope now is to come to YHWH with deeply repentant words. And Hosea makes clear the kind of words that will be required. They can be analysed as follows:

1) They must approach YHWH ‘with words’ revealing their genuineness. They had sinned with a high hand so that, like David (Psalms 51) sacrifices were insufficient. What was now required was a response of genuine contrition and repentance.2) They must ‘return to YHWH’, genuinely seeking forgiveness, and asking Him to take away all iniquity.3) They must call on Him to ‘accept what is good’ (compare Hosea 8:3). In other words, to accept a genuine response of heart that sets aside all evildoing and social injustice, together with all idolatry, and offers a life responsive to Him and His covenant. For this is how they will offer to Him the acceptable offering of their lips.4) They must renounce Assyria and all foreign assistance, and must trust in YHWH alone.5) They must no longer trust in their own military might, and especially on horses obtained, as they would be, from Egypt.6) They must guarantee that they will no longer call their own workmanship, ‘our gods’, praying to the work of their own hands.7) They must submit to Him as ‘orphans’ (the fatherless), acknowledging thereby that they had rejected Him as Father, and seeking His mercy in order to obtain re-acceptance.It will be noted that three positive responses (1-3) are followed by three renunciations (4-6). It is not enough just to turn from what is wrong, we must first ensure that our relationship with God is put right. The sevenfold picture that ensues is evidence of the divine perfection of their response.

‘So will we render bullocks, (the offering of) our lips.’ ‘The offering of’ is not in the Hebrew and is inserted in order to convey the sense in English. The idea is that their words of repentance and supplication have taken the place of blood sacrifices which, in accordance with the covenant, would not suffice for sins of a high hand. And anyway sacrifices could not lawfully be offered in a foreign country unless YHWH had ‘revealed His �ame there’.

It has, however, been suggested that prym (bullocks) should be seen as signifying

pry (fruit) with an enclitic ‘m’ attached, added for emphasis. Then it will read, ‘so will we render the fruit of our lips’ indicating that what they say they also perform.

YHWH’s Responsive Love Song.

The words that follow are reminiscent of the Song of Solomon, which may well have been known to Hosea, and are in the form of a love song by which YHWH gives His response. Israel are now no longer an adulterous wife, but a wife who is beloved and fruitful.

BI, "Take with you words, and turn to the Lord.

Turning to God in prayer

This passage teaches us how we are to come back to God. “Take with you words and turn.” We are to come in prayer to God. We are to come in supplication, to come and acknowledge that we have nothing, and with an entreaty that He will furnish us with that which we require. The prophet gives us the very prayer we are to offer. That must be an acceptable prayer which God Himself has indited! Here is the sum and substance of every acceptable prayer that has ever been offered to God. Two things which this prayer presents to us—

1. It teaches in what character we are to draw nigh to God; who they are that are warranted to come to the Father of mercy and God of all grace- sinners.

2. In “Receive us graciously” we have our Saviour presented to us. It is in Him that the grace of God is manifested. In the latter part of the text and in the succeeding verse there is presented a sort of supplement to this prayer. It contains the promises of the servant, the vows which he offers to the Most High, and which he is determined to pay. The besetting evil of the Israelites was their trusting to the neighbouring heathen nations for help, and forming associations and unions with them. We too have our besetting evils. We trust to anything rather than to God in our various emergencies and distresses. We use all the means that are placed within our power to relieve us in our distresses, but we use them without reference to God. When in repentance we turn to the Lord, then in His strength we determine to abandon our sins. (Dr. Thorpe.)

Israel’s petition in time of trouble

The blessing of Ephraim was fruitfulness. And throughout this prophecy the judgments of God against Ephraim are expressed by needs, emptiness, barrenness, dryness of roots, of fruits, of branches, of springs, etc.

I. An invitation to repentance. The matter of it is conversion; which must be to the Lord, and spiritual. It must be a full, thorough, constant, continued conversion, with a whole, fixed, rooted, united, and established heart. The motives to this duty are, God’s mercies and God’s judgments.

II. The institution: how to perform it.

1. A general instruction. “Take unto you words,” which importeth the serious pondering and choosing of requests to put up to God. He expects there should be preparation in our accesses to Him. Preparation of our persons; by purity of life.

Preparation of our services; by choice of matter. Preparation of our hearts; by finding them out, and stirring them up. We must attend unto His will, as the rule of our prayers. Unto His precepts and promises, as the matter of our prayers. Unto the guidance of His Holy Spirit, as the life and principle of our prayers. There is a kind of omnipotency in prayer, as having an interest and prevalence with God’s omnipotency.

2. A particular form. A prayer for two benefits: the removal of sin, the conferring of good. A promise of two things. Thanksgiving, and a special care for the amendment of their lives. Observe especially the ground of their confidence so to pray, and of their resolutions so to promise. “Because in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy. (Edward Reynolds.)

Israel exhorted to return unto the Lord

I. An awful fact stated. “Thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.” Israel had—

1. Fallen from their allegiance to God.

2. Fallen from His worship.

3. Fallen from the enjoyment of His favour.

II. An affectionate exhortation urged. “O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God.” Observe—

1. The persons addressed. “Israel.”

2. The nature of the address. “Return.”

3. The object to whom they were to return. “The Lord thy God.”

III. Instructive direction administered. “Take with you words.” Words of sincerity. Appropriate words. Words of humble confession. Words of petition. “Take away all iniquity”—

1. From our affections, that we may no longer love it.

2. From our consciences, that we may no longer labour under the burden of it.

3. From our lives, that it may no longer have dominion over us.

4. From our hearts, that we may be dead to it. “Receive us graciously.” Receive our prayers. Receive our persons. Receive us into Thy favour.

IV. Returns of gratitude expressed. “Render calves of our lips.”

1. Gratitude is a debt which all owe to, God.

2. Gratitude is a debt which gracious souls are ready to pay. Learn—

(1) That neither our civil nor religious privileges will preclude the possibility of falling by iniquity.

(2) That those who have fallen by iniquity should be induced to return to the Lord their God.

(3) Those whose iniquity is taken away should bless the Lord. (C. Simeon, M. A.)

The need for expression is words

What need God words? He knows our hearts before we speak unto Him. God needs no words, but we do, to stir up our hearts and our affections. Our words must not be empty, but such as are joined with a purpose of turning to God. To turn to Him with a purpose to live in any sin is the extremity of profane impudence. The petition is, “Take away all iniquity.” Because where there is any true good ness in the heart, that hatred which carries the bent of the soul against one sin is alike against all. Because the heart which desires to be at peace with God desires also to be like God, who hates all sin. “Take away all” sin; both the guilt and the reign of every sin, that none may rule in me. Forgive the sin, and overcome the power of it by sanctifying grace, and remit the judgments attending it. They pray for the taking away of their iniquity; for take away this and all other mercies follow after; because this alone stops the current of God’s favours, which removed, the current of His mercies run amain. Many say, How shall I know whether or no my sins are forgiven? You may know by something that goes before, and by something which follows after. Before, a humble and hearty confession. After, when a man finds strength against it; for where God forgives He gives strength withal. Another evidence is some peace of conscience, though not much perhaps, yet so much as supports us from despair. Again, where sin is pardoned our hearts will be much enlarged with love to God. And forgiveness frames the soul suitably to be gentle and merciful, and to pardon others. Therefore let us labour for the forgiveness of our sins, that God would remove and subdue the power of them, take them away, and the judgments due to them, or else we are but miserable, though we enjoyed all the pleasures of the world. “Receive us graciously, and do good to us.” So it is in the original. All the goodness we have from God, it is out of His grace. God’s mercy to His children is complete and full. God not only takes away ill, but He doth good. We cannot honour God more than by making use of His mercy in the forgiveness of sins; and of His goodness, in going to Him for it. The prayer is an acknowledgment of our own emptiness. The best that we can bring to thee is emptiness, therefore do Thou do good to us, fill us with Thy fulness. Do good to us every way. “So shall we render the calves of our lips.” Here is the re-stipulation or promise. They return back to God. There should be a rendering according to the receiving. This promise of praise is a kind of vow. “So will we render.” To bind one’s self is a kind of vow. The Church therefore binds herself that she may bind God. It is good thus to vow, if it were but to excite and quicken our dulness and forgetfulness of our general vow; to put us in mind of our duty, the more to oblige us to God, and refresh our memories. The “calves of our lips” implies not only thankfulness to God, but glorifying of God, in setting out His praise. In glorifying there are two things, a supposition of excellency, and the manifestation of this glory. The yielding of praise to God is a wondrous acceptable sacrifice. Besides this “the calves of our lips” carries us to work. The oral thanksgiving must be justified by our works and deeds; or else our actions will give our tongue the lie. Why doth the prophet especially mention lips, or words? Because—

1. Christ, who is the Word, delights in our words.

2. Because our tongue is our glory, and that by which we glorify God.

3. Our tongue is that which excites others. (R. Sibbes, D. D.)

A form of prayer for backsliders

It pleased the Lord to draw up for them a form of prayer, which He puts into their

mouths, and with which He sends them, that they might present themselves before Him at His throne and mercy-seat, and there repeat it.

I. The connection of these words with the former, Israel is fallen by her iniquity. -What is requisite in this case? Most assuredly, a return to the Lord. But Israel might say, “I know not how to return.” To prevent despairing thoughts the Lord gives suitable words for those who would return but hardly know how to do so. The words are cogent and most particular, and exactly suited unto and expressive of the grace which those persons stood in need of.

II. Open and explain the expressions made use of in this prayer. They contain for substance the whole grace and gracious design of the everlasting Gospel. If all iniquity were not taken away there could be no expectation of being received graciously, therefore the order, propriety, and connection of these words, with the vast subject and importance of them.

III. The suitableness of them to such as are in a state of backsliding, or are on the verge of the same. There is a continual change, a flux and reflux, in the frames, temper, cases, and feelings of the people of God. None are safe, one single moment, but as they are kept by the power of God.

IV. The most grateful acknowledgments of these suppliants. “We will render the calves of our lips.” When the Lord is pleased to overcome our minds by the manifestations of His pardoning mercy, we cannot but open our mouth, and with our lips shew forth His glorious praise. (Samuel Eyles Pierce.)

The prophet’s call to repentance

We are furnished in this chapter with a most vivid picture of God’s unchangeable love towards His people. No sooner are the children of Israel brought to a sense of their helpless wretchedness, and led to betake themselves to the footstool of their God, to ask for pardon and mercy, than they obtain grace, and find help in the time of need. They no sooner assay to go to Him than He anticipates them; binds up their broken hearts, pours the balm of consolation into their wounded spirits.

I. The prophet’s call to repentance. This is pathetic to a degree. “O Israel!” What boundless instances of unspeakable love does this single expression imply! “In Me is thy help.” Return, only return, and it shall be well with you again. You must have learnt, long ere this, the hopelessness of the prodigal, without a father’s love and protecting care. But let that return be a sincere, earnest, and permanent return. Let it be a truthful and spiritual return. Only genuine repentance can do us any effectual good. The wording of the call suggests that the prophet’s appeal is dictated by mercy and judgment, Mercy. “Return unto the Lord thy God.” Jehovah is still thy God, and not yet thy Judge, still gracious and merciful, long-suffering, of great kindness, and repenteth Him of the evil. It is by the attribute of mercy that God first appeals to His covenant people to return to Him. What a glorious motive for repentance! The Lord Jehovah is still ready and willing to be your God, in order to smooth the way for your return to Him. Judgment. “For thou hast fallen by thine iniquity,” and art therefore amenable to the just punishment which is the portion of all those who transgress God’s law. If mercies do not work upon your love, let judgment work upon your fear.

II. The nature of genuine repentance. “Take with you words,” etc. The penitent is not left., to frame words according to his own fancy or imagination, but the Holy Sprat

actually puts words into the sinner’s mouth. We must also be prepared personally, we must endeavour to begin a pure and holy life. It was for lack of a personal preparation that Israel’s prayer was rejected. It is also necessary to endeavour to be possessed of such a state of mind as to entitle the suppliant to the benefits of paternal compassion. We need preparation of the heart. This fourfold preparation must be obtained from Him alone who is almighty. Of ourselves we can do nothing. From the simple expression, “Take with you words,” we learn—

1. That God’s will must be our rule in prayer, for it is under such circumstances only that we need expect our supplications to be accepted.

2. That God’s precepts and promises must be the subject-matter of our prayer. We are too short-sighted to know what is good for us, or what God in His inscrutable dispensations has appointed for us.

3. That the help of the Holy Spirit must be the life and principle of our prayer. The Spirit who now abides with us must be our teacher in all things, and bring all things to our remembrance. He will teach us what is the will of God. Observe now the “sound form” dictated for the use of the penitents, when really and truly returning unto the Lord their God. “Take away all iniquity,” etc. In this passage there is a petition and a promise. The petition is subdivided into two distinct requests, an entreaty for the pardon of sin, and a solicitation for granting unmerited favours. The promise consists of thanksgiving. “So will we render the calves of our lips”; and of amendment of life. “Asshur shall not save us,” etc. The text concludes with a reason for the petition and promise. “For in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy.” Note that repentance cannot exist without thanksgiving, nor can sincere thanksgiving be found in an individual not truly penitent. “Asshur shall not save us,” means, we give up all human succour. Genuine repentance takes the heart from all carnal confidence. Many are the gods and lords which the unconverted create for themselves. Men of power deify strength. Men of wisdom deify knowledge and prudence. Men of morality and virtue deify their good works. (Moses Margoliouth.)

How to return to God

God not only invites us to return, but He tells us how to do it. He puts the very words in our mouth. The first act of the awakened is usually an act of prayer. The very act of expressing our need has a tendency both to bring about clearer views of what it is that we need, and to intensify our desire. A true conversion involves, above everything else, personal transactions between the penitent, on the one hand, and his wronged and injured God on the other. Now the very act of prayer tends to bring to the front and impress upon our consciousness this personal aspect of the case. It is, however, of the utmost importance that the awakened soul should abstain from anything that might be called making a prayer. I would to God that men were more simple and definite in their prayers. God knows our needs before we utter them. But do we know them? Indefinite notions as to what we require at the hands of God must paralyse our faith and rob our approach of all reality. Notice the urgency of the prayer which God’s love puts into the mouth of the penitent. It is also the expression of a distinct change in our moral attitude towards God. It seems asking a great deal to say, “Take away all iniquity.” Can it all be taken away? (W. Hay Aitken, M. A.)

Israel exhorted to return unto the Lord

I. An awful fact stated. “Thou hast fallen,” etc. The term “fall” is used literally, when we speak of a body descending from a higher to a lower situation. When the fall of angels or of men is mentioned, we understand the term figuratively. Thus Israel had—

1. Fallen from their allegiance to God.

2. Fallen from His worship.

3. Fallen from the enjoyment of His favour.

II. An affectionate exhortation urged. “Return unto the Lord.” Observe—

1. The persons addressed. “Israel.” No reproachful name is used.

2. The nature of the address. “Return.” This implies previous wandering.

3. To whom they were to return. “The Lord thy God.”

III. Instructive direction administered. “Take with you words.” Not bullocks or sacrifices. Words of sincerity. Appropriate words. Words of confession. Words of petition. They were to pray for the removal of iniquity.

1. Take it away from our affections, that we may no longer love it.

2. From our consciences, that we may no longer labour under the burden of it.

3. From our lives, that it may not have dominion over us.

4. “From our hearts, that we may be dead to it.” Receive our prayers graciously. Receive our persons graciously.

IV. Returns of gratitude expressed. “So will we render the calves of our lips.” (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)

The iniquity of the people

The Gospel itself has gone no further than the elements which constitute this closing chapter. The nation is addressed in its unity. “Return unto the Lord.” Come back; do not any longer pursue the way of folly and the path of darkness; turn round; be converted, be healed, come home. That is an evangelical cry, that is the very passion and the very meaning of the Cross of Christ. “For thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.” Man is not called to come down, but to come up. Thou hast fallen fiat upon the earth. This is a call from a fall. The fall is not to be argued into a man; the fall is an experience which must be confirmed by the consciousness of the heart itself. The experience of the heart about this matter of the fall is a varied, conflicting, tumultuous experience. “Take with you words.” When men are in earnest their words are themselves. Leave all ritualism, and take with you yourselves speech of the heart, prayer of the soul, cry of the felt necessity. “Take away all iniquity.” Here is confession, “Receive us graciously.” Here is petition. “So will we render the calves of our lips.” Our sacrifice shall be a living sacrifice. But can Israel so pray and so promise, and then repeat yesterday as if nothing had occurred in the night-time of penitence? Israel must be complete in confession, and complete in renunciation. A man must at some point say good-bye to his ruined self. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature. Now we come upon words never excelled by John or by Paul for sweep of thought and tenderness of pathos. “I will love them freely,” literally, “I am impelled to love them.” When God sees the returning prodigal, He sees more than the sin—He sees

the sinner within the man, the man within the sinner, the God within the man. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)

The penitent returning to God

Not only is the obligation to repent universal, the main features of real repentance are invariably the same. It is the like corruption of heart and practice over which the contrite sinner of every age and country has to mourn; it is the same mercy-seat he has to approach; it is the same God to whom he has to be reconciled.

I. As to the general circumstances of mankind. The expression, “Thou hast fallen,” applies primarily and directly to the case of the Jews. They had fallen in every sense of the word. Their vices had been their ruin; their city was destroyed, their temple consumed, and they themselves were captives in a strange land. The work of devastation had reached their minds as well as their bodies. Many of them clung still to their sins and idolatries. Consider, more generally—

1. The state of degradation to which man has fallen. How often have we, in contemplating our own hearts, or the conduct of others, to blush for the creature who was originally formed in the image of his God.

2. The state of corruption and depravity into which human nature has fallen. It is quite possible to overstate the limits of this corruption. But we may say that spiritual qualities are absolutely extinct in the unconverted mind.

3. The state of suffering to which we have fallen. Some compare the world to a vast hospital, and others to a huge prison.

4. The state of danger and condemnation to which we are fallen. Look at the strong bias of the heart to evil—at the snares of the world, and the temptations of the devil.

II. The duty of man under such circumstances. Our Heavenly Father has been pleased to give us, in our guilty and lost circumstances, certain express directions for returning to the God from whom we have fallen. In our text the injunction is—

1. That we should “turn to the Lord.” With the help of the Spirit, and by a strong effort on your own part, you should set your face heavenwards.

2. “Take with you words, and say unto God, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously.” Feel that your first business and object, in the presence of the Lord, is to seek by earnest and devout supplication, a release from guilt, and wrath, and punishment. This release and pardon you are to seek, not on the ground of any merits of your own, but from the free and unmerited love of God.

3. You are to say unto God, “We will render the calves of our lips.” Or as the apostle puts it, “The fruit of our lips giving praise to Him.” The feelings of heartfelt gratitude and praise are to accompany prayer.

4. We are to renounce all dependence upon and all allegiance to other masters. Our sincerity will be testified by an abandonment of the paths of sin. A change in the direction of our affections and our services will uniformly follow real conversion.

III. The encouragement suggested by the text for thus turning to god. It is stated in those simple but beautiful words, “For in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy.” Apply to the despondent; to the believer; to the contrite sinner. (J. W. Cunningham.)

An exhortation to repentance

I. These verses in their primary reference to israel.

1. The prophet calls upon the people to return unto the Lord their God. He was their God in an especial manner. He had never been wanting to them while they owned and served Him as the Lord their God. He directs them in what manner and with what spirit they should return. They were to take with them words, and make their petition to this effect, that God would be pleased to “take away all iniquity.” To take away the guilt of it, and grant them His gracious pardon: to take away the power of it, and grant them His effectual grace to resist and subdue it. They were to pray that God would receive them graciously, graciously implying that merit was not to be pleaded in any degree by the petitioners. They were to promise the tribute of their lips, grateful language flowing from a grateful heart. In returning to the Lord the people were further to express their renunciation of all former and false confidences. And they were frankly to acknowledge that Jehovah alone was the effectual succour of the helpless and destitute.

II. Consider these verses as of more general extent in their application. Kingdoms and nations may “fall by their iniquity.”

1. There is a cad to wandering sinners to return unto the Lord their God. A door of hope is left open for them.

2. God uses inducements. He assures the sinner that he has “fallen by his iniquity.” Every sinner is fallen from that state of happiness and holiness in which God originally created man.

3. You are to take words and pray. The removal of sin must take place in order to our restoration. If the guilt of it is not taken away by pardoning grace, the wrath of God must abide on us. If the power of it is not broken, and the love of it subdued in the soul, it must exclude us from the holy and happy society of God and glorified spirits above.

4. You are to entreat that God would “receive you graciously”: take you into His favour, and admit you into His family.

5. Such surprising grace will demand the most fervent affections of your hearts, and the most devoted and obedient submission of your lives.

6. You are to approach the throne of grace with a solemn and deliberate disavowal of all forbidden dependencies, and an acknowledgment that the God of grace is the only helper of helpless sinners. Glorify God by acknowledging the freeness and fulness of His grace, and by accepting the blessed and complete deliverance offered to you in the Gospel. (S. Knight, M. A.)

Total repentance

The prophet entreats them not only to turn back, and look toward the Lord with a partial and imperfect repentance, but not to leave off till they were come quite home to Him by a total and sincere repentance and amendment. He bids them return quite to Himself, the unchangeable God and their God. “Great is repentance,” is a Jewish saying, “which maketh men to reach quite up to the throne of glory.” (E. B. Pusey, D. D.)

Repentance or reformation

I. Its nature and method indicated.

1. Its nature. “O Israel, return unto the Lord your God.” The description contained in the first and third verses of this reformation implies three things—

(1) That the soul is away from God.

(2) The renunciation of all dependence upon creatures. “Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses.” This means, we will not trust to Asshur—that is, Assyria—for help.

(3) Utter abandonment of all idols. “Neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods. For in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy.”

2. Its method. “Take with you words, and turn to the Lord.” Why take words to God?

(1) Not because words can inform Him of anything of which He is ignorant.

(2) Not because words can induce Him to be more kind to us than He is. “Then will we offer the calves of our lips.” And before Him pray. Pray for two things—

(a) His forgiveness. “Take away all sin.”

(b) His acceptance. “Receive us graciously.”

II. Its cause and blessedness specified.

1. Its cause—God. “I will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely. I will be as the dew.” I will act upon the soul silently, penetratingly, revivifyingly—“as the dew.” All true reformation brings with it God’s silent but effective agency.

2. Its blessedness.

(1) Health. “I will heal their backsliding.” The soul is diseased. God is its great Physician.

(2) Divine favour. “I will love them freely, for Mine anger is turned away from them.”

(3) Growth. “He shall grow as the lily.”

(a) The growth is connected with beauty. Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like it.

(b) Its growth is connected with strength. “Cast forth his roots as Lebanon.”

(c) Its growth is connected with expansiveness. “His branches shall spread.” How a Divinely formed soul expands. Its sympathies become world wide.

(d) Its growth is connected with fragrance. “His beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.” How delectable the fragrance of a holy life!

(e) Its growth is connected with social usefulness. It shall offer protection to men. “They that dwell under his shadow shall return.” Not only protection, but beneficent progress: “They shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine.” (Homilist.)

So will we render the calves of our lips.

By “taking with us words,” in speech or in sacred song, we can render to God the calves, i.e., the sacrifice of our lips. There is—

I. A sacrifice of silence. It is a great thing to know how to serve our Lord and our neighbour by keeping our lips closed. To be silent when we are tempted to speak, but when the closed mouth is wiser and kinder than the uttered word.

II. The sacrifice of truthfulness. We are bound to truthfulness by the express commandment of God, and by the claims of our fellow-men. We render this sacrifice, not merely by refusing to stoop to downright, deliberate falsehood, but by avoiding the utterance which is fitted to convey a false impression; by avoiding the evil and pernicious habit of exaggeration and caricature. Others should be able to trust our word absolutely.

III. The sacrifice of praise. We can hardly conceive of Divine service without the element of praise, and this is the best and truest Christian form of the sacrifice of the lips. Unitedly, intelligently, heartily, spiritually should we render this most pleasant, most acceptable sacrifice.

IV. The sacrifice of prayer. By utterance of our thought we help ourselves to pray; for expression kindles, sustains, directs devotion. And by uttering our thought we help others to pray.

V. The sacrifice of humility and confession. Humility is the gateway that opens into the kingdom of Christ. When with deep and true penitence of spirit we take with us words, we offer an acceptable sacrifice, and “with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

VI. The sacrifice of helpfulness. By the timely, thoughtful, helpful word, we may render service to man and sacrifice to God.

1. The word of warning.

2. The word of comfort.

3. The word of encouragement.

4. The word of challenge. Thus by timely and helpful words shall we “render the calves of our lips.” (Sunday in Church.)

A living sacrifice

Our sacrifice shall be a living sacrifice; we have nothing to slay; we will live unto the Lord. The “lips” here stand for life; the “calves” must be regarded as representing symbolically the old sacrifice in a new form,—not the unintelligent and irresponsive calves of the meadow, but the calves of our lips, the living sacrifice, the personal offering. What a prayer, thus modelled and outlined! Here is confession, here is hope, here is poetry, here is consecration, here is communion with God: yet is there no bargain-making. Man is not inviting God to enter into a covenant in which there shall be so much for so much. Forgive us, and we will obey. Pardon us, and reckon then upon our worship;—the worship does not come as payment, but as a necessity of nature; it will be the utterance of gratitude; it represents the irrepressible music of spiritual thanksgiving. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)

NISBET, "CHRISTIAN SACRIFICES

‘So will we render the calves of our lips.’

Hosea 14:2

There is but One Priest Who in His own right can approach God; but One Mediator, Who can plead His own goodness; and so there is but One propitiatory, expiatory sacrifice, even ‘the One full, perfect, and sufficient Sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction,’ once made upon the Cross, for the sins of the whole world. There never has been, there never will be, any other. Except for this one and only Atonement, nothing we could say, think, or do, would be acceptable to God; but for this we should remain, as we were born, an accursed race.

But though this be true, yet with respect to those who rely on the intercession of that one great Priest, and, by faith, plead and apply to their souls the merits of that One expiatory sacrifice, the Spirit teaches us that they render unto God acceptable service; God for Christ’s sake will permit them to approach Him, and accept a service at their hands. And this gives us the idea of a sacrifice. For a sacrifice is something presented to God, in behalf of man, by persons Divinely appointed to ‘offer gifts unto the Lord.’ In this sense, the ‘blood of bulls and of goats,’ under the law, became a typical sacrifice; and, under the Gospel, the Eucharist is thus designated, being a commemorative sacrifice. But according to Scripture, public worship is also a sacrifice, and it is very essential to represent it as such.

I. This doctrine is directly implied in the text by a figure of speech.—As calves were offered in sacrifice, so are the lips of worshippers to be as calves; they are to offer to God the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving (Amos 4:5; Hebrews 13:15). St. Peter, speaking of the Christian Church, says: ‘Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ’ (1 Peter 2:5). He cannot here refer to the Eucharist, because he is addressing Christians generally as a holy priesthood, and the celebration of the Eucharist requires the intervention of a special order of men separated from among the general body of believers; he must, therefore, refer to the service of public or common prayer, which he describes as a spiritual sacrifice.

II. The sacrifice offered in public worship is the sacrifice of prayer and praise.—It is offered in each congregation for the Church universal, for the Church of the province, for the Church of the diocese, more especially for the Church of the parish, and for all the members of the same; it is offered by the assembled worshippers, being baptized persons, ‘continuing steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers’ (Acts 2:42). Such persons are for this purpose ‘an holy Priesthood,’ appointed to offer up these ‘spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ’ (1 Peter 2:5; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:5-6; Revelation 5:9-10). As certain believers are elected from their brethren, and ordained to be priests for the higher service of the Holy Eucharist, and that they may bless the people in the Name of Him Whose ministers they are; so are the members of the Church, as their name denotes (Ecclesia), a people ‘called out’ of mankind, to act as priests in the general sacrifice of Christian worship.

Illustration

‘David tells us that the service God wants is the opening of the lips, that the mouth may show forth God’s praise. The sacrifices which please Him are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. God wants our lips. Praise is a very important part of religion.’

3 Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount warhorses.We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.”

BAR�ES, "Asshur shall not save us - After prayer for pardon and for acceptance of themselves, and thanksgiving for acceptance, comes the promise not to fall back into their former sins. Trust in man, in their own strength, in their idols, had been their besetting sins. Now, one by one, they disavow them.

First, they disclaim trust in man, and making “flesh their arm” Jer_17:5. Their disclaimer of the help of the Assyrian, to whom they had so often betaken themselves against the will of God, contains, at once, that best earnest of true repentance, the renewal of the confession of past sins, and the promise to rely no more on any princes of this world, of whom he was then chief. The horse, in like way, is the symbol of any warlike strength of their own. As the Psalmist says, “Some put their trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God” Psa_20:7; and, “a horse is a vain thing for safety, neither shall he deliver any by his great strength” Psa_33:17; and Solomon, “The horse is prepared for the day of battle but salvation is of the Lord” Pro_21:31. War was almost the only end for which the horse was used among the Jews. If otherwise, it was a matter of great and royal pomp. It was part of a standing army. Their kings were especially forbidden to “multiply horses” Deu_17:16 to themselves. Solomon, indeed, in his prosperity, broke this, as well as other commands of God. The pious king Hezekiah, although possessed at one time of large treasure, so kept that command as to furnish matter of mockery to Rabshakeh, the blaspheming envoy of Assyria, that he had neither horses nor horsemen 2Ki_18:23. The horses being procured

from Egypt 1Ki_10:28, the commerce gave fresh occasion for idolatry.

Neither will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ye are our gods -This is the third disavowal. Since it was folly and sin to trust in the creatures which God had made, apart from God, how much more, to trust in things which they themselves had made, instead of God, and offensive to God!

For in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy - (or, O Thou, in whom). He is indeed fatherless who hath not God for his Father. They confess then, that they were and deserved to be thus “fatherless” and helpless, a prey to every oppressor; but they appeal to God by the title which He had taken, “the Father of the fatherless” Psa_68:5, that He would have mercy on them, who had no help but in Him. : “We promise this, they say, hoping in the help of Thy mercy, since it belongeth to Thee and is for Thy Glory to have mercy on the people which believeth in Thee, and to stretch forth Thine Hand, that they may be able to leave their wonted ills and amend their former ways.”

GILL, "Ashur shall not save us,.... This is still a continuation of the words repenting and returning Israel are directed to make use of before the Lord, declaring they would not do any more as they had done; to Assyria, or the kings of Assyria, as the Targum, for help, and desire assistance, and expect deliverance and salvation from thence; see Hos_5:13;

we will not ride upon horses; to seek for help elsewhere; or go to Egypt for them, as they had done; or put their trust in them for safety, in a time of war; or think to make their escape by them when in danger; see Psa_20:8;

neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, ye are our gods; that is, say so to, or concerning, their idols, which were made by their hands, or by their orders, as they had formerly done to the golden calf in the wilderness, and to the calves at Dan and Bethel; see Exo_32:4; now, by all these expressions is meant, that they would determine not to put any confidence in any creature, or in any creature performance; that they would not trust in their own merits, but in the mercy of God through Christ for the of their sins; nor in any works of righteousness for their justification before God, and acceptance with him; nor expect salvation in any other way than by the free grace of God, and his abundant mercy in Christ:

for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy; and in thee only; hereby declaring that the Lord was the only Saviour; that there was salvation in Christ, and in no other; and that they would have no other saviour but him; that they would look to the mercy of God proclaimed in him, and communicated from and through him, the mercy seat, and to his mercy alone for eternal life; in whom the most destitute persons, as the fatherless, who are destitute of friends, of help and assistance, of counsel and advice, find favour, kindness, and mercy, even such as are most hopeless and helpless; which is a great encouragement to look to the Lord, to trust in him, and hope in his mercy

JAMISO�, "Three besetting sins of Israel are here renounced, trust in Assyria, application to Egypt for its cavalry (forbidden, Deu_17:16; compare Hos_7:11; Hos_11:5; Hos_12:1; 2Ki_17:4; Psa_33:17; Isa_30:2, Isa_30:16; Isa_31:1), and idolatry.

fatherless — descriptive of the destitute state of Israel, when severed from God, their true Father. We shall henceforth trust in none but Thee, the only Father of the fatherless, and Helper of the destitute (Psa_10:14; Psa_68:5); our nation has experienced Thee such in our helpless state in Egypt, and now in a like state again our

only hope is Thy goodness.

CALVI�, "Verse 3This verse ought to be joined with the last, as the Israelites show here more clearly and fully in what they had sinned, and, at the same time, give proof of their repentance; for when they say, The Assyrian shall not save us, we shall not mount on horses, we shall not say to the work of hands, Our gods, it is to be understood as a confession, that they had in these various ways roused against themselves the vengeance of God; for they had hoped for safety from the Assyrians, ran here and there, and had thus alienated themselves from God; they had also fled to statues and idols, and had transferred to dumb images the honour due to the only true God. We hence see, that though the faithful speak of future time, they yet indirectly confess that they had grievously sinned, had forsaken the only true God, and transferred their hopes to others, either to the Assyrians or to fictitious gods. But at the same time, they promise to be different in future; as though he said, that they would not only be grateful to God in celebrating his praises, but that their way of living would be also new, so as not to abuse the goodness of God. This is the substance of what is here said.

By saying, The Assyrian shall not save us, they doubtless condemned, as I have already stated, the false confidence with which they were before deluded, when they sought deliverance by means of the Assyrians. There is, indeed, no doubt, but that the Israelites were ever wont to pretend to trust in the name of God; but in thinking themselves lost without the succour of the Assyrians, they most certainly defrauded God of his just honour, and adorned men with spoils taken from him. For except we be convinced that God alone is sufficient for us, even when all earthly aids fail us, we do not place in him our hope of salvation; but, on the contrary, transfer to mortals what belongs alone to him. For this sacrilege the Israelites therefore condemn themselves, and, at the same time, show that the fruit of their repentance would be, to set their minds on God, so as not to be drawn here and there as before, or to think that they could be preserved through the help of men. Let us hence learn, that men turn not to God, except when they bid adieu to all creatures, and no longer fix their hopes on them. This is one thing.

What follows, On a horse we shall not mount, may be explained in two ways; — as though they said, that they would no longer be so mad as to be proud of their own power, or consider themselves safe because they were well furnished with horses and chariots; — but the clause may be more simply explained, as meaning, that they would not as before wander here and there to procure for themselves auxiliaries; We shall not then mount a horse, but continue quiet in our country; and this sense seems more appropriate. I do not then think that the Prophet brings forward any new idea, but I read the two sentences conjointly, The Assyrian shall not save us, we shall not then mount on a horse, that is, that we may ride in haste; for they had wearied themselves before with long journeys: as soon as any danger was at hand, they went away afar off into Assyria to seek help, when God commanded them to remain quiet.

The meaning of this will be better understood by referring to other passages, which correspond with what is here said. God says by Isaiah, ‘On horses mount not; but ye said, We will mount: then mount,’ says he, (Isaiah 30:16.) Here is a striking intimation, that the Jews against God’s will rode and hastened to seek aids. “I see you,” he says, “to be very prompt and swift: then mount, but it shall be for the purpose of fleeing.” We see what was the design of this reproof of the Prophet; it was to show that the Jews, who ought to have remained still and quiet, fled here and there for the sake of seeking assistance. So also in this place, when they would show the fruit of their repentance, they say, “We will not hereafter mount a horse, for the Lord, who promises to be our aid, is not to be sought as one far off: we will not then any more fatigue ourselves in vain.” It seems to me that this is what is meant by the Prophet.

Then he adds, And we shall not say, Our gods, to the work of our hands. As they had spoken of the false trust they placed in men, so now they condemn their own superstition. And these are the two pests which are wont to bring destruction on men; for nothing is more ruinous than to transfer our hope from God; and this is done in two ways, either when men trust in their own strength, or pride themselves on human aids and despise God, as if they can be safe without him, — or when they give up themselves to false superstitions. Both these diseases ever prevail in the world, when men entangle themselves in their own superstitions, and form for themselves new gods, from whom they expect safety; as we see to be the case with those under the Papacy. God is almost of no account with them, Christ is not sufficient. For how comes it that they contrive so many patrons for themselves, that they devise so many guardianships, except that they despise the help of God, or so extenuate it, that they dare not to hope for salvation from him? We hence see that superstition draws men away from God, and becomes thus the cause of the worst destruction. But there are some, who are not thus given up to superstitions, but who derive a hope from their own valour or wisdom; for the children of this world are inflated with their own strength; and when princes have their armies prepared, when they have fortified cities, when they possess abundance of money, when they are strengthened by many compacts, they are blinded with false confidence. So then this verse teaches us, that these are two destructive pests, which commonly draw men away from real safety; and if then we would repent sincerely from the heart, we must purge our minds from these two evils, so that we may not ascribe any thing to our own strength or to earthly helps, nor form any idols to be in the place of God, but feel assured that God alone is a sufficient help to us.

But it follows, For in thee will the fatherless find mercy. Here the Israelites show that it is necessary for us to be depressed that we may remain dependent on God alone; for those are compared to the fatherless who are so humbled, that they cast away all vain hopes, and, conscious of their nakedness and want, recumb on God alone. Hence, that God’s mercy may find a way open to come to us, we must become fatherless. �ow what this metaphor means is well known to us. The fatherless, we know, are, first, destitute of aid, and, secondly, of wisdom; and they are also without strength. They are then dependent on the aid of another, and stand in need of

direction; in short, their safety depends on the assistance of others. Thus, also, we are really fatherless, when we rely not on our own prudence, nor recumb on our own strength, nor think that we can be safe through the aids which come from the earth, but cast all our hopes and cares on God alone. This is one thing. The fatherless then shall find mercy in thee; that is, “When thou, Lord, dost so afflict us, that we become wholly cast down, then we shall find mercy in thee; and this mercy will be sufficient for us, so that we shall no more wander and be drawn aside by false devices, as it has hitherto been the case with us.” When, therefore, they say,in God will the fatherless find mercy, they mean that the grace offered by the Lord will be sufficient, so that there will be no need any more of seeking aid from any other. We now understand what the Prophet means in this verse. It follows —

COFFMA�, ""Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods; for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy."

"Assyria ..." This word is "Asshur" in the Hebrew text; but the two terms were almost synonymous. "The Semitic name served for the god Asshur as well as for the city and empire. In the present context, this dual meaning is particularly appropriate."[13]

"True repentance involves abandoning known sin; and here the double sins of relying on nations and idolatry are confessed."[14]; "We will not ride upon horses ..." is supposed to be a metaphorical way of declaring that, "neither can Egypt help us." Egypt was the principal source of the world's war horses in those times.

There are some further strong suggestions of the �ew Covenant in this verse: (1) the projected abandonment of idolatry, and (2) the mercy extended to the fatherless, perhaps a prophecy of the adoption of the Gentiles into the kingdom of God after Pentecost. In fact, the rejection of the reliance upon secular states may also be viewed as an ear-mark of Christianity, making three witnesses of the �ew Covenant in this single verse. We shall note each of them:

(1) The reliance upon having their own state with their own chosen rulers was the original sin of the Old Israel; and this passage indicates that in the period of the �ew Covenant, God's people would not set up their own governments, or rely upon states, Assyria and Egypt, cited here, being the greatest states of that era. Christ flatly declared that his followers would not trust in such things, saying, "It shall not be so among you" (Matthew 20:25,26). This has been a characteristic of Christianity throughout the ages. Christians have not set up their own earthly governments, but submitted to whatever government presided over the place where they lived. Only the Mormons, the apostate Church, and a few others ever departed from this. But how about secular Israel? This very day they are back again in the secular state business!

(2) The projected abandonment of idolatry would become in time a characteristic of

the �ew Israel. Paganism has disappeared wherever Christianity is known. �o Christian religion of any name or creed ever sanctioned idolatry; and even the consecration of sacred images has vanished from the earth wherever true Christianity abounds. The lapses of the Medieval Church in this particular do not deny the general truth.

(3) The mercy to the fatherless as a hallmark of the �ew Covenant has been fulfilled in two ways. �ever before in the world's history has so much time, money, and thoughtful care been expended upon behalf of orphan children as by the saints of God's holy church. But there is likely something else also inherent here. The pre-Christian Gentiles were "fatherless" as far as their relation to God was concerned; but they were adopted "in Christ Jesus." Paul wrote to a Gentile church, saying, "Ye received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Romans 8:15).

Could there remain any doubt of the pertinence of this chapter to "the kingdom of heaven in Christ"?

ELLICOTT, "(3) The three crying sins of Israel are here recounted: (1) Expected salvation from Assyria; (2) dependence on the world-power of Egypt, famed for war-horses and chariots; (3) ascription of Divine names and homage to wrought images of the Divine glory. God’s paternal love to the orphan, peculiarly applicable to Israel now, cast on a cold and fatherless world.

BE�SO�, "Hosea 14:3. Asshur shall not save us — We will not rely on Assyria for protection and help. The Israelites frequently sought the alliance of the Assyrians, and are often reproved by the prophets for so doing. We will not ride upon horses — We will not implore the help of Egypt, as we did formerly, nor depend on horses brought thence, or on any of our military preparations. It was chiefly on account of their cavalry that the Jews and Israelites courted the help of Egypt, having no cavalry of their own. This is the first part of the people’s repentance. It consists in their renouncing all dependance on foreign alliances, and on every arm of flesh. The second is, their renouncing every species of idolatry and image-worship, expressed in the next clause, �either will we say, &c., to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods — This is often spoken of in the prophets, as an introduction to that state of the church which is to commence from the time of the conversion of the Jews: see notes on Hosea 2:17; and Isaiah 1:29. For in thee the fatherless findeth mercy — Thou art the helper of the weak and friendless; of us, who are unable to help ourselves, and are exposed to the injuries of others, having none to defend us. Observe, reader, God never fails to be the helper of all that are destitute of strength in themselves, and destitute of help from others: and who, being sensible of their helpless condition, look for it from God, who hath sufficient power, mercy, and wisdom to help.

TRAPP, "Hosea 14:3 Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, [Ye are] our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

Ver. 3. Asshur shall not save us, &c.] q.d. He cannot if he would; he shall not if he could. The two great sins of this people were creature confidence and idolatry; both these they do here renounce and abandon. The best repentance, saith Luther, is a reformed life. It is true, say they, we have gone to the Assyrian (wherein we have dealt as the silly bird flying to the snare, or as fishes, which, to avoid the pole wherewith the water is troubled, swim into the net); we have taken our horses instead of our prayers, and gone about to find out good; have been so foolish as to think that dumb idols, that cannot help themselves, should help us. But now we are otherwise resolved, experientia edocti et poenitentia ducti; we find at length (that which we should have believed sooner, without trying conclusions) that men of high degree are but a lie, that horses are but a vanity, that an idol is nothing, and can give nothing: that power belongeth unto thee, none else can do it; that mercy belongeth unto thee, none else will do it: therefore since in thee only the fatherless, that is, the friendless and shiftless, find mercy, O be thou pleased to do us good.

For in thee the fatherless findeth mercy] The poor pupil, the forlorn orphan, that is left to the wide world, and lost in himself, cries out, Lord, I am hell, but thou art heaven, &c. I am an abject, oh make me an object of thy pity. Jeremiah 39:17, "Because they call thee an outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after, therefore I will restore health unto thee." Miseria res digna misericordia (Ruperti Imp. symb.). The proud Assyrian, and other enemies, would be apt to insult over Israel, as afterwards Cicero did; the Jewish nation, saith he, show how God regards them, that have been so often overcome by Pompey, Crassus, &c. But let God’s people be but fatherless enough, let them withdraw their confidence from men and means, and cast it wholly upon God, making him their tutor and protector, and they shall be both preserved and provided for. Deo confisi nunquam confusi. Have confidence in God and you will never be disappointed, I will not leave you orphans, saith Christ, John 14:18. Hence the Church resteth on God, in the fail of other comforts, Psalms 10:14; Psalms 10:17-18; Psalms 27:10, Habakkuk 3:17, Psalms 102:13. The prayer of the destitute he regards. The Hebrew word signifieth a poor worthless shrub in the wilderness, trod upon by beasts, unregarded.

BI, "Asshur shall not save us.

Giving up our vain confidences

It is a great point of wisdom to take advantages with the stream of our temper to praise God. It is one branch of redeeming the time, to observe what state and temper of soul we are in, and to take advantage from thence. Add some encouragements to incite us to praise God. We honor God by it. It is a gainful trading with God. It is a most noble act of religion. We have more cause to praise God than to pray; having many things to praise Him for, which we never prayed for. Praise being a larger sacrifice than prayer, we ought to be abundant in it. If we be much in praising God, we shall be much in joy, which easeth misery. How shall we know that God accepts these sacrifices of praise? Under the old law God witnessed by fire from heaven. If we find our hearts warmed, cheered, and encouraged with joy, peace, and comfort in praising God, this is as it were a witness by fire from heaven, that our sacrifices are accepted. Here is also a promise of new

obedience, which hath two branches.

1. A renunciation of the ill courses they took before. “Asshur shall not save us.” The people of God, in any distress, had recourse for help to the Assyrians or the Egyptians, as if God had not been sufficient to be their rock and shield.

Learn—

1. That man naturally is prone to put confidence in the creature.

2. That the creature is insufficient and unable to yield us this prop to uphold our confidence.

3. That God’s people when they are endowed with light supernatural, to discern and be convinced hereof, are of that mind to say, “Asshur shall not save us.” As a preparative for the treatment of these points, notice that reformation of life must be joined with prayer and praise; and that true repentance is of the particular sin which we are most addicted to and most guilty of. The particular sin of this people was their confidence in Assyria, horses, and idols. Naturally we are apt and prone to confidence in outward helps and present things. Because having lost communion with God, somewhat we must have to stay the soul. Because Satan joins with our sense and fancy, by which we are naturally prone to live, esteeming of things not by faith and by deeper grounds, but by fancy. These outward things cannot help us, and so are not to be relied on. “Asshur shall not save us.” He is but a creature. He is an enemy. He is an idolater. “A horse is a vain thing for safety.” When God alters and changes and moulds anew the heart of a man to repentance, He altereth his confidence in the creature. “In Thee the fatherless findeth mercy.” When a man hath once repented, there is a closing between God and him, and he seeth an all-sufficiency in God to satisfy all his desires. Therefore he will use all other things as helps, and as far as it may stand with His favour. How shall we know whether we exceed in confidence in the creature, or not? We may know it by adventuring on ill courses and causes. When there is such confidence in the creature, as for us to outdare God, then there is too much trust in the creature; and that trust will end in confusion. By security and resting the soul in meaner things; never seeking to Divine and religious helps, when we are supplied with those that are outward. Let us take heed of carnal confidence. All is but vanity. Things do not yield that which we expect they should yield. There is a falsehood in the things; they promise this and that in shows, but when we possess them they yield it not; as they have no strength in deed, so they deceive. Then there is mutability in them. And they are snares and baits to us, to draw us away from God, by reason of the vanity of our nature. Let this be the end of all, touching this carnal confidence, to beware that we do not fasten our affections too much upon any earthly thing, at home or abroad, within or without ourselves: for “God will destroy the wisdom of the wise.” Let us use all outward helps, yet so as to rely upon God for His blessing in the use of all. (R. Sibbes, D. D.)

Penitence

We have here the true portrait of real penitents.

1. Here is a renunciation of all help and succour in all creatures, and all dependence for salvation on anything inherent. It is good to observe here that we have all the initials of true Gospel sorrow and godly grief for sin, with all contained in that repentance which is unto, and belongs unto, everlasting life. Turning to the Lord;

acknowledging our case; deploring our sinfulness; praying for the Lord’s gracious acceptation of us, a declaration of our future acknowledgment of these gratuitous acts of the Lord towards us; and then a full renunciation of ourselves, with the sole ascription to the free grace of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; this involves and includes all contained in godly sorrow for sin. It was one of the national sins of Israel to trust in the Assyrians for help and succour, when in trouble and distress they looked to them. So “Asshur shall not save us,” means, we will no longer seek relief in human means. It is a very important effect of our truly turning to the Lord to renounce ourselves wholly and altogether.

2. A declaration of having no more to do with any works of their hands. The terms used are very expressive of the rejection of idols and idolatrous worship.

3. The reason which is assigned for this. “In Thee the fatherless findeth mercy.” Mercy is in the Lord. It is inherent in Him. It is a perfection of His glorious nature. In the display and manifestation of it He takes delight. (Samuel Eyles Pierce.)

For in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

God merciful to the fatherless

And it is well that they do find mercy there, for very often they find little mercy among men. The text contains a statement of facts with reference to former dispensations, and a promise of blessing in the future.

I. THE VALUABLE BLESSING HERE BESTOWED—MERCY. Not riches, not honour. Mercy is the Divine perfection, by which God is inclined to pity and succour such as are in distress. It relates only to the miserable; there can be no manifestation of mercy without misery. But though misery was in the world and mercy was the character of God, there existed a strong impediment to the exercise of that mercy. That impediment was justice. That justice has been satisfied. God can be a God of mercy through the merits of His own Son. Why should this blessing of mercy be singled out as given to orphans?

1. It is a comprehensive blessing. It pardons all sin. It prevents evil. It supports in danger. It supplies all wants. It guides in doubt. It heals all diseases. It sustains in death. It comforts in sorrow. It delivers in difficulty. It saves the soul. You cannot think of mercy without thinking of a train of mercies following it.

2. It sweetens all other blessings. Health, property, social comfort, the fireside, are mercies, but to have all these sweetened by the mercy of God, flowing from Him through Christ,—that gives sweetness to all other mercies. Mercy sweetens even the Divine attributes. Mercy sweetens every affliction. Mercy paints a rainbow on the darkest clouds of affliction and distress. There is mercy put into every cup, and this makes it ever delightful to the sinking spirits. Mercy prepares individuals for contentment in every situation.

3. It is a fruitful blessing. What clusters of fruit gather on the tree of mercy! The first-fruit will be an humbled spirit. It will break down the pride of the heart. So sure as mercy is manifested to the soul, the soul will love in return. It creates a spirit of thank fulness.

4. It is an enduring mercy. One psalm is entirely devoted to this blessing (Psa_136:1-26.). What a comfort it is that amid all the changing things of time there is one thing that “endureth.”

II. The encouragement presented in the character of God.

1. It is part of God’s character to be merciful.

2. What assurances there are that we shall find mercy if we seek it.

3. See that orphans especially are required, and even entreated, to have this mercy.

Seeing what a choice blessing this mercy must be, both to spiritual orphans and to those who are literally so, let us all seek to possess it. But remember that nothing provokes the Divine anger so much as abusing His mercy, or slighting His love. (James Sherman.)

The Church as fatherless

1. It is the Church’s lot to be very desolate and orphan-like in the world.

2. God’s compassion and the sweet manifestation thereof are especially reserved for His people’s low condition and their greatest need.

3. The confidence of God’s respect to His humble people, would be cherished by the needy and penitent, to encourage them to come to Him and call upon Him.

4. Such as do apprehend and believe the mercy of God toward His needy people will renounce all carnal and sinful confidences. (George Hutcheson.)

The fatherless finding mercy in God

I. The distressed case here supposed. The word “fatherless” is sometimes used in its natural sense; and sometimes in a figurative sense, for afflicted and destitute persons in general. Our text supposeth that the case of orphans is truly pitiable, and that, above all others, they stand in need of assistance and mercy from God.

II. God’s kind regard to the fatherless.

1. God has commanded others not to injure, but to assist them. He made provision in the law of Moses that they should not be wronged.

2. He hath expressly declared Himself their friend and guardian. He is their reliever, helper, judge, redeemer, and father.

3. He hath in the course of His providence often shown mercy to them. In cases of families deprived of their heads, we have known how remarkably providence has taken care of them and raised them up friends.

Application.

1. How amiable a view doth this give us of the blessed God, and of His wonderful condescension.

2. Let us imitate God in showing mercy to the fatherless.

3. Let parents take encouragement to commit their children to the care of God.

4. Let the fatherless and orphans seek mercy from God, and humbly commit themselves to Him. (J. Orten.)

NISBET, "THE ORPHAN’S GOD

‘The fatherless findeth mercy.’

Hosea 14:3

This description of the pity and benignity of God is literally true. And the literal truth is suggestive of a wider sense in which the words may be employed, and a glorious principle of the Divine government precious to God’s people in every age. Israel might well renounce all other confidence in order to trust in Jehovah, in whom the very fatherless among the children of men find mercy.

I. The fact here asserted concerning the compassion of God revealed to orphans.—(1) The privations of the fatherless are many; they are without the guardianship, the bounty, the guidance, the affection of him who is most suited to watch over their childhood and youth. (2) The dangers of the fatherless are many; they are exposed to the designs of the crafty, and to the ill-treatment of the cruel. (3) God in many ways shows mercy to orphans. He raises up friends to care for them and to protect them. He opens up before them careers of usefulness and honour. He interposes often in a signal manner upon their behalf.

II. The larger fact concerning the spiritual history of mankind which these words suggest.—(1) By disobedience and rebellion sinful men have thrown off the Divine Father’s authority, have forfeited all claims to His regard, and have done their best to render themselves ‘fatherless’ in God’s universe. (2) The spiritual destitution and danger thus incurred have aroused the compassion of God’s heart, and have prompted His paternal interposition. Thus the gift of Christ, the outpouring of the Spirit, the means of grace appointed in the Church, are all instances of the Father’s mercy, and prove His infinite pity and His adopting love. O, for the spirit of sons, that we may cry, Abba, Father!

PULPIT, "Asshur shall not save us: we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. This was the practical side of Israel's repentance; this was bringing forth fruits meet for repentance. Here was a renunciation of all hope of safety from the world-powers—both Assyria and Egypt. They would never again have recourse to Assyria for help, nor to Egypt for horses; nor confide in their own unaided power or prowess; while this renunciation of worldly power and carnal confidences implied, as its opposite, unfaltering faith in the protecting power and saving strength of Jehovah. All thin was much, and yet more was required; next to such renunciation of merely human aid, as indicated, and its contrary, the recognition of Divine assistance, comes the absolute and complete abandonment of their national and besetting sin of idolatry. They have so far come to themselves and received the right use of reason as to confess that the manufacture of man's hands cannot be man's god, thus giving up with feelings of contempt and disgust the groveling sin of idolatry with its attendant vices. Still more, they are penetrated with the conviction that man without God is a poor fatherless creature, in no better, if not in a worse, condition than that of a weak orphan child. They have the consolation at the same time that for all such, on their return to him, the father of the fatherless and the God of the orphan has bowels of tenderest compassion. To the presumed prayer of the penitent an answer overflowing with mercy is promised at once,

and by God himself in the next section, consisting of—

4 “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.

BAR�ES, "I will heal their backsliding - God, in answer, promises to “heal” that wound of their souls, from where every other evil came, their fickleness and unsteadfastness. Hitherto, this had been the characteristic of Israel. “Within a while they forgat His works, and would not abide His counsels” Psa_106:13. “They forgat what He had done. Their heart was not whole with Him; neither continued they steadfast in His covenant. They turned back and tempted God. They kept not His testimonies, but turned back and fell way like their forefathers, starting aside like a broken bow” Psa_78:12, Psa_78:37, Psa_78:42, Psa_78:57-58. Steadfastness to the end is the special gift of the Gospel. “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it” Mat_28:20; Mat_16:18. And to individuals, “Jesus, having loved His own, loved them unto the end” Joh_13:1. In healing that disease of unsteadfastness, God healed all besides. This He did to all, wheresoever or howsoever dispersed, who received the Gospel; this He doth still; and this He will do completely in the end, when “all Israel shall be saved.”

I will love them freely - that is, as the word means, “impelled” thereto by Himself alone, and so, (as used of God) moved by His own Essential Bountifulness, the exceedling greatness of His Goodness, largely, bountifully. God “loves” us “freely” in loving us against our deserts, because He “is love;” He “loves” us “freely” in that He freely became Man, and, having become Man freely shed His Blood for the remission of our sins, freely forgave our sins; He “loves” us “freely,” in “giving us grace, according to the good pleasure of His will” Eph_1:5, to become pleasing to Him, and causing all good in us; He “loves” us “freely,” in rewarding infinitely the good which we have from “Him.” : “More manifestly here speaketh the Person of the Saviour Himself, promising His own Coming to the salvation of penitents, with sweetly sounding promise, with sweetness full of grace.”

For Mine anger is turned away from him - As He says, “In My wrath I smote thee; but in My favor have I had mercy on thee” Isa_60:10. He doth not withhold only, or suspend His anger, but He taketh it away wholly. So the Psalmist saith, “Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of Thy people; Thou hast covered all their sin; Thou hast taken

away all Thy wrath; Thou hast turned from the fierceness of Thine anger” Psa_85:2-3.

CLARKE, "I will heal their backsliding - Here is the answer of God to these prayers and resolutions. See its parts: -

1. Ye have backslidden and fallen, and are grievously and mortally wounded by that fall; but I, who am the Author of life, and who redeem from death, will heal all these wounds and spiritual diseases.

2. I will love them freely - nedabah, after a liberal, princely manner. I will love נדבה

them so as to do them incessant good. It shall not be a love of affection merely, but shall be a beneficial love. A love that not only feels delight in itself, but fills them with delight who are its objects, by making them unutterably and supremely happy.

3. For mine anger is turned away from him - Because he has turned back to me. Thus God and man become friends.

GILL, "I will heal their backslidings,.... This and what follows is the Lord's answer to the above prayer; and this clause particularly is an answer to that petition, "take away all iniquity", Hos_14:2; sins are diseases, natural and hereditary, nauseous and loathsome, mortal, and incurable but by the grace of God, and blood of Christ; backslidings are relapses, which are dangerous things; Christ is the only Physician, who heals all the diseases of sin, and these relapses also; he will do it, he has promised it, and never turns away any that apply to him for it; and which he does by a fresh application of his blood, whereby he takes away sin, heals the conscience wounded with it, and restores peace and comfort; which is a great encouragement to take words, and return unto him; see Hos_6:1;

I will love them freely; this is in answer to that petition, "receive us, graciously"; or "receive good", or rather "give good", Hos_14:2; not that the love of God or Christ begins when sinners repent and turn to him, or he applies his pardoning grace, since his love is from everlasting; but that in so doing he manifests his love, and will continue in it, nor shall anything separate from it: and this love, as it is freely set upon the objects of it, without any merits of theirs, or any motives in them, but flows from the free sovereign will and pleasure of God in Christ; so it is as freely manifested, and continues upon the same bottom, and is displayed in a most liberal and profuse donation of blessings of grace to them: this love is free in its original, and is liberal and bountiful in the effects of it; and makes the objects of it a free, willing, and bountiful people too:

for mine anger is turned away from him: from Israel, which, under former dispensations of Providence, seemed to be towards him, at least when under his frowns, resentment, and displeasure, as is the case of that people at this day; but when they shall return to the Lord, and he shall manifest and apply his pardoning grace to them, his anger will appear no more, and they shall be in a very happy and comfortable condition, as Israel or the church declares, Isa_12:1; which refers to the same times as these words do; see Rom_11:26; and compare Psa_85:2; where a manifestation of pardoning grace is

called the Lord's turning himself from the fierceness of his anger; and especially this suits with Gospel times, satisfaction being made for sin by the sacrifice of Christ.

HE�RY, "We have here an answer of peace to the prayers of returning Israel. They seek God's face, and they shall not seek in vain. God will be sure to meet those in a way of mercy who return to him in a way of duty. If we speak to God in good prayers, God will speak to us in good promises, as he answered the angel with good words and comfortable words, Zec_1:13. If we take with us the foregoing words in our coming to God, we may take home with us these following words for our faith to feast upon; and see how these answer those.

I. Do they dread and deprecate God's displeasure, and therefore return to him? He assures them that, upon their submission, his anger is turned away from them. This is laid as the ground of all the other favours here promised. I will do so and so, for my anger is turned away, and thereby a door is opened for all good to flow to them, Isa_12:1. Note, Though God is justly and greatly angry with sinners, yet he is not implacable in his anger; it may be turned away; it shall be turned away, from those that turn away from their iniquity. God will be reconciled to those that are reconciled to him and to his whole will.

II. Do they pray for the taking away of iniquity? He assures them that he will heal their backslidings; so he promised, Jer_3:22. Note, Though backslidings from God are the dangerous diseases and wounds of the soul, yet they are not incurable, for God has graciously promised that if backsliding sinners will apply to him as their physician, and comply with his methods, he will heal their backslidings. He will heal the guilt of their backslidings by pardoning mercy and their bent to backslide by renewing grace. Their iniquity shall not be their ruin.

III. Do they pray that God will receive them graciously? In answer to that, behold, it is promised, I will love them freely. God had hated them while they went on sin (Hos_9:15); but now that they return and repent he loves them, not only ceases to be angrywith them, but takes complacency in them and designs their good. He loves them freely,with an absolute entire love (so some), so that there are no remains of his former displeasure, with a liberal bountiful love (so others); he will be open-handed in his love to them, and will think nothing too much to bestow upon them or to do for them. Or with a cheerful willing love; he will love them without reluctancy or renitency. He will not say in the day of thy repentance, How shall I receive thee again? as he said in the day of thy apostasy, How shall I give thee up? Or with an unmerited preventing love. Whom God loves he loves freely, not because they deserve it, but of his own good pleasure. He loves because he will love, Deut, Hos_7:7, Hos_7:8.

JAMISO�, "God’s gracious reply to their self-condemning prayer.

backsliding — apostasy: not merely occasional backslidings. God can heal the most desperate sinfulness [Calvin].

freely — with a gratuitous, unmerited, and abundant love (Eze_16:60-63). So as to the spiritual Israel (Joh_15:16; Rom_3:24; Rom_5:8; 1Jo_4:10).

CALVI�, "Verse 4God here confirms what we have observed respecting his gratuitous reconciliation, nor is the repetition useless; for as men are disposed to entertain vain and false

hopes, so nothing is more difficult than to preserve them in dependence on the one God, and to pacify their minds, so that they disturb not nor fret themselves, as experience teaches us all. For when we embrace the promises of free pardon, our flesh ever leads us to distrust, and we become harassed by various fancies. “What! can you or dare you promise with certainty to yourself that God will be propitious to you, when you know that for many reasons he is justly angry with you?” Since, then, we are so inclined to harbour distrust, the Prophet again confirms the truth which we have before noticed, which is, that God is ready to be reconciled, and that he desires nothing more than to receive and embrace his people.

Hence he says, I will heal their defections The way of healing is by a gratuitous pardon. For though God, by regenerating us by his Spirit, heals our rebellion, that is, subdues us unto obedience, and removes from us our corruptions, which stimulate us to sin; yet in this place the Prophet no doubt declares in the person of God, that the Israelites would be saved from their defections, so that they might not come against them in judgement, nor be imputed to them. Let us know then that God is in two respects a physician while he is healing our sins: he cleanses us by his Spirit, and he abolishes and buries all our offences. But it is of the second kind of healing that the Prophet now speaks, when he says, I will heal their turnings away: and he employs a strong term, for he might have said, “your faults or errors” but he says, “your defections from God;” as though he said, “Though they have so grievously sinned, that by their crimes they have deserved hundred deaths, yet I will heal them from these their atrocious sins, and I will love them freely.”

The word נדבה, nudebe, may be explained either freely or bountifully. I will then love them bountifully, that is, with an abounding and not a common love; or I will love them freely, that is gratuitously. But they who render the words “I will love them of mine own accord,” that is, not by constraint, pervert the sense of the Prophet; for how frigid is the expression, that God is not forced to love us; and what meaning can hence be elicited? But the Lord is said to love us freely, because he finds in us no cause of love, for we are unworthy of being regarded or viewed with any favour; but he shows himself liberal and beneficent in this very act of manifesting his love to the unworthy.

We then perceive that the real meaning of the Prophet is this, that though the Israelites had in various ways provoked the wrath of God, and as it were designedly wished to perish, and to have him to be angry with them; yet the Lord promises to be propitious to them. In what way? Even in this, for he will give proof of his bounty, when he will thus gratuitously embrace them. We now see how God becomes a Father to us, and regards us as his children, even when he abolishes our sins, and also when he freely admits us to the enjoyment of his love. And this truth ought to be carefully observed; for the world ever imagines that they come to God, and bring something by which they can turn or incline him to love them. �othing can be more inimical to our salvation than this vain fancy.

Let us then learn from this passage, that God cannot be otherwise a Father to us than by becoming our physician and by healing our transgressions. But the order

also is remarkable, for God puts love after healing. Why? Because, as he is just, it must be that he regards us with hatred as long as he imputes sins. It is then the beginning of love, when he cleanses us from our vices, and wipes away our spots. When therefore it is asked, how God loves men, the answer is, that he begins to love them by a gratuitous pardon; for while God imputes sins, it must be that men are hated by him. He then commences to love us, when he heals our diseases.

It is not without reason that he adds, that the fury of God is turned away from Israel. For the Prophet intended to add this as a seal to confirm what he taught; for men ever dispute with themselves when they hear that God is propitious to them. “How is this, that he heals thine infirmities? for hitherto thou hast found him to be angry with thee, and how art thou now persuaded that his wrath is pacified?” Hence the Prophet seals his testimony respecting God’s love, when he says, that his wrath has now ceased. Turned away then is my fury “Though hitherto I have by many proofs, manifested to thee my wrath, yet I now come to thee as one changed. Judge me not then by past time, for I am now pacified to thee, and my fury is from thee turned away It follows —

COFFMA�,""I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for mine anger is turned away from him."

The reference here is to the rich mine of spiritual benefit for the devoted Christian who has access to the Father "in Christ," who through repentance and prayer may be forgiven of every sin, who if he walks in the light "as he is in the light," is continually cleansed by the blood of Christ, who has an advocate with the Father, who enjoys the earnest of the Holy Spirit within himself, and for whom the Spirit maketh intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered, and who also adores a Saviour who is at the right hand of God interceding for the redeemed, and who is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God through him!

COKE, "Hosea 14:4. Freely— Are good works then nothing, you will say? "Is there no place at all for them in the doctrine of repentance? I answer, that hitherto the discourse hath been about remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. These are entirely gratuitous, and not of our merit, but simply of the inexhaustible goodness and compassion of God. Therefore, when we speak of the remission of sins, it is right to be silent about our own works; which, because they are done without the Holy Spirit, although with regard to civil society they may not be bad, yet cannot be called good, and ought not; because of the unclean heart, from which they proceed. But when through faith we have received remission of sins, and, together with that, the gift of the Holy Ghost; forthwith from the heart, as from a pure fountain, come forth works also good, and well-pleasing to God," &c. See Luther's Commentary upon this chapter.

BE�SO�, "Hosea 14:4. I will heal their backsliding — I will deliver them from a backsliding heart and way, and remove those judgments they have brought upon themselves thereby. The Lord says, I will heal, &c., a usual metaphor in Scripture, because sin is our disease, and God is the physician who healeth us, Psalms 103:3;

Jeremiah 3:22; and he doth it through Christ, in whom this promise is made to returning backsliders. God makes this promise to the Israelites by his prophet, to encourage them to hearken to his advice, given in the preceding verses. I will love them freely — That is, of my own mere grace, and favour, and liberality. Bishop Horsley renders this verse, I will restore their conversion; (that is, as he understands it, their converted race, taking conversion as a collective noun for converts; like captivity for the captives; and dispersion for the dispersed;) I will love them gratuitously; for mine anger is departed from me. In these words, God promises, he says, to restore the converted nation [of the Israelites] to his favour, and a situation of prosperity and splendour. On the word gratuitously he quotes the following passage from Luther’s commentary on this chapter: “Are good works then nothing? you will say. Is there no place at all for them in the doctrine of repentance? I answer, that hitherto the discourse hath been about remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. These are entirely gratuitous, and not of our merit, but simply of the inexhaustible goodness and compassion of God. Therefore, when we speak of the remission of sins, it is right to be silent about our own works; which, because they are done without the Holy Spirit, although with regard to civil society they may not be bad, yet cannot be called good, and ought not, because of the unclean heart from which they proceed. But when through faith we have received remission of sins, and, together with that, the gift of the Holy Ghost, forthwith from the heart, as from a pure fountain, come forth works also good, and well-pleasing to God. For although, by reason of the remains of original sin, the obedience even of the saints is not perfectly pure, yet, on account of faith in Christ, it is pleasing and acceptable to God.”

TRAPP, "Hosea 14:4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.

Ver. 4. I will heal their backslidings] Relapses, we know, are dangerous, and apostasy little less than incurable, 2 Peter 2:20-21, Hebrews 6:6. Bishop Latimer, in a sermon before King Edward VI, tells of one notorious backslider that repented; but beware of this sin, saith he, for I have known no more but one that did so. To fall forward is nothing so dangerous as to fall backward, with old Eli. Hence Paul so thundereth against the Galatians, and Peter against apostatizing libertines, 2 Peter 2:22; but if Jehovah the physician (as he is called, Exodus 15:26) undertake the cure, and say, I will heal their backslidings, what can hinder? Christ, in the Gospel, cured the most desperate diseases; such as all the physicians in the country might have cast their caps at, Matthew 4:23-24; Matthew 8:16. Omnipotenti medico nullus insanabilis occurrit morbus (Isidor.). He refused none that came to him, Matthew 12:15, no, not his enemies, as Malchus. Will he then reject his Ephraim, a child, bemoaning himself, though not a pleasant child, a towardly son, Jeremiah 31:18; Jeremiah 31:20, a backslider indeed, but such a one, as crieth now, that God bindeth him, Job 36:13. �o sooner doth God cry, "Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings, I will love you freely"; but Ephraim, melted with such a love, replieth, "Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God," Jeremiah 3:22. O most happy compliance! See the like Zechariah 13:9. {See Trapp on "Zechariah 13:9"} "They shall return even to the Lord" (from whom they had

deeply revolted), "and he shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them," Isaiah 19:22. They had begged of him to take away all iniquity, Hosea 14:2; and he here (in answer) promiseth to heal their backslidings, that compound of all iniquities, that falling sickness, that often hales hell at the heels of it, Hebrews 10:38.

I will love them freely] Ephraim might remember, and Satan would be sure to suggest, that the prophet had said before, "Ephraim is smitten or wounded, My God will cast them away, or hate them, Mine anger is kindled against them," Hosea 8:5; Hosea 9:16-17. Here, therefore, upon their repentance, all this is graciously taken off in one breath, and Satan silenced. Be it that they are backslidden and sore wounded by their fall; I will heal their backslidings, and make their broken bones to rejoice. Be it that there is nothing at all in them that is laudable, or loveworthy, yet I will love them freely, ex mero motu, of mine own free, absolute, and independent grace and favour, out of pure and unexcited love, without any the least respect to their merit, which in nothing better than hell. Be it that they have bitterly provoked me to anger, and (as angry people use to do) I have both threatened them and punished them; yet now mine anger is turned away from them; I am fully reconciled unto them in Christ, will clear up my countenance toward them, and remove mine heavy judgments from them. God’s favour is no empty favour. It is like the winter sun, that casts a goodly countenance when it shineth, but gives little heat or comfort. If he love a man freely, and out of the good pleasure of his will, εν δυδοκια, cum spontaneitate (as he doth all his, Ephesians 2:8, making them accepted in the beloved, Ephesians 1:6), such a man may promise himself all the blessings of this and a better life. Excellent is that of Bernard; He that sent his Son for thee, poured his Spirit into thee, promised to clear up his countenance upon thee, what can he deny thee? Qui misit unigenitum, immisit spiritum, promisit vultum, quid tandem tibi negaturus est? He that inviteth thee to feed upon the fatted calf, will not only take away all iniquity, but give good. That was the second petition they preferred, and they have it answered in the next verse, ad cardinem desiderii; God not only grants their prayer, but fulfils their counsel, Psalms 20:4.

SIMEO�, "THE BLESSI�GS THAT PE�ITE�TS MAY EXPECT

Hosea 14:4. I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.

ME� who have never seen the evil of sin are ready to imagine that God will not punish: under the idea of advancing the attribute of mercy, they deprive the Deity of all justice, holiness, and truth. On the other hand, when they are awakened to a due sight and sense of sin, they suppose that God can never forgive such vile and guilty creatures as themselves: they are now as prone to limit his mercy, as before they were to extend it beyond all bounds of truth and soberness. �or is this disposition found only in one or two instances: hard thoughts of God, and desponding thoughts of their own state, are very common amongst those who begin to repent; and therefore God is particularly solicitous to impress us with a confidence in his mercy. When he proclaimed his name to Moses, there were a great many expressions

declarative of his mercy, while there was only one that described his justice. So we shall find, that there is scarcely one threatening in all the book of God, which is not followed by some free and gracious promise. In the passage before us, he has been exhorting the ten tribes to return unto him: he has put words into their mouths, and taught them how to approach him acceptably: and for their further encouragement, he promises to vouchsafe them the richest of all mercies; “I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.”

From these words we shall take occasion to shew,

I. What blessings penitents may expect—

[We cannot easily conceive any description of sinners to be worse than those to whom the prophet was writing: this whole prophecy is filled with the most grievous accusations against them: yet God encourages them to repent; and, on the first appearance of penitence and contrition, he sends them this heart-reviving message, “I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely.”

The first blessing then that every penitent may expect is, that God will heal his backslidings. Sin of every kind, but more especially backsliding, makes a grievous wound in the soul. What pain and anguish did Peter feel, when he went out and wept bitterly! How deeply was David stricken, when he “roared for the disquietness of his heart!” He compares his misery to that occasioned by broken bones; and prays, that God would “make the bones which He had broken to rejoice.” Yet grievous as these wounds are, God will heal them, if we be truly penitent. There are two ways in which he will heal sin: its guilt he will heal, by the blood of his Son; its power and pollution, by the influences of his Spirit.

He will heal its guilt, by the blood of his Son: there is no other balm than this: this alone can avail for the remission of sin: nothing but that which satisfied God will ever satisfy us: nothing but that blood which made an atonement for sin, can ever wash away its stain from our guilty consciences. That however will cleanse from all sin: God once opened on the cross a fountain for sin and uncleanness; nor has it lost any of its cleansing efficacy: the deepest wound may be healed in a moment, if it be only sprinkled with this precious blood: nor will God ever fail to impart this balm to any soul that makes application for it: “though their sins may have been as scarlet, they shall be made white as wool; and though they may have been red as crimson, they shall become white as snow.”

But God will destroy the power, as well as cleanse the guilt of our backsliding: and this he will do by the influences of his Spirit. It would be to little purpose that he forgave the guilt, if he did not also subdue the power, of our corruptions: for, however frequently they might be forgiven, they would still rage with unabated fury; the wounds healed for an instant would still be breaking out afresh; nor would our souls attain to any abiding purity or peace. God therefore will cast salt into the bitter fountain of our hearts: he will “put his Spirit within us, and cause us to walk in his statutes:” he will give us “grace sufficient for us:” he will strengthen us to

resist temptation, and to fulfil our duties: and though we cannot expect to arrive at sinless perfection whilst we are in this world, yet shall we be so far healed, that “no sin whatever shall have allowed dominion over us.”

This then is the first blessing which every penitent may expect; the guilt and power of his sins, yea, even of his most grievous backsliding, shall be healed; and, whereas there was “no soundness in him, but (as the prophet says) wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores,” “his health shall spring forth speedily,” “the lame man shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing.”

But is this all that the penitent may expect? �o; God has in store for him a higher and richer blessing: it is great indeed to have one’s backslidings healed; but it is greater still to enjoy the light of God’s countenance, and to have his love shed abroad in one’s heart: yet this also shall be vouchsafed to every repenting sinner: God says in my text, “I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely.” God will feel a joy and a delight over the returning Prodigal; “To this man,” says he, “will I look, that is of an humble and contrite spirit:” I will fix my eyes upon him for good; I will look upon him with complacency; though burning seraphs surround my throne, and myriads of angels brighter than the sun encompass me around, I will look through all their shining ranks, nor shall all of them together divert my attention from the contrite sinner: “To this man will I look:” from whomsoever I hide my eyes, I will be sure to look on him with pleasure and complacency: “I will rejoice over him with joy; I will rest in my love; I will joy over him with singing.” What an unspeakable blessing is this! To have God himself delighting in us, and shedding abroad his love in our hearts, this is inestimable indeed! He adds moreover, “I will love them freely;” i.e. without any desert in them, without any reluctance in himself. Were he to wait till they had something in themselves worthy to attract his notice, they could have no hope: to all eternity they must remain poor, helpless, miserable, undone creatures: they could never of themselves entertain so much as one good thought; much less could they do any thing to merit God’s esteem: God therefore will not wait for any thing in them to attract his regard: if only they be sorry for their sins, and bewail them before him in secret, he will love them freely; not for their sakes, but for his own; not because they are good, but because he will shew forth the freeness of his grace. And, as he will love them without any desert in them, so will he love them without any reluctance in himself: he delights in the exercise of mercy: it is the very joy of his heart to manifest his mercy to all that call upon him in truth. When our iniquities compel him to give us up, then he is all backwardness and reluctance; “How shall I give thee up? my bowels are troubled for thee.” But when we desire to return to him, he never deliberates; he never says, “How shall I receive such a sinner as thou art?” We may see in the parable of the Prodigal Son what is his conduct towards every repenting sinner: instead of hesitating whether he should receive the Prodigal, he ran to meet him; instead of upbraiding him, he interrupts him in his confession, and seals up his lips with kisses; instead of granting his request and making him the lowest of his servants, he treats him as his best-beloved son, clothes him in the richest garments, and kills the fatted calf for him. Thus does God towards every penitent; and were every soul as much disposed to receive mercy as God is to shew mercy, there would

never so much as one perish, even to the end of the world.

These blessings then may every penitent expect: God has here, as also in many other passages, expressly bound himself by his own voluntary promise; so that every penitent may expect these blessings upon the ground of God’s truth and faithfulness.]

But there is another ground mentioned in our text: we proceed therefore to notice,

II. On what ground they may expect them—

[This part of our subject will require peculiar care and attention, lest we be misunderstood.

Observe the manner in which the last words of our text are introduced: God says, “I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him:” he is here endeavouring to encourage penitents; and therefore he tells them that he will do great things for them, because his anger is already turned away from them. After much and careful examination of the words, we are persuaded that this is the true sense and meaning of them; and that they are intended to convey one of the most encouraging truths that can be found in all the book of God, namely, that our repentance is a proof of God’s anger being turned away from us, and that the removal of his anger from us is a pledge of greater blessings; or, in other words, that our having the grace of repentance is a ground whereon we may expect the richest blessings.

But we will explain ourselves more fully.

Repentance has not in itself any thing meritorious; nor can the mere work of repentance ever afford a ground of hope towards God: to suppose that our repentance can merit any thing at God’s hands, or bear any part in our justification before God, would be to subvert the whole Gospel, and to render Christ’s death of none effect. Satan cannot take any more effectual method to bring souls to perdition, than to make them trust in their own repentance. Let us not then be understood as though we would lead any man to trust in his repentance; for we say again, that it is impossible to take a surer road to destruction, than he does, who trusts in any repentance or righteousness of his own. But, in another sense, repentance may encourage us to hope; for repentance is a sign and evidence of grace; and grace given, warrants us to expect more grace: and therefore we say, repentance is in some sense a ground of hope: and this, we doubt not, is the meaning of the prophet, in our text. The latter part of our text is a reason for the former part of it: God says in the former part, “I will do so and so;” and then, in the latter, he tells them why they may expect him to do so and so, namely, “because mine anger is turned away from them:” he does not say, “shall be turned away,” but is already turned away. Their being penitent was a proof that they had grace; their having grace was a proof that God’s anger was turned away from them; and the removal of his anger from them was a ground whereon they might expect further blessings

from him. To make this matter more clear, let us substantiate two things: First, Repentance is an evidence of grace: no one can doubt that, unless he supposes, that he can repent without the grace of God: but a man must be ignorant indeed to frame any such conception as that: if we believe any thing of the Scriptures, or know any thing of our own hearts, we must know, that “Christ is ascended up on high, to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance and remission of sins;” and that we must acknowledge our repentance, as well as “every other good and perfect gift, to be from above, even from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning.” It being therefore past a doubt that repentance is an evidence of grace, let us prove next, that Grace given, warrants us to expect more grace. The Scriptures plainly assert this; for, on what ground was Paul so confident that God would carry on the good work in the hearts of his Philippian converts, and perform it until the day of Christ? On this ground, namely, “that he had begun a good work in them:” so that, to say the least, grace bestowed is a ground of encouragement whereon we may hope to obtain more grace.

The clear indisputable conclusion from hence is, that if any man has grace to repent, he may take encouragement from it to hope that God will give him more grace: if he has so good an evidence that God’s anger is already turned away from him, he has good reason to hope, that God will do more for him, that he will heal his backslidings, and love him freely.

By way of confirming this blessed truth, we will refer you to those memorable words of David [�ote: Psalms 56:13.]; where you will see, that he draws the very same conclusion from the very same premises; and that too in such a way as evidently supposes his argument to be incontrovertible: “Thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt thou not deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living?”]

Let us now conclude, with an inference or two from what has been said:

1. What astonishing consolation is here for all that desire to turn unto God!

[A person may, from a discovery of his sins, be led to say, “There is no hope:” more especially those who have once “tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come,” if they have lost their good impressions, and turned back to the world, are tempted to despair: Satan would suggest to them, that, because they have sinned against light and knowledge, they have committed the sin against the Holy Ghost. But observe what care God takes to dispel our fears, and to encourage our return: he does not merely say, “I will heal their sins, but I will heal their backsliding;” thereby obviating at once all their objections. He knows how Satan will take advantage of them: that he will suggest desponding thoughts, and make them believe their sins are too great to be forgiven; and therefore God specifies the greatest of all sins, “I will heal their backsliding” their sins committed against all their own vows and resolutions, their sins committed after the greatest mercies had been vouchsafed to them; yes, even those, says God, will I heal: I will wash them away in the blood of my dear Son, and blot them out as a thick cloud: I will cast

them behind my back, and remember them no more; I will pour the balm of Gilead into your wounded spirits, and speak peace to your afflicted consciences. Still Satan suggests, “But you will fall again, and then your last end shall be worse than the beginning.” ‘�o’ says God, ‘it shall not be so; only come to me, and I will keep you from falling; trust in me, and “you shall never fall; but an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the kingdom of your Lord and Saviour:” I will heal you, not only by my pardoning, but also by my renewing, grace: and so effectually will I heal your wounds, that I will even renew you after mine own image, in righteousness and true holiness.’ Perhaps Satan will still urge, ‘But you are not worthy;’ and thus prevent your trusting in God; ‘But,’ says God, ‘I do not look for worthiness in the creature: I will love them freely; without the smallest regard to any thing in them: I will love them for mine own name sake, and “have mercy merely because I will have mercy.” ’ But yet Satan suggests, ‘This is not for you: God is your enemy, and you have nothing to do with these promises:’ but to this also God has given you a certain answer; Are you truly desirous to have your backslidings healed, and to live in the enjoyment of God’s free love and favour? ‘Then, says God, “mine anger is turned away from you:” it not only shall be, but is; that very desire is a fruit of my love; that little repentance which you exercise, is the gift of my grace; and you are to take it as a pledge and earnest of richer blessings; you are to take encouragement from what I have given, to expect from me all that I can give: only follow the direction I have given you, “Take with you words, and say unto me, Take away all iniquity, and receive me graciously,” and I will answer the very desires of your heart; for “I will heal your backslidings, which are the greatest of all sins, and will love you freely; and, lest you should doubt this, I tell you, that, if such be the desires of your heart, mine anger is turned away from you” ’ — — —

See now, my Brethren, what rich consolation here is for every drooping and desponding soul! O cease to listen to the suggestions of Satan; cease to entertain hard thoughts of God! Only come to Jesus) and see what a gracious Saviour he is; how freely he will love) how effectually he will heal. Bring all your unworthiness along with you; bring all your sins) and all your backslidings; and if only ye desire to have them all healed) surely ye shall soon feel the cleansing efficacy of his blood) and the renewing influence of his Spirit: and when he thus loveth you, he will “love you to the end” — — —]

2. What cause of fear is here to those who are living in wilful sin!

[If you be not seeking deliverance from sin, even from your darling and besetting sin, surely your case is awful indeed: the anger of God is not turned away from you. �o: if there be any truth in the Divine record, “the wrath of God abideth on you.” If you seek not to have your backslidings healed, how is it possible that God should love you? It is said, “He hateth all the workers of iniquity,” and, “He is angry with the wicked every day.” Deceive not therefore your own souls: ye backsliders in particular, who have fallen from your first love, deceive not yourselves; for, except ye repent, God shall remove your candlestick, and your lamp shall go out for ever. Examine well your own souls; see whether the world have not crept in; whether some accursed weeds and thorns have not choked the seed, so that you bring no

fruit to perfection? If you can be easy in such a state, there is reason to fear that you are given up by God to judicial hardness: but perhaps you are not easy, yet your uneasiness does not stir you up to repent: you do not unfeignedly seek grace and mercy from the Saviour’s hands; you do not plead with him in earnest; you do not go with strong crying and tears to implore deliverance: what then can you expect, but to perish by the wounds which your backslidings have made? Still, however, there is mercy in store for you: God desires not your death, but rather that you turn from your wickedness and live. O then, “turn, and live ye!” Be importunate at the throne of grace; plead with Him that died for sinners: remember, He is the Sun of Righteousness, whose beams are healing; and “the tree of life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.” He is called, in Exodus 15:26, “The Lord who healeth thee;” and he says to every convinced sinner, “If thou wilt return, return unto me, O Israel!” “Whosoever cometh unto me, I will in no wise east out” — — —]

PETT, "‘I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from him.’YHWH’s response will then be that He will heal their backsliding and love them freely, because in view of their full ‘return’, His anger will be turned away from them. There will be full reconciliation. Their ‘backsliding’ has been briefly defined in Hosea 14:2-3 which described what they have returned to Him from, and what is contained in those verses has been described in more detail throughout the prophecy. It had resulted in their total disregard for Him in the normal course of life. But now all that will be changed as a result of their new response to Him. �ote the need for their backsliding to be ‘healed’. Only God could enable them to be truly restored from their backsliding, (compare Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:25-27). It would require a new heart and a new spirit. Alternately the thought may be that they will be healed from the consequences of their backsliding.

As a result He will ‘love them freely’, that is He will love them willingly and plentifully, with no restraint, with the responsive and overwhelming love of the lover. The result of this love is then expanded on. It is recounted in three descriptions of the blessing that they will receive, each of which is in three parts, and is expressed in the context of Lebanon, a familiar theme in the Song of Solomon (see Song of Solomon 3:9; Song of Solomon 4:8; Song of Solomon 4:11; Song of Solomon 4:15; Song of Solomon 5:15; Song of Solomon 7:4). The mountains of Lebanon were mountains that experienced almost continual dew and were always fresh and fruitbearing. Thus being ‘as Lebanon’ was looked on as having achieved the ultimate in fruitfulness and blessing. They will put down strong roots like those in Lebanon, they will give off delightful scents like those in Lebanon, and their taste will be like that of the vines of Lebanon.

K&D 4-8, "“I will heal their apostasy, will love them freely: for my wrath has turned away from it. Hos_14:5. I will be like dew for Israel: it shall blossom like the lily, and strike its roots like Lebanon.Hos_14:6. Its shoots shall go forth, and its splendour shall become like the olive-tree, and its smell like Lebanon. Hos_14:7. They that dwell in its shadow shall give life to corn again; and shall blossom like the vine: whose glory is like the wine of Lebanon.Hos_14:8. Ephraim: What have I further with the idols? I hear,

and look upon him: I, like a bursting cypress, in me is thy fruit found.” The Lord promises first of all to heal their apostasy, i.e., all the injuries which have been inflicted

by their apostasy from Him, and to love them with perfect spontaneity (nedâbhâh an adverbial accusative, promta animi voluntate), since His anger, which was kindled on

account of its idolatry, had now turned away from it (mimmennū, i.e., from Israel). The

reading mimmennı3 (from me), which the Babylonian Codices have after the Masora,

appears to have originated in a misunderstanding of Jer_2:35. This love of the Lord will manifest itself in abundant blessing. Jehovah will be to Israel a refreshing, enlivening dew (cf. Isa_26:19), through which it will blossom splendidly, strike deep roots, and spread its shoots far and wide. “Like the lily:” the fragrant white lily, which is very common in Palestine, and grows without cultivation, and “which is unsurpassed in its fecundity, often producing fifty bulbs from a single root” (Pliny h. n. xxi. 5). “Strike roots like Lebanon,” i.e., not merely the deeply rooted forest of Lebanon, but the mountain itself, as one of the “foundations of the earth” (Mic_6:2). The deeper the roots, the more the branches spread and cover themselves with splendid green foliage, like the evergreen and fruitful olive-tree (Jer_11:16; Ps. 52:10). The smell is like Lebanon, which is rendered fragrant by its cedars and spices (Son_4:11). The meaning of the several features in the picture has been well explained by Rosenmüller thus: “The rootingindicates stability: the spreading of the branches, propagation and the multitude of inhabitants; the splendour of the olive, beauty and glory, and that constant and lasting; the fragrance, hilarity and loveliness.” In Hos_14:7 a somewhat different turn is given to the figure. The comparison of the growth and flourishing of Israel to the lily and to a tree, that strikes deep roots and spreads its green branches far and wide, passes imperceptibly into the idea that Israel is itself the tree beneath whose shade the

members of the nation flourish with freshness and vigour. ישובו is to be connected

adverbially with וSיה. Those who sit beneath the shade of Israel, the tree that is bursting into leaf, will revive corn, i.e., cause it to return to life, or produce it for nourishment, satiety, and strengthening. Yea, they themselves will sprout like the vine, whose remembrance is, i.e., which has a renown, like the wine of Lebanon, which has been celebrated from time immemorial (cf. Plin. h. n. xiv. 7; Oedmann, Verbm. Sammlung aus der Naturkunde, ii. p. 193; and Rosenmüller, Bibl. Althk. iv. 1, p. 217). The divine promise closes in Hos_14:9 with an appeal to Israel to renounce idols altogether, and hold fast by the Lord alone as the source of its life. Ephraim is a vocative, and is followed immediately by what the Lord has to say to Ephraim, so that we may supply memento in

thought. מה־,י�עוד�לע, what have I yet to do with idols? (for this phrase, compare Jer_

2:18); that is to say, not “I have now to contend with thee on account of the idols (Schmieder), nor “do not place them by my side any more” (Ros.); but, “I will have nothing more to do with idols,” which also implies that Ephraim is to have nothing more to do with them. To this there is appended a notice of what God has done and will do for

Israel, to which greater prominence is given by the emphatic אני: I, I hearken (‛ânı3thı3 a

prophetic perfect), and look upon him. שור, to look about for a person, to be anxious about him, or care for him, as in Job_24:15. The suffix refers to Ephraim. In the last clause, God compares Himself to a cypress becoming green, not only to denote the shelter which He will afford to the people, but as the true tree of life, on which the nation finds its fruits - a fruit which nourishes and invigorates the spiritual life of the nation. The salvation which this promise sets before the people when they shall return to the Lord, is indeed depicted, according to the circumstances and peculiar views prevailing

under the Old Testament, as earthly growth and prosperity; but its real nature is such, that it will receive a spiritual fulfilment in those Israelites alone who are brought to belief in Jesus Christ.

BI, "I will heal their backsliding.

The awful stale of backsliders

In the history of the Israelites there is no feature more striking than their frequent rebellions and backslidings. It is amazing to think that a nation which had witnessed such signal interposition of the Divine power in their behalf could be found backsliding to such a degree. Oh, the unfathomable depths of Divine compassion! God has mercy to heal the backslidings of His people.

I. The case of the backslider. It is the most awful to be found within the pale of the professing Christian Church. There is a wide difference between his case and that of the unawakened and unconverted sinner. For a man to become an apostate; to relapse into deliberate sin; with all his light, knowledge, and advantages, to sin openly and wilfully,—what ingratitude is implied in this, what treachery and baseness! The most awful condition on this side hell is that of him whose once awakened conscience is now seared as with a hot iron; whose once melted heart is turned into worse than its original flintiness; whose once enlightened mind is given over to judicial blindness. Yet even such a case is not beyond the reach of Divine compassion. To human eyes it is indeed incurable. It is a cancer which spreads its fibres through the entire system, the disease which mocks at human cures. But God says, “I will heal their backsliding.”

II. The means God employs in healing the backslider. He is not limited in the selection or use of means; but He acts, generally speaking, by bringing the backslider into the wilderness of affliction, and by turning the idol which seduced him away from his God, into his scourge. It may be the idol of sensual pleasure, of fame, or of gold. By and by he will awaken to a full sense of his danger and misery. His God forsaken, his Saviour betrayed, his hopes of heaven blasted! He let go the substance to grasp at the shadow. The idol which led him from God has become his curse. As he journeys on in this wilderness, in despair and wretchedness, thinking he has turned his back for ever on happiness and peace, then it is that a new and unexpected prospect bursts upon his sight! An unthought of opening presents itself. Through the long vista he catches a glimpse of a bright and glorious expanse. God gives him his vineyards from these. “The valley of Achor becomes a door of hope.” God brings the backslider to himself by another route than he ever thought of. Let us remember, for our own warning and heart-searching, that there may be many a backslider in heart, where there is no open and manifest defection from the ways of godliness. (Denis Kelly, B. A.)

The Lord’s healing

Their alienation was not only offensive to God, it was also hurtful to themselves. It had brought spiritual malady upon them. Jehovah assumes the function of healer, and He expects what He promises. The God whom they had offended does not suffer them to perish, nor spurn them away as loathsome; but He revives and quickens them. The gangrene disappears, and they return to soundness and health, with the assured prospect of coming at length to the fulness of the stature of perfect men. (John Eadie, D. D. , LL. D.)

Blacksliding healed

In this verse is set down an answer to that prayer, repentance, and reformation which the Church made. Where God doth give a spirit of prayer, He will answer. God answers exactly unto all that is prayed for, beginning first with the ground of all comfort, the forgiveness of sins. Backsliding is an aggravation of sin. Sins rank thus—

1. Sins of ignorance.

2. Sins of infirmity.

3. Sins against knowledge.

4. Sins against the Holy Ghost.

In that God’s promise is “I will heal,” observe that sin is a wound and a disease. Sin, as disease, arises either from ourselves, as we have a seminary of them in our own hearts; or from the infection and contagion of others; or from Satan, who hath society with our spirits. In regard to its effects, sin is like a disease. Diseases neglected breed death; they become incurable. This is the end of sin, either to end in a good despair, or in a fruitless, barren despair. How may we know that we are sick of this sickness and disease of sin? If the soul be inflamed with revenge and anger, that soul is certainly diseased: the temper of the soul is according to the passions thereof. If a man cannot relish good diet, then we count him a sick man; so when a man cannot relish holy discourse, nor the ordinances of God. A man may know there is a deadly sickness upon the soul, when he is senseless of his wounds; and senseless of that which passeth from them. A man is desperately soul-sick when oaths, lies, and deceitful speeches pass from him, and yet he is senseless of them. Let us know and consider, that no man who lives in sins unrepented of and uncured is to be envied, be he never so great. Let there be no dallying with sin. God is the great physician of the soul. Healing implies taking away—

1. The guilt of sin, which is the venom of it, by justification.

2. The rage of sin, which is the spreading of it, by sanctification.

3. The removing of the judgment upon our estate.

Sense of pardon only comes after sight, sense, weariness, and confession of sin. Let us remember this, lest we deceive our souls. (R. Sibbes, D. D.)

Backsliding

This word imports a departing or a turning away again from God. It is quite contrary, in the formal nature of it, to faith and repentance, and implies that which the apostle calls a “repenting of repentance.” For a man, having approved of God’s ways, and entered into covenant with Him, after this to go from his word, and fling up his bargain, and start aside like a deceitful bow; of all other dispositions of the soul, this is one of the worst; to deal with our sins as Israel did with their servants, dismiss them and then take them again (Jer_34:10-11). It is the sad fruit of an evil and unbelieving heart. Yet God says, “I will heal their backslidings.” To understand this aright, we are to know that there is a twofold apostasy.

1. An apostasy arising out of impotency of affection and prevalency of lust, drawing the heart to look toward the old pleasures thereof again: it is a recidivation or relapse

into a former sinful condition out of forgetfulness and falseness of heart, for want of the fear of God to balance the conscience and to fix and unite the heart to Him. Though exceedingly dangerous, yet God is sometimes pleased to forgive and to heal this disease.

2. An apostasy which is proud and malicious, when, after they “have tasted the good Word of God,” men set themselves to hate, oppose, and persecute godliness, to do “despite unto the Spirit of grace,” to fling off the holy strictness of Christ’s yoke. Observe

(1) We should beware of backsliding, above all other sins.

(2) We should not be so terrified by any sin, which our soul mourns and labours under, and our heart turns from, as thereby to be withheld from going to the Physician for pardon and healing. (Jeremiah Burroughs.)

I will love them freely.

God’s promise of forgiveness

We observe God’s acknowledgment or consideration of all the three points embraced in the supplication of the truly penitent. God healeth in four different ways, and each mode embraces all the others.

1. By a gracious pardon.

2. By a spiritual and effectual reformation, by enabling, us to walk in newness of life, by making us holy, even as He is holy.

3. By removing judgments which sin brought upon the sufferer, whether nationally or individually.

4. By comforting. This mode of restoring health to the soul is one of Christ’s principal works. The Lord is very minute and distinct in marking every article in the penitent’s prayer. Ephraim not only besought mercy to have all his iniquity taken away, but also that He who took away all sin, should, at the same time, receive good gifts in his behalf. Jehovah, accordingly, does not only promise, “I will heal their backsliding,” but proceeds to say moreover, “I will love them freely.” This is the fundamental principle of Gospel truth. Ephraim gave a reason for his entire dependence, henceforth and for ever, upon the Lord, which was, “For in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy.” We can do nothing on our part to obtain the mercy vouchsafed unto us; for God said, “I will love them freely.” It is out of man’s power to deserve God’s love. Another consideration must be borne in mind, not to incur God’s wrath again. (Moses Margoliouth, B. A.)

The free grace of God

Here the heart of our Heavenly Father is opened to us in the declarations of His free, royal, and incomprehensible mercy. This as far surpasses our sins and sinfulness as His self-existent Godhead does our creature capacities.

1. The Lord’s free grace in healing the backsliding of His people.

2. The manner in which this is made known to them.

3. The way and means by which they receive the inward sense and benefit thereof. (Samuel Eyles Pierce.)

Loving freely

St. Austin says, “Those that are to petition great persons, they will obtain some who are skilful to frame their petitions; lest by their unskilfulness they provoke anger, instead of carrying away the benefit desired.” So it is here with God’s people, being to deal with the great God, and not being able to frame their own petitions. God answers them graciously with the same mercies which He had suggested them to ask. His answer is full, “I will love them freely.” This He does because—

1. It is His name and nature to be gracious.

2. No creature can deserve anything at God’s hands.

God did not then begin to love them, when He said, I will love them freely, but to discover that love which He carried unto them from all eternity. Whatsoever is in God (manifested in time) is eternal and everlasting in Him, without beginning or ending; for whatsoever is in God, is God. His love, discovered in time, must needs be from all eternity. This free love and favour of God is the cause of all other mercies and free favours, whereby He discovereth His love unto us.

1. It is the cause of election.

2. Of vocation.

3. Of forgiveness of sins.

4. Of the grace of love.

5. Of justification, sanctification, etc.

6. Of eternal life.

If we would have God to manifest His free love to us, let us strive to be obedient to His commandments, and stir up our hearts by all means to love Him, who hath so freely loved us. The reason for the discovery of this love is thus given. “For Mine anger is turned away from him.” There is anger in God against sin: because there is an antipathy between Him and sin. God’s anger is the special thing in afflictions. Judgments are called God’s anger. God will turn away His anger upon repentance. It is His nature to do so. Learn to observe God’s truth in the performance of His gracious promises. (R. Sibbes, D. D.)

Loving freely

The word means, impelled thereto by himself alone, and so (as used of God), moved by His own essential bountifulness, the exceeding greatness of His goodness. God loves us freely in loving us against our deserts, because He is love. He loves us freely, in that He became man, and having become man freely shed His blood for the remission of our sins, freely forgave our sins. He loves us freely, in giving us grace, according to the good pleasure of His will, to become pleasing to Him, and causing all good in us; He loves us freely in rewarding infinitely the cod which we have from Him. “More manifestly here speaketh the person of tee Saviour Himself, promising His own coming to the salvation

of penitents, with sweetly sounding promise, with sweetness full of grace.” (E. B. Pusey, D. D.)

The promises of God for the comfort and encouragement of the penitent

I. I will heal their backslidings. Sin is the malady, of the soul. Here is the assurance that it shall not be fatal. Healing denotes recovery from the disease. The condemnation shall be removed, and the dominion of sin subdued.

II. I will love them freely. Which implies conferring upon them everything good and desirable.

III. I will be as the dew. God will visit the souls of His penitent people with His refreshing grace and sanctifying Spirit. In consequence they shall flourish and increase in know ledge and goodness, adorning their religious profession, and appearing before the world in the beauty of holiness.

1. Dew refreshes the face of nature.

2. Dew makes the ground fruitful.

The soul shall become as a fair and fragrant garden, as a comely and flourishing plantation.

IV. He shall grow as the lily, etc. All the excellences of the vegetable world are here collected to express the effects produced by the dew of God’s grace on the penitent’s soul; beauty, fragrancy, vigour (or strength), and fertility. The salutary influence of God’s blessings should reach surrounding nations. (S. Knight, M. A.)

Privileges of the pardoned soul

Were it not then the wisest course to begin with making our peace, and then we may soon lead a happy life? It is said, he that gets out of debt grows rich; most sure it is, that the pardoned soul cannot be poor; for as soon as the peace is concluded, a free trade is opened between God, and the soul. If once pardoned, we may then sail to any port that lies in God s dominions, and be welcome; where all the promises stand open with their treasure, and say: Here, poor soul, take full lading in of all precious things, even as much as thy faith can bear and carry away. (J. Spencer.)

Love for the unlovely

The greatest sins do most and best set off the freeness and the riches of God’s grace; there is nothing that makes heaven and earth to ring and sound out His praise so much as the fixing of His love upon those who are most unlovely and uncomely, the bestowing of Himself upon those who have given away themselves from Him. (Thomas Brooks.)

NISBET, "BACKSLIDING AND ITS CURE

‘I will heal their backsliding.’

Hosea 14:4

In the English Bible the word ‘backsliding’ is found fifteen times, and represents in English several words in the original, even in the same writer. Backsliding means a wearying of God’s yoke, an attempt to get free from it wholly or in part, and a turning from the straight path, from dislike of its dullness or steepness, or from the existence of counter attractions.

There are many sensitive souls who readily accuse themselves of this sin, and whose peace is marred, and their prayers hindered by false notions of the marks of backsliding. We shall try to help these.

I. Backsliding is not that almost inevitable alteration in feeling which comes to many Christian people who have been for a good many years following the Divine Master, and who find now less warmth in their emotions of fear, hope, love, and joy.—There is something in the laws of our nature which forbids repeated impressions to be felt as strongly as they were at first. We need not enter largely into the subject, but may perhaps be allowed to refer to a chapter on Feeling and Will, in ‘Spiritual Life in its Advancing Stages.’ When any believer in the Lord Jesus laments the change from an ardent to an unimpassioned state of soul, and longs for his old feelings, he will do well to hesitate before he pronounces this change to be due to backsliding. It is by other signs that the sin is to be known. Habit strengthens principle, but seems to blunt feeling. The seat of backsliding (see Hosea 4:16) is not in the feelings, but in the will.

II. Backsliding is not that depression about spiritual matters, that so-called ‘hiding of God’s Face” which often accompanies ill-health, or physical and mental weariness.—A preacher of a mission whose whole powers of body, mind, and spirit have been strained for several weeks, frequently suffers afterwards from a torpidity of soul, in which he seems little able to realize the comfort of the truths he has been so earnestly setting forth to others. This, however, must be set down to bodily exhaustion, and the want of nerve-rest. A couple of days in bed, with all trying subjects and letters kept from him, may do him much good.

III. Backsliding has its causes and its signs.—The causes are generally the gradual yielding to temptation to relax watchfulness, shorten prayer, indulge the body, read misleading books, or cultivate unspiritual friendships. And it is easy to see how these things which are causes, may also be used as marks of backsliding. A very common mark is an increasing dislike to spiritual conversation, and still more to spiritual effort for the reclaiming of sinners.

The pleasures of life lie many of them just on the border line between good and evil. Some pleasures are so wholly pure, some so decidedly sinful that they need not enter into discussion; but the majority of our pleasures are just of the kind that you cannot decisively say that you may or may not innocently follow them without restraint. Now it is here that Satan finds his cruel advantage. The bringing us into contact with the ungodly in ‘innocent’ pleasures—all tend to draw the cloud of unspirituality over the heart, and so these ‘harmless things’ shut out the light of the sun; a little hesitation is felt

in going straight from them to prayer; a day or two without prayer passes, and backsliding, perhaps for weeks, or months, is the result.

But sometimes Satan is bolder. Counting on his ally in our own breasts, ‘for the infection of nature doth remain even in them that are regenerate,’ he is able to blind those who are not very watchful indeed, as to the danger of some course of action. In matters of the affections this often happens. Many young Christians, become backsliders for years, or for life, from allowing their affections to fix on one who has no share with them in the Divine Love.

Money matters often spoil promising careers. Either the passion for getting, the lust of hoarding, the dislike of giving, the reluctance to pay debts quickly, or worse still, some untrustworthiness about the money of others, has crept in little by little on once spiritual persons; and when this is the case, farewell to all religious life!

Self-dependence, the removing of the soul’s full trust from Jesus Christ, and from the Holy Spirit’s power, is a fruitful spiritual source of backsliding. Was not this the cause of St. Peter’s fall? The marks of this may not be visible in any wrong acts, but they will be soon seen in the lowered spiritual tone, and the growth of pride and self-satisfaction; or in some cases, by a general dissatisfaction and discontent. For who can be happy who has removed his confidence from Jesus, and fixed it on himself?

Archdeacon G. R. Wynne.

Illustration

‘Only God can heal backsliding. Nature knows nothing about forgiveness. Nature is red in tooth and claw. She never gives a fresh start to a life that has maimed and marred itself. She never forgets old mistakes. Her inexorable rule is, Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap. Other religions know nothing about the gracious healing. “I have devoted as much time as any living man, to the sacred books of the world,” a famous scholar testifies, “and I have found their keynote. Whether it be the Vedas of the Brahmin, or the Koran of the Mohammedan, or the Zend-Avesta of the Parsee, the one keynote of all of them is salvation by works. They all say that salvation must be bought with a price, and that the purchase-money must be our own deservings.” There is no word there of free and loving pardon. Men cannot entirely restore the wrongdoer. For their knowledge of sin in all its circumstances is a partial and defective knowledge.’

PULPIT, "Hosea 14:4-7

I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. The penitential prayer put in the mouth of the people receives in this verse a gracious response; words of contrite confession are echoed back in accents of compassion and consolation. When thus penitent and prayerful they returned to the Lord, he promises them favor as well as forgiveness, so as to heal the moral malady

under which they had long labored, remedy the evil effects of their apostasy, and withhold the stripes he was going to inflict. Meshubhatham means

(a) free, anticipating its objects, not waiting to be merited or purchased, without money and without price; it is

(b) also purest and most sincere affection, altogether unlike that feigned affection sometimes found among men, who profess much love while their heart goeth after their covetousness, or after some other and different object from that pretended. Then follows an assurance that there is no barrier to the exercise and no obstacle to the outgoing of God's love; the turning away of God's anger from Israel is the ground of such assurance. Some copies read mimmeni, my anger is turned away from me, instead of mimmena; this, however, is erroneous, though the sense is not much affected by it. The error may have arisen from a misunderstanding of Jeremiah 2:35. Rashi explains the verse correctly: "After they have thus spoken before me: I will heal them of their apostasy, and love them of my own free will; although they themselves are not worthy of love, yet will I love them freely, for mine anger has turned away from them." Aben Ezra says. "Backsliding is in the soul what disease is in the body, therefore he uses the word 'heal.' But God proceeds to perform what he has promised; he does not confine his goodness to words, he exhibits it in works, as the following verses show." I will be as the dew unto Israel. "The Jussive assumes different shades of meaning, varying with the situation or authority of the speaker … . Sometimes, from the circumstances of the case, the command becomes a permission: Hosea 14:6, 'I will be as the dew to Israel: let him flourish, .וי, and strike forth his roots as Lebanon'" (Driver). In lands where there is little rain, the dew, falling copiously, fertilizes the earth, refreshes the languid plants, revives the face of nature, and makes all things grow. Thus the dew becomes the source of fruitfulness. So God, by his Spirit's grace, is the Source of Israel's spiritual fruitfulness. He shall grow (margin, blossom) as the lily. This comparison suggests many qualities, any one of which may characterize, or all of which may combine in, the spiritual growth thus pictured. There is the purity of the lily, the beauty of the lily, the fecundity of the lily, the perfume of the lily, the rapidity of its growth, the stately slightness of its stem. We may combine the rapidity of its growth; its fecundity, with regard to which Pliny informs us that a single root produces fifty bulbs; its beauty, to which our Lord refers in contrast with the glory of Solomon. But its root is weak, and he, on that account perhaps, subjoins: And cast forth (margin, strike) his roots as Lebanon. Whether it mean that the roots are as the trees of Lebanon or the mountain of Lebanon itself, the thought expressed by this comparison is stability. "As the trees of Lebanon," says Jerome, "which strike their roots as far down into the depths as they lift their heads up into the air, so that they can be shaken by no storm, but by their stable massiveness maintain their position." His branches shall spread; margin, go; rather, go on. This feature in the representation denotes enlargement or expansion. The tender branches (suckers) spreading out in all directions very aptly set forth the multiplication of Israel or their growth and increase numerically. But branches straggling, crooked, and ill-shaped would rather be a blemish than a beauty. It is, therefore, added: His beauty shall be as the olive tree. The olive has been called the crown of the fruit trees of Palestine, but besides, its fruitage so plentiful and useful, the splendor of its green, and the enduring freshness of its foliage, make it a vivid picture of that beauty of holiness or spiritual graces which it is here employed to represent. There is still an additional element of interest pertaining to this goodly tree, namely, And his smell as Lebanon. This signifies the fragrance of this beautiful tree of righteousness. The smell of Lebanon is referred to

in So Hosea 4:11, "And the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon." What with its cedars, and spices, and fruit, and flowers, and aromatic shrubs, and fragrant vines, Lebanon must perfume the air with the most delightful odors. Thus acceptable to God and pleasing to man shall Israel become. The commentators quote with commendation Rosenmüller's explanation of the individual features of this inimitable picture: "The rooting indicates stability; the spreading of the branches, propagation and the multitude of inhabitants; the splendor of the olive, beauty and glory, and that constant and lasting; the fragrance, hilarity and loveliness." The simile changes into the metaphor; Israel, from being likened to a tree, becomes the tree. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow (margin, blossom) as the vine: the scent (rather, renown) thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. There is some difficulty and consequent diversity of rendering and explanation in connection with this verse. If the tree be Israel in its collective or national capacity, the dwellers under its shadow are the members of the nation, separate]y and severally, flourishing under the widespread branches of this umbrageous tree. The word yashubhu is explained:

(b) return to their native land, so the Chaldee,—this is somewhat better;

(c) return to the worship of Jehovah, said of Israelites who had abandoned it, not properly of Gentiles turning to that worship;

(d) Rosenmüller, comparing 15:19 and 1 Samuel 30:12, explains it in the sense of coming to themselves, reviving.

(a) translates "shalt give life to come again," that is, "Those who sit beneath the shade of Israel, the tree that is bursting into leaf, will revive corn, cause it to return to life, or produce it for nourishment, satiety, and strengthening." Similarly the Vulgate, "sustain life by corn." This, however, must appear tame after the splendid promises that went before.

(b) Vivify; i.e. produce seed like corn, and rejoice in a numerous offspring as from a seed of corn many proceed; according to this, "seed" ( זרע ) must be supplied, and caph of comparison. The added clause agrees with this, for the flourishing of the vine also symbolizes prolific persons (comp. Psalms 128:3). Further, the vine does not always flourish, yet, not like the corn which after harvest ceases and is no more seen, its root remains, and next year grows green and yields its fruit anew. The fame of the wine of Lebanon is celebrated for its taste and fragrance. Kimchi cites Asaph, a physician, as writing that the wine of Lebanon, of Hermon, of Carmel, of the mountains of Israel and Jerusalem and Caphior, surpass all others in flavor, taste, and for medicinal purposes.

5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily.Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots;

BAR�ES, "I will be as the dew unto Israel - Before, He had said, “his spring shall become dry and his fountain shall be dried up” Hos_13:15. Now again He enlarges the blessing; their supply shall be unfailing, for it shall be from God; yea, God Himself shall be that blessing; “I will be the dew; descending on the mown grass” Psa_72:6, to quicken and refresh it; descending, Himself, into the dried and parched and sere hearts of men, as He saith, “We will come unto him and make Our abode in him” Joh_14:23. The grace of God, like the dew, is not given once for all, but is, day by day, waited for, and, day by day, renewed. Yet doth it not pass away, like the fitful goodness Joh_6:4 of God’s former people, but turns into the growth and spiritual substance of those on whom it descends.

He shall grow as the lily - No one image can exhibit the manifold grace of God in those who are His own, or the fruits of that grace. So the prophet adds one image to another, each supplying a distinct likeness of a distinct grace or excellence. The “lily” is the emblem of the beauty and purity of the soul in grace; the “cedar” of Lebanon, of its strength and deep-rootedness, its immovableness and uprightness; the evergreen “olive tree” which “remaineth in its beauty both winter and summer,” of the unvarying presence of Divine Grace, continually, supplying an eversustained freshness, and issuing in fruit; and the fragrance of the aromatic plants with which the lower parts of Mount Lebanon are decked, of its loveliness and sweetness; as a native explains this , “he takes a second comparison from Mount Lebanon for the abundance of aromatic things and odoriferous flowers.”

Such are the myrtles and lavender and the odoriferous reed; from which “as you enter the valley” (between Lebanon and Anti-lebanon) “straightway the scent meets you.” All these natural things are established and well-known symbols of things spiritual. The lily, so called in Hebrew from its dazzling whiteness, is, in the Canticles Son_2:1-2, the emblem of souls in which Christ takes delight. The lily multiplies exceedingly : yet hath it a weak root and soon fadeth. The prophet, then, uniteth with these, plants of unfading green, and deep root. The seed which “had no root,” our Lord says, “withered away” Mat_13:6, as contrariwise, Paul speaks of these, who are “rooted and grounded in love” Eph_3:17, and of being “rooted and built up in Christ” Col_2:7. The widespreading branches are an emblem of the gradual growth and enlargement of the Church, as our Lord says, “It becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof” Mat_13:32.

The symmetry of the tree and its outstretched arms express, at once, grace and protection. Of the “olive” the Psalmist says, “I am like a green olive tree in the house Of God” Psa_52:8; and Jeremiah says, “The Lord called thy name a green olive tree, fair

and of goodly fruit” Jer_11:16; and of “fragrance” the spouse says in the Canticles, “because of the savor of Thy good ointments, Thy name is as ointment poured forth” Son_1:3; and the Apostle says, “thanks be to God, which maketh manifest the savor of His knowledge by us in every place” 2Co_2:14. Deeds of charity also are “an odor of good smell” Phi_4:18; the prayers of the saints also are “sweet odors” Rev_5:8. All these are the fruits of the Spirit of God who says, “I will be as the dew unto Israel.” Such reunion of qualities, being beyond nature, suggests the more, that, that, wherein they are all combined, the future Israel, the Church, shall flourish with graces beyond nature, in their manifoldness, completeness, unfadingness.

CLARKE, "I will be as the dew unto Israel - On these metaphors I gladly avail myself of the elegant and just observations of Bp. Lowth. “These verses (Hos_14:5-7) contain gracious promises of God’s favor and blessings upon Israel’s conversion. In the fifth verse, it is described by that refreshment which copious dews give to the grass in summer. If we consider the nature of the climate, and the necessity of dews in so hot a country, not only to refresh, but likewise to preserve life; if we consider also the beauty of the oriental lilies, the fragrance of the cedars which grow upon Lebanon, the beauteous appearance which the spreading olive trees afforded, the exhilarating coolness caused by the shade of such trees, and the aromatic smell exhaled by the cedars; we shall then partly understand the force of the metaphors here employed by the prophet; but their full energy no one can conceive, till he feels both the want, and enjoys the advantage, of the particulars referred to in that climate where the prophet wrote.” -Lowth’s twelfth and nineteenth prelection; and Dodd on the place.

What a glorious prophecy! What a wonderful prophet! How sublime, how energetic, how just! The great master prophet, Isaiah, alone could have done this better. And these promises are not for Israel merely after the flesh; they are for all the people of God. We have a lot and portion in the matter; God also places his love upon us. Here the reader must feel some such sentiment as the shepherd in Virgil, when enraptured with the elegy which his associate had composed on their departed friend. The phraseology and metaphors are strikingly similar; and therefore I shall produce it.

Tale tuum carmen nobis, divine poeta,Quale sopor fesses in gramine, quale per aestumDulcis aquae saliente sitim restinguere rivo.Nec calamis solum aequiparas, sed voce magistrum.Fortunate puer! tu nunc eris alter ab illo.Nos tamen haec quocunque modo tibi nostra vicissimDicemus, Daphninque tuum tollemus ad astra:Daphnin ad astra feremus: amavit nos quoque Daphnis.Virgil. Ecl. v., ver. 45.

“O heavenly poet, such thy verse appears,So sweet, so charming to my ravish’d ears,As to the weary swain with cares oppress’d,Beneath the sylvan shade, refreshing rest;As to the feverish traveler, when firstHe finds a crystal stream to quench his thirst.In singing, as in piping, you excel;And scarce your master could perform so well.

O fortunate young man! at least your laysAre next to his, and claim the second praise.Such as they are, my rural songs I joinTo raise your Daphnis to the powers divine;For Daphnis was my friend, as well as thine.”

GILL, "I will be as the dew unto Israel,.... To spiritual Israel, to those that return to the Lord, take with them words, and pray unto him, whose backslidings are healed, and they are freely loved; otherwise it is said of apostate Israel or Ephraim, that they were "smitten, and their root dried up, and bore no fruit", Hos_9:16. These words, and the whole, context, respect future times, as Kimchi observes; even the conversion of Israel in the latter day, when they shall partake of all the blessings of grace, signified by the metaphors used in this and the following verses. These words are a continuation of the answer to the petitions put into the mouths of converted ones, promising them many favours, expressed in figurative terms; and first by "the dew", which comes from heaven, is a great blessing of God, and is quickening, very refreshing and fruitful to the earth: and the Lord is that unto his people as the dew is to herbs, plants, and trees of the earth; he is like unto it in his free love and layout, and the discoveries of it to them; which, like the dew, is of and from himself alone; is an invaluable blessing; better than life itself; and is not only the cause of quickening dead sinners, but of reviving, cheering, and refreshing the drooping spirits of his people; and is abundance, never fails, but always continues, Pro_19:12; and so he is in the blessings of his grace, and the application of them; which are in heavenly places, in Christ, and come down from thence, and in great abundance, like the drops of dew; and fall silently, insensibly, and unawares, particularly regenerating grace; and are very cheering and exhilarating, as forgiveness of sin, a justifying righteousness, adoption, &c. Deu_33:13; and also in the Gospel, and the doctrines of it, which distil as dew; these are of God, and come down from heaven; seem little in themselves, but of great importance to the conversion of sinners, and comfort of saints; bring many blessings in them, and cause great joy and fruitfulness wherever they come with power, Deu_32:2. The Targum is,

"my Word shall be as dew to Israel;''

the essential Word of God, the Messiah; of whose incarnation of a virgin some interpret this; having, like the dew, no father but God, either in his divine or human nature; but rather it is to be understood of the blessings of grace he is to his people as Mediator; being to them wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, and every other, even their all it, all:

he shall grow as the lily; to which the church and people of God are sometimes compared, especially for their beauty and comeliness in Christ, Solomon in all his glory not being arrayed like one of these; particularly for their unspotted purity, being clothed with fine linen, clean and white, the white raiment of Christ's righteousness, and having their garments washed and made white in his blood; see Son_2:1; and here for its growth. The root of the lily lies buried in the earth a long time, when it seems as if it was dead; but on a sudden it springs out of the earth, and runs up to a great height, and becomes very flourishing; which is not owing to itself, it "toils not"; but to the dew of heaven: so God's elect in a state of nature are dead, but, being quickened by the grace of

God, spring up on a sudden, and grow very fast; which is not owing to themselves, but to the dews of divine grace, the bright shining of the sun of righteousness upon them, and to the influences of the blessed Spirit; and so they grow up on high, into their Head Christ Jesus, and rise up in their affections, desires, faith and hope to heavenly things, to the high calling of God in Christ, and become fruitful in grace, and in good works. The Targum is,

"they shall shine as the lily;''

see Mat_6:29;

and cast forth his roots as Lebanon; as the tree, or trees, of Lebanon, as the Targum; and so Kimchi, who adds, which are large, and their roots many; or as the roots of the trees of Lebanon, so Jarchi; like the cedars there, which, as the word here used signifies, "struck" (c) their roots firm in that mountain, and stood strong and stable, let what winds and tempests soever blow: thus, as in the following, what one metaphor is deficient in, another makes up. The lily has but a weak root, and is easily up; but the cedars in Lebanon had roots firm and strong, to which the saints are sometimes compared, as here; see Psa_92:12; and this denotes their permanency and final perseverance; who are rooted in the love of God, which is like a root underground from all eternity, and sprouts forth in regeneration, and is the source of all grace; is itself immovable, and in it the people of God are secured, and can never be rooted out; and they may be said to "strike" their roots in it, as the phrase here, when they exercise: a strong faith in it, and are firmly persuaded of their interest in it; see Eph_3:17; they are also rooted in Christ, who is the root of Jesse, of David, and of all the saints; from whom they have their life, their nourishment and fruitfulness, and where they remain unmoved, and strike their roots in him, by renewed acts of faith on him, claiming their interest in him; and are herein so strongly rooted and grounded, that all the winds and storms of sin, Satan, and the world, cannot eradicate them; nay, as trees are more firmly rooted by being shaken, so are they; see Col_2:7. The Targum is,

"they shall dwell in the strength of their land, as a tree of Lebanon, which sends forth its branch.''

HE�RY 5-7, "Do they pray that God will give good, will make them good? In answer to that, behold, it is promised, I will be as the dew unto Israel,Hos_14:5. Observe,

1. What shall be the favour God will bestow upon them. It is the blessing of their father Jacob, God give thee the dew of heaven, Gen_27:28. Nay, what they need God will not only give them, but he will himself be that to them, all that which they need: I will be as the dew unto Israel. This ensures spiritual blessings in heavenly things; and it follows upon the healing of their backslidings, for pardoning mercy is always accompanied with renewing grace. Note, To Israelites indeed God himself will be as the dew. He will instruct them; his doctrine shall drop upon them as the dew, Deu_32:2. They shall know more and more of him, for he will come to them as the rain,Hos_6:3. He will refresh them with his comforts, so that their souls shall be as a watered garden, Isa_58:11. He will be to true penitents as the dew to Israel when they were in the wilderness, dew that had manna in it, Exo_16:14; Num_11:9. The graces of the Spirit are the hidden manna, hidden in the dew; God will give them bread from heaven, as he did to Israel in the dew in abundance, Joh_1:16.

2. What shall be the fruit of that favour which shall be produced in them. The grace thus freely bestowed on them shall not be in vain. Those souls, those Israelites, to whom God is as the dew, on whom his grace distils,

(1.) Shall be growing. The bad being by the grace of God made good, they shall by the same grace be made better; for grace, wherever it is true, is growing. [1.] They shall grow upwards, and be more flourishing, shall grow as the lily, or (as some read it) shall blossom as the rose. The growth of the lily, as that of all bulbous roots, is very quick and speedy. The root of the lily seems lost in the ground all winter, but, when it is refreshed with the dews of the spring, it starts up in a little time; so the grace of God improves young converts sometimes very fast. The lily, when it has come to its height, is a lovely flower (Mat_6:29), so grace is the comeliness of the soul, Eze_16:14. it is the beauty of holiness that is produced by the dew of the morning, Psa_110:3. [2.] They shall grow downwards, and be more firm. The lily indeed grows fast, and grows fine, but it soon fades and is easily plucked up; and therefore it is here promised to Israel that with the flower of the lily he shall have the root of the cedar: He shall cast forth his roots as Lebanon, as the trees of Lebanon, which, having taken deep root, cannot be plucked up, Amo_9:15. Note, Spiritual growth consists most in the growth of the root, which is out of sight. The more we depend upon Christ and draw sap and virtue from him, the more we act in religion from a principle and the more steadfast and resolved we are in it, the more we cast forth our roots. [3.] They shall grow round about (Hos_14:6): His branches shall spread on all sides. And (Hos_14:7) he shall grow as the vine, whose branches extend furthest of any tree. Joseph was to be a fruitful bough, Gen_49:22. When many are added to the church from without, when a hopeful generation rises up, then Israel's branches spread. When particular believers abound in good works, and increase in the knowledge of God and in every good gift, then their branches may be said to spread. The inward man is renewed day by day.

JAMISO�, "as the dew — which falls copiously in the East, taking the place of the more frequent rains in other regions. God will not be “as the early dew that goeth away,” but constant (Hos_6:3, Hos_6:4; Job_29:19; Pro_19:12).

the lily — No plant is more productive than the lily, one root often producing fifty bulbs [Pliny, Natural History, 21.5]. The common lily is white, consisting of six leaves opening like bells. The royal lily grows to the height of three or four feet; Mat_6:29alludes to the beauty of its flowers.

roots as Lebanon — that is, as the trees of Lebanon (especially the cedars), which cast down their roots as deeply as is their height upwards; so that they are immovable [Jerome], (Isa_10:34). Spiritual growth consists most in the growth of the root which is out of sight.

CALVI�, "Verse 5The Prophet now again repeats what he had said, that God, after restoring the people to favour, would be so beneficent, as to render apparent the fruit of reconciliation. Seeing that the Israelites had been afflicted, they ought to have imputed this to their own sins, they ought to have perceived by such proofs, the wrath of God. They had been so stupid as to have on the contrary imagined, that their adversities happened to them by chance. The Prophet had been much engaged in teaching this truth, that the Israelites would be ever miserable until they turned to God, and also, that all their affairs would be unhappy until they obtained pardon. He now speaks of a change, that God would not only by words show himself

propitious to them, but would also give a proof by which the Israelites might know that they were now blessed, because they had been reconciled to God; for his blessing would be the fruit of his gratuitous love. Thus then ought this sentence, I will be to Israel as the dew, to be connected: He intimates that they were before dry, because they had been deprived of God’s favour. He compares them to a rose or lily: for when the fields or meadows are burnt up by the heat of the sun, and there is no dew distilling from heaven, all things wither. How then can lilies and roses flourish, except they derive moisture from heaven, and the dew refreshes the grounds that they may put forth their strength? The reason then for the similitude is this, because men become dry and destitute of all vigour, when God withdraws his favour. Why? Because God must, as it were, distil dew, otherwise, as it has been said, we become wholly barren and dry. I will be then as dew to Israel

And further, He shall Flourish as the lily, and his roots he shall send forth Some render ויך, vaic, “and he will strike;” and נכה, nuke, means to strike. Others render the words, “His branches will extend:” but the verb is in the singular number, and the noun, “roots,” is in the plural. The Prophet then speaks of Israel, that he strikes his roots; but he means to fix in a metaphorical sense: he will then fix his roots. As when we strike, we fetch a blow, and extend our arms; so he will spread forth his roots as Libanus. This is the second effect of God’s favour and blessing; which means, that the happiness of the people would be perpetual. With regard to the rose or lily, the meaning of the metaphor is, that God would suddenly, and as in a moment, vivify the Israelites, though they were like the dead. as in one night the lily rises, and unexpectedly also the rose; so sudden would be the change signified by this metaphor. But as the lilies and the roses soon wither, it was not enough to promise to Israel that their salvation would come suddenly; but it was needful to add this second clause, — that though they would be like lilies and roses, they yet would be also like tall trees, which have deep roots in the ground, by which they remain firm and for a long time flourish.

We now then perceive the meaning of the Prophet. He mentions here the twofold effect of God’s blessing as to the Israelites, — that their restoration would be sudden, as soon as God would distil like the dew his favour upon them, and also that this happiness would not be fading, but enduring and permanent. And the words may be rendered, as Libanus, or as those of Libanus: as Libanus he shall cast forth his roots, as the trees which grow there; or, he shall cast forth his roots as the trees which are in Libanus. But as to the sense there is no difference. It follows —

COFFMA�, ""I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon."

"Dew ..." is to be understood here not as transitory, but as refreshing. In that climate it was a valuable agent in the agricultural productiveness of the land.

"He shall blossom as the lily ..." "The �ew Israel will have the beauty of the lily (Matthew 6:28-29), and the noble strength and stability of the poplar (literally

`Lebanon')."[15]

COKE, "Hosea 14:5-6. I will be as the dew, &c.— These verses contain gracious promises of God's favour upon Israel's conversion, represented by different metaphors. In the fifth verse, it is described by that refreshment, which copious dews give to the grass in the heat of summer. If we consider the nature of the climate, and the necessity of dews in so hot a country, not only to refresh, but likewise to preserve life; if we consider also the beauty of the oriental lilies, the fragrance of the cedars which grow upon Lebanon, the beauteous appearance which the spreading olive-trees afforded, the exhilarating coolness caused by the shade of such trees, and the aromatic smell exhaled by the cedars; we shall then partly understand the force of the metaphors here employed by the prophet; but their full energy no one can conceive, till he both feels the want and enjoys the advantage of the particulars referred to, in that climate wherein the prophet wrote. See Bishop Lowth's 12th and 19th Prelection, and Genesis 27:28. Instead of, His branches shall spread, in Hosea 14:6. Houbigant reads, His suckers shall go forth.

BE�SO�, "Hosea 14:5-6. I will be as the dew unto Israel — These verses contain gracious promises of God’s favour, and of blessings upon Israel’s conversion, represented by different metaphors. These are first described by that refreshment which copious dews give to the grass in the heat of summer. And if we consider the nature of the climate, and the necessity of dews in so hot a country, not only to refresh, but likewise to preserve life; if we consider also the beauty of the oriental lilies, the fragrance of the cedars which grow upon Lebanon, the beauteous appearance which the spreading olive-trees afforded, the exhilarating coolness caused by the shade of such trees, and the aromatic smell exhaled by the cedars; we shall then partly understand the force of the metaphors here employed by the prophet; but their full energy no one can conceive, till he feels both the want, and enjoys the advantage of the particulars referred to, in that climate where the prophet wrote. See Bishop Lowth’s xiith and xixth Prelection. Mr. Harmer’s illustration of this passage will be acceptable to the reader. “The image in general,” says he, “made use of here by Hosea, is the change that takes place upon the descent of the dew of autumn on the before parched earth, where every thing appeared dead or dying; upon which they immediately become lively and delightful. Israel, by their sins, reduced themselves into a wretched, disgraceful state, like that of the earth, when no rain or dew has descended for a long time; but God promised he would heal their backslidings, and restore them to a flourishing state. The gentleman that visited the holy land in autumn 1774, found the dews very copious then, as well as the rain, and particularly observed, in journeying from Jerusalem, a very grateful scent arising from the aromatic herbs growing there, such as rosemary, wild thyme, balm, &c. If the fragrant herbs between Jerusalem and Joppa afforded such a grateful smell, as to engage this ingenious traveller to remark it in his journal, the scent of Lebanon must have been exquisite; for Mr. Maundrell found the great rupture in that mountain, in which Canobin is situated, had ‘both sides exceeding steep and high, clothed with fragrant green from top to bottom, and everywhere refreshed with fountains, falling down from the rocks, in pleasant cascades; the ingenious work of nature.’“ This sufficiently illustrates the clause, His smell, that is,

his fragrance, shall be like that of Lebanon. To illustrate the clause, He shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon, Mr. Harmer quotes a passage from Dr. Russell’s account of the natural history of Aleppo, vol. 1. c. 3: “After the first rains in the autumn, the fields everywhere throw out the autumnal lily daffodil; and the few plants which had stood the summer now grow with fresh vigour.” The other trees of Lebanon, as well as the cedars, are admired by travellers on account of their enormous size. So de la Roque, describing his ascending this mountain, says, the farther they advanced, the loftier were the trees, which, for the most part, were plane-trees, cypresses, and evergreen oaks. And Rauwolff, after mentioning several kinds of trees and herbs which he found there, goes on; But chiefly, and in the greatest number, were the maple-trees, which are large, high, and expand themselves very much with their branches: but, above all, the size of the cedar attracts admiration. “I measured,” says Maundrell, “one of the largest, and found it twelve yards six inches in girt, and yet sound; and thirty-seven yards in the spread of its boughs. At about five or six yards from the ground it was divided into five limbs, each of which was equal to a great tree.” The beauty of the olive-tree is frequently mentioned in Scripture, and has come under our observation before: see note on Psalms 128:3.

TRAPP, "Hosea 14:5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.

Ver. 5. I will be as the dew unto Israel] I will give good in abundance; and this is sweetly set forth in a sevenfold metaphor, all answering to the name of Ephraim (which signifieth fruitful) and to the ancient promises made unto him; and all again opposite to the many contrary curses, threatened in the former parts of the prophecy, under metaphors of a contrary importance, as Pareus and (out of him) Tarnovius have well observed. As first of solid and fruit causing dew, in opposition to that vanishing and barren dew, Hosea 6:4; Hosea 13:3; secondly, of the flourishing lily, contrary to those nettles, thorns, and thistles, Hosea 9:16; Hosea 10:8; thirdly, of the well-rooted and durable trees of Libanus, contrary to dry roots, Hosea 9:16; fourthly, of spreading and growing branches, instead of branches consumed, Hosea 11:6; Hosea 9:16; Hosea 10:8; fifthly, of trees yielding pleasant shade and repose, contrary to Hosea 9:3; Hosea 9:6; sixthly, of corn to satisfy hunger, contrary to Hosea 8:7; lastly, of a vine bringing forth excellent wine, contrary to Hosea 9:16; Hosea 10:1. And all these fruits the fruits of Lebanon, a most fertile mountain, the valleys whereof were most rich grounds for pasture, grain, and vineyards.

As the dew unto Israel, he shall blossom as the lily] Quot verba, tot lumina, imo flumina orationis. This prophet aboundeth with similitudes, as is before noted. {see Hosea 12:10} {See Trapp on "Hosea 12:10"} He beginneth here with a simile drawn from the dew of heaven; a mercy very much set by, in those hotter countries especially, where from May to October they had no rain. The Chaldee paraphrase and Hebrew doctors understand this text concerning Christ and his benefit. Truly he is good to Israel, to the pure in heart, Psalms 73:1. Peace and mercy, sanctity and

safety, all spiritual benedictions in heavenly things in Christ, shall be upon the Israel of God, Galatians 6:16, Ephesians 1:3. What the dew is to the herbs, fields, fruits, that is Christ to his Israel. 1. The dew comes when the air is clear; so doth Christ by his blessing, when the light of his countenance is lifted up upon us, 2. As the dew refresheth and cherisheth the dry and fady fields (hence it is called the dew of herbs, Isaiah 26:19, which thereby recover life and beauty), so doth Christ our hearts, scorched with the sense of sin; and fear of wrath. 3. As the dew allayeth great heats, and moisteneth and mollifieth the earth, that it may fructify; so Christ cooleth the devil’s fiery darts, and filleth his people with the fruits of righteousness (Aristot. lib. 1, Meteor. cap. 10; Plin. lib. 2, cap. 60, et lib. 18, cap. 29). "He is unto them as a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest," Isaiah 18:4, and maketh their souls as so many watered gardens, Jeremiah 31:12 4. As the dew falls in a narrow compass, without noise, and is felt only by those (in the force of it) on whom it descends; so the grace of Christ watereth his faithful only; secretly and sweetly insinuating into their hearts: the stranger meddleth not with their comforts. See John 14:17. The cock on the dunghill knows them not.

He shall grow as the lily] Which hath its name in the Hebrew from its six leaves, and serves here and elsewhere to set forth the great comeliness, sweet odours, and true humility of the Church: for the lily grows in valleys, Song of Solomon 2:1; as Theophylact upon this text notes, sweet it is but not great, εχει την ευωδιαν µεγεθος ουκ εχει, and the more it blossometh the more it shooteth upwards, to teach us heavenly mindedness. It is also of a perfect whiteness, to remind us of innocence. "Her �azarites were purer than snow, whiter than milk," Lamentations 4:7. Lastly, Lilio nihil est foecundius, saith Pliny, nothing is more fruitful than the lily; et lachryma sua seritur, saith the same author, it is sown in its own tears. Weeping Christians grow exceedingly.

And cast forth his roots as Lebanon] i.e. as the cedars of Lebanon, as the Chaldee Paraphrast interpreteth it; or as the frankincense tree, which taketh very deep rooting, so Cyril senseth it. The lily (with its six white leaves, and seven golden coloured grains within it) soon fadeth, and loseth both beauty and sweetness; but so doth not Christ and his people. He can as well die at the right hand of his Father as in the hearts of his elect, where he dwells by faith, Romans 6:10, whereby they are "rooted and grounded in love, strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man," Ephesians 3:16-17, so that the gates of hell cannot prevail against them. Immota manet, is the Church’s motto; �ec fluctu, nec flatu movetur, It is not moved by wind or waves, which is the Venetian motto. "They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever," Psalms 125:1. Winds and storms move neither Libanus nor the well-rooted cedars thereof: which the more they are assaulted the better they are rooted. So fareth it with the saints. Plato compareth man to a tree inverted. The Scripture often compareth a good man to a tree planted by the rivers of waters, that taketh root downward, and beareth fruit upward, 2 Kings 19:30.

- “ quae quantum vertice ad auras,

Aethereas, tantum radice ad tartara tendit. ”

Let us cast forth our roots as Lebanon; stand fast rooted in the truth, being "stedfast and unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord," and with full purpose of heart cleaving close unto him, 1 Corinthians 15:58, being established by his grace, Colossians 1:11 Hebrews 12:28; Hebrews 13:9. In the civil law, till a tree hath taken root it doth not belong to the soil whereon it is planted. It is not enough to be in the Church, except, like the cedars of Lebanon, we cast forth our roots, and are so planted, that we flourish in the courts of our God, and bring forth fruit in our old age, Psalms 92:12-14.

SIMEO�, "THE FRUITS OF GOD’S FAVOUR

Hosea 14:5-7. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine; the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

THERE are instances of beautiful imagery in the Scriptures equal to any that can be found in the works of the most renowned authors; they are enhanced too by the importance of the subjects they contain. In both respects the passage before us deserves peculiar attention. Imagination cannot conceive a richer display of divine blessings than God here vouchsafes to his church and people.

I. The favour which God will shew his people—

The metaphor of “dew” is at once simple and sublime—

[The benefits of the dew are but little known in this climate; but in Jud ζa the metaphor would appear very significant [�ote: Where the rains are periodical, and the climate hot, the dews are more abundant.]. Fur some time after the creation, dew supplied the place of rain [�ote: Genesis 2:6.]; and, after rain was given, it still remained of great use. The Scriptures speak of it as an important blessing [�ote: See Genesis 27:28; Genesis 27:39 and Deuteronomy 33:13.]: they represent the withholding of it as a calamity and a curse [�ote: 2 Samuel 1:21.].]

The communications of God to his people are fitly compared to it—

[It distils silently and almost imperceptibly on the ground; yet it insinuates itself into the plants on which it falls, and thus maintains their vegetative powers. In the same manner God’s visits to his people are secret [�ote: He comes not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but in the small still voice. 1 Kings 19:11-12.]; but he gains access to their in most souls [�ote: 2 Corinthians 6:16.]. He cheers and revives their

fainting spirits, and thus he fulfils to them his own most gracious promise [�ote: Isaiah 58:11.]—.]

Were his communications refreshing only, and not influential on the conduct, we might be afraid of enthusiasm; but his favour invariably discovers itself by—

II. Its fruits and effects—

The effects of the dew are seen by the progress of vegetation: the descent of God’s Spirit on the soul also produces growth, beauty, fragrancy, fertility.

1. Growth—

[The “lily” springs up speedily, but is of short duration. The cedars of “Lebanon cast forth their roots” to a great extent. Thus the soul that is refreshed with divine communications. The quickness of its growth often excites admiration. Its stability defies the assaults of earth and hell, while it “spreads its branches,” and displays its vigour in every good word and work.]

2. Beauty—

[There is peculiar grace and ld;beauty in the olive-tree,” and such is there in the soul that communes much with God. What a lustre was there on the face of Moses, when he came down from the mount [�ote: Exodus 34:30.]! And how is the lively Christian “beautified with salvation!” His outward conduct is rendered amiable in every part. His inward dispositions of humility and love are ornaments which even God himself admires [�ote: 1 Peter 3:4.]. He is transformed into the very image of his God [�ote: Ephesians 4:23-24.]; nor shall his beauty be ever suffered to decay [�ote: The olive, as an evergreen, retains its beauty; and in this respect also is a fit emblem of the true Christian. Psalms 1:3.].]

3. Fragrancy [�ote: This is twice mentioned in the text, and therefore deserves peculiar notice.]—

[Lebanon was no less famous for its odoriferous vines than for its lofty cedars: and does not the Christian diffuse a savour all around him [�ote: 2 Corinthians 2:14.]? How animated his discourse when God is with him! How refreshing and delightful to those who enjoy his conversation [�ote: See him before the sun has exhaled the dew, or the world abated the fervour of his affections; and how does he verify that saying! Proverbs 16:24.]! How pleasing is it also to his God and Saviour [�ote: Malachi 3:16. Song of Solomon 4:16.]! In proportion as he lives near to God, he fulfils that duty [�ote: Colossians 4:6.]—.]

4. Fertility—

[The “corn and the vine” are just emblems of a Christian’s fruitfulness. They often wear the most unpromising appearance; yet are they “revived” by the genial

influences of the sun and rain. Thus the Christian may be reduced to a drooping or desponding state; but the renewed influences of God’s Spirit will revive him. They make him “fruitful in all the fruits of righteousness.” They too, who “dwell under his shadow,” and are most nearly connected with him, will participate his blessings [�ote: If he be a master, a parent, and especially a minister, the benefit of his revivals will extend to many.]“.]

Infer—

1. How honourable and blessed is the Christian’s state!

[Often is he favoured with visits from above [�ote: John 14:23.], and glorious are the effects produced by God upon him. The whole creation scarcely affords images whereby his blessedness may be adequately represented. Who then is so honourable? who so happy? Let all endeavour to maintain a sense of their high privileges, and to “walk worthy of the calling wherewith they are called.”]

2. How hopeful is the state of those who wait on God!

[The promises in the text were given as an answer to prayer [�ote: ver. 2.]: and they are made to all, who, “like Israel,” plead with God. If the dew be withheld from others, it shall descend on them [�ote: Judges 6:37-38.]. Its descent shall accomplish the utmost wishes of their souls. They shall soon experience the fulfilment of that word [�ote: Isaiah 40:31.]—.]

PETT, "‘I will be as the dew to Israel, he will blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.’YHWH Himself will be as the dew to Israel (compare Song of Solomon 5:2), resulting in their blossoming like a lily (or crocus) and putting down strong roots. The heavy morning dew was an important feature of agricultural life in Israel, providing moisture which enabled plants to flourish when the rains were absent. The lily was renowned for its beauty (‘consider the lilies of the field’) and is especially prominent in the Song of Solomon (Hosea 2:1-2; Hosea 2:16; Hosea 4:5; Hosea 5:13; Hosea 6:2-3; Hosea 7:2), especially as describing the beauty of the maiden and the idealistic life ‘among the lilies’. Lebanon was famous as the place where trees grew strong roots (this reverses the judgment in Hosea 9:16). Thus the idea was that by YHWH’s abundant provision they would flourish and blossom (compare Song of Solomon 6:11) and put down strong roots in the covenant (compare Isaiah 37:31). Overall it is the same idea as is found in Hosea 6:3.

SBC, "This is a gracious promise to a penitent and returning people. Israel had fallen by her iniquity; but "He who pardoneth iniquity, transgression, and sin" had earnestly exhorted her to arise and return by repentance and righteousness to Himself; to take with her words of humble confession, of earnest entreaty, of renewed covenant engagement, of grateful, loving trust, and of solemn vow and promise for the future. And it is on the supposition that that gracious exhortation has been laid to heart that the Lord comes forth with abundant and adapted promises, among them the promise of the

text.

I. The dew falls very quietly and gently. So is God to. His people when He comes to revive and bless them. The soul must have times of recruiting and replenishment, and probably times of silence. The filling of the hidden springs, the growing of the secret inward strength, will be, the "man knoweth not how," as is the growing of the flowers, as is the falling of the dew.

II. The dew falls very copiously. In the land of Israel it falls much more abundantly than in this country. God’s grace to a Church in a time of spiritual quickening is very copious and full. When hearts are opened to Him in expectation they never close again in collapse and disappointment.

III. The dew is very refreshing. It makes dying nature live. When God comes in fulfilment of this promise there is a recovery of sinking strength, a kindling of dying graces, a returning to the first love, a doing of the first works. To those who are so visited there is a newness in religion every day.

IV. The dew is fertilizing. This silent, copious, refreshing agent works fruitfulness out of all growing things. And when God is as the dew unto Israel, His final end is that the plants of His right hand’s planting may become fruitful.

V. Note, as another analogy, the nearness to us in both cases of the reviving influence—God does not fetch the dew from stars, or from fountains in the skies. He condenses and distils it out of the atmosphere. May not this remind us how we are surrounded with a very atmosphere of grace, which holds all precious things in readiness to be dropped upon us when God shall command it so? The word of life is "nigh unto us," as near the soul as the atmosphere is to the body.

A. Raleigh, Quiet Resting Places, p. 23.

Reference: Hos_14:5.—Preacher’s Lantern, vol. ii., p. 634.

Hosea 14:5-6

I God begins: "I will be as the dew unto Israel." Of dew we may notice several things. (1) It is beautiful and glistening; but the process by which it is formed, and the way by which it comes, are hidden from us,—as behind a veil, in mystery. (2) Dew is always proportionate. The greater the need, the larger the supply; the hotter the day, the thicker it lies; and by refreshing where it falls it tends to vitality and growth. (3) And it comes faithfully, morning and evening, wherever it is wanted, and never fails. That is like God. How the Holy Spirit distils upon us, or why, we cannot tell. The commencement of the Divine life and its supplies are perfectly inscrutable. The workings are secret, but the results are patent. And just as I want it, I find it. It comes fullest in the morning of our hottest conflicts, and the fiercer and most searching days of trial have their richest drops. At evening what is the most worked is the most renovated. And without it all the soul’s verdure and all the soul’s life would wither and die.

II. Now trace the consequences on the man himself. The metaphor is sustained. It is by the dewlike, gentle workings of God’s Spirit, by myriads of drops, each imperceptibly small. "He shall grow as the lily and cast forth his roots as Lebanon," etc. There are five things: growth, strength, expansion, beauty, fragrance.

III. They that dwell under His shadow shall return. We all cast our shadows; and the influence we carry, the effect we produce,—may be, and should be, and must be, always for good and for God. And this is the characteristic of the Christian, that "they that dwell under his shadow shall return"—return to what they have lost: return to peace; return to that good land; return to Canaan; return to their God.

J. Vaughan, Sermons, 10th series, p. 181.

Hosea’s picture of what the state of Israel would be, in returning to righteousness and becoming reconciled to heaven, is composed—curiously and daintily composed—of rich colours, drawn from various sources. To his glowing anticipation, no single image sufficed to represent the approaching glory. For an adequate portrayal of the brilliant prospect which his eyes beheld, he had to borrow and cull from this quarter and that—to gather and combine many things—selecting here a little and there a little, and binding the medley together, in one. And it is his eclecticism here that I find inviting and suggestive; his free flitting from object to object, in order to collect materials for an image of perfection.

I. It reminds me of what we need to recognize and act upon, both in the intercourse of life and in the pursuit of truth. No man is worth accepting wholly, and every man has a grace and glory of his own that is worth searching out. See on the one hand, how we renounce and shut ourselves up from canine, snarling, disagreeable people as though there were no lingering lines of beauty in them with which to cultivate acquaintance. See on the other hand, our tendency to hero-worship; to insulate and set up on high and warn off criticism from the man who has shown himself grand and supreme in two or three points, or perhaps in a single quality: how we foolishly assume him to be equally grand and supreme all round on all sides. What is needed is, that we should be more ready and quick to discern the special grace, and the consequent essentialness, of every unit in the crowd, and less ready and quick to confine ourselves to any.

II. The perfect man is here, but not to be brought together and expressed in any single personality. We can approximate towards securing the benefit and use of him by association, uniting in work, study, and intercourse, what we each have—our various distinctive characters and attainments. Instances of this may be seen in politics, in Church fellowship, in differing religious views. What we need in order to a growing discernment of the universe of spiritual truth among us is, comprehension—the comprehension within our circle of intercourse, of as many visions and impressions of earnest brother-souls as possible.

S. A. Tipple, Echoes of Spoken Words, p. 187.

BI 5-7, "I will be as the dew unto Israel.

Divine relationship and human responsiveness

Through the picturesque forms and utterances of Hebrew prophecy there breaks a very deep and generous sympathy with the world of nature. For Israel itself, fallen and debased by grievous backslidings, smitten as with a plague of shameless apostasy and spiritual corruption, yet sorrowful, repentant, and growingly responsive to the exhortations of Jehovah’s servant, no simile could more vividly illustrate the effect of

Divine influence on the degenerate nation, or the restoring impulses it would give to its better life, than that to which Hosea turned. “I will be as the dew unto Israel.”

I. I will be as the dew unto israel. A more tender and beautiful comparison for God’s association and fellowship with His people is not to be imagined. The points of correspondence are very obvious, and can scarcely be invested now with any sense of novelty. The silent stealth of the dew to its resting-place, its reviving and invigorating effect on fields and gardens, its plenteous supply of moisture for the bosom of the earth, and its most beneficent adaptation to needy physical conditions, are all so many well-worn and widely accepted lines of interpretation. What a sense of impenetrable mystery there is about the dew! Who shall make plain to us the process of its generation? And yet how mild and familiar this mysterious economy of nature has become, inspiring no dread, arousing no suspicion, creating no fear, but simply accepted as a gracious providential arrangement that, despite the fact that it is so incomprehensible, may be safely left to its close and constant contact with our earthly life! What marvellous combination of force and gentleness there is in the dew! It does not strive nor cry, nor lift up any contending voice among the powers of nature. See again the service of the dew in replenishing nature’s waste of fertilising power. The very existence of the dew indicates a loss sustained by nature, and a pro vision in nature for repairing that loss.

II. Fertility is begotten of the dew. Where it was given it was natural to expect growth. The response of fields and vineyards to its productive presence was fruitfulness and plenty: and so, in a figure, the result is applied to Israel in this splendid picture of human responsiveness to God’s gracious influence. “He shall grow as the lily.” There will be growth, stability, breadth, usefulness, and fragrance—the pervading sweetness of the holy life, a characteristic of our growth before God, which must ever be most pleasing to Him. (W. H. Tetley.)

The dew of the Holy Spirit

I. To whom the blessing is promised. To Israel. Not Israel only after the flesh. The name Israel brings before us Jacob, concerning whom there are two remarkable circumstances recorded.

1. God’s special choice of him.

2. His power with God in prayer.

II. The nature of the blessing set forth. “As the dew.”

1. Dew is refreshing and fertilising.

2. Dew is, in many Eastern lands, the only means for producing these effects.

3. Dew is mild and grateful in the manner of its influence.

4. Dew is generally imperceptible in its approaches.

5. Dew comes only in the night. (Joseph Jowett, M. A.)

Dew to Israel

Before, He had said, “his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up.” Now again He enlarges the blessing; their supply shall be unfailing, for it shall be from

God; yea, God Himself shall be that blessing. “I will be the dew; descending on the mown grass,” to quicken and refresh it, descending, Himself, into the dried and parched and sore hearts of men, as He saith, “We will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” The grace of God, like the dew, is not given once for all, but is day by day waited for, and day by day renewed. Yet doth it not pass away, like the fitful goodness of God’s former people, but turns into the growth and spiritual substance of those on whom it descends. (E. B. Pusey, D. D.)

The Lord as the dew

(a talk with children):—When there are clouds to lessen the heat of the sun, there is less need of the dew at night, and so God ordains that if clouds cover the heavens, there is little dew to be found. The clouds prevent the escape of heat from the earth, and therefore it does not get cold so rapidly, and thus the evaporated moisture that is in the air does not so readily condense into dewdrops and settle on the grass. When there has been a burning sky all day, and it continues clear even at night, the heat escapes rapidly from the earth, and the moisture that is in the warm air when it touches the colder earth condenses rapidly, and so the dews are generally profuse. Thus there is a very wise provision made by God. According to the burden and heat of the day, as a rule, is the amount of dew at night. The dew does not descend upon all things equally. The moisture does not condense to rapidly upon the gravel paths as upon the grass. The grass needs it most. The dew in descending makes no noise. It is a gracious blessing that comes silently without trumpeting of any kind. It visits every bud and blade of grass. It does not visit the big trees and forget the tender little plant. God provides for the little ones as well as the great ones. The dew comes so gently that the feeblest blade can bear it. It takes hours to develop a dewdrop. No blade can be injured by the dew. Even the most beautiful bloom on the fruit would not be damaged by it. I want you to feel that as God is so gentle and loving and kind, your sin against Him is all the greater for that. But even when you sin, He comes gently still, so patient and long-suffering is He. He comes to refresh your strength when you get tired and sad and impatient. God is constantly coming like the dew: not once, but time after time. It is according to the need that the dew comes. So the Saviour comes to us even in the darkening hour when no one seems to expect the blessing; comes and refreshes our strength so that we may be the better able to bear the heat and burden of another day. As you grow up to be men and women you will have special need of strength: you will have new cares, new duties, new sorrows. But if God refreshes your strength and fits you for every duty as it shall come, all is well. Your duty and privilege is just to wait upon God, and trust in Him for every needful blessing. (D. Davies.)

Divine influence

The dew is the emblem of Divine grace.

I. Divine influence, like the dew, is unseen. The greatest things we know of are unseen.

II. IT IS SILENT. The most delicate ear cannot hear the descent of the dew. So is it with the coming of Divine grace.

III. It is gentle. It falls upon the weakest flower without hurting it. Gentleness is a property of Divine grace. Every true believer is ready to say, “Thy gentleness hath made

me great.”

IV. It is reviving. The source of many and great blessings. So Divine grace, upon a soul withered up by sin, imparts a freshness and a beauty to its faded life.

V. It is abundant. It bespangles all the fields, forests, and gardens of our beautiful world. The humblest flower has its own drop of dew. In Christ there is grace to enlighten, to pardon, to strengthen, to comfort, to glorify every human spirit.

VI. It is free. It falls as freely on the barren rock as on the fertile soil; as sweetly upon the rough fern as upon the delicate rose. The most precious temporal blessings we possess are free to all. Even so Divine grace is universally free. The jewel of Divine grace is as free to all as the light, the air, the water, or the dew. (John Dunlop.)

The measure of blessing in spiritual influence determined by human disposition

Dew is but very sparingly deposited on hard metals, while on glass, straw, grass, cloth, and similar substances it forms abundantly. The nature of the substance determines the amount of moisture that rests upon it. And the nature of our feelings towards God, and the disposition of our spirits towards holy things, determine the amount of God we are privileged to enjoy. Too often men blame their surroundings and accuse others of being responsible for their spiritual poverty. But our environments are not so responsible as are our own dispositions. The callous, unbending, resisting spirit is but little blessed, while the soul that is submissive to the Divine will, lovingly disposed towards God and His ways, and possessing a sympathetic affinity to the Divine, is saturated with rich and satisfying blessings. (E. Aubrey.)

God’s silent blessings

I. The dew is a type of the silent blessings of God. He descends with spiritual graces, coming silently even as the dew falls upon the tender grass. God works no less mightily because He works in silence. This mode of Divine working is profoundly effective. There is something strangely impressive in perfect silence. Man’s heart is a tough and stubborn piece of mechanism. Nevertheless it is susceptible to the influences of gentleness, persistingly and lovingly laid upon him, and by these influences God is constantly working.

II. The dew teaches the timeliness of the Divine blessing. The dew comes in just where and when it is most needed, adding greatly to its benefits by the timeliness of its coming. And this is in accordance with the modes of Divine working among the children of men. The souls who most need the Master’s tender care are those whom He most seeks to bless. God does not seek us because we are saints, but to make us saints. Human sorrow is small attraction to men, but is the lodestone that draws to us the Spirit of God.

III. The dew teaches the transient character of much human goodness. “As the early dew it goeth away.” Of how many persons may this sad complaint be spoken? How many resolves made since this year was born have already been dispelled as dew by the morning sun! The dew vanished and left a blessing. These broken resolves, do they leave the heart any better? Nay, the heart is harder and the mind more perverted because of these failures to fulfil vows. (H. C. M’Cook, D. D.)

Christ is as the dew

This comparison of the dew is made use of for illustration in sundry places of Scripture (Hos_6:4; Psa_110:3; Mic_5:7; Psa_133:1; Psa_133:3).

I. What likeness is there between Jesus Christ and the dew? The dew has six properties, all fitly applicable, without straining, to the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. The dew is Divine and heaven-born.

2. The dew descends, comes down.

3. The manner of the descending of the dew is not observable. It descends silently, makes no noise.

4. It is the nature of the dew to soften as far as it goes.

5. The dew moistens.

6. The dew makes fruitful.

II. Who is the Israel to whom he will be as the dew? There is a twofold Israel spoken of. Israel the person, Israel the people: this includes Israel according to the flesh, and Israel according to the spirit. Understand this latter.

1. Of the Gospel Church in general, and

2. Of particular believing souls.

III. When especially have we need of this dew?

1. We have all need of it while we are in an unconverted state and condition.

2. When the conscience is parched at any time with the sense of guilt, through some wilful omission or commission.

3. Under the withdrawings of the light of God’s countenance.

4. When a fit of barrenness prevails, through the stirrings of some corruption, the success of some temptation, or through the want of quickening means and ordinances, the Word, sacraments, Sabbaths, solemn assemblies.

5. In a time of outward trouble and calamity.

6. When we come to die.

7. When we go to an ordinance. The dew is necessary to prepare the ground for the plough.

8. When we have been to an ordinance.

IV. What is our duty in reference to this?

1. Mix faith with it, as a Divine truth; that there is certainly such a thing as this dew, and that the Lord Jesus Christ is in it.

2. Be more sensible of your need of it every day in everything.

3. Ask it of God; and having asked it, expect and wait for it, in the use of appointed means.

4. Observe whence all your spiritual refreshments come, and all your fruit. It is from Christ as your dew; and let Him have the glory of it. (Philip Henry.)

Improvement in religion the fruit of a Divine influence

God has so framed mankind, and so disposed the affairs of human life as that, on the one hand, our dependence on Him should not at all lessen our obligations to diligence; and that our diligence should not preclude our regards to the influence of Divine providence. No inference is to be drawn from the belief of a providence that is the least unfavourable to industry. But he acts a part equally foolish and sinful who builds his future prospects wholly upon his own prudence and labour. It is an undoubted truth that the concurrence of an external influence, which is not under our control, is absolutely necessary to secure success. Let a man be as industrious as he will, if he pays no regard to the providence of God, his conduct is as unreasonable and criminal, as if through a pretended reliance on that providence, he were to abandon himself to sloth and indolence! In vain do we profess faith in the influence and operations of the blessed Spirit, while we live in the slothful neglect of appointed duties. The text is the gracious assurance of God to penitent and returning Israel. By the blessing here promised we are to understand the influence of Divine grace.

I. Why are the Divine influences compared to the dew? The dew is a mist, or thin small kind of rain, which falls upon the earth morning and evening in a very gentle, gradual, imperceptible manner, and so refreshes the ground and makes it fruitful. It has always been esteemed a great blessing. It is a natural emblem of the Spirit.

1. As to its origin. The dew comes down from above. It is called the “dew of heaven,” and the heavens are said to “drop down dew.” It is no effect of human art or power. So the influences of the Spirit come down from God They are absolutely at God’s disposal, and under His direction and control. Who shall question this? To deny that there is a secret invisible mighty influence, which at some seasons especially quickens the heart of a good man and animates him to his duty, is in effect to deny all religion. The means of religion are manifestly adapted to produce the effects which have been mentioned, just as the sowing and cultivating the ground to make it fruitful. But these means are not alike successful with all who enjoy them. The benefits which some reap from the means of religion must be owing to the kind and seasonable influences of Divine grace which accompany them.

2. As to the manner in which it falls upon the earth. It descends gradually, imperceptibly, seasonably, and some times very plentifully. So do the influences of the Holy Spirit descend upon the Christian. They were given richly to early Christians who had to establish Christianity and to endure persecutions. These early disciples were filled with the Spirit.

3. As to its use. These are the effects of the Divine influences.

(1) Divine comfort and refreshment.

(2) Establishment and confirmation.

(3) Fruitfulness.

(4) Beauty and glory put upon the real Christian.

What ornament so fair and beautiful as that of a meek and quiet spirit—a mind endued with patience and contentment, with benevolence and love?

II. To make some suitable improvement of the whole.

1. Does this dew come down from God; of Him then let us earnestly seek it, and to Him let us offer our humble thanks for it.

2. Though we receive this dew from above, let us not expect it but in the way of duty. If we do, it is not to be wondered at that we are disappointed.

3. How vain are all their pretences to a large experience of these dews of Divine grace who bring forth no suitable fruit in their lives!

4. Let the humble, serious, and timorous Christian be comforted—the Christian whose concern it is to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, though through many discourage ments he is sometimes ready to question whether he is the happy subject of Divine influence.

5. How unspeakable will be the bliss and glory of the heavenly world, where the effects of these Divine influences shall be enjoyed in their utmost perfection. (S. Stenner, D. D.)

As the dew

These sweet promises in their order follow immediately upon this, that God would freely love them, and cease to be angry with them: then He adds the fruits of His love to their souls, and the effects of those fruits in many particulars.

1. God’s love is a fruitful love. Wheresoever He loves, He makes the things lovely. Our hearts, in regard to themselves are barren and dry, wherefore God’s grace is compared to the dew. The dew falls insensibly and invisibly. It falls very sweetly and mildly. Grace is compared with dew in regard to its operations. It cools the air when it falls, and then with coolness it hath a fructifying virtue, for falling especially on tender herbs and plants, it soaks into the root of them and makes them fruitful. So it is with the graces of God’s Spirit.

2. Notice the unresistibleness of the dew and of God’s grace.

Christians grow like lilies—

1. For beauty and glory.

2. In regard of purity and whiteness.

Let us then labour that the dew of God may prove the dew of grace, and that God would make us lilies. Remember that there is a growing upward; a growing in the root; and a spreading and growing in the fruit or sweetness. (R. Sibbes, D. D.)

The metaphor of the dew

I. Open and explain the declaration and promise here given. The fountain and spring of these words originates from the former. Some interpret as a promise of the Holy Ghost. The expression, “I will be as the dew unto Israel,” is indicative of Divine sovereignty. Here is the will of God expressed in a promise. In Scripture, things very delightful and refreshing are compared to dew. Unity amongst brethren is compared to the “dew of Hermon.” Afflictions and sufferings are like dew and drops of the night. The metaphor as now before us is designed to show how the Church of God and the saints of the Most High are refreshed by the love of the Father, the salvation of the Son, and the gracious

influences of the Holy Ghost. He falling gradually and insensibly on the souls of the elect, they are most blessedly revived and refreshed; so as to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and made fruitful in every good word and work.

II. The sudden change produced by the fulfilment of the promise. “He shall grow as the lily.” The expression is used of spiritual growth. This can only be by the grace and Divine influences of the Holy Spirit.

III. The establishment of the Church of Christ in this flourishing condition. “He shall cast forth his roots as Lebanon.” The strength of Christ’s Church, and the fixation and firmness of the same, will be such as cannot be moved. The whole of these words are an absolute promise. God’s “I will” runs throughout them. (Samuel Eyles Pierce.)

The dew

This is a gracious promise to a penitent and returning people. Dew is of the greatest value to all who are engaged in agricultural pursuits. It assuages the fierce drought of the season. With its nightly baptism it invigorates the languid vegetation, and renews greenness and growth over the whole landscape. Give some analogies between the descent of the dew upon the ground and the gracious comings and manifestations of God to His people.

I. The dew falls very quietly and gently. On the tempestuous night there is none. It is distilled beneath serene heavens. Its crystal drops are formed under the wing of silence and in the bosom of the night. So God does not usually come to bless and revive His people amid agitations and excitements, in the stress of life, in the hurry of affairs, in the crash of startling events. Times of recruiting and replenishment will probably be times of silence. Elijah heard the “still small voice.” There are times in the Church’s history when God comes graciously near amid agitations and alarms. But such comings of God have hitherto been exceptional. God’s gracious work has gone on in sublime quietness. Many a true religious revival has been accomplished in much quietness, without any tremendous agonies or sublime raptures, without swift alternations of hope and fear—just by a growing sense of the nearness and importance of Divine things. God is waiting for the opening of your heart in the hour of quietness, that He may distil over all its affections the sweet baptism of His grace.

II. The dew falls very copiously. In the land of Israel much more abundantly than it ever does in this country. Travellers tell us that after a still night, when the dew has been falling, they find their baggage and their tents dripping as though it had been heavy rain during the night. God’s grace to a Church in a time of spiritual quickening is very copious and full. God’s dealings are with the whole soul of a man. A man can find this engagement of his whole nature only in religion. The copiousness of Divine influence is seen not only in this wholeness of effect upon the individual, but also in its diffusion over the whole Christian community. God’s dew does not come in streams; it is distilled from all the air. It lies clear and cool on every growing thing. And God’s grace in like manner comes to many hearts. It runs from heart to heart by the chain of sympathy.

III. The dew is very refreshing. It makes dying nature live. The husbandman looks despondingly over his fields, and fears for the safety of his growing corn. But then begins the silent, copious baptism of the dew. And the farmer can think with hope of the coming harvest day. When God comes in fulfilment of the promise of the text, there is a recovery of sinking strength, a rekindling of dying graces, a returning to first love, a

doing of first Works. To those who are so visited there is a newness of religion every day.

IV. The dew is fertilising. This silent, copious, refreshing agent works fruitfulness nut of all growing things. They are thus aided in the accomplishment of the very end of their existence. And God’s final end with His people is that the plants of His right hand’s planting may become fruitful. Our Divine Master speaks much and very solemnly on this subject of fruitfulness. And Christian fruitfulness is a manifold and various thing. It is not all of one kind. Let each “planted” soul rejoice to feel rooted in Him! And then let each grow freely according to His will—not fearing, but gladly daring to branch and blossom and fructify according to the law of individual life. Lily, olive, corn, vine, cedar, all are growing in God’s garden; and there is room and dew for them all.

V. There is yet another analogy in the nearness to us in both cases of the reviving influence. God does not fetch the dew from stars or from fountains in the skies. He condenses and distils it out of the atmosphere. A little change in temperature does it all. This reminds us how we are surrounded by a very atmosphere of grace, which holds all precious things in readiness to be dropt upon us when God shall command it so. May God give us His Holy Spirit to work so on our hearts that we shall become quickly and largely receptive of the unsearchable riches of Christ. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)

God promises to restore fruitfulness to Ephraim

Here is a continuation of Jehovah’s answer to Ephraim’s prayer, especially to the second part of it. “Receive us graciously,” or, “Receive good gifts, both temporal and spiritual. Ephraim shall once more realise what his name signifies, even fruitfulness, not only in earthly things, but in every good word and work. The outpourings of all these blessings spring from the dew of God’s mercy, and from no other source. How infinitely more abundant is God’s grant than Israel’s request. God answers our petitions more than we think or ask. The reasons are two.

1. God knows our wants far better than we do. We, in spiritual things, resemble children in temporal things.

2. God answers prayer consistently with His majesty. Man answers his fellow-man, like the treacherous echo, only by halves. “As the dew.” Ephraim, on account of backsliding, was cursed with barrenness and bleakness; but the gift of dew shall restore his blessings. Dew embraces several significations, comfort, refreshment, encouragement, fecundity, and suchlike. Dew, in a spiritual point of view, means Christ. What dew is to the earth, that is God’s grace to the soul. We are naturally heart-hardened, and therefore barren, as regards the fruit of righteousness; but the dew of God’s grace disposes our hearts, by softening them, in the first place, for the purpose of receiving the seed of the Word; and, in the second place, to make that seed fruitful. Many are the reasons why the grace of God should be likened to dew.

1. Because none can give it but Jehovah-Jesus.

2. Because it is the fruit of a serene, clear, and tranquil heaven. The grace of God is not given to a soul which is scorched or frozen, but it is granted to such an one as looks peacefully and steadily towards heaven for it.

3. Because it is abundant and immeasurable.

4. Because it is silent, and falls imperceptibly.

5. Because it is of a gentle and benign nature, and therefore sinks—though slow yet

sure—deeply into the earth. So is the Spirit of God.

6. Because it is of a quickening nature. It causes the earth to bring forth her increase. When the Sun of Righteousness melts the moral frost from man’s heart, and the Spirit breathes upon the parched soul, it is then that both heart and soul open to the reception of Christ. (Moses Margoliouth, B. A.)

Dew upon Israel

The prophecy of Hosea may be likened to a tempestuous summer’s day. Here we have peace after storm. Consider the comparison Jehovah here employs.

1. Dew is refreshing. A godless soul is like a rainless, dewless, desert land—everything is dead or dying. There are noble faculties and Divine capacities but they have no life. Seek, I beseech you, the benign presence of your God and Saviour.

2. Dew is beautifying. What more delightful than to go forth into the fields with the sunrise and see them lit up with millions of sparkling diamonds, and sown with myriad pearls! And how beautiful have been the characters of those in whose hearts God has dwelt. And the presence of God is the true beauty of a Church.

3. Dew is fertilising. Regions where the dew falls copiously are remarkable for their fertility. Fertility implies two things—luxuriant growth, and abundant fruit.

4. Dew is gentle. In its descent it does not break the tenderest filaments; it does not wound the most fragile blossom. And so God deals tenderly with His children.

5. Dew is impartial in its distribution. It descends upon the evil and the good, upon the just and unjust. It falls alike on the poor man’s plot and on the broad acres of the rich. So impartial is the love of God, so impartial are the benefits of the Gospel. (Joseph Halsey.)

God’s mission and expectation

The symbolism of the Bible is unrivalled for beauty and suggestiveness. The text suggests—

I. The ministry of the Divine to the human. God’s influence comes as close to men as the dew to the flower. It is inspiring to know that ours is not a God who lives only in the light of His own majesty, but dwells with the humble everywhere. He not only rides in the rolling chariot of the stormy skies, or sits in silence above the crested billows of the heaving ocean; but He stoops to earth, and kisses the face of the flowers with His presence, and touches the weak and the weary with a tenderness that surpasses that of the dewdrop as it rolls into the heart of the lily, and becomes there a hidden fountain of strength and refreshment. What is God to the soul that trusts in Him? Is He not, as the dew to the flower, its unseen source of strength? Men need to realise, above everything else, the readiness of God to help them. Why does the dew come to the flower? To bless it, of course. When the dew is on its petals, it breathes its whole sweet fragrance in response. It is for this that the Lord approaches humanity, that we may become better men, or, to put it in the words of the text—“He shall grow as the lily.”

II. The Divine expectation. It is only natural for the Lord to expect us to “grow,” when He has nourished us. We know how the “lily grows.” Its first endeavour is to growl.

1. Strong. We are to “grow” like sturdy Christians. It is the stunted growths, the dwarfs of Christianity, that bring it most discredit. But it also grows—

2. Beautiful. We are to “grow” in the beauty of holiness. The Lord wants all His servants to be giants, but He does not want them to be clumsy. We are to develop symmetry as well as strength. Next, the “lily” grows—

3. Useful. It has medicinal as well as floral uses. Our characters can never be complete until we “grow” after this order—strength, beauty, service. Application. The Lord is waiting to fill every life, as the dew fills every flower. And when He enters, and not till then, will our lives burst into blossom, and fragrance, and fruit. (J. W. Bray.)

The grace of God like the dew

In the text, the Lord is introduced as promising the copious and refreshing influences of the Holy Spirit, in the most unrestrained and engaging manner.

I. The propriety and force of the comparison between the dew and the grace of God. As natural philosophers are not agreed as to the source whence dew is formed, so neither can, we discover what is the cause of the grace of God. The love of God in Christ Jesus procures it for us; but how that is effected we know not; nor why, in the Gospel, it is offered so universally, and yet received so indifferently. As the dew is diffused during the night, in a silent and imperceptible manner, after the sun has withdrawn its shining; so the grace of God has been extensively diffused since Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, left this lower world, and the sweet operations of the Holy Spirit are, in a silent but powerful manner, carried on, without our notice or our help. As the dew is regular in its returns, at the seasons when the earth is most in need of it, so the grace of God is regularly granted to His chosen people in every time of need, and is, in general, accompanied with the use of appointed means. As the dew is the free gift of a bountiful providence, so grace is the free gift of our most merciful Father. The dew nourishes and refreshes the whole vegetable creation, and when the grace of God descends upon men by the saving influences of the Holy Spirit, they are refreshed and revived, quickened and made alive to God and holiness. As the dew causes all things which grow out of the earth to advance to maturity, so the Spirit of God works upon the hearts of His people, making them fruitful in good works, obedient in every duty, and wise unto eternal life. It Is said, “he shall grow as the lily.” The lily is by nature delicate and weakly, but by the repeated visitations and refreshings of the dew, it puts forth its tender buds, and by degrees assumes strength and increases in size. The grace of God, by the agency of the Holy Spirit, enables the soul to go on towards perfection. Observe concerning the growth promised, that God will not only supply the believer’s wants, but will Himself be to him all that he needs. “I will be as the dew upon Israel.” The grace of God in the soul is an active principle.

II. The effects of the grace of God upon his people’s hearts and lives. Various similitudes are employed in Scripture. It is likened to “seed fallen in good ground,” to being “made willing,” to being “raised from the dead,” to being transformed into another likeness, etc. Then remember that when we profess faith in the Divine promise, we should give evidence of it by our sincere repentance, and our obedience to the holy law of God. Application. Through faith and patience the believer shall at last inherit the promises in their fullest acceptation. “What shall we then say to these things.” If God be for us, who can be against us?” (James Kidd, D. D.)

Spiritual blessings for the true Israel of God

The text is part of a description of the flourishing condition of the chosen people when returned to God. It may be accommodated to the Church of Christ among the Gentiles.

I. The promise. “I will be as the dew unto Israel.” We know the value of dew, but in Eastern lands much more vivid ideas are called up by it. In Palestine little or no rain is known during the summer. Were it not for the cool nights and the heavy dew all vegetation must perish. The bestowal of the dew has been accounted one of God s especial blessings—and the withdrawal of it a curse. What the dew is in the natural world, causing the earth to soften, to bring forth, to fructify, that is the Holy Spirit of God to the soul of man. It softens the heart, implants the principles of grace, sows the seed of eternal life, and puts forth all the evident tokens of a new creation within. As the dew is essential to the production and preservation of herbs and plants, so is it every way necessary to the reviving of the heart of man, that the Spirit of God work in it, because left to himself man could never change one feature of his original corrupt and unfruitful nature. As the dew descends on every plant, leaving not one leaf unwatered, in silence refreshing even the smallest blade of grass, so does the Holy Spirit work silently, warning, teaching, convincing, in the hearts of all. When in the text it is stated that Israel shall grow as a lily and cast forth his roots as Lebanon, of course it is implied that an earnest and faithful reception of the good Spirit has been given.

II. The effects which are to follow God’s Spirit being as the dew unto Israel. Whatever effects may be expected from any future outpouring of the Spirit, the same in their measure and kind are to be looked for in our immediate dispensation. “Grow as the lily.” This is a beautiful emblem of the loveliness and purity of a truly Christian character. The chief attributes of the lily of the East are beauty, fragrance, and certain medicinal qualities. These qualities, morally considered, should be found in every Christian. We read of the beauty of holiness. St. Peter speaks of the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. The Christian should be noted among his brethren for the excellence of his principles, for conscientious behaviour, and for a display of love and sympathy in all his actions. Like the fragrance of a beautiful flower, the name of the Christian ought to be acceptable to all men. There should be a loveliness, a seriousness in his manner, an habitual holiness evincing everywhere that he is a disciple of Christ. Such graces can only flow from constant communion with his God. As the lily is endued with medicinal properties, so is the Christian to be as the “salt of the world.” He must be jealous of God’s honour. Sin must never be unreproved in his presence. He, by his principles and practice, placed as he is in a wicked world, must preserve it from corruption. The margin says, “He shall blossom as the lily.” This is precisely what God expects from us. Too many forget the truth that a Christian should be a marked man. If any of you feel your shortcomings, flee to the Saviour for grace and pardon. Copy the example of your Master; learn of Him; emulate His innocence, His purity, His fragrance, His faithfulness. He compares Himself to a lily, and thus condescends to show us His humility, His love, His “oneness” with His Church and people. “He shall cast forth his roots as Lebanon.” This figure shows the stability which true religious principles impart. It is a forcible image of the security of him whose heart has yielded to the strivings of Divine grace. Here is found an argument for the necessity of progress in religion. Seasons of trouble, sorrow, inquiry; the hour of death, the day of judgment, are before us. It is needful, therefore, to have some settled principles, some well-ascertained and surely laid foundation upon which we may then rest. “It is a good thing that the heart be established

by grace.” (R. H. Whitworth.)

The progressive Christian

I. The spiritual influence which God promises to his people. It is like the dew—

1. In its source.

2. In its silence.

3. In its seasonableness.

4. In its abundance.

II. Its beneficial results.

1. Growth.

2. Stability.

3. Beauty.

4. Fragrance.

5. Fertility. (G Brooks.)

The dew of Israel and the lily of God

I. Christ, as set forth by the dew unto Israel. Jehovah Himself is the dew. This promise implies that there is a dry and withered field somewhere. This field we are, in so far as we are not yet partakers of His life. As the dew falls in the sultry nights of summer, when the fields thirst and languish, so does the dew of God descend only upon thirsting and fainting souls. As the dew fans from heaven in the stillness of the night, so is the way of Christ. The manner and way of His coming to the soul is a mystery hidden in night; and who can unveil it? The dew of the field has a bright lustre within it, for it has communion with the light of heaven. When once Christ has come in unto us, all is bright and pellucid in the depths of our disordered nature. But Christ covers all our misery with His own self, with His own righteousness. How fructifying is the dew I And what a life does Christ impart to the soul!

II. Christ compares his bride the Church, and herein every believing soul, to the beautiful lily. The people of Palestine knew of no flower more truly sweet and lovely than the noble lily. The lily is often found growing among thorns. Thorns represent the many spiritual and temporal troubles with which the chosen of God are encompassed. Observe by what means the lily thrives and flourishes. It toils not, neither does it spin. It passively waves in the sunshine, and opens its cup to the morning dew. May, then, the Spirit of the Lord Jesus come upon each of us as dew! (F. W. Krummacher.)

The dew of God’s grace, and its results

I. The influences of the spirit, “as the dew.”

1. Dew is never far off (humidity of atmosphere); waits around; makes itself felt at proper season by whatsoever thirsts for it. So the Giver of life is ever present with

His own; ready to refresh, cleanse, strengthen. He is round about us (Psa_139:1-24.) the atmosphere of His promises, His providences, His presence.

2. Falls in quiet of evening, and believers specially realise God’s presence in quietness. “Commune . . . and be still.” Eventide experiences; “cool of the day.” Do you serve with quiet mind? Too much excitement, worldly or “religious”; bustling, mechanical? Troubled souls, be comforted.

3. Falls in due measure; never in excess: grasses, flowers, olives, cedars; each receives in proportion to need. Similarly, the workings of the Spirit, infinitely wise, gracious. Dew of “youth,” babes, elders. Class, condition, character; our responsibilities,. . . “the grace that is given to us,”—given abundantly, tenderly.

4. Falls silently; not see or hear. So with the ordinary operations of the Spirit. Stillness, secrecy of reception; gradual formation of habits; transformation (2Co_3:18); growth, “grace for (upon) grace”; renewing of the hidden life with energy invisible; loving influences, mighty, mysterious, silent, but sure (Mar_4:27).

5. Regularly: to-day’s dryness, to-day’s dew. Even so we pray for “the continual dew” of God’s blessing; fresh joy and vigour from the “healthful Spirit” of His grace (Job_29:19). Daily hallowing. Not spasmodic.

II. The results of the spirit’s influences. “He shall grow . . . They that dwell . . . ”

1. Believers blessed. Notice first the position: lilly, cedar, olives, herbs; and grasses; mountain crest, slope, clefts, and rich soil; exposed, admired, hidden. Each plant its own place. So each member of the Church his own vocation: what we are, where we are—of God. The poor and unlearned may as truly, though not as widely, glorify God, as the high-placed and greatly gifted. Notice second, perfection; in all bedewed vegetation, luxuriance and beauty of vigorous life. Special services and pleasantnesses; purity and loveliness—the lily; strength and expansion—the cedar; fruitfulness—the olive; fragrance (“smell”) of herbs, and scented tufty “Lebanon.” “Diversities of gifts” and “of operations” (1Co_12:4). A Conway, a Living stone, a Monod, a Lyre, a Selwyn, a Hedley Vicars; “stewards of the manifold grace of God.” What variety! Humility, sweetness, purity, fervour, fruitful ness, self-sacrificing patience, courage, steadfastness, etc. But be not contented with some special grace: pray to “worthily magnify” His name in full orbed holiness.

2. Believers a blessing. “They that dwell under His shadow shall return.” The influence of consistent Christian living; it wins, helps, warms, comforts. Try thus to be, more and more, a means of grace. (Clergyman’s Magazine.)

A fertilized Church

God promised to be as dew to His chosen people. He was so. Their entire history proves it. He was the beauty of their character, their strength in battle, the wisdom of their counsels, the giver of food—as the dew. God is as dew to His people now by the operations of the. Holy Spirit. Dew is a type Of spiritual influence because it is essential. Nature pro vides no substitute. Its operations are mysterious, unlike rain. Its workings are silent. It is one of God’s many quiet workers. Its influence is beautify ing. It feeds flowers. It is fertilising. No drink of vegetation is more grateful.

I. The growth of a God-watered Church. In nature, stability is never reached rapidly. Strength is always crowned with hoary years. This law affects also the works of man. A

new kingdom is feeble; an old one strong. In the growth of a God-watered Church we have a beautiful exception to this law of nature. In it the peculiarities of the lily and the cedar are blended. It has beauty that is not fragile. It has strength that is not of tedious growth.

II. The power of a God-watered Church. Preachers often say that but two classes of persons inhabit earth—the saved and the unsaved. But the unsaved divide into those who have never known God, and those who have apostatised from Him. A God-watered Church has power with both classes.

1. It has power with the world at large.

(1) This power is the power of law.

(2) Of loveliness.

(3) Of love.

2. It has power with relapsed Christians.

(1) They revive as the corn from apparent death.

(2) They grow as the vine rapidly.

(3) Their growth is towards the fragrance of mature Christian life, holiness, and love. (I. K. Jackson.)

God as the dew

The comfortable, fruitful, sanctifying grace of God is compared to dew.

1. The dew doth come from above. It cannot be commanded by the creature.

2. The dew doth fall insensibly and invisibly. So the grace of God. We feel the comfort, sweetness, and operation of it, but it falls insensibly, without observation.

3. It falls sweetly and mildly, not violating the nature or course of anything, but rather helping and cherishing the same.

4. Grace is compared to dew, in regard of the operations of dew. What effects hath dew upon the earth?

(1) It cools the air when it falls, and with coolness it hath a fructifying virtue.

(2) The soul is not only cooled and refreshed, but it is also sweetened and made fruitful with comfort to the soul.

5. Dew is irresistible. Nothing can hinder the dew from falling. Use. Let none be discouraged with the deadness, dryness, and barrenness of their own hearts, but let them know that God doth graciously promise, if they will take the Course formerly set down, to be “as the dew unto them.” Therefore let them come to the ordinances of God, with wondrous hope, confidence, and faith that He will bless the means of His own ordaining and appointing, for His own ends. (R. Sibbes.)

The Holy Spirit as the dew

The Holy Ghost came down on the day of Pentecost. He comes down now also, though

not in any extraordinary manner, or with any remarkable manifestation. Quietly, calmly, but mightily, now as then He comes, the Lord, the Giver of Life, to quicken the dead soul and to revive the drooping, The manner of His ordinary coming is likened to the falling of the dew, and the various effects of His coming are likened to the luxuriance of the most beautiful plants of an Eastern climate.

I. The coming of the Spirit is as the dew.

1. As the dew all day long hangs suspended in the atmosphere waiting only for the fitting moment to form itself into sensible drops upon every blade of grass which is thirsting for its fall, so is the blessed Spirit of God ever moving on all sides around us, unseen indeed, but not altogether unfelt, waiting for the hour when the glare of this world shall have gone down, and man’s heart, as in the coolness of the evening hour, be prepared-to receive Him. The Spirit is ever in contact with our hearts, gently yet strongly, inclining them to receive Jesus as their Lord, and to live for Him. Above, beneath, around, within you is God the Spirit, and every moment He is striving with your conscience to lead you on to God.

2. There is a likeness in the seasons when the dew falls, and when the Holy Spirit most sensibly comes. The dew settles in drops upon the herbs at evening. The Spirit’s seasons come when the gathering night-clouds of sickness or of sorrow, or the calm still hours of Sabbath meditation, have shut out the glare of earthly things and cooled down the heart. You were still and calm in your own spirit, and so inclined to receive the impressions of the blessed Spirit of God.

3. The manner in which the dew falls. Gently, and again and again. So while the Spirit humbles the heart of the stoutest sinner, He does not overwhelm the spirit of the most timorous and feeble disciple. He settles on our hearts, and shows us the things of Jesus.

4. The dew falls much more fully on the grass which thirsts for it than on the stones which have no longing for it. The Spirit is about us all, but His fulness of grace comes to those who really need.

II. The effect of the Holy Spirit as pictured by the growth of plants when watered by the dew. The prophet illustrates by the beauty of the lily, the fruitfulness of the olive, and the deep-rooted strength and far-spreading sweetness of the cedar of Lebanon. Each one has its own peculiar properties, but each of these properties is nourished and brought to perfection by the dew. To Jesus the Spirit was given without measure; and therefore in Jesus all graces and all gifts are combined; each is in perfection, and no one clashes with another. In meekness alike and in firmness, in depth of thought and in activity of work, He stood alone, the perfect man, and in Him alone the words of the prophet are completely fulfilled. (Canon Morse.)

The Divine dew and its result

s:—We think of God as being the dew in connection with the influences of His Spirit. These influences of the Spirit descend in consequence of the work of Christ.

I. The connection between the Divine dew and its results.

1. It is a gentle influence, but has great results. The dew is never anything but gentle. It does not seem a force at all. And yet it is an arrangement by which some of the greatest effects in nature are produced. To those whose backslidings have been

healed, and from whom God’s anger has been turned away, there is no storm influence, there is only the influence of the dew. God is gentleness itself, and His Spirit falls on our life with no violent action, yet accompanied with the greatest results.

2. It is a silent influence, but has visible results. If plants were always in the glare of the sun they would soon wither and die. But at nightfall, after the heat of the day, the dews noiselessly descend. Every blade of grass has its own drop of dew. There has been no sound of anything going on, and yet when morning comes the effects are plainly visible. Drooping plants have revived; nature comes forth refreshed. The Divine workings cannot be traced, but the fruits of the Spirit are manifest.

3. It is a Divine influence, and yet its results are entirely human. The dew is a pure ethereal influence. It is not like the fogs or pestilential vapours from swamps, which rise only a little from earth. It is the dew of heaven. And yet it has an affinity to all forms of vegetable life on the earth. So the influences of the Spirit come from above, from a source high above us; and yet they have an affinity to us. There is that which is foreign to us, namely, sin. To that the Spirit has no affinity. As dew, He mingles with and brings out all that is truly human.

II. The results by themselves and in their mutual connection. It requires three things to set forth the excellence of the Christian life. The lily, the cedar, and the olive-tree are brought together to give us, in their combination, a conception of what our life should be under the clews of the Spirit.

1. The results of rapid growth, and yet solidity. “He shall grow as the lily, and cast forth His roots as Lebanon.” There must be solidity as well as rapidity of growth. The cedar is especially deep rooted in the soil. We strike our roots down when we wrestle with God in prayer, when we read God’s Word so as to take firm hold of it, and when, in temptation, we steadfastly adhere to principle.

2. The results are breadth of growth and fertility. “His branches shall spread,” etc. It belongs to the idea of a perfect tree that while it grows upward it grows all round, and at the same time. The cedar especially is widespreading. And so while we have heavenly aspiration we are always to be broadening in our human views and sympathies. But trees that grow to breadth do not grow so much to fatness. So one tree does not suffice to complete the idea. The olive is superior to the cedar in one respect—in fruitfulness. It spends its strength, not on spreading but on fruit-bearing. So we are to combine the cedar and the olive, and, while keeping up our breadth, we are to increase in the rich elements of our life.

3. There results a variety of beauty. There is the beauty of the lily, and also of the olive-tree. There is always a dignity and stateliness about the lily. Whatever belongs to us, whether it be more of the lily or of the olive, will be brought out under the dews of the Spirit. The results are healthfulness, and pleasantness of influence. (R. Finlayson, B. A.)

Grace reviving Israel

I. The promise of grace made to Israel, notwithstanding Israel’s sin. “I will be as the dew unto Israel.” The Christian is here compared to a plant which cannot be watered by any water that is to be found on earth, a plant which needs heavenly watering, even the dew from above. The Eastern figure of the dew has in it several beauties.

1. Grace, like the dew, often comes down imperceptibly into man’s heart. Who ever heard the foot steps of the dew coming down upon the meadow-grass?” And Christianity is very often imperceptible in its operations. Do not despise spiritual things, because thou hearest not a sound thereof.

2. The dew is always sufficient. If God waters the earth with dew, foolish would be the man who should go after wards to water after his Maker. God’s grace, when it comes upon a man’s heart, is all sufficient.

3. The dew, when it is required, is constant. As thou wantest the dew of grace, so shalt thou find it.

II. The influences of Divine Grace in the soul are here set forth in metaphor.

1. It makes us grow upward. “Grow as the lily.” This refers to the daffodil lily, which on a sudden, in a night, will spring up. That is what grace does in a man’s soul. Its first operation is to make us grow up.

2. After they have been growing” upward they have to grow downward. “Cast forth his roots as Lebanon.” God will not have His people all flower and foliage; He wants them also to take deep root, and throw out strong fibres. Growing down is quite as good as growing up. We should be rooted in humility, and growing in zeal; but usually the two do not come together. Growing downward is a very excellent thing to promote stability. Perhaps that is the exact meaning of the passage.

3. The Christian must next make a profession. “His branches shall spread.”

4. The next effect of grace is, the Christian must be beautiful, as “the olive-tree.” Its beauty lies in its fruitfulness. And the olive-tree is an evergreen.

5. A good report must go forth about the Christian. “His smell as Lebanon.” Wherever the Christian goes he will cast a perfume about him.

II. The benefits of grace to others. “They that dwell under His shadow shall return.” You will not wish yours to be a selfish religion. I like an expansive religion. By a godly conversation the Christian man shall spread the sweetness of perfume wherever he goes. (Anon.)

What God will be to His people, and what He will make His people to be

I. What God will be to His people. It is not what God does For His people, but what He is. What does the dew do?

1. It nourishes the growing plants; All along the course of life God comes Himself to our hearts, to keep alive and nourish the good which He has planted there.

2. The dew refreshes the drooping plant. How often have we been drooping and withering, but then God in His love draws near to us, and whispers kind thoughts of His love and pardon and help. Or perhaps we have been treated unkindly, or have been much tempted to sin. Then God comes like the gentle dew from heaven. The dew comes softly; and without being seen; and day by day.

II. What God’s people shall be through Him. The character of the true Christian shall be likened—

1. To the lily. This plant is used to signify the beauty and purity of God’s sanctified ones. God will make us pure in heart and life, afraid of what is wrong, with a tender

conscience, disturbed at little sins, and that we shall be continually striving after greater holiness.

2. To the cedar of Lebanon. Which has deep roots, a strong trunk, great height, and spreading branches. God will make us to be so firmly fixed on God’s truth and love that we cannot be turned away from it by false teaching or temptation to evil.

3. To the olive-tree. Which is always fresh in appearance and abundant in fruitfulness. God will add to His other gifts, continued joy from continual intercourse with Himself. As God leads us on, nearer to Himself, dropping His grace and Holy Spirit more unceasingly into our hearts, He makes to spring up within us an overflowing well of joy and peace in believing. And He will make us abound in all good works. He will make us do good things abundantly, acts of kindness, and forgiveness, and helpfulness to others.

4. To the smell of Lebanon. The country immediately around this mountain smells sweetly of the many fragrant flowers which bloom at its foot. God by His grace makes us to do what is right in His own sight, and He condescends to be pleased with it; and other Christians are pleased with the good they see in us—so that to God and man we are pleasing, like the delicious scent which rises up in our faces from fragrant flowers. How does God do His work of grace? As the dew He comes—not like the noisy, violent thunderstorm. The dew comes very gently, stealing softly and unobserved. Its work is very gradual, but it is continuous, day by day. It is in secret unobserved ways that God works His great work in our hearts. Then use all your opportunities diligently. Do not seek for excitement. Seek to draw near to God in all the ordinary and even little ways. He will surely come to you to do you good. (W. H. Ridley, M. A.)

On Divine influence

The figure here is borrowed from one of the finest and most efficient operations of nature. The promise was made to Israel, not at a time when God had reason to commend, but to reprove them. We would not lessen in your estimation, the evil of sin; but it must not be concealed that the spirit, burdened and oppressed width guilt, may derive from this fact abundant consolation.

I. The origin of the Divine influence. “As the dew.”

1. This influence cometh from God. Hence we call it Divine influence. Of all the operations of nature, there is nothing more independent of human agency than the dew.

2. This influence cometh from God as reconciled in Christ. The dew is the offspring of an unclouded sky, the benediction of a placid atmosphere. Is not God a consuming fire? How then can He be as the dew? Inspiration answers the question: “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.” Brought into a state of unity, and having peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, there descends upon our souls that influence of His Spirit which is here beautifully compared to the dew.

3. This influence comes from God, as a sovereign and distinguished blessing to His chosen people. It is not a common, but a peculiar blessing. It belongs not to the world, but to the Church.

II. The properties of this Divine influence. It is like the dew, which is silent, copious,

penetrating, irresistible, and fertilising.

III. The results of divine influence.

1. Growth; as the lily: spiritual increase,—rapid progress in knowledge, in faith, in zeal, in love, in hope, in confidence, in whatever adorns the Christian character.

2. Stability. Lebanon is, by a figure of speech, put for the cedars which grow there. The stability of the Christian refers to three things—the security of his state, the firmness of his principles, and the perpetuity of his character. His faith, the root of his profession, takes firm hold of the holy covenant. Holy principles, like so many fibres of that root, by adherence to the truth, give a stability to His Christian profession, like that of the majestic cedar. This stability distinguishes the real Christian.

3. Expansion. “His branches shall spread.” Spreading branches may denote the extended and extending influence of the Church. There is a celebrated oak which casts its shadow and sheds its acorns upon four counties of England.

4. Corresponding beauty. The beauty of the olive was as proverbial as the strength of the cedar. The proportion of its branches, the perfection of its symmetry, the perpetual freshness of its verdure, and the beauty of its colours constitute that which in nature we call beauty. It may indicate the glory which is put upon the Christian, by imputation of the Saviour’s righteousness. It sometimes refers to that moral and spiritual beauty which consists in conformity to the image of Christ. It is the concentration and exhibition of all the graces of the Holy Spirit.

5. Moral fragrance. This expresses the happy effect, the delightful influence, of Christian feeling and Christian character. Two things are intended by this fragrance.

(1) That which is acceptable to God.

(2) That which is agreeable to men.

6. Universal excellence. The enjoyment of sacred repose. A gracious revival. The earnest of abundant fruitfulness. “Blossom as the vine.” Grateful commemoration.

Learn—

1. The absolute necessity of Divine influence. Be solicitous to obtain a copious effusion of the Holy Spirit.

2. The end for which Divine influence is given, and for which it should be desired.

3. The ground on which Divine influence is hoped for, and the exercises with which its attainment stands inseparably connected. (John Hunt.)

The dew and the plants

Hosea is eminently the prophet of repentance and pardoning love. He has also a poet’s eye with which he looks on nature. The text comes from a fervent and tender appeal to Israel to come back to its God. We have here, with lovely symbolism, the various aspects of the Christian ideal of character, and the productive energy which makes them all possible.

I. The source of fruitfulness. The dew in Palestine is peculiar. The strong summer sun carries on evaporation with great activity over the surface of the Mediterranean, and the

prevailing summer winds bring masses of vapour, which are condensed by the cold when evening falls, and wrap the land in a moist veil which refreshes the drooping vegetation, and saves many a little floweret. It is that moistening mist, not properly “dew” as we know it, which the prophet picks out as being a fitting emblem of tile secret, silent, refreshing, quickening, life-giving influences which God will bestow upon the spirit that comes back to Him in lowly penitence. Is there no fierce sunshine blazing down on us, which needs in like manner that our inward life should be moistened and refreshed by the visitations of that silent guest that will come and bring the moisture we need? The deceitful ray of prosperity is full of danger to the spiritual life, and no less cruel are the fervid beams of fiery temptation with which we have all to be tried. And where is our strength? I know but of one source of it,—that we shall receive the communications of that spiritual life, the gift of which is the central blessing of the Gospel; the impartation of the life of God to our hearts and spirits, mediated by the indwelling in us of the Spirit of God which is the Spirit of Christ.

II. The profuse beauty which will follow the fall of the dew. The lily is most probably identified as the scarlet anemone. The idea conveyed in the figure “He shall grow as the lily “ is twofold profusion, or what gardeners call freedom of growth and beauty. A profusion of grace ought to match the profusion with which the dew comes from God. The real beauty is goodness. That beauty of goodness will come wherever a man keeps himself in touch with God and Christ. We are all bound to try and make our Christianity attractive. A great many very good people are repellent and not attractive. There ought to be the beauty of holiness where there is the dew from the Lord.

III. The strength which should go with the beauty. “He shall cast forth his roots as Lebanon; his branches shall spread.” To the beauty of the fragile lily we must add the strength of the stable cedar. There must be strength conjoined with beauty in a world like ours, full of conflict and strife.

IV. The fruitfulness which should crown beauty and strength. The olive is not a beautiful tree. It has a gnarled, often twisted and distorted, sometimes a monstrous stem and mean branches, and insignificant, pointed, pale leaves, with a silvery grey underside. Its beauty lies in its fruit, and in nothing else, and that fruit produces the oil which sustains and soothes, and smoothes and gives light. Our deeds, which are our fruit, are important, not in themselves so much as because they are the outcome and manifestation of what we are. Our fruit is the test of our Christianity. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Sacred similitudes

I. God has here a similitude for himself. “I will be as the dew unto Israel.” The dew steals down softly, unheard and unobserved by men. So silent and so secret are the operations of the blessed Spirit on the soul. It is an inward work He carries on which the world seeth not and knoweth not. The very men He condescends to visit are, for a while at least, unconscious of His presence, and are often praying for His visitations when He is actually dwelling in their hearts and helping them in their petitions. Though the dew comes softly, it comes not in vain. It brings a blessing on the fields. It is with an especial view to these kindly influences of the dew upon the ground that the Lord makes it an emblem of His own blessed influences on the soul. It is as if God said, “I will refresh the heart of a penitent and humble sinner as the dew refreshes and revives the thirsty land.” It is said of the natural dew, that it “tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.” It does not depend on man’s making places ready for it. So is the grace of the

Divine Spirit free and sovereign in its operations. It falleth where it listeth.

II. More than one similitude for the people on whom God’s Grace is bestowed. When the natural dew has fallen plentifully on the ground we expect to see a growth there—a growth among the herbs and flowers. “He shall grow as a lily.” This is a quickly growing flower: and so the man on whom the dew of the Spirit is plenteously diffused is a quickly growing Christian. He is no idle, sluggish, dull professor, but is constantly gaining ground in the blessed life which is begun in him. His faith groweth exceedingly. But the lily has only a feeble footing in the soil. Nothing more easy than to take and pluck it up. Not so with the Lord’s Israel, with those who have the Spirit’s dew upon their souls. This emblem, therefore, does not altogether suit them. The text resorts to another emblem in order to express the firmness and stability of the child of grace. “Send forth his roots as Lebanon.” The cedar trees are vast in height, and they are as vast in depth. So is it with those spiritual trees who have the dew of grace upon their branches. They are rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, as those mighty trees of Lebanon are rooted in the soil. The cedars of Lebanon are spreading trees; and so it is said of him who is watered with the dew of grace—“His branches shall spread.” This refers to the useful ness and profitableness of the Christian. The man who hath the dew of heaven in his heart is a blessing to the neighbourhood in which he lives. As far as his power or influence extends it is exerted on behalf of all around him. It is also said, “His beauty shall be as the olive-tree”; a tree fair and fruitful to a proverb, and employed to set forth the spiritual beauty and fruitfulness of true believers. He who has the dew of the Spirit in his heart has “the beauty of holiness” in his life and conversation. There is a comeliness and consistency in his behaviour which even the enemies of godliness must needs admire. The last similitude alludes to some sweet-smelling shrubs with which Lebanon abounded. “His smell shall be as Lebanon.” There is a fragrancy, as it were, in the character of him who hath the dew of grace within him. He is acceptable to his brethren. His graces, like a sweet perfume, endear to them his company, and make his communications precious to them. I am afraid that to find a suitable emblem for many of ourselves we must look not to the garden, but the wilderness. It would not be the lily, or the cedar, or the olive, but the “heath of the desert,” or the prickly bramble. By the grace of God’s Spirit you may become trees of righteousness, lilies, cedars, and olives, in the garden of the Lord. Learn, as Christians, what trees and flowers we should resemble in the garden where our God hath planted us. We should be as lilies in growth, as cedars in establishment, as olives in beauty, and as the sweet smelling shrubs in the odour of our lives. (A. Roberts, M. A.)

The dew unto Israel

These words follow immediately the healing of the backsliding and the proclamation of God’s free love. With us the dew is little noticed. We look to the clouds to supply all that grows upon the earth with sufficient moisture. In Judaea the great heat and little rain make the dew as important as it is beautiful. Three circumstances render the dew a peculiarly appropriate symbol of God’s sustaining care for His people.

1. The dew falls regularly, in summer as in winter, in autumn as in spring.

2. It comes quietly in the night, when no one perceives its advent.

3. There is a mystery connected with it,—at least in popular thought. Thus watered from on high, Israel “shall grow as the lily (or blossom).” With the lily is associated the idea of purity. The tall lily, elegant in shape, gorgeous in colouring, prolific in growth, sending forth leaves and flowers freely, forms a choice emblem of Christian

beauty and fertility. But the lily is extremely fragile and short-lived. Another comparison must exhibit Israel s strength and stability. What type can better set forth firmness than the cedar of Lebanon! It retains its vigour for centuries. The roots clasp themselves around the rock, and therefore the tree stands unshaken. So the Christian is strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. “His branches shall spread.” The flourishing tree sends out new suckers continually, which take root, and themselves grow into trees, to repeat the process again and again. Israel multiplies as well as grows. “His beauty shall be as the olive-tree.” To an Oriental eye the olive-tree is actually beautiful. To us it is an emblem of usefulness. The very character of a true Christian renders him useful. He is ever ready to render to all men kindly service and help. “His smell as Lebanon.” Travellers say that the smell of Lebanon extends to a considerable distance from its mountains and valleys, owing partly to its cedars and partly to various sweet-smelling plants which are produced profusely. The metaphor may illustrate the influence exerted by the Christian ceaselessly and often unconsciously. “They that dwell under his shadow shall return.” The figure represents Israel as a widespreading umbrageous tree. It may refer to the protection the Church affords. Or it may allude to the teaching and instructing power of the Church. “They shall revive as the corn.” Even prosperous Israel may have his seasons of depression and apparent feebleness. The green stalk of corn may lie seemingly lifeless upon the parched earth, stricken by the sun. But the night mists and morning dew enwrap it, so that it drinks in the blessed moisture, and once more it erects its head and recovers its greenness. Thus tribulation, or persecution, or the assaults of insidious sin may render the Christian feeble, and may cause him to fall; but the dew of Divine grace descends upon him. He who restoreth the soul vouchsafes His Holy Spirit to him, and again he rises strong in humility and trust. Through the merciful communications of God to him he may revive when his disease seems desperate and recovery hopeless. “And grow as the vine.” The preceding metaphors imply power to stand alone. The vine must lean on something else. And the Christian must ever rely on a strength beyond his own. “The scent (memorial) thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.” Travellers speak enthusiastically of the manifold virtues of the wine of Lebanon, of its invigorating qualities, etc. Can a more appropriate illustration be conceived of the abiding influence of a Christian’s life, example, work after he has left this world? His memory is an inspiration. His good deeds live after him. (J. Robinson Gregory.)

The dew and its energies

God is no less with us day by day, in the calmer moods of our soul, than in the experiences in which we seem with more or less of terror to apprehend His awful presence. We speak of the thundercloud as His dark chariot; let us none the less think of the floweret and the dewdrop as telling of Him.

I. This image of god’s character—the dew.

1. You see the herbage languishing under the heat of the scorching sun. What hope is there for the languishing, thirsty flowers? Penetrating copious dews will bathe the dying vegetation with liquid life; and in the morning, when the sun looks forth, from myriad leaves shall flash the reflection of God’s own light and glory, and upon every petal shall rest the spangled dewdrop to tell how the most blessed offices of nature are wrought in silence and secrecy. Observe that God does not always come as the dew. It is to bruised and moaning penitents God appears as the dew. God comes

often, like the dew, without observation. A restoration of religious life may be unaccompanied by great startling signs. We may scarcely know by what means our spiritual pulses are quickened from their languor, so silently and stealthily comes the grace of God into our hearts. And the dew represents to us the penetrativeness of God’s grace. God’s Spirit works beyond escape. A shower might miss the tender life overgrown by widespreading leaves; but the dew carries its blessing to the tiny flowerets that lie concealed beneath the broad cover of the more regal growths. To lowly, humble spirits God’s blessing comes, diffuse and copious, refreshing and life-giving; as well to them as to the more observed and outstanding. Many millions, in ways we know not, shall be reached by God’s gracious penetrative Spirit.

II. The threefold picture of the results of God’s gracious activity.

1. The beauty of vitality. Growth with rapidity and beauty. Some of the earlier stages of the Divine life have about them an apparent rapidity which finds its image in this growth of the lily. This lily is fitly chosen to represent the idea of beautiful, vital growth; no plant more redundant. This picture tells how, by a mighty force, our life should begin to be a prosperous life; we should grow as the lily, and become plants of the Lord, beyond all doubts, by the very rapidity of our growth and enlargement of our activity.

2. Forceful reserve. There is a hidden life, as we call it, a life away from general observation. With the change of figure, rapidity of development gives place to steadfastness, and the more tedious processes of the spiritual life—steadfastness of will and purpose—all that goes to make character. Some of the processes of Divine life, some of the most needful processes too, are out of sight, and not for observation. I pity the man who has no reserve force in him. He will endure but for a season, and then wither away.

3. Varieties of usefulness. There will be fruit and fragrance, and shelter and refreshment. Its branches will spread, and leaf and fruit in all their manifoldness will abound. Some trees are so beautiful that they utter no apology for their existence. So of the Divine life; it ought never to need an apology. It should be self-assertive; it should command admiration, not pity, never contempt. Fruitfulness and usefulness may command admiration, where even beauty and sublimity may fail. By all our systems we may fail to measure the effects of a truly productive spiritual life. The indirect blessedness flowing from a true life, who can calculate it? The “odour of sanctity” is a phrase which has come to mean some thing not pleasant, but the odour of real goodness and worth—think of this. And let your smell be that of Lebanon. (G. J. Proctor.)

Divine refreshings

I. God’s refreshing communications to His people. The communications of God to His people are fitly compared to the influence of dew, which—

1. Distils silently and almost imperceptibly.

2. Yet insinuates itself into plants.

3. And thus maintains vegetative powers.

II. God’s refreshing communications are attested by gracious fruits and effects.

1. Growth. The quickness of the growth of the lily often excites admiration. Its

stability defies the assaults of earth and hell. While it spreads its branches and displays its vigor in every good word and work.

2. Beauty. Peculiar grace and beauty in the olive-tree. And such there is in the soul that communes much with God. How is the lively Christian beautified with salvation!

(1) His outward conduct is rendered amiable in every part.

(2) His inward dispositions of humility and love are ornaments which even God Himself admires (1Pe_3:4). He is transformed into the very image of his God (Eph_4:23-24).

(3) Nor shall his beauty be ever suffered to decay (Psa_1:3). The olive an evergreen.

3. Fragrancy (twice mentioned in text). Lebanon was no less famous for its odoriferous vines than for its lofty cedars.

(1) And does not the Christian diffuse a “sweet savour of Christ” all around him? See him fresh from the presence of God before the sun has exhaled the dew, or the world abated the fervour of his affections. How refreshing and delightful his conversation (Pro_16:24).

(2) How pleasing are his character and life also to his God and Saviour! “The Lord hearkened,” etc. (Mal_3:16). “Awake, O north wind,” etc. (Son_4:16). “Let your speech,” etc. (Col_4:6). The nearer you live to God the better will you fulfil that duty.

4. Fruitfulness. The corn and the vine are just emblems of a Christian’s fruitfulness.

(1) They often wear s most unpromising appearance.

(2) Yet they are “revived” by the genial influences of sun and rain. Thus the Christian may be reduced to a drooping or desponding state. But the renewed influences of the Holy Spirit will revive him.

(3) They make him “fruitful in every good word and work,” he yields the “fruits of righteousness.” Note especially the beneficent influences a Christian exerts. They who “dwell under his shadow” are most nearly connected with him, and feel the influences of his character, will participate his blessings e.g., Master: he is considerate, gentle, wise, in relation to his dependants. Parent: Christianity sweetens family life, and blesses the children. Minister: he sheds a sacred and elevating influence—strengthening, solacing, saving. Infer—

1. How honourable and blessed is the Christian state! Often is he favoured with visits from above. Glorious are the effects produced by God upon him. The whole creation scarcely affords images whereby his blessedness may be adequately represented. Who, then, is so honourable? Who so happy? Let all endeavour to maintain a sense of their high privileges; and to “walk worthily of the calling wherewith they are called.”

2. How hopeful is the state of those who wait on God! The promises in the text were given as an answer to prayer. And they are made to all who, like Israel, plead with God.

(1) If the dew” be withheld from others, it shall descend on them e.g., Gideon (Jdg_6:37-38).

(2) The Spirit’s descent shall accomplish the utmost, wishes of their souls.

(3) They shall soon experience the fulfilment of that word: They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength (Isa_40:31). (Preacher’s Assistant.)

Five good marks

I. The lily mark. A good life is like a lily; it is a fruitful life, it does more good than anybody knows but God. Everything carries seeds about—birds and bees, roaring storms and whispering breezes. Well, so it is with a good life; it is very fruitful. Anything that touches it is the better for it.

II. The mountain mark. “Cast forth his roots like Lebanon.” The lily is fruitful, but very soon uprooted. It is a very weak thing. Well, a good life is not only like the lily, it is also like Mount Lebanon—that is, strong, firm, and steadfast. Now, there are some people who are good by fits and starts; they are very good in the morning, but before dinner-time their goodness has gone away. They have little bits of goodness that look very nice at the time, out when a strong wind arises—that is, when they are tempted in any way, crossed or provoked—the nice little bits get blown clean away. But a really good life is like Lebanon. It has roots. Winds, come and go. It remains unmoved.

III. The shadow mark. “His branches shall spread.” Just think of a hot day in a tropical country. A weary traveller comes trudging along, and he says to himself, “Oh, for a bit of shade! I feel so tired, the sun will kill me.” And then he sees in the distance a great tree that seems to say to him, “Come here to me; I will shade you, and stand between you and the heat, and you shall rest and sleep and be refreshed.” Well, now, a good life is like that, it does good to others, and it spreads its branches so that others may be benefited. The shadow mark means usefulness.

IV. The beauty mark. “And his beauty shall be as the olive tree.” What is the beauty of the olive tree? Why, it is “ever green,” it is beautiful all the year round. Some trees are beautiful for a few months, but the olive tree is ever green; it is beautiful all through the seasons of the year. That is another mark of a good life. You boys will grow up to be men—old men, perhaps—and you will lose a great deal of the outward beauty you have to-day, and so will you girls, for the body will decay; but if you believe in Jesus Christ, and are like Jesus Christ, every year will be like a painter’s brush adding to your beauty, every day will make you more and more beautiful to the very end.

V. The wildflower mark. “And his smell shall be like Lebanon,”—that is, a good life gives joy and pleasure to others. Lebanon was a mountain; it had great trees growing on it, and a great many beautiful flowers too, and these had a beautiful smell; and when the wind blew over Lebanon, and people were coming up the valley towards it, and came round a certain corner, there came a beautiful spicy breeze from Lebanon, and they drew it in and said, “What a sweet smell! the smell of Lebanon on the breeze!” Well, now, a good life is like that. It gives other people pleasure, it makes the earth a better place to live in, and makes people happier. (J. M. Gibbon.)

Dew unto Israel

This is one of the exceeding great and precious promises which God has given to His Church, in which every true believer has a special interest, and for the fulfilment of

which to himself and to others he is to look, and long, and pray.

I. As to the analogies.

1. As natural dew in ordinary language is spoken of as descending from heaven or from above, so is the spiritual. In the blessing of Moses to Israel before his death, His heavens, it is promised, shall drop down dew; and Solomon speaks of the clouds as dropping down dew (Pro_3:20); and the Spirit, in His gracious influences, comes down from the highest heaven. In waiting for the promise of the Spirit, Jesus commanded His disciples to tarry in the city of Jerusalem till they should be endued with power from on high; and the prophet Isaiah declares, that on the land Of God’s people will come up thorns and briars until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high” (Isa_32:13-15).

2. As the natural dew comes down freely, so does the spiritual. The husbandman has generally to pay a large rent for his land; he has also to expend much in manuring and preparing the ground, and replenishing it with appropriate seed; but the dew, which contributes so largely to the return which he reaps in harvest, costs him nothing. It is also distributed over his field in the best possible way, without any labour on his part. And this is still more emphatically true of the gracious influences of the Holy spirit. I, says Jesus, “will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever”; and again—“If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?” This is an unspeakably precious gift, which no money could purchase, and without which men would labour in vain in trying to cultivate the field of their own fallen nature and the heritage of God.

3. As the natural dew comes down seasonably, and sometimes very copiously, so does the spiritual. It is after the heat and drought of the day that the dew descends during the night, to refresh and invigorate the herbs and plants of the field; and in warm, eastern countries it often descends so plentifully as not only to water the herbs and plants, but also to moisten the soil, and drench the raiment of those exposed to it. And it is in this world, in which His people are exposed to the scorching and withering influences of manifold temptations, that God sends the refreshing dew and rain of the Spirit’s benign influences. “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and dry land springs of water.” God is pleased to give His people the most abundant enjoyment of the gracious influences of the Spirit in tile season of deep adversity.

4. As the natural dew descends very extensively, so does the spiritual. It is thus diffused not merely over all the hills and valleys, mountains and plains of one country, but of many countries in the four quarters of the globe. And the spiritual dew is also widely diffused. On how many living souls is this falling from day to day and night to night? On every living soul over the habitable globe. In respect of constancy, the analogy between the natural and the spiritual dew fails—the natural dew falls only during the night, but the spiritual descends day and night. The natural dew does not fall amidst storm and tempest; but it is when the storms and tempests of life rage most fiercely in the experience of the believer that the dews of the Spirit’s influence fall most plentifully on his soul. The natural dew only falls from a serene and cloudless sky, but the spiritual comes down when the sky of the people of God is

most deeply overcast.

5. The natural dew comes down very gently, and almost imperceptibly,—and so does the spiritual.

II. The varied effects of the fulfilment of this promise as held forth in the figurative language here employed. The effect of this is—

1. Revival and growth,—“He shall grow as the lily.” “They shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine.” There are few more pleasing sights than a field of young corn, every blade of which stands erect with its drop of dew, as if it rejoiced in drinking in the cold moisture by which it is rendered healthful and vigorous. And such are the delightful effects of the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit on the Church and people of God. This produces health of the most precious kind—soul health. This renders the plants of grace in the believer healthful and vigorous, constituting a leading part of the beauties of true holiness.

2. The effect of this is stability and strength,—“He shall cast forth his roots as Lebanon.” It is generally known that the taller a tree grows the deeper do its roots sink into the soil. The cedars of Lebanon were distinguished for the loftiness of their stature and the extent of their boughs, and consequently for the depth to which their roots were struck into the soil, and the breadth to which they extended under the ground. This figurative language intimates very impressively the strength and stability which the influences of the Holy Spirit give to the people of God, preventing them from being driven to and fro as the chaff, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, or laid prostrate by assaults of temptation like uprooted trees of the forest after the hurricane.

3. Another effect of this is, an increase of the Church’s genuine members. He shall not only grow as the lily, but as the vine, which, when in a prosperous state, abounds with branches; and “his branches shall spread.” Such was the effect of an abundant effusion of the Spirit in the apostolic age, when thousands of true converts were added to the Church in one place in one day, and when there was a fulfilment of the prediction of such rapid increase to the Church as is indicated in the question, “Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as doves to their windows?”

4. Another effect of this is, beauty: moral and spiritual beauty. “His beauty shall be as the olive tree.” Any tree richly clothed with leaves is a beautiful sight. But the olive tree, with its verdant leaves, either when adorned with its gorgeous blossoms or loaded with fruit, excels in beauty. And to this the beauties of holiness with which the saints of God are adorned, when richly replenished with the Spirit, are likened. However delightful the beauties of the landscape are to the natural, such spiritual beauty spread over the heritage of God is unspeakably more precious and delightful in the sight of God, and in the esteem of His people, in proportion as they have been made like Him.

5. The effect of this is, the diffusion of a delightful spiritual fragrance. “His smell shall be as Lebanon”; and again, “tire scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.” God, in His amazing beneficence, as displayed even in nature, is pleased to furnish men with what gives pleasure to every sense—to the eye, to the ear, to the taste, and to the sense of smelling. Lebanon, doubtless, in the days of its glory, excelled in such richly garnished spots; and to this the savour of the holy, consistent lives of the people of God to the spiritual sense are compared; and such, we are assured, shall be the lives of Christians and their heavenly conversation, when God fulfils the promise largely in their experience. This last word, here rendered “scent,” has reference to

memory. And of the righteous it is testified, that they shall be had in everlasting remembrance. The examples of the saints in ancient times, which have been embalmed in the inspired record, and the fragrant reminiscences of the excellent of the earth in subsequent ages, which have been preserved in authentic uninspired history, are special means by which, through the Divine blessing, the power of godliness has been perpetuated in our fallen world. Let us, then, seek to be enabled, by the Holy Spirit, so to bye from day to day, and from Sabbath to Sabbath in particular, that our example and our counsels shall exert a benign influence on children and children’s children, and on posterity generally. Let us try to unite in praying earnestly for an abundant fulfilment of this promise to ourselves, as individuals, as families, as congregations, and to the Church in all her branches. With what beauty of the best kind would this adorn her! What stability would this impart to her! What a blessing would this make her among the nations, yea, to the whole world! (Original Secession Magazine.)

He shall grow as the lily.—

Spiritual beauty

We have here—

I. The secret of spiritual beauty. “I will be as the dew unto Israel,” therefore “he shall grow as the lily.” Not the mere outward, but the outward as it grows from the inward. The dew may wash the dust off the fine petals of the lily, but it is not this that makes it grow beautiful and causes it to unfold its grandeur, but by going down its capillaries and saturating its roots. It is, in the language of modern science, first an involution, and then an evolution. First it takes in and then gives out. Not the amount of God’s blessings that rest upon us promote our spiritual beauty, but the amount of God that we absorb into our souls. If the former will, as it were, wash our faces, and it does this, as it makes national customs more pure and humane and beautiful, as it promotes a clean morality, as it gives sweetness to our habits and modes of living, yet it is the blessings that we take into our very being that make beauty a growth, a living product of the Divine within. There is a beauty of art, the result of the magic pencil or chisel of the artist, but it is not a growth; it is still, cold, and lifeless. It is a decoration and external addition, but not a production. It is the difference between the decorated Christmas-tree and the living, fruit-laden tree of the orchard. Spiritual beauty is the result of Divine blessings appropriated and converted by the Divine life within into outgrowing grandeur. The addition of external decorations is sometimes mistaken for this. Spiritual beauty is a living product, the natural outgrowth of the life within. A life dependent upon the nourishment that the Fountain of Life supplies. Be beautiful without God! Yes, when nature can wear her gorgeous apparel without the blessings and the light of heaven.

II. Then the figure suggests the pronounced character of true spiritual beauty. “Blossom as the lily.” Blossom like this. Changed into the plain prose of the New Testament it means Christians growing like Christ; beautiful with His beauty, grand with His grandeur. For as He is the unchanging standard of spiritual beauty. Making no pretensions, it frequently hides half-buried among more obtrusive and gaudy blooms, yet is known when seen. To grow as the lily is to have a beauty inseparable from real quality. The disciples in the council and Stephen before the court were too real and beautiful to be ignored, and we read that men took note of them. Such men are the living yet unconscious preachers of the nature and grandeur of the Divine character. It is unnecessary to be anxious about our appearance, about being demonstrative, about

showing our character and piety; we need be anxious only about being real and the character will show itself. See that the inner life is Christ in us, filling our spirits, and the outer life will be a natural, agreeable product requiring no effort on our part to produce it.

III. Again we learn that our spiritual beauty is God’s concern rather than ours. Be not concerned about your beauty, but be concerned about your goodness; not about what you are to become, but about what you are, about doing your duty to God, and He will see to your beauty. He does not bid us chisel our own beauty; it would certainly be very inferior work. The fashioning of the spiritual beauty of the Christian character is in the hands of the Master Artist of the universe, and we can profitably leave it to Him. (E. Aubrey.)

Spiritual growth

Coleridge defined genius as “the faculty of growth”; goodness belongs to the same order, and may be similarly defined. It is ever “becoming,” changing into a more complete and Diviner thing.

1. There is growth in purity. Wesley said, “I believe this perfection is always wrought in the soul by faith, by a simple act of faith; consequently in an instant.” But I believe a gradual work, both preceding and following that instant. The gift received in faith was preceded by a gracious preparation, the gift received in faith is slowly realised in its fulness of meaning in after years. We must look for growth in clearness of insight, for increasing freedom from pride and self, for new blossomings in purity of thought and motive and life.

2. There is growth in depth. How little many of us read, or meditate, or pray. And this is the reason that our branches are bare, that we wither at the top. We want more pondering in our heart, more of that secret assimilation which takes fast, hold of the eternal grounds of reason and righteousness. The plants which grow in the Alps are, as a rule, firmly and largely rooted. It is much the same with the Christian character. Whenever we find strength or beauty of character, we may be sure that it springs from depth of soul, that the fibres have struck deep in the everlasting truth and love. And when we gain this depth we enjoy a blessed stability and peace. The Christian life is strong and stable, hidden with Christ in God.

3. There is growth in breadth. Spreading of roots, and spreading of boughs. Not unusually we commence the spiritual life with narrow and ignorant views of the Divine character and government; but justly cultured, the soul expands in the knowledge and love of God. We sorely need to grow out of all narrow and unworthy misconceptions. There is also a growth in charity—a growth in heart. The growth in kindness, sympathy, catholicity, is the Divinest growth of all.

4. There is growth in beauty. Mount Lebanon is decked with loveliness, and it has an abundance of aromatic things and odoriferous flowers. The olive is a tree with a charm of its own. The olive is by no means a picturesque tree, it even sometimes looks stunted and shabby. But the soft, delicate beauty of the olive grows upon you, until, stirred by the wind, the shimmering silver of its leaves makes a picture. So Christian character is often not in the least brilliant, not heroic or striking. The noblest men and women living are modest, homely, simple souls; but they are marked by a mild and serious grace which is in truth the perfection of beauty. In this

unconscious winsomeness we ought to grow unto our lives’ end.

5. There is a growth in useful ness. What corn and wine are to men, the children of God are to the world they diffuse life and gladness. Usefulness is the very glory of the Christian. The glory of the Christian is that he lives to bless. And we are reminded that every thing is possible in the power of grace, as all beauty and fruitfulness are possible in the dewdrop. God says, “I will be as the dew unto Israel.” (Wesleyan Magazine.)

The believer’s growth in grace

These words contain the gracious promise of God’s favour and blessing upon Israel converted. The Lord gives refreshment to His people, which produces in them the firmness of the tree that is deeply rooted, the beauty and spotless purity of the lily, the fragrance of an odoriferous plant, the smell of Lebanon. The dew which is promised is grace, grace which justifies, as well as grace which sanctifies. This grace is given in order to produce certain fruits. The beauty of holiness may be fitly represented by the purity and comeliness of this flower. Then spiritual growth is not all outwards, it consists mostly in growth of the root, which is out of sight. The more we depend upon Christ, and draw our virtue from Him, the more we act from principle, the more steadfast we are in faith. Another blessing, following the operation of grace, is the increase of God’s Church. There is one metaphor more. The Christian plant is pleasing to the sight; it is pleasant also to the smell. The olive-tree has the advantage of being always green. And the spiritual sacrifices, like the smell of Lebanon, are as a sweet savour unto God. The Church of Christ is compared to a garden of spices. The fragrance of true piety is felt where it is not acknowledged. (Richard Burgess, D. D.)

Spiritual prosperity

The cause of all which follows is this, God by His gracious Spirit will be “as the dew unto Israel.” Upon that note of the prosperous success this dew of God’s Spirit hath in them. “They shall grow as the lily.” Objection—

1. The lily grows but hath no stability. Then “they shall cast out their roots as Lebanon.” With growth they shall have stability; not only grow in height speedily, but also grow fast in the root with firmness. Objection—

2. As everything that grows in root and firmness doth not spread itself, he says “his branches shall spread,” making him more fruitful and comfortable to others. Objection—

3. Everything is not fruitful, therefore he shall be as the olive-tree for fruitfulness. Objection-

4. The olive hath no pleasant smell or good taste. Therefore he adds another blessing. They shall, in regard to their pleasantness to God and man, be “as the smell of Lebanon,” which was a wondrous, pleasant, and delightful place. (R. Sibbes.)

And cast forth his roots as Lebanon.—

Spiritual strength

The lesson here directs attention to spiritual strength, not in its manifestations so much as in its invisible secret growth and power, agreeing with the New Testament expression, “Strengthened with might in the inner man.”

I. That spiritual strength is primarily an invisible growth. We see the stem of the tree coming to view, its branches spreading, its foliage budding and opening; but this is secondary. Previous to this the roots have spread themselves and absorbed nourishment, and fastened themselves to the hidden rocks. And our life in its visible beauty, in its vigour, in its fruitfulness, will be just in proportion to the extent that our desires and affections and motives grow towards God, and cling to Him and draw their nourishment from Him. A man is really outwardly what he is really inwardly. Root principles are not conveniences but necessities. Faith is first a conviction and then an effort. Trees without deep roots have been seen sprouting and bearing leaves, but they have soon withered. Virtues without principle, tim result of training or environment, or even imitation, may in their bearings upon mankind prove beneficial. The man may act or give to satisfy another, or to obtain applause, or from some other selfish motives; but the virtues of the truly religious spring from a deep invisible principle that is rooted in and gathers its strength from God. And one of the results of absorbing abundantly God’s blessings is that it develops righteous principles and convictions in the soul, bringing the invisible in us into living and growing contact with the invisible Eternal.

II. That spiritual strength is ours in proportion to the growth of our internal principles. We may have a laudable ambition to be strong, vigorous Christians, having resisting power to fight manfully and successfully all alluring temptations, persisting power to pursue with firm step our godly course, maintaining a large measure of devoutness whatever may be the hindrances and difficulties “in our way, and possessing conquering power whereby we may overcome self as well as Satan. Then our desires and anxieties and ambitions must move towards God, to settle themselves in Him, and derive their strength from Him, and become “strong in the strength which God supplies through His eternal Son.”

III. A strength that shall be seen in unwavering steadfastness. Storms sweep over the Lebanon forests in mad fury, but they only help to consolidate the roots of the cedar, and help them to strike themselves deeper among the rocks, to have a still firmer hold, and then to stand in stately grandeur. The powers of our soul are capable of expansion, and don’t try and tie them down to any circumscribed rule of your own, and sinfully stunt their growth! Give them scope, being careful that they ever move in the direction of God and eternal realities. Why the wavering and vacillating on the part of so many? Why the painful unrest so generally apparent? The answer is not far to find. The roots are not deep. Conviction is at a discount, and principle is not the sacred and important concern that it rightly should be in the estimate of large numbers of professing Christians. How different they who are rooted and grounded in God, with convictions firm, and principles a guiding rule! Compromise and expediency find no countenance with them, Such men were Moses, Job, Daniel, and others in Old Testament times, and Peter, Paul, John, and others in apostolic times, and the martyrs and others in later years. (E. Aubrey.)

Spiritual restoration

I. THIS EXPRESSION IMPLIES A SAD AND PAINFUL TRUTH. A truth, alas! only too

evidently confirmed by our own experiences, namely, that there lies in us a possibility to err from the ways of God. Among the many causes that contribute to this is—

1. Too large a measure of self-confidence. There is a confidence that is legitimate and necessary, the confidence that has God for its foundation. But if in exalting self our trust rests upon our own powers, and we reason confidently from an exaggerated conception of the ability of those powers, then do we sin both against God and ourselves. Self-confidence is false confidence, and like all things false, it must wither and decay. The chequered career of Israel as a nation is a striking object-lesson that illustrates this truth. Its several declensions are preceded by unmistakable evidences of a growing self-confidence, that leads to ignoring God, and eventually makes them the captive slaves of their victorious enemies. And history in its recital of the careers of individuals bears testimony to the operation of the same law here. Self-confidence has proved the sure harbinger of declension. It was so with Peter.

2. Another cause of spiritual declension is the neglect of the means Divinely appointed to ensure our stability and progress. This naturally follows the other. An exalted self means a belittled God. Self-satisfaction means despised Divine provision. We cannot live and grow and prosper without God. And so are His appointed means.

3. Again, too close a tie to the world in its enervating influences conduces to declension. We cannot live in the miasma and fever swamps of sin without being spiritually affected for ill. Indications of such declension are also present in our own spirits.

(1) There is a low tone to our spirituality. And matters are looked at not in the light of revelation under the illumination of God’s Spirit, but with eyes dimmed and vision darkened by too close a contact with the world.

(2) Relish for the spiritual is lost.

(3) To which may be added as a further indication the harassing sense of unrest that rains us.

II. Voices a consolatory truth. “They shall return.” Recover the ground lost by their declension, on condition that in quiet, trustful receptiveness they dwell under God’s shelter. It is our comfort to know that God works our restoration. Have we asked, “What shall I do to win back the joys of former days”? We may have vowed and planned and promised and striven in our own strength away from God, but all in vain. How shall we compass again the experiences of a brighter day? Here is the answer, “They that abide under His shadow shall return.” (E. Aubrey.)

Soul revival

The figure implies—

I. The possession of a living energy.

II. The figure again suggests that soul revival is promoted by coming under the influence of the necessary and adapted means. The grain to germinate and grow and produce must be placed in congenial soil, be watered by the clouds of heaven, and warmed by the abounding rays of the sun Israel’s revival is ensured by being in God’s presence, with His fertilising blessings resting upon them and His gracious favours awakening their sleeping powers. Prayer, the Word of God, and the influences of the Holy Spirit are a

necessity.

III. Soul revival shall mean the increase and multiplication of life. “Revive as the corn.” How? To grow? Yes, and to multiply. When God is ours, He multiplies life through us. We live to-day, when God is ours, to live to-morrow, not only in ourselves, but in others, and become immortal both in heaven” and on earth. Immortality is inseparable from the life lived in God and nourished by Him. Its very nature, for it is Divine, ensures its perpetuation. The saints that have gone before never lived as they do to-day. They fill a larger circle, and sway a greater influence than when in the flesh. When filled with God we produce what becomes seed for greater harvests. What magnificent possibilities belong to us! (E. Aubrey.)

And grow as the vine.—

Spiritual growth by dependence and pruning

I. It is growth by dependence upon superior strength. While all the trees and plants of forest, field, and garden in many ways evince their dependence, in none, perhaps, except the ivy and its class, is it manifested more openly than in the vine. Growth by clinging to superior strength seems to be the primary lesson that it teaches. “The Lord was my stay,” says David. “Who is among you that feareth the Lord let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.” It is no dishonour to our devout character, no disgrace to our virtues, no disparagement of our powers to acknowledge our utter dependence upon God, and to exhibit it. “Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe.” It was no empty platitude, or mere figure of speech, that exhortation of Barnabas’s to the brethren in the Church at Antioch: “That with full purpose of heart they should cleave unto the Lord.” Clinging to the Lord is not only weakness laying hold of strength, but life gathering force and finding support to expand and grow and be fruitful. This is not merely a wise policy, but an absolute necessity.

II. Growing in an elevated situation. We are told that “the elevation of the hills and tablelands of Judah is the true climate of the vine.” This natural fact suggests a parallel in Christian history and experience. The souls that have dwelt in the heights of God, above the world in their desires, affections, and aims, standing on an elevated platform in the principles that they have ever acted upon, and the methods which they have adopted, have ever proved the most fruitful, and the product of their life most wholesome and rich. As the vine is indigenous to an elevated position, and grows best there, so our souls are indigenous to a higher mode of life than the worldly, and meant in that higher position to breathe a holier and purer atmosphere, and grow best in our native soil, which is God and the Divine.

III. That our spiritual growth is promoted by necessary purging and pruning. To grow is one thing; to grow pure, strong, healthy, and fruitful is another thing. And the latter is ensured by the wise arrangement that ordains a measure of trial and sorrow and suffering. To grow as the vine is to grow to the sharp, necessary touch of the pruning knife as it lops off the superfluous, and as it bleeds by skilful incisions to draw off the infected sap, which being allowed to remain would work destruction. Conscious as we are of the presence in our spirits of much that is injuriously superfluous, it is a loving hand that in affliction comes to purge, since it makes the zeal stronger and the soul holier. “It was good for me that I was afflicted,” is a confession that has often been endorsed. Is it not a privilege to be helped to grow strong and healthy? Is it not a favour to be assisted to greater purity and more abundant fruitfulness?

IV. In which fruitfulness is its purposed end. The vine that grows to a purpose, being advantageously situated, carefully and skilfully tended and trimmed is the one that repays the attention bestowed upon it with rich clusters of luscious fruit. And it is this that explains the attention. “That ye may abound in every good work” is the key that unlocks the mysteries of our life, and explains the trying dispensations through which the believing soul is made to pass. (E. Aubrey.)

His branches shall spread.—

Spiritual progress

First the growth of our inner virtues, then the growth of our outer graces. First deep-rooted convictions, pure desires, holy affections, honest motives; then manifest activities, wide sympathies, and powerful influences, the natural and irresistible outcome.

I. To the manifest and visible in spiritual growth. Grace, which is the New Testament term for the Divine blessings, cannot be concealed. Besides, we cannot absorb more unless we produce with what we have. We must give God out in our life, if we would take in more of God into our spirit. God has not meant that we should be reservoirs to store, but channels to communicate. It is as false as it is selfish to suppose that, God being ours, He is ours to conserve for ourselves, as if the ideal of religion consisted in getting as much from Him for our own aggrandisement aa we can contain. Then verily would our portion be small. Not how much of enjoyment can we derive in the sanctuary makes us religious, but how much of God can we exhibit in our homes and its duties, in the workshop, in the office, and in the street. Religion is not personal enjoyment so much as a relative blessing. The ideal is not our own enriching as being blessed in being means of enriching others.

II. A truth not less applicable to our influence than to our acts. Society has mistakenly joined the epithet “influential” to mere worldly position and material wealth, and calls him the influential man who possesses these. But the standard is a low one, and neither true to history or experience. True influence, an influence that lives and elevates the race, is that which emanates from goodness and is joined to disinterested piety. Caesar, Charlemagne, Napoleon, and others are but mere names in history as compared with the living influence of the disciples. Their branches spread and are spreading still.

III. Then, again, progress is characteristic of our visible graces when God is ours. This sentence in its literal form presents to us a complex figure, seemingly contradictory—“His branches or sucking offshoots shall go on.” And having God as ours even now progress is characteristic of our life as we go “from strength to strength,” adding virtue to virtue. Our life’s history is a “going on.” From grace to grace; from effort to effort; from experience to experience; from achievement to achievement. The branches are going on. Desires are becoming more holy, devotion’s fires burn brighter and stronger, zeal becomes increasingly fervent, and religion is more transparent. (E. Aubrey.)

His beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon.—

Like the olive and Lebanon

“His beauty shall be as the olive-tree,” which though fruitful and excellent, yet hath no sweet smell; therefore it is added, “His smell shall be as Lebanon.” The olive is a very

fruitful tree, and the oil which comes and distils from it hath many excellent properties, agreeing to graces. It is a royal kind of liquor, that will be above the rest: so grace commands all other things, it gives a sanctified use of the creature, and subdues all corruption. And then it is unmixed, it will mingle with nothing: light and darkness will not mingle, no more will grace and corruption. And it is sweet, strengthening, and feeding the life. It is the excellence and glory of a Christian to be fruitful in his place and in his particular calling. Every one that is fruitful, God hath a special care of. A Christian by his fruitfulness doth delight others. Note the figure, “dwell under His shadow.” What is the use of a shadow? It is for a retiring place to rest in. It is for defence against the extremity of heat. It is for delight, if the shades be good and wholesome. What solace and rest do men find under the shadow of the Church? There is rest and peace. God is about His Church as a wall to protect it. (R. Sibbes, D. D.)

Abiding beauty of the godly life

So the, beauty of the pious life is by this figure set forth.

I. As being unintermittent. A striking contrast to the ever-changing and short-lived so-called beauty of the world. Dressed in the charm of novelty and breaking upon the world at certain seasons, the beauty of much that society boasts of, or even nature presents to our view, is thereby deemed especially attractive. But true spiritual beauty is an ever present quality. Not the cold beauty of a statue or of a finely painted picture, the result of human skill and artistic manipulation, but the living production of a healthy, God-filled soul. The strength within counteracting the destroying forces without, and triumphing over them. The winter of life no less than summer witnesses its continuance. As sure as it is the result of the God-life in us, so sure will it abide and live unintermittently. The unbelieving observer will occasionally complain that it is not sufficiently apparent, and some, because they cannot see it, deny its existence, forgetting that spiritual things are spiritually discerned. Besides, the pious man’s surroundings occasionally prevent the world from seeing his real character.

II. That it is beauty combined with utility. The olive-tree, while symbolical of beauty, stands none the less noted for its wealth, with its proverbial fatness, combining with its abiding vigour and beauty the virtue of being pre-eminently serviceable—its stock, branches, sap, leaves, and fruit being all of the highest value. And that is the truly beautiful which is preeminently useful. The beauty of an object to the pious mind is that it awakens gratifying spiritual sensations, and so far is subjective; and, moreover, is ever fresh with unfading glory, serves a useful purpose, harmonises with the grandeur of the Divine creation, and stands in due order and rightful proportion to the universe in its symmetry and forces. The spiritual theory, as one puts it, is that it is “the expression of the invisible and spiritual under sensible material forms,” or, in theological phraseology, it is the inner life manifesting itself in holy fruitfulness and blessing, glorious with the attraction of felt benefits. Such is the really beautiful life—a life of positive activity and blessing. Speak we of spiritual beauty? We ever associate it with self-sacrificing labours. We view the representatives of the truly beautiful in the gallery of Scripture; and inquire wherein does their beauty lie? And we find it consists in the manifestation of this self-sacrificing spirit and effort. They found their beauty by distributing their powers and blessings, regardless of self.

III. It is beauty of an ever-enduring character. (E. Aubrey.)

Spiritual fragrance

I. Such fragrance is the product of internal grace and divine favour. Vain is the hope to be able to diffuse a sweetening and hallowing influence unless God is in us in His sweetening and sanctifying life. The botanist tells us that the perfume of flowers depends upon the volatilisation of an essential oil which they secrete in their most hidden recesses, whether a sweet oil diffusing rich fragrance or a nauseous oil that exhales itself in repulsive smell. Still the possession of this oil is one thing, its volatile character another. Turning from the figure to the lesson it embodies, it manifestly suggests two things: first, the necessity of possessing internal graces, being filled with the fulness of God, and then, that these graces should become external influences, as they dispose themselves in pleasing and effective forms. Such influences are the holy fragrance of the devout life, arresting attention, awakening inquiry, and inspiring fondness, being neither heard nor seen but powerfully felt. Appearance and sweetness do not always go together. To the eye the richly-hued dahlia is more fascinating than the spray of mignonette, which can scarcely lay claim to be regarded as a flower. But which is it that gives the greatest sense of sweetness? True spiritual influence is more a felt than a seen power. There are parallels in human life to the dahlia and the mignonette: the beauty that expends itself in colour—not to be despised—and that still greater beauty that touches us with pleasing and arresting force, though still unseen—the subtle, penetrating, and captivating influence whose presence is a felt reality. It is so in the life of many a humble, modest, retiring disciple of Jesus Christ’s, who dread nothing more than conspicuous publicity, who would blush to find themselves famous, and yet whose presence gives a healthy, fragrant character to the workshop, warehouse, office, or in whatever circle they are found. Their life is a diffusion of Divine sweetness. To scatter a Divine aroma in the community, to diffuse a holy fragrance in our life, grace must be obtained from God, and our virtues must be of a diffusive nature.

II. Spiritual fragrance means again the harmonious blending of Christian virtues. As the fragrance of Lebanon was the blended odours diffused by the various fragrant plants that grew on that mountain range, so the spiritual fragrance of the Christian Church is the harmonious unity and co-operation of its members, and in the case of the individual believer it is the union of the several virtues that go to make up Christian character. There is a spiritual deformity that hinders the diffusion of spiritual influence, where only one grace, or set of graces, is cultivated to the neglect of all the test, and symmetry is lost and beauty and sweetness consequently absent. Christian character, to prove an influence, must be symmetrical and complete. “Add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge,” etc. Men may admire boldness, revere meekness, take pleasurable notice of sturdy faith, applaud charity, speak of kindness, and trust honesty when beheld singly; but it is when they are joined together in one character that men are afraid of committing evil in its presence, and are inspired by it to holy effort.

III. The emblem suggests again unconfined expansion. Lebanon loads the passing breezes with a rich profusion of flagrance to be carried anywhere and everywhere—a fragrance that defies the artificial limitations of men’s erecting. A high wall may shut in the colour, but the fragrance will overleap it and scatter itself in ever-widening directions. (E. Aubrey.)

Lily, cedar, olive

Look at the picture of what the dew does, that we may claim the promise and drink in the blessing.

I. The dew makes bloom. When God heals the backsliding of Israel, “he shall blossom as the lily.” God comes as the dew to dower us with eternal bloom. His secret influences are meant to urge us to an open and increasing beauty. God promises in this figure, to give us, not merely the lily lines, but also the lily glow. He shall lead us not only to do the right, but to do it from a noble motive, and in a noble manner. He aims at colour as well as form.

II. The dew makes root. “Shall cast forth his roots as Lebanon.” The famous rid is known the world over for its groves of cedar, and the cedar-tree is remarkable for its deep, strong grip of the soil. It takes its name indeed from the way in which it “coils” its roots about the rocks. It is the very figure of immovability. Our faith roots itself in truths as sure as the changeless, tremulous rock. We lay hold of the eternal love, and we know that we must shake the universe and wreck all existence before we can move that. Therefore our hope rears itself ever nearer heaven, and fears not the blasts of temptation nor the tooth of time.

III. The dew makes fruit. God promises the luxuriant growth of the olive. Here is the symbol of a life that is visible in open majesty and usefulness. It bears an ever fuller harvest of fruit. It shows a constant freshness. The spiritual olive-tree, weighted with its berries, is God’s secret benediction to the soul given forth again as an open blessing to the world.

IV. The dew makes scent. The lily, when it has much colour, has little fragrance. The cedar and the olive are sweet-smelling trees. Thus the three foregoing figures not only represent gracefulness, steadfastness, and usefulness, but also imply the virtue which is typified by scent. God would have His Church fling far beyond its borders a pleasant savour. As we send our own special sweetness into the air we make a fragrance which woes the world to think well of God’s work. Popular opinion as to godliness is not formed from the aroma of one saintly life, but from the general experience of men in their dealings with saintly people. How necessary then that every plant of the Lord, however lowly, should be richly fragrant. The dew, which is God, nourishes the continual incense that ascends to God. Sweeter than our songs, truer than our prayers, our godly spirit is a delight to God, and a worship ever waited for. (Anon.)

Fragrant influence

(for children):—Lebanon is the name of two great ranges of mountains on the northern border of Palestine. Travellers who have visited the place tell us that when you enter the valley between these mountains there meets you at once “a perfect gust of fragrant odours.” It tomes from the flowers, from the aromatic shrubs, from the fig-trees, mulberry-trees, vines and cedars which abound in the valley. The perfume is delightful, and cannot easily be described. Hosea must have passed that way and caught some of the exquisite fragrance, else he could not have written about it so forcibly. But what can the prophet mean when he speaks of Israel—God’s people, men, women, Children—having a “smell as Lebanon”? Was the smell in their clothes, or in their bodies? No. Clothes may smell of grease, of smoke, of scent; and vulgar persons are sometimes vain enough to make themselves known in a company by means of their favourite perfume. He was a silly little boy who, after nurse had washed his face, removed his pinafore, put some sweet pomatum on his hair and a drop of scent on his handkerchief, came strutting

into the drawing-room among his mother’s guests, and, looking all around, proudly said, “Now, if anybody smells a smell, that is me.” We shall do well to shun that kind of folly and vanity. If good people have a “smell as Lebanon,” it is not in their clothes, or in their bodies, but in their character—their influence is what the prophet refers to as fragrance. Influence is not an easy word to define, yet we all know what it is. Influence is like the scent Of shrubs and flowers; you cannot see it, touch it, hear it, but it never fails to make its presence known. The fragrance of a plant is part of itself—that part which it gives forth in minute particles, in atoms so small the eye cannot see them, yet they float in the air, and reach the organs of smell. And influence is something going forth from us in little, almost imperceptible ways; in looks, tones, gestures, tempers, actions. It is the outcome of our inner self. It may be good, or bad, sweet or foul, wholesome or noxious; and like the magnet, it has power to draw or repel. Every one of us has influence. No hair is so small that it is without a shadow. No violet is so hidden that it yields no scent. No child is too young, too lowly, to sweeten daily life in home and school. If boys and girls live for Jesus, in the sunshine of His love, and under the dew of His Spirit, theirs will be a fragrant life. They will bring joy into the family, love into the playground, good temper into every quarrel, happiness and gladness into many hearts. The missionary who settles among strange people in a foreign land may not be able, at first, to speak their language, or say a word to change their bad habits. Yet there is something he can do. He may live a life of kindness, goodness, compassion, truthfulness, purity; and, so living, the influence of his character will be sure to “impress the heathen favourably, and do them good. Of King Jesus it Is said, All Thy garments smell of myrrh.” Keep company with Jesus, and He will give you of His sweetness, wherewith to influence others. The Chinese have a wood which, however deeply buried underground, fills the air with fragrance; and in the higher peak of Teneriffe, far above the clouds, in a dry, burning waste, grows a plant which in summer emits a delicious odour far and wide. Let me so live, that, whether my lot be in the vale or on the hill-top, others may find some good and gracious influence proceeding from me, like that in Israel of which the prophet testified, “His smell as Lebanon.” (A. A Ramsey.)

God does everything beautifully

Everything that God does is beautifully done. His stars are jewels set in velvet; His flowers are sapphires set in emerald. Everything of His creation, in shape and colour, as it lies bathed in the sunlight, has upon it the touch of the beautiful. And this teaches us to do beautifully everything that we do. Especially in our conduct towards each other ought there to gleam the beauty of star and breathe the fragrance of flower.

The uses of the olive

Anybody that has ever seen a grove of olives knows that their beauty is not such as strikes the eye. If it were not for the blue sky overhead, that rays down glorifying light, they would not be much to look at or talk about: The tree has a gnarled, grotesque trunk, which divides into insignificant branches, bearing leaves mean in shape, harsh in texture, with a silvery under side. It gives but a quivering shade and has no massiveness nor sympathy. Ay! but there are olives on the branches. And so the beauty of the humble tree is in what it grows for man’s good. The olive is crushed into oil, and the oil is used for smoothing and suppling joints and flesh, for nourishing and sustaining the body as food, for illuminating darkness as oil in the lamp. And these three things are the three things for which we Christian people have received all our dew, and all our beauty, and all our strength—that we may give other people light, that we may be the means of

conveying to other people nourishment, that we may move gently in the world as lubricating, sweetening, soothing influences. The question, after all, is, Does anybody gather fruit of us, and would anybody call us “trees of righteousness the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified”? (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn.—

The blessings of the Church of Christ to others

1. Who are those that are under his shadow, and what is their return? What is the shadow? Is it Christ, or is it the visible Church? A shadow is literally the representation which any solid body, interposing between the sun, or light, and another body makes of itself. Christ, and God in Him, are the shadow and protection of the Church. But the Church of God seems to be the shadow meant in the text, to which those who dwell under the shade of the same return.

2. Their revival on their having returned, and being under his shadow. This is described as the growth of corn. Corn, in this metaphor, includes wheat, barley, oats, rye, etc.

3. Set forth the growth of these converts, thus returned to the Church, Who, being received into it, and protected by it, and being hereby under the shadow of the same, “are revived as the corn, and grow as the vine.”

4. The spiritual fragrancy of those who thus return to the Lord. “The scent, or memorial (see margin), shall be as the wine of Lebanon.” Thus we have the Church of Christ in the open, visible state in which she will shine forth in all her gifts and graces. (Samuel Eyles Pierce.)

NISBET, "‘I WILL BE AS THE DEW UNTO ISRAEL’

‘I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return.’

Hosea 14:5-7

Observe the order. First, what God is to us, for we may safely take ‘Israel’ to be ‘the Church’ in every age. Then, what we are in ourselves and to God. And then what we do for others. Divine operation, spiritual growth, religious influence.

And religion always must be in that order. God’s grace to begin with. All first principles there. What God is in Himself, and what He is to us. Then, our personal condition, and our relations to God. And then the power we exercise, and the work we do in the world. ‘I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. Its branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return.’

God begins: ‘I will be as the dew unto Israel.’ Where the peculiar charm and excellence of the promise is—not that God will shed ‘dew’ upon Israel, but that He will be ‘the dew.’ We find what we want in Himself—in a personal God. And to have the Giver is better than to have the gift. ‘I will be as the dew unto Israel.’

How the Holy Spirit distils upon us, or why, we cannot tell. The commencement of the Divine life, and its supplies, are perfectly inscrutable. Why God should ever have visited me, how His Spirit can mingle with my spirit, and become a part of my being—I cannot tell. But I know it is lovely and comely. The workings are secret, but the results are patent.

Such is God to His people, and the great secret of the possession of it lies in finding it in God Himself, not in His ordinances, not in His word,—not in His sacraments,—not in His people. They are beautiful channels, only channels. In Himself! A felt Presence—a realised Indwelling, an appropriated, Living Being,—our own—a God we go to, a God we hear, a God we speak to, a God we feel. ‘I will be as the dew unto Israel.’

II. Now trace the consequences on the man himself.—The metaphor is sustained. It is by the dew-like, gentle workings of God’s Spirit—by myriads of drops, each imperceptibly small: ‘He shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.’ There are five things: growth, strength, expansion, beauty, fragrance.

III. But I have to carry the image a little further, to the point of influence.—In this colder region of our earth, the idea of ‘shade’ is almost always associated with what is unpleasant, and drear, and chill! But, in the hotter latitudes, where the scenes of the Bible mainly lie, it is naturally the reverse. ‘Shade’ is good—a thing to be desired. Therefore, with the exception that it is sometimes used as a metaphor for shortness, I am not aware that ‘shadow’ is ever taken in any but a happy way in the Bible.

Now we all ‘cast our shadows’; and though our ‘shadow’ cannot be what St. Peter’s was, yet our ‘shadow’—the influence we carry, the effect we produce—may be, and should be, and must be always for good and for God. And this is the characteristic of a Christian, that ‘they that dwell under his shadow shall return’!—‘return’ to what they have lost; ‘return’ to peace; ‘return’ to the good land; ‘return’ to Canaan; ‘return’ to Him.

There are many that are ‘dwelling under your shadow’: more perhaps, than you have thought of. And very few realise their own weight and power for good or evil in the world.

Let me ask, have all those ‘under your shadow’ reason to be thankful that they ever came there? Have they ‘returned’? Has your influence led them towards ‘returning’? Have you tried? Or, are you a upas tree? Awful thought! if you have sent them farther off! if it had been better for them that they had never come near you!

So throw your ‘shadow’—make such use of the contracts of life everywhere—that you may be always either bringing back a lost one, or helping a seeker, or strengthening some one on the way, that all who come near to you may have cause to bless God that they ever were brought ‘under your shadow’!

Rev. Jas. Vaughan.

MACLAREN, "THE DEW AND THE PLANTS

Like his brethren, Hosea was a poet as well as a prophet. His little prophecy is full of similes and illustrations drawn from natural objects; scarcely any of them from cities or from the ways of men; almost all of them from Nature, as seen in the open country, which he evidently loved, and where he had looked upon things with a clear and meditative eye. This whole chapter is full of emblems drawn from the vegetable world. The lily, the cedar, the olive, are in my text. And there follow, in the subsequent verses, the corn, and the vine, and the green fir-tree.

The words which I have read, no doubt originally had simply a reference to the numerical increase of the people and their restoration to their land, but they may be taken by us quite fairly as having a very much deeper and more blessed reference than that. For they describe the uniform condition of all spiritual life and growth,’ I will be as the dew unto Israel’; and then they set forth some of the manifold aspects of that growth, and the consequences of receiving that heavenly dew, under the various metaphors to which I have referred. It is in that higher signification that I wish to look at them now.

I. The first thought that comes out of the words is that for all life and growth of the spirit there must be a bedewing from God.

‘I will be as the dew unto Israel.’ Now, scholars tell us that the kind of moisture that is meant in these words is not what we call dew, of which, as a matter of fact, there falls, in Palestine, little or none at the season of the year referred to in my text, but that the word really means the heavy night-clouds that come upon the wings of the south-west wind, to diffuse moisture and freshness over the parched plains, in the very height and fierceness of summer. The metaphor of my text becomes more beautiful and striking, if we note that, in the previous chapter, where the Prophet was in his threatening mood, he predicts that ‘an east wind shall come, the wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness’-the burning sirocco, with death upon its wings-’and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up.’ We have then to imagine the land gaping and parched, the hot air having, as with invisible tongue of flame, licked streams and pools dry, and having shrunken fountains and springs. Then, all at once there comes down upon the baking ground and on the faded, drooping flowers that lie languid and prostrate on the ground in the darkness, borne on the wings of the wind, from the depths of the great unfathomed sea, an unseen moisture. You cannot call it rain, so gently does it diffuse itself; it is liker a mist, but it brings life and freshness, and everything is changed. The dew, or the night mist, as it might more properly be rendered, was evidently a good deal in Hosea’s mind; you may remember that he uses the image again in a remarkably different aspect, where he speaks of men’s goodness as being like ‘a morning cloud, and the early dew that passes away.’

The natural object which yields the emblem was all inadequate to set forth the divine gift

which is compared to it, because as soon as the sun has risen, with burning heat, it scatters the beneficent clouds, and the ‘sunbeams like swords’ threaten to slay the tender green shoots. But this mist from God that comes down to water the earth is never dried up. It is not transient. It may be ours, and live in our hearts. Dear brethren, the prose of this sweet old promise is ‘If I depart, I will send Him unto you.’ If we are Christian people, we have the perpetual dew of that divine Spirit, which falls on our leaves and penetrates to our roots, and communicates life, freshness, and power, and makes growth possible-more than possible, certain-for us. ‘I’-Myself through My Son, and in My Spirit-’I will be’-an unconditional assurance-’as the dew unto Israel.’

Yes! That promise is in its depth and fulness applicable only to the Christian Israel, and it remains true to-day and for ever. Do we see it fulfilled? One looks round upon our congregations, and into one’s own heart, and we behold the parable of Gideon’s fleece acted over again-some places soaked with the refreshing moisture, and some as hard as a rock and as dry as tinder and ready to catch fire from any spark from the devil’s forge and be consumed in the everlasting burnings some day. It will do us good to ask ourselves why it is that, with a promise like this for every Christian soul to build upon, there are so few Christian souls that have anything like realised its fulness and its depth. Let us be quite sure of this-God has nothing to do with the failure of His promise, and let us take all the blame to ourselves.

‘I will be as the dew unto Israel.’ Who was Israel? The man that wrestled all night in prayer with God, and took hold of the angel and prevailed and wept and made supplication to Him. So Hosea tells us; and as he says in the passage where he describes the Angel’s wrestling with Jacob at Peniel, ‘there He spake with us’-when He spake, He spake with him who first bore the name. Be you Israel, and God will surely be your dew; and life and growth will be possible. That is the first lesson of this great promise.

II. The second is, that a soul thus bedewed by God will spring into purity and beauty.

We go back to Hosea’s vegetable metaphors. ‘He shall grow as the lily’ is his first promise. If I were addressing a congregation of botanists, I should have something to say about what kind of a plant is meant, but that is quite beside the mark for my present purpose. It is sufficient to notice that in this metaphor the emphasis is laid upon the two attributes which I have named-beauty and purity. The figure teaches us that ugly Christianity is not Christ’s Christianity. Some of us older people remember that it used to be a favourite phrase to describe unattractive saints that they had ‘grace grafted on a crab stick.’ There are a great many Christian people whom one would compare to any other plant rather than a lily. Thorns and thistles and briers are a good deal more like what some of them appear to the world. But we are bound, if we are Christian people, by our obligations to God, and by our obligations to men, to try to make Christianity look as beautiful in people’s eyes as we can. That is what Paul said, ‘Adorn the teaching’; make it look well, inasmuch as it has made you look attractive to men’s eyes. Men have a fairly accurate notion of beauty and goodness, whether they have any goodness or any beauty in their own characters or not. Do you remember the words: ‘Whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, whatsoever things are venerable . . . if there be any praise’-from men-’think on these things’? If we do not keep that as the guiding star of our lives, then we have failed in one very distinct duty of Christian people-namely, to grow more like a lily, and to be graceful in the lowest sense of that word, as well as grace full in the highest sense of it. We shall not be so in the lower, unless we are so in the higher. It may be a very modest kind of beauty, very humble, and not at all like the flaring reds and yellows of the gorgeous flowers that the world admires. These are

often like a great sunflower, with a disc as big as a cheese. But the Christian beauty will be modest and unobtrusive and shy, like the violet half buried in the hedge-bank, and unnoticed by careless eyes, accustomed to see beauty only in gaudy, flaring blooms. But unless you, as a Christian, are in your character arrayed in the “beauty of holiness,’ and the holiness of beauty, you are not quite the Christian that Jesus Christ wants you to be; setting forth all the gracious and sweet and refining influences of the Gospel in your daily life and conduct. That is the second lesson of our text.

III. The third is, that a God-bedewed soul that has been made fair and pure by communion with God, ought also to be strong.

He “shall cast forth his roots like Lebanon.” Now I take it that simile does not refer to the roots of that giant range that slope away down under the depths of the Mediterranean. That is a beautiful emblem, but it is not in line with the other images in the context. As these are all dependent on the promise of the dew, and represent different phases of the results of its fulfilment, it is natural to expect thus much uniformity in their variety, that they shall all be drawn from plant-life. If so, we must suppose a condensed metaphor here, and take “Lebanon” to mean the forest which another prophet calls “the glory of Lebanon.” The characteristic tree in these, as we all know, was the cedar.

It is named in Hebrew by a word which is connected with that for “strength.” It stands as the very type and emblem of stability and vigour. Think of its firm roots by which it is anchored deep in the soil. Think of the shelves of massive dark foliage. Think of its unchanged steadfastness in storm. Think of its towering height; and thus arriving at the meaning of the emblem, let us translate it into practice in our own lives. “He shall cast forth his roots as Lebanon.” Beauty? Yes! Purity? Yes! And braided in with them, if I may so say, the strength which can say “No!” which can resist, which can persist, which can overcome; power drawn from communion with God. “Strength and beauty” should blend in the worshippers, as they do in the “sanctuary” in God Himself. There is nothing admirable in mere force; there is often something sickly and feeble, and therefore contemptible in mere beauty. Many of us will cultivate the complacent and the amiable sides of the Christian life, and be wanting in the manly “thews that throw the world,” and can fight to the death. But we have to try and bring these two excellences of character together, and it needs an immense deal of grace and wisdom and imitation of Jesus Christ, and a close clasp of His hand, to enable us to do that. Speak we of strength? He is the type of strength. Of beauty? He is the perfection of beauty. And it is only as we keep close to Him that our lives will be all fair with the reflected loveliness of His, and strong with the communicated power of His grace-“strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” Brethren, if we are to set forth anything, in our daily lives, of this strength, remember that our lives must be rooted in, as well as bedewed by, God. Hosea’s emblems, beautiful and instructive as they are, do not reach to the deep truth set forth in still holier and sweeter words; “I am the Vine, ye are the branches.” The union of Christ and His people is closer than that between dew and plant. Our growth results from the communication of His own life to us. Therefore is the command stringent and obedience to it blessed, “Abide in Me, for apart from Me ye can do”-and are-“nothing.” Let us remember that the loftier the top of the tree and the wider the spread of its shelves of dark foliage, if it is steadfastly to stand, unmoved by the loud winds when they call, the deeper must its roots strike into the firm earth. If your life is to be a fair temple-palace worthy of God’s dwelling in, if it is to be impregnable to assault, there must be quite as much masonry underground as above, as is the case in great old buildings and palaces. And such a life must be a life “hid with Christ in God,” then it will be strong. When we strike our roots deep into Him, our branch also shall not wither, and our leaf shall be green, and all that we do shall prosper. The wicked are not so. They are like chaff-

rootless, fruitless, lifeless, which the wind driveth away.

IV. Lastly, the God-bedewed soul, beautiful, pure, strong, will bear fruit.

That is the last lesson from these metaphors. “His beauty shall be as the olive-tree.” Anybody that has ever seen a grove of olives knows that their beauty is not such as strikes the eye. If it was not for the blue sky overhead, that rays down glorifying light, they would not be much to look at or talk about. The tree has a gnarled, grotesque trunk which divides into insignificant branches, bearing leaves mean in shape, harsh in texture, with a silvery underside. It gives but a quivering shade and has no massiveness, nor symmetry. Ay! but there are olives on the branches. And so the beauty of the humble tree is in what it grows for man’s good. After all, it is the outcome in fruitfulness which is the main thing about us. God’s meaning, in all His gifts of dew, and beauty, and purity, and strength, is that we should be of some use in the world.

The olive is crushed into oil, and the oil is used for smoothing and suppling joints and flesh, for nourishing and sustaining the body as food, for illuminating darkness as oil in the lamp. And these three things are the three things for which we Christian people have received all our dew, and all our beauty, and all our strength-that we may give other people light, that we may be the means of conveying to other people nourishment, that we may move gently in the world as lubricating, sweetening, soothing influences, and not irritating and provoking, and leading to strife and alienation. The question after all is, Does anybody gather fruit off us, and would anybody call us ‘trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified’? That is lesson four from this text. May we all open our hearts for the dew from heaven, and then use it to produce in ourselves beauty, purity, strength, and fruitfulness!

6 his young shoots will grow.His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.

GILL, "His branches shall spread,.... As the well rooted cedars in Lebanon; see Num_24:6. This respects the propagation of the church of God, and the interest of Christ in the world, as in the first times of the Gospel, and will be in the latter day; when the Gospel shall be spread everywhere; churches set up in all places; the Jews converted, and the fulness of the Gentiles brought in; and these like spreading branches, and fruitful boughs, abounding in grace and good works. The Targum is,

"they shall multiply or increase with sons and daughters:''

and his beauty shall be as the olive tree; which lies in its being laden with excellent fruit, and being always green; for which reasons particular believers, and the whole church of God, are sometimes compared to it; having that fatness in them, with which God and men are honoured; and that true grace, which is signified by oil in the vessels of the heart, and is called the unction and anointing of the Holy One; and they persevering in this grace to the end, which is evergreen and durable, immortal, and dies not; see Psa_52:8. Here again it may be observed, that the trees of Lebanon, though they had strong roots, and spreading branches, yet were not fruitful; and the deficiency of that metaphor is supplied by this of the olive:

and his smell as Lebanon; as the trees of Lebanon, the cedars, trees of frankincense, and other odoriferous trees and plants, which grew upon it; here what is wanting in the olive tree, whose smell is not so grateful, is made up by this simile of the trees of Lebanon, and the smell of them; which may denote the sweet and grateful smell the Lord smells in his people, or his gracious acceptance of them in Christ; whose garments of righteousness and salvation on them are as the smell of Lebanon; and whose graces in them exceed the smell of all spices; and whose prayers are odours, and their praises a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour to God; see Son_4:10. Some render it, "as incense" (d) called "lebonah" in Hebrew, from whence the mountain is thought to have its name, frankincense growing upon it. So the Targum,

"and their smell as the smell of the incense of spices.''

Jarchi says, as the sanctuary, which was made of the cedars of Lebanon.

HE�RY, "They shall be graceful and acceptable both to God and man. Grace is the amiable thing, and makes those that have it truly amiable. They are here compared to such trees as are pleasant, [1.] To the sight: His beauty shall be as the olive-tree, which is always green. The Lord called thy name a green olive-tree, Jer_11:16. Ordinances are the beauty of the church, and in them it is, and shall be, ever green. Holiness is the beauty of a soul; when those that believe with the heart make profession with the mouth, and justify and adorn that profession with an agreeable conversation, then their beauty is as the olive-tree, Psa_52:8. It is a promise to the trees of righteousness that their leaf shall not wither. [2.] To the smell: His smell shall be as Lebanon (Hos_14:6) and his scent as the wine of Lebanon,Hos_14:7. This was the praise of their father Jacob, The smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed, Gen_27:27. The church is compared to a garden of spices (Son_4:12, Son_4:14), which all her garments smell of. True believers are acceptable to God and approved of men. God smells a sweet savour from their spiritual sacrifices (Gen_8:21), and they are accepted of the multitude of the brethren. Grace is the perfume of the soul, the perfume of the name, makes it like a precious ointment, Ecc_7:1. The memorial thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon (so the margin reads it), not only their reviving comforts now, but their surviving honours when they are gone, shall be as the wine of Lebanon, that has a delicate flavour. Flourishing churches have their faith spoken of throughout the world(Rom_1:8) and leave their name to be remembered (Psa_45:17); and the memory offlourishing saints is blessed, and shall be so, as theirs who by faith obtained a good report.

JAMISO�, "branches — shoots, or suckers.

beauty ... as the olive — which never loses its verdure. One plant is not enough to express the graces of God’s elect people. The lily depicts its lovely growth; but as it wants duration and firmness, the deeply rooted cedars of Lebanon are added; these, however, are fruitless, therefore the fruitful, peace-bearing, fragrant, ever green olive is added.

smell as Lebanon — which exhaled from it the fragrance of odoriferous trees and flowers. So Israel’s name shall be in good savor with all (Gen_27:27; Son_4:11).

CALVI�, "Verse 6The Prophet goes on with the same subject, but joins the beginning of the first verse with the second clause of the former verse. He had said that the roots of the people would be deep when God should restore them. �ow he adds, that their branches shall go on He mentions here “to go on” metaphorically for extending far; for branches of trees seem to go on, when they extend and spread themselves far and wide. His branches, then, shall go on; which means, that a tree, after striking roots, remains not in the same state, but grows and spreads forth its branches in all directions. In short, God promises a daily increase to his blessing, after he has once begun to show himself bountiful to the people of Israel. “I will then be bountiful at the beginning; and further, he says, my blessing shall, as time passes, increase and be multiplied.”

He afterwards adds, His comeliness shall be like the olive The Prophet accumulates similitudes, that he might more fully confirm the people. And we certainly see that the minds of men grow faint, when they look for prosperity from this or that quarter; for there is hardly one in a hundred who is fully persuaded that when God is propitious, all things turn out well and happily: for men regard not the love of God when they wish things to be well with them, but wander here and there through the whole world; and now they seek prosperity from themselves, then from the earth, now from the air, then from the sea. Since then it is so difficult to impress this truth fully on the hearts of men, that the love of God is the fountain of all blessings, the Prophet has collected together a number of similitudes to confirm what he teaches. Then his comeliness, he says, shall be like the olive; and further, his fragrance like that of Libanus: and odoriferous trees, we know, grow on Mount Libanus. But by these various similes the Prophet shows that the state of the people would be prosperous and happy as soon as they should be received by God into favour. He afterwards adds, the dwellers under his shadow shall return; but I defer this till to-morrow.

COFFMA�, ""His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon."

"The loveliest of figures are here employed to describe the consequences"[16] of union with the Lord Jesus Christ in the �ew Covenant. God's goodness will not merely forgive and restore, but also beautify .and make fruitful and fragrant the �eW Israel of God.

TRAPP, "Hosea 14:6 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.

Ver. 6. His branches shall spread] Heb. shall walk, or expatiate; shall reach out, and stretch themselves all abroad: so shall the Church be propagated all the earth over; she shall flourish as the palm tree, which though it have many weights hung on the top, and many snakes hissing at the root, yet it still saith, �ec premor, nec perimor, I am insuperable: "I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever," Psalms 52:8.

And his beauty shall be as the olive tree] That goodly tree, Leviticus 23:40, that retaineth her greenness in the depth of winter; yea, in that universal deluge, �oah’s dove met with an olive leaf. "The Lord hath called thy name," saith the prophet to the Church, Jeremiah 11:16, "a green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit." The cypress is fair, but not fruitful; the fig tree fruitful, but not fair and flourishing. But the olive tree is both fair and fruitful; her fruit also is of singular use to mankind, both for food and medicine and light for the lamp, Exodus 29:20, Leviticus 6:15-16. In one respect it is an emblem of peace, it maketh the face shine, Psalms 104:15; and in the other, it is an emblem of grace and spiritual gifts, 1 John 2:20, of increasing with the increase of God, by the Spirit, and of reigning with him in eternal glory.

And his smell as Lebanon] Whereby is meant the sweet savour of the gospel, which spreadeth itself abroad in the ministry of the word, and in the lives of believers, 2 Corinthians 2:14-15, who besides their continual offering up to God spiritual incense and services in prayers, thanksgivings, alms, and good works, they perfume the very air they breathe upon by their gracious and savoury communication, Ephesians 4:29; yea, the very company they come into: as a man cannot come where sweet spices and odours are beaten to the smell but he shall carry away the scent thereof in his clothes. When the Spirit of Christ blows upon them, and grace is poured into their hearts, then their lips drop sweet-smelling myrrh, Song of Solomon 5:13; Song of Solomon 4:16, then also their "good name is better than a precious ointment," Ecclesiastes 7:1; see the note there; when the wicked stink alive and dead, �ihil nisi foetidum et foedum exhalavit (Rivet.).

PETT, "Verse 6‘His branches will spread, and his beauty will be as the olive-tree, and his odour as Lebanon.’As a result of their strong roots their branches will spread, the sign of a healthy tree, and they will have the beauty of an olive tree, one of the most desirable of trees in Israelite eyes (compare Jeremiah 11:16; Psalms 52:8), whilst the odour that issued forth from them would be ‘as Lebanon’ (compare Song of Solomon 2:14; Song of Solomon 4:10-11). �o one who had visited Lebanon could forget the beautiful aroma of the trees. It is an idealistic picture.

7 People will dwell again in his shade; they will flourish like the grain,they will blossom like the vine— Israel’s fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.

BAR�ES, "They that dwell under his shadow - that is, the shadow of the restored Israel, who had just been described under the image of a magnificent tree uniting in itself all perfections. : “They that are under the shadow of the Church are together under the shadow of Christ the Head thereof, and also of God the Father.” The Jews, of old, explained it , “they shall dwell under the shadow of their Messias.” These, he says, “shall return,” i. e., they shall turn to be quite other than they had been, even back to Him, to whom they belonged, whose creatures they were, God. “They shall revive as the corn.” The words may be differently rendered, in the same general meaning. The simple words, “They shall revive” (literally, “give life” to, or “preserve in life,”) “corn,” have been filled up differently. Some of old, (from where ours has been taken) understood it, “they shall revive” themselves, and so, “shall live” , and that either “as corn,” (as it is said, “shall grow as the vine”); or “by corn” which is also very natural, since “bread is the staff of life,” and our spiritual Bread is the support of our spiritual life.

Or lastly, (of which the grammar is easier, yet the idiom less natural) it as been rendered “they shall give life to corn,” make corn to live, by cultivating it. In all ways the sense is perfect. If we render, “shall revive” as “corn,” it means, being, as it were, dead, they shall net only live again with renewed life, but shall even increase. Corn first dies in its outward form, and so is multiplied; the fruit-bearing branches of the vine are pruned and cut, and so they bear richer fruit. So through suffering, chastisement, or the heavy hand of God or man, the Church, being purified, yields more abundant fruits of grace. Or if rendered, “shall make corn to grow,” since the prophet, all around, is under figures of God’s workings in nature, speaking of His workings of grace, then it is the same image, as when our Lord speaks of those “who receive the seed in an honest and true heart and bring forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” Mat_13:23. Or if we were to render, “shall produce life through wheat,” what were this, but that seed-corn, which, for us and for our salvation, was sown in the earth, and died, and “brought forth much fruit;” the Bread of life, of which our Lord says, “I am the Bread of life, whoso eateth of this bread shall live forever, and the bread which I will give is My Flesh, which I

will give for the life of the world?” Joh_6:48, Joh_6:51.

The scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon - The grapes of Lebanon have been of the size of plums; its wine has been spoken of as the best in the East or even in the world . Formerly Israel was as a luxuriant, but empty, vine, bringing forth no fruit to God Hos_10:1. God “looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes” Isa_5:2. Now its glory and luxuriance should not hinder its bearing fruit, and “that,” the noblest of its kind. Rich and fragrant is the odor of graces, the inspiration of the Spirit of God, and not fleeting, but abiding.

CLARKE, "They that dwell under his shadow shall return - The Targum is curious: “They shall be gathered together from the midst of their captivity; they shall dwell under the shadow of his Christ, and the dead shall revive.”

They shall revive as the corn - The justness and beauty of this metaphor is not generally perceived. After the corn has been a short time above the earth, in a single spike, the blades begin to separate, and the stalk to spring out of the center. The side leaves turn back to make way for the protruding stalk; and fall bending down to the earth, assuming a withered appearance, though still attached to the plant. To look at the corn in this state, no one, unacquainted with the circumstance, could entertain any sanguine hope of a copious harvest. In a short time other leaves spring out; the former freshen, and begin to stand erect; and the whole seems to revive from a vegetative death. This is the circumstance to which the prophet refers “they shall revive as the corn.” Of this a prudent and profitable use may be made.

1. When a soul is first “drawn by the cords of love,” Hos_11:4, every thing seems to it promising, comfortable, and delightful, like the corn in its first state.

2. But when the Spirit of judgment brings to the light of conscience the hidden things of iniquity, and repentance is deepened into contrition, the broken and the contrite heart groans, and thinks that all is lost; deep distress takes place, and discouragement succeeds discouragement. This answers to the corn in its second state.

3. By and by the pardon comes, and God’s love is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost; every hope is revived and realized, the full corn in the ear becomes manifest; and this answers to the corn in its third state. “They shall revive as the corn.” Glory be to God for his unspeakable gift!

GILL, "They that dwell under his shadow shall return,.... Either under the shadow of Lebanon, as Japhet and Jarchi; the shadow of that mountain, or of the trees that grew upon it; or under the shadow of Israel, the church, to which young converts have recourse, and under which they sit with pleasure; or rather under the shadow of the Lord Israel was called to return unto, and now return, Hos_14:1; as the Israelites will in the latter day. So the Targum,

"and they shall be gathered out of the midst of their captivity, they shall dwell under the shadow of their Messiah;''

thus truly gracious persons sit under the shadow of Christ, who come to themselves, and return unto the Lord; even under the shadow of his word and ordinances, where they

desire to sit, and do sit with delight and pleasure, as well as in the greatest safety; and find it a very refreshing and comfortable shadow to them; even a shadow from the heat of avenging justice, a fiery law, the fiery darts of Satan, and the fury of the world; and, like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, exceeding pleasing and cheering to weary travellers; see Son_2:3 Isa_25:4;

they shall revive as the corn: which first dies, and then is quickened; or which, after a cold nipping winter, at spring revives again: thus do believers under the dews of divine grace, under the shadow of Christ, and the influences of his Spirit: or, "shall revive withcorn" (e); by means of it; by which may be signified the corn of heaven, angels' food, the hidden manna, the Gospel of Christ, and Christ himself, the bread of life; by which the spirits of his people are revived, their souls upheld in life, and their graces quickened; which they find and eat, and it is the joy and rejoicing of their hearts:

and grow as the vine: which, though weak, and needs support, and its wood unprofitable; yet grows and spreads very much, and brings forth rich fruit in clusters: so the saints, though they are weak in themselves, and need divine supports, and when they have done all they can are unprofitable servants; yet through the power of divine grace, which is like the dew, they grow in every grace, and are filled with the blessings of it, and bring forth much fruit to the glory of God:

and the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon; like the wine of those vines which grow on Mount Lebanon, and judged to be the best. On Mount Lebanon, about the midway between the top and the bottom of it, there is now a convent called Canobine, situated in a very pleasant place; and Le Bruyn in his travels relates, that it is preferable to all other places on account of its wines, which are the richest and finest in the world; they are very sweet, of a red colour, and so oily that they stick to the glass. At Lebanon was a city called by the Greeks Ampeloessa, from the excellency of its wine, as Grotius from Pliny (f) observes. Gabriel Sionita (g) assures us, that even to this day the wines of Libanus are in good reputation. Kimchi relates from Asaph, a physician, that the wines of Lebanon, Hermon, and Carmel, and of the mountains of Israel and Jerusalem, and of the mountains of Samaria, and of the mountains of Caphtor Mizraim, were the best of wines, and exceeded all others for scent, taste, and medicine. Japhet interprets it, the smell of their vine afar off was as the wine of Lebanon; and so Kimchi, the smell of the wine of the vine, to which Israel is compared, is like the smell of the wine of Lebanon. This may denote the savouriness of truly converted gracious souls, of their graces, doctrines, life, and conversation. Some choose to render it, "their memory (h)shall be as the wine of Lebanon"; so the Targum interprets it of

"the memory of their goodness;''

the saints obtain a good report through faith, and have a good name, better than precious ointment; their memory is blessed; they, are had in everlasting remembrance; the memory of them is not only dear to the people of God in after ages; but the memory of their persons, and of their works, is exceeding grateful to God and Christ.

HE�RY, "They shall be fruitful and useful. The church is compared here to the vine and the olive, which brings forth useful fruits, to the honour of God and man. Nay, the very shadow of the church shall be agreeable (Hos_14:7): Those that dwell under his shadow shall return - under God's shadow (so some), under the shadow of the Messias,

so the Chaldee. Believers dwell under God's shadow (Psa_91:1), and there they are and may be safe and easy. But it is rather under the shadow of Israel, under the shadow of the church. Note, God's promises pertain to those, and those only, that dwell under the church's shadow, that attend on God's ordinances and adhere to his people, not those that flee to that shadow only for shelter in a hot gleam, but those that dwell under it.Psa_27:4. We may apply it to particular believers; when a man is effectually brought home to God all that dwell under his shadow - children, servants, subjects, friends. This day has salvation come to this house. Those that dwell under the shadow of the church shall return; their drooping spirits shall return, and they shall be refreshed and comforted. He restores my soul, Psa_23:3. They shall revive as the corn, which, when it is sown, dies first, and then revives, and brings forth much fruit, Joh_12:24. It is promised that God's people shall be blessings to the world, as corn and wine are. And a very great and valuable mercy it is to be serviceable to our generation. Comfort and honour attend it.

JAMISO�, "They that used to dwell under Israel’s shadow (but who shall have been forced to leave it), shall return, that is, be restored (Eze_35:9). Others take “Hisshadow” to mean Jehovah’s (compare Psa_17:8; Psa_91:1; Isa_4:6), which Hos_14:1, Hos_14:2 (“return unto the Lord,” etc.) favor. But the “his” in Hos_14:6 refers to Israel, and therefore must refer to the same here.

revive as ... corn — As the corn long buried in the earth springs up, with an abundant produce, so shall they revive from their calamities, with a great increase of offspring (compare Joh_12:24).

scent thereof — that is, Israel’s fame. Compare Hos_14:6, “His smell as Lebanon”; Son_1:3 : “Thy name is as ointment poured forth.” The Septuagint favors the Margin,“memorial.”

as the wine of Lebanon — which was most celebrated for its aroma, flavor, and medicinal restorative properties.

CALVI�, "Verse 7The dwellers under his shadow shall return, (so it is literally;) they shall revive themselves with corn, (or, revive as the corn;) they shall grow as the vine: his odour shall be as the wine of Libanus. The Prophet proceeds with the same subject, that God would show himself bountiful to his people, that it might plainly appear from their different state that they had before suffered just punishment. And he says, The dwellers under his shadow shall return. But the verb ישבו, ishibu, in this place rightly means, “to be refreshed,” as in Psalms 19:7; where the law of God is spoken of as משיבת, meshibet, converting the soul; which signifies the same as refreshing or restoring the soul. So the Prophet intimates, that after the Israelites shall begin to flourish again, their shadow would be vivifying, such as would restore and refresh those lying under it. He calls the “dwellers under his shadow”, all those who belong to the people; and compares the common state of the people of Israel to a tree full of leaves, which extends its branches far and wide, so that they who flee under its shadow are defended from the heat of the sun. We now see the design of this metaphor, and what the Prophet means by the verb ישבו, ishibu

He afterwards adds They shall vivify themselves with corn, or, revive as corn. If we

read the word in the nominative case, the preposition כ, caph, is to be understood. The ablative case is more approved by some, “They shall vivify themselves with corn.” But the former sense seems more suitable; for, as I have said yesterday, the Prophet, as he handles a truth difficult to be believed, does on this account accumulate similitudes, such as serve for confirmation. Hence they shall revive as corn; that is, they shall increase. As from one grain, we know, many stalks proceed; so also, since the prophet speaks of the increase of the people after their restoration to God’s favour, he says that they would grow like corn.

But he adds, They shall germinate as the vine This similitude strengthens what I have just said, that the people are compared both to trees and to corn, and also to vines. And what is said of dwellers ought not to appear strange, for he wished more fully to express how this common benefit would come, that is, to every one. He afterwards adds, His odour shall be as the wine of Libanus; that is, when they shall germinate as the vine, they shall not produce common or sour wine, but the sweetest, such as is made on Mount Libanus, and which is of the best odour. But the Prophet means no other thing than that the Israelites will be happy, and that their condition will be prosperous and joyful, when they shall be converted from their superstitions and other vices, and shall wholly surrender themselves to be governed by God. This is the meaning. Let us now proceed —

COFFMA�, "They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the grain, and blossom as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon."

"This, of course, cannot be applied in any ultimate sense to the restoration of the Jews in the days of Ezra and Zerubbabel, for the subsequent history of the Jews does not bear this description out. This is Hosea's way of expressing God's promise to fulfil the covenant God made with Abraham and Abraham's spiritual posterity (Christians). It is evident that Hosea 14 is entirely Messianic in its "terminus ad quem" (end). It is a prophecy describing the spiritual inheritance that was to come in Christ."[17]

ELLICOTT, "(7) It would be more in accordance with the Hebrew idiom to render, The dwellers under its shadow shall once more cause the corn to grow. The word translated “scent” (margin, “memorial”) should be renown. The form of these promises is derived from the external signs of national prosperity. (Comp. Hosea 12:10.) But corn and wine are throughout the Scriptures the great symbols of spiritual refreshment, and are still the memorials of the supreme love of Him whose body was broken and whose blood was shed for us.

BE�SO�, "Hosea 14:7. They that dwell under his shadow shall return — “�ot only was Israel to regain its former prosperity, but those smaller tribes of people that were connected with Israel, and shared in its depression, which are here described by dwelling under his shadow.” But many versions translate this clause, They shall return and dwell under his shadow. That is, they shall return to their own country, and rest safely under the protection of the Almighty. They shall revive as the corn

— They shall arise out of their calamities: this is properly expressed by reviving as the corn, because the corn is buried, and lies as it were dead in the earth, till, after some time, it springs forth. And grow as the vine — Which in winter seems dead, but yet has life, sap, and a fructifying virtue in it. The reference here is to a vine that had been stripped of its leaves, and afterward flourishes again, recovering its lost verdure. A lively emblem this of the Jewish nation, arising from a state of great depression and affliction, and recovering its former prosperity and dignity. And a still more lively image of the revival and increase of true religion in the church of God, and of the graces and virtues of its members after a time of barrenness and unprofitableness. The scent thereof shall be as the vine of Lebanon — Their wisdom, holiness, and usefulness, their piety and virtue, shall diffuse an agreeable fragrance far and wide, and shall be acceptable both to God and man. Mr. Harmer produces several testimonies in proof of the excellence of the wine of Lebanon above all the wines of that part of the world: and indeed above those which have been most celebrated elsewhere.

TRAPP, "Hosea 14:7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive [as] the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof [shall be] as the wine of Lebanon.

Ver. 7. They that dwell under his shadow shall return] Or, shall sit still, shall be at rest. The Chaldee hath it, They shall dwell in the shadow of his Christ. See a like promise of reconcillation and protection, Isaiah 4:6; Isaiah 25:4, Psalms 35:8. The refuge and refreshment of the Church is wholly from Christ; under the shadow of whose divine grace she resteth in her members, shaded and sheltered under the hollow of his hand, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall, Isaiah 25:4, when indignation is kindled, Isaiah 26:20, and when the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the land for their iniquity; then shall true converts have a chamber of rest, a Pella provided for them; or, at least, be able to sing David’s requiem, return to thy rest, O my soul, hover and cover under God’s wing, run to his name as a tower, and be safe. Why art thou case down? trust in God, trust in an angry God, in a killing God, as Job, believe him upon his bare word; and that against sense, in things invisible; and against reason, in things incredible. This is faith’s triumph, and this is the saint’s safety.

They shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine] The Seventy and Latin render it, They shall live with corn; that is, they shall have great plenty of all things necessary, as Psalms 87:1-7; Psalms 144:13. But the other reading is better; They shall revive as the corn, which suffering much from frost, hail, snow, tempest, lieth for dead, as it were, in winter; but at the return of the sun in springtide reviveth, and yieldeth a great increase, John 12:24, 1 Corinthians 15:36-38. In like sort the vine, when pruned and lopped, spreads again, and is the more fruitful; so those that are viti verae inserti, set into the true vine, though lopped and harrowed with sore and sharp afflictions, yet can truly and triumphantly say, "As dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed," 2 Corinthians 6:9. Their bodies also by death are not so much rotted as refined, and shall be conformed to Christ’s most glorious

body the standard, Philippians 3:21.

And the scent thereof as the wine of Lebanon] Which was noted for the best, as Kimchi proves, and Athenaeus confirmeth. Among the Jews at this day the women, when they speak of their dead husbands, say, His scent, or his memorial, is as the wine of Lebanon.

PETT, "‘Those who dwell under his shadow will return, they will revive as the grain, and blossom as the vine, their taste (name/memorial) will be as the wine of Lebanon.’And those who dwell under the shadow of the new Israel’s spreading branches will return to YHWH, (or return from exile, compare Hosea 11:11), and there they will revive like the grain (recalling the sudden coming to life of the greenery when the rains fell after the hot season, a transformation remarkable in its suddenness), and blossom as the vine (the blossoming of the vine promising a good harvest was always greeted with rapture). The picture is one of abundant fruitfulness and joy. ‘Their taste (literally ‘name/memorial’; compare Hosea 12:5) will be as the wine of Lebanon’. �o one ever forgot the taste of Lebanese wine, and the taste of Israel will be as sumptuous.

Some see ‘under his shadow’ as referring to YHWH (compare Song of Solomon 2:3), but ‘his’ in context clearly refers to Israel, and the distinction between Israel as a nation and the Israelites as a people was already contained in the picture found in chapters 1-2 of Israel as the mother and the Israelites as her children. The central idea is of all returning to the covenant into which Israel as a whole have now re-entered.

8 Ephraim, what more have I[c] to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him.I am like a flourishing juniper; your fruitfulness comes from me.”

BAR�ES, "Ephraim shall say, what have I to do anymore with idols? - So Isaiah fortells, “The idols He shall utterly abolish” Isa_2:18. Aforetime Ephraim said obstinately, in the midst of God’s chastisements; “I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink” Hos_2:5. Now she shall renounce them wholly and forever. This is entire conversion, to part wholly with everything which would dispute the allegiance with God, to cease to look to any created thing or being, for what is the gift of the Creator alone. So the Apostle says, “what concord hath Christ with Belial?” 2Co_6:15. This verse exhibits in few, vivid, words, converted Ephraim speaking with God, and God answering; Ephraim renouncing his sins, and God accepting him; Ephraim glorying in God’s goodness, and God reminding him that he holds all from Himself.

I have heard and observed him - God answers the profession and accepts it. I, (emphatic) “I Myself have heard and have answered,” as He says, “Before they call I will answer” Isa_65:24. Whereas God, before, had hid His face from them, or had “observed” Hos_13:7 them, only as the object of His displeasure, and as ripe for destruction, now He reverses this, and “observes” them, in order to forecome the wishes of their hearts before they are expressed, to watch over them and survey and provide for all their needs. To this, Ephraim exulting in God’s goodness, answers, “I” am “like a green fir tree,” i. e., ever-green, ever-fresh. The “berosh,” (as Jerome, living in Palestine, thought) one of the large genus of the “pine” or “fir,” or (as others translated) the cypress , was a tall stately tree Isa_55:13; in whose branches the stork could make its nest Psa_104:17; its wood precious enough to be employed in the temple (1 Kings 5:22, 24 (1Ki_5:8, 1Ki_5:10, English); 6:15, 34); fine enough to be used in all sorts of musical instruments 2Sa_6:5; strong and pliant enough to be used for spears Nah_2:3.

It was part of the glory of Lebanon Isa_37:24; Isa_60:13. A Greek historian says that Lebanon “was full of cedars and pines and cypresses, of wonderful beauty and size” . A modern traveler says, of “the cypress groves of Lebanon” ; “Each tree is in itself a study for the landscape painter - some, on account of their enormous stems and branches. Would you see trees in all their splendor and beauty, then enter these wild groves, that have never been touched by the pruning knife of art.” This tree, in its majestic beauty, tenacity of life, and undying verdure, winter and summer, through the perpetual supply of sap, pictures the continual life of the soul through the unbroken supply of the grace of God. Created beauty must, at best, be but a faint image of the beauty of the soul in grace, for this is from the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit.

From Me is thy fruit found - Neither the pine nor the cypress bear any fruit, useful for food. It is probable then that here too the prophet fills out one image by another and says that restored Israel, the Church of God, or the soul in grace, should not only have beauty and majesty, but what is not, in the way of nature, found united therewith, fruitfulness also. From Me is thy fruit found; as our Lord says, “I am the vine, ye are the branches” Joh_15:5. Human nature, by itself, can as little bear fruit well-pleasing to God, as the pine or cypress can bear fruit for human use. As it were a miracle in nature, were these trees to bring forth such fruit, so, for man to bring forth fruits of grace, is a miracle of grace. The presence of works of grace attests the immediate working of God the Holy Spirit, as much as any miracle in nature.

CLARKE, "What have I to do any more with idols? - The conversion of Ephraim is now as complete as if was sincere. God hears and observes this.

I am like a green fir tree - Perhaps these words should be joined to the preceding,

as Newcome has done, and be a part of God’s speech to Ephraim. “I have heard him; and I have seen him as a flourishing fir tree.” He is become strong and vigorous; and from his present appearance of healthiness, his future increase and prosperity may be safely anticipated.

From me is thy fruit found - All thy goodness springs from the principle of grace which I have planted in thy soul; for as the earth cannot bring forth fruit without the blessing of God, sending the dews and rains, with the genial rays of the sun, so neither can the soul of man, even of the most pious, bear fruit, without a continual influence from the Most High. Without the former, neither grass could grow for cattle, nor corn for the service of man; without the latter, no seeds of righteousness could take root, no stalk of promise could grow, no fruit of grace could be produced. And the unclean spirit, which was cast out, would soon return; and, finding his former house empty, swept, and garnished, would re-enter with seven demons of greater power and worse influence; and the latter end of that man would be worse than the first. Reader, ever consider that all thy good must be derived from God; and all that good must be preserved in thee by his continued influence of light, love, and power upon thy soul.

GILL, "Ephraim shall say, what have I to do any more with idols?.... This is to be understood, not of apostate Ephraim, as in the times of the prophet, who was so wedded and glued to the idols, that there was no hope of getting him from them; and therefore is bid to let him alone, Hos_4:17; but of Ephraim Israel returning to God at his call, under the influence of his grace, in the latter day, Hos_14:1. Idols are the same with the works of their hands, Hos_14:3; and to be interpreted, not of graven or molten images, to the worship of which the Jews have not been addicted since their captivity to this day; see Hos_3:4; but of the idols of their hearts, their impiety, their unbelief, their rejection of the Messiah, which, at the time of their conversion, they will loath, abhor, and mourn over; likewise the traditions of their elders, they are now zealous and tenacious of, and prefer even to the written word; but will now relinquish them, and embrace the Gospel of Christ; as well as the idol of their own righteousness they have always endeavoured to establish; but shall now renounce, and receive Christ as the Lord their righteousness. The like to this is to be found in common in all truly penitent and converted sinners; who, being made sensible of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, detest and abhor it, and declare they will have nothing to do with it; not but that it continues in them, and has to do with them, and they with that; yet not so as to live and walk in it; to yield their members as instruments of it; to serve and obey it as their master; to make provision for it, and to have the course of their lives under the direction and power of it; and so likewise, being convinced of the imperfection and insufficiency of their own righteousness to justify them, they will have nothing to do with that in the business of justification before God, and acceptance with him: now these are the words of the Lord, affirming what Ephraim should say, as Kimchi rightly observes; he promises for him, as he well might, since it is he that gives repentance to Israel, and works in his people principles of grace, and enables them both to will and to do, to make such holy resolutions, and perform them. Some render the words, "O Ephraim, what have I to do" (i)? &c. and take them to be words of God concerning himself, declaring he would have nothing to do with idols, nor suffer them in his service, nor should they; for "what concord hath Christ with Belial?" or "what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?" 2Co_6:15; but the former sense is much best; rather what Schmidt suggests is more agreeable, who, rendering the words in the same way, makes them to be the words of a believing Gentile returning and dwelling under the shadow of Israel; so he interprets

Hos_14:7, and takes this to be the language of such an one throughout. The Targum is,

"they of the house of Israel shall say, what is it to us to serve idols any more?''

I have heard him; says the Lord; Ephraim bemoaning himself, repenting of his sins, and confessing them; his prayers for pardon and acceptance, and the resolutions made by him in the strength of divine grace, Hos_14:2; see Jer_31:18; and this is what his idols he once served could not do, who had ears, but heard not; but the Lord not only heard, but answered, and granted his request. So the Targum,

"I by my Word will receive the prayer of Israel, and will have mercy on him:''

and observed him; looked at him, and on him; with an eye of pity and compassion; with a favourable and propitious look, as the Lord does towards those that are poor, and of a contrite spirit; observed the ways and steps he took in returning to him; marked his tears and humiliations, groans and moans, and took notice of his wants in order to supply them;

I am like a green fir tree: these are the words of the Lord continued; though some take them to be the words of Ephraim; or, as Schmidt, of the Gentile believer, like those of David, Psa_52:8; but they best agree with Christ, who may be compared to such a tree, as he is to many others in Scripture; because a choice one, as he is to his Father, and to all believers, chosen and precious, lovely and beloved; a tall tree, so Christ is highly exalted as Mediator, higher than the kings of the earth, above the angels in heaven, yea, higher than the heavens. The boughs of this tree, as Jarchi and Kimchi observe, bend downward so low as to be laid hold on; Christ, though the high and lofty One, dwells with humble souls, and suffers himself to be laid hold upon by the faith of everyone that comes to him. Pliny says (k), that this tree is of a cheerful aspect, smooth, and scarce any knots upon it; and its leaves so thick that a shower of rain will not pass through it: Christ is most amiable, and altogether lovely to look at in his person and fulness; and he looks in a loving smiling manner upon his people; he is without any knot of sin or corruption in him, as to principle or practice; and is a delightful shade from the wrath of God, or rage of man, from the heat of a fiery law, and the darts of Satan: and as this tree, as here, is ever green, so he is always the same; he ever lives, and his people in him, and by him; his fulness always continues to supply them. Once more, the fir tree is the habitation of the stork, an unclean creature by the law of God; so Christ is the dwelling place of sinners, he receives them, and converses with them, Psa_104:17. The Septuagint version renders it, "as a thick juniper tree": which naturalists say (l) has such a virtue in it, as by the smell to drive away serpents. So the old serpent the devil was drove away by Christ in the wilderness, in the garden, and on the cross; and resisting by faith, holding out his blood and righteousness, causes him to flee from the saints, The Arabic version is, "as the fruitful cypress tree"; which is of a good smell, and its wood very durable; and so may be expressive of the savour of Christ, his righteousness and sacrifice, the graces of his Spirit, and of his duration. Some take this to be a promise that Ephraim should be as a green fir tree, so Aben Ezra; with which agrees the Targum,

"I by my word will make him as the beautiful fir tree;''

and to which sometimes the saints are compared; see Isa_41:19; and this being a tree that bears no fruit, it follows, to make up that defect in the metaphor,

from me is thy fruit found; from Christ are all the spiritual blessings of grace, peace, pardon, righteousness, adoption, a right and meetness for eternal life, and that itself; all the fruits and graces of the Spirit, as faith, hope, love, &c. and all good works, which spring from union with him, are done in his strength, and influenced by his grace and example; see Phi_1:1

HE�RY, "Let us now hear the conclusion of the whole matter.

I. Concerning Ephraim; he is spoken of and spoken to, Hos_14:8. Here we have,

1. His repentance and reformation: Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? As some read it, God here reasons and argues with him, why he should renounce idolatry: “O Ephraim! what to me and idols? What concord or agreement can there be between me and idols? What communion between light and darkness, between Christ and Belial? 2Co_6:14, 2Co_6:15. Therefore thou must break off thy league with them if thou wilt come into covenant with me.” As we read it, God promises to bring Ephraim and keep him to this: Ephraim shall say, God will put it into his heart to say it, What have I to do any more with idols? He has promised (Hos_14:3) not to say any more to the works of his hands, You are my gods. But God's promises to us are much more our security and our strength for the mortifying of sin than our promises to God; and therefore God himself is here surety for his servant to good, will put in into his heart and into his mouth. And, whatever good we say or do at any time, it is he that works it in us. Ephraim had solemnly engaged not to call his idols his gods; but God here engages further for him that he shall resolve to have no more to do with them. He shall abolish them, he shall abandon them, and that with the utmost detestation; for it is necessary not only that in our lives we be turned from sin, but that in our hearts we be turned against sin. See here, (1.) The power of divine grace. Ephraim had been joined to his idols (Hos_4:17), was so fond of them that one would have thought he could never fall out with them; and yet God will work such a change in him that he shall loathe them as much as ever he loved them. (2.) See the benefit of sanctified afflictions. Ephraim had smarted for his idolatry; it had brought one judgment after another upon him, and this at length is the fruit, even the taking away of his sin, Isa_27:9. (3.) See the nature of repentance; it is a firm and fixed resolution to have no more to do with sin. This is the language of the penitent: “I am ashamed that ever I had to do with sin; but I have had enough of it; I hate it, and by the grace of God I will never have any thing to do with it again, no, not with the occasions of it.” Thou shalt say to thy idol, Get thee hence (Isa_30:22), shalt say to the tempter, Get thee behind me, Satan.

2. The gracious notice God is pleased to take of it: I have heard him, and observed him. I have heard, and will look upon him; so some read it. Note, The God of heaven takes cognizance of the penitent reflections and resolutions of returning sinners. He expects and desires the repentance of sinners, because he has no pleasure in their ruin. He looks upon men (Job_33:27), hearkens and hears, Jer_8:6. And, if there be any disposition to repent, he is well pleased with it. When Ephraim bemoans himself before God, he is a dear son, he is a pleasant child, Jer_31:20. He meets penitents with mercy, as the father of the prodigal met his returning son. God observed Ephraim, to see whether he would bring forth fruits meet for this profession of repentance that he made, and whether he would continue in this good mind. He observed him to do him good, and comfort him, according to the exigencies of his case.

3. The mercy of God designed for him, in order to his comfort and perseverance in his resolutions; still God will be all in all to him. Before, Israel was compared to a tree, now God compares himself to one. He will be to his people, (1.) As the branches of a tree: “I am like a green fir-tree, and will be so to thee.” The fir-trees, in those countries, were

exceedingly large and thick, and a shelter against sun and rain. God will be to all true converts both a delight and a defence; under his protection and influence they shall both dwell in safety and dwell in ease. He with be either a sun and a shield or a shade and a shield, according as their case requires. They shall sit down under his shadow with delight, Son_2:3. He will be so all weathers, Isa_4:6. (2.) As the root of a tree: From me is thy fruit found, which may be understood either of the fruit brought forth to us (to him we owe all our comforts) or of the fruit brought forth by us - from him we receive grace and strength to enable us to do our duty. Whatever fruits of righteousness we brought forth, all the praise of them is due to God; for he works in us both to will and to do that which is good.

JAMISO�, "Ephraim shall say - being brought to penitence by God’s goodness, and confessing and abhorring his past madness.

I have heard ... and observed him — I Jehovah have answered and regarded him with favor; the opposite of God’s “hiding His face from” one (Deu_31:17). It is the experience of God’s favor, in contrast to God’s wrath heretofore, that leads Ephraim to abhor his past idolatry. Jehovah heard and answered: whereas the idols, as Ephraim now sees, could not hear, much less answer.

I am ... a green fir — or cypress; ever green, winter and summer alike; the leaves not falling off in winter.

From me is thy fruit found — “From Me,” as the root. Thou needest go no farther than Me for the supply of all thy wants; not merely the protection implied by the shadowof the cypress, but that which the cypress has not, namely, fruit, all spiritual and temporal blessings. It may be also implied, that whatever spiritual graces Ephraim seeks for or may have, are not of themselves, but of God (Psa_1:3; Joh_15:4, Joh_15:5, Joh_15:8; Jam_1:17). God’s promises to us are more our security for mortifying sin than our promises to God (Isa_27:9).

CALVI�, "Verse 8The Prophet again introduces the Israelites speaking as before, that they would deplore their blindness and folly, and renounce in future their superstitions. The confession then which we have before noticed is here repeated; and it is a testimony of true repentance when men, being ashamed, are displeased with themselves on account of their sins, and apply their minds to God’s service, and detest their whole former life. To this subject belongs what the Prophet now says. It is a concise discourse; but yet its brevity contains nothing obscure. Ephraim, he says, What have I to do with idols? There is indeed a verb understood, ‘Ephraim “shall say”, What have I to do with idols?’ But still it is evident enough what the Prophet means. There is then in these words, as I have said, a sincere confession; for the ten tribes express their detestation of their folly, that they had alienated themselves from the true God, and became entangled in false and abominable superstitions: hence they say, What have we to do with idols? and when they add, any more, they confess that their former life had been corrupt and vicious: at the same time they announce their own repentance, when they say that they would have nothing more to do with fictitious gods.

The reason follows, because God will hear and look on Israel, so as to become to him

a shady tree. Some so explain this, as though God promised to be propitious to Israel after they had manifested their repentance. But they pervert the sense of the Prophet; for, on the contrary, he says, that after the Israelites shall perceive, and find even by the effect, that God is propitious to them, they will then say, “How foolish and mad we were, while we followed idols? It is now then time that our souls should recumb on God.” Why? “Because we see that there is nothing better for us than to live under his safeguard and protection; for he hears us, he regards us, he is to us like a shady tree, so that he protects us under his shadow.” We now perceive how these two clauses are connected together; for God shows the reason why Ephraim will renounce his idols because he will perceive that he was miserably deceived as long as he wandered after his idols. How will he perceive this? Because he will see that he is now favoured by the Lord, and that he was before destitute of his help. When God then shall give such a proof to his people, he will at the same time produce this effect, that they will cast away all false confidences, and confess that they were miserable and wretched while they were attached to idols. He therefore says, I have heard and favoured him What is then later in the words of the Prophet goes before; it precedes in order of things this clause, Ephraim shall say, What have I to do with idols?

In saying, I will be as a shady fir-tree, and adding at the same time, From me is thy fruit found, the two similitudes seem not to accord; for, as it is well known, the fir-tree bears no fruit. Why then is fruit mentioned? The answer is that these two similitudes are not connected. For when God compares himself to a fir-tree, he speaks only of protection: and we know that when one seeks a cooling shade, he may find it under a fir-tree; besides, it is always green, as we all know, when leaves fall from other trees; and further, its height and thickness afford a good shadow. The reason, then, why God promises to be like a fir-tree to his people is this, because all who will fly under his shadow shall be preserved from the heat. But the meaning of the second similitude, that God would supply his people with fruit, is different. The Prophet had said before that the Israelites would be like a tree, which fixes its roots deep in the ground. He now transfers the name of a tree to God. Both these things are true; for when God makes us fruitful we are branches set in the best vine; and it is also true, that the whole fruit we have is from him; for all vigour would fail us, except God were to supply us with moisture, and even life itself. We now then see that there is no inconsistency in the words of the Prophet, as the object is different From me then is thy fruit found; as though God said, that the Israelites, if wise, would be content with his favour; for they who seek support from him will be satisfied; because they will find from him fruit sufficiently rich and abundant. We now then understand what is meant. But it follows —

COFFMA�, "Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have answered and will regard him: I am like a green fir-tree; from me is thy fruit found."

It should be noted that God is the speaker in the last part of the verse where a very unusual Biblical comparison extols the Father as the source of fruit and safety. The metaphorical structure of much of this chapter, in which spiritual blessings appear

under the terminology of material and earthly prosperity should not obscure the actual meaning. Butler's quotation from Keil explains it thus:

"The salvation which this promise sets before the people when they shall return to the Lord is indeed depicted according to the circumstances and peculiar views prevailing in the Old Testament, as earthly growth and prosperity; but its real nature is such that it will receive a spiritual fulfillment in those Israelites alone who are brought to belief in Jesus Christ."[18]

ELLICOTT, "(8) It would be better to adopt the slightly different reading indicated by the rendering of the LXX., and translate, As for Ephraim, what has he to do with, &c. Here again, as in Hosea 13:15, the Hebrew for “thy fruit” contains a play on the name Ephraim. I (says Jehovah) am to thee an evergreen tree of life and protection, and from me is thy fruit found.

BE�SO�, "Hosea 14:8. Ephraim shall say, &c. — The words, shall say, are not in the Hebrew. The clause is therefore translated thus by Bishop Horsley, Ephraim! What have I to do any more with idols, “an exultation,” says he, “of Jehovah over idols. Ephraim! even he is returned to me. I have no more contest to carry on with idols. They are completely overthrown. My sole Godhead is confessed.” I have heard him, and observed him — It is I, not his idols, who have heard his petitions and watched over him to preserve him. I am like a green fir-tree — If these be understood as the words of God, the meaning is, It is I, who am ever-existing, and have it in my power to give my people blessings at all times; as the fir is ever green and flourishing, and affords its shelter, not only in the summer, but in the winter too, when all the rest of the trees are stripped of their leaves and can afford no shelter at all. In other words, As a weary traveller finds rest and safety under a green, thick, and flourishing tree, so there are safety and refreshment under the protection of Jehovah. But some understand these as the words of Ephraim, or Israel, acknowledging that he is in a flourishing condition; and then God reminds him in the next words, that his fruitfulness and prosperity are wholly owing to the divine blessing. Thus the church of God, and all the members thereof, how much soever they may abound in the fruits of righteousness, and in the comforts connected therewith, must confess, that from Christ the true and living vine is their fruit found; and they must not fail to give him the glory thereof, remembering, that without him they can do nothing excellent or praiseworthy; nothing that will ultimately promote the glory of God, or their own salvation.

TRAPP, "Hosea 14:8 Ephraim [shall say], What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard [him], and observed him: I [am] like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.

Ver. 8. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do, &c.] Heb. Ephraim, what have I to do, &c. This some make to be the speech of God to Ephraim; as if Ephraim here were the vocative case and God were brought in abhorring the notion of parting stakes with idols, of sharing his glory with another. But because this God never did (for what communion hath light with darkness, Christ with Belial?) and because the

Chaldee Paraphrast, and from him the best interpreters, supply "shall say," I take this latter to be the better translation. Here, then, God promiseth, first, what Ephraim shall do, or rather, what he by his grace will cause him to do; he shall utterly abominate and abandon his idols, whereunto his heart had been joined, or glued, Hosea 4:17; secondly, what he will thereupon do for Ephraim; what special favour he will show him, and what a gracious compensation he will make him: "I have heard him, and observed him," &c. Ephraim, now grown penitent, shall say (see the like ellipsis supplied, Isaiah 5:9), with utmost indignation and aversion, with greatest heat of anger and height of hatred, shall he utter it. See the like 2 Samuel 16:10, 2 Kings 3:13, Matthew 8:29.

What have I to do any more with idols] Or sorrows, or bugs, those Balaam’s blocks, those images and monuments of idolatry, those images of jealousy, that provoke to jealousy, Ezekiel 8:3, those dunghill deities, that can produce no good, hear no prayers, work no deliverance, bring nothing but evil and auguish to us. What, then, should we rather do, than pollute those images that we had perfumed, cast them away with detestation, as a menstruous cloth, and say unto them, Get ye hence? Isaiah 30:22. Then will God soon say, I have heard him thus bemoaning and befooling himself, Jeremiah 31:18. God hath a quick ear in such a case; he hath also an eye open to the supplications of his servants, in all that they call upon him for, as Solomon telleth us, 1 Kings 8:52.

I have observed him] Or fixed mine eyes upon him, with a most vigilant care and critical inspection. It would be wide with God’s Ephraims, and they would want many things, if he should not see as well as hear, if he should not seriously and solicitously consider and care for them, above all that they ask or think, Ephesians 3:20, and without any monitor, aid and accommodate them. He is many times better to them than their prayers; for what reason? "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, as well as his ears are open to their cry," Psalms 34:15. The Vulgate Latin rendereth it, Dirigam eum, I will direct him, as a tutor and guardian doth his pupil, his orphan, see Hosea 14:8. He will also protect him, that nothing may be wanting to his happiness.

I am like a green fir tree] Green all the year about, and of so large branches, and broad leaves thick set, that neither sun nor rain can easily come at the wearied passenger, reposing himself under them. And whereas Ephraim might say, Here is repose, but where shall I have repast? it is added;

In me is thy fruit found] q.d. The fir tree is indeed green and shady, but also barren; it bears no fruit, either ad esum, or ad usum to eat or to use. It boweth itself down to the earth, so that a man may easily lay hold upon the branches, saith Rabbi David and other Hebrews. But what shall he get by that more than a green bower, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat? &c. As an ancient, speaking of Ahab,

describeth him sitting in his ivory palace in Samaria, in the time of the three years’ famine: He had everything else, but wanted bread; so Ephraim here hath shade, but can he live by that? what shall he do for food? He shall not want for that, saith God all-sufficient; for

From me is thy fruit found] Praesto est (so some render it), here it is ready, and mouth meet; yea, satis est (so others render it), it is enough of it, satisfactory, and proportionable to thy necessity. Yea, I would thou shouldest know that what fruit soever thou hast, or shalt bear as an olive or vine, Hosea 14:6-7, it is found in me, proceeds in me; the root of the matter is in me, as Job speaketh in another case. Sine Deo omnis copia est egestas (Bern.). Without God, all plenty is poverty.

SIMEO�, "GOD’S �OTICE OF PE�ITE�TS

Hosea 14:8. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir-tree: from me is thy fruit found.

THE conversion of a sinner is a work of infinite difficulty; no efforts of the creature can accomplish it: none but He who spake the universe into existence, can renew the soul: but when his time is come, the work is done both easily and effectually. As a ship, forsaken by the ebbing tide, can never be dragged along, but is easily put in motion when borne up by the returning waters, so the sinner is immoveable in his iniquities, till the Spirit of God flows in upon him: and then “old things quickly pass away, and, behold, all things become new.” This observation is verified continually before our eyes: persons who have been warned and entreated for many years, and have not only withstood all the most awful and endearing considerations, but have been more and more hardened by the means used to convert them, have at last been turned to God through a secret and invisible influence upon their souls, and have become burning and shining lights in their day and generation. Such were the effects produced on the day of Pentecost, when thousands to whom our blessed Lord had preached in vain, and on whom the most stupendous miracles had wrought no change, were constrained to renounce all their former habits and opinions, and to embrace a new, a spiritual, a despised, and persecuted religion. A similar instance we have in the passage before us. If we look to the account given us of Ephraim in chap. 4:17, we shall find, that he was “joined to idols,” yea, so glued to them, that neither warnings from man, nor judgments from God, could separate him from them; and therefore God said respecting him, “Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone;” it is to no purpose to use any further means for his recovery; he is incorrigible, and irreclaimable. But, behold the change, when once God is pleased to put forth his power! When once he says, “I will heal their backsliding, I will be as the dew to Israel,” “I will manifest my grace and mercy to his soul,” the obdurate heart relents; the abandoned sinner turns from his iniquities, and even with indignation and abhorrence renounces his most beloved lusts; “Ephraim saith, What have I to do any more with idols?” If God therefore have such pity on an impenitent transgressor, we shall not wonder at the gracious declaration which he makes for the comfort of this penitent and returning sinner; “I have heard him, and

observed him: I am like a green fir-tree: from me is thy fruit found.”

In discoursing on these words, we shall be naturally led to shew you,

I. The disposition of the true penitent—

[The unconverted man, though he may never have bowed down to stocks and stones, is an idolater: he “loves and serves the creature more than the Creator.” All indeed do not worship the same idol: one gives his heart to riches, another to honour, another to pleasure; and though all these find a higher place in our affections than we allow to God, yet each person has his favourite idol, to which he is in a more especial manner devoted: but when grace has renewed the heart, then the penitent says with Ephraim of old, “What have I to do anymore with idols?” His disposition is, To renounce all sins in general,—his besetting sin in particular;— and this too with indignation and abhorrence.

He renounces all sins in general.—A person who is not truly penitent may exchange one sin for another; he may exchange lewdness and intemperance for the love of honour and ambition: he may turn from prodigality to avarice; or from indifference and profaneness to Pharisaism and hypocrisy. But he never remits one sin without taking some other in its stead; yea, he frequently puts more into the scale of pride and conceit, than ever he took out of that of sensuality or profaneness. But it is not thus with the true penitent: he has commenced a war against sin in general; he endeavours to attack it in all quarters; he knows that sin is idolatry, in that it is a preference given to the creature above God himself; and therefore, without making any reserves, he determines to extirpate sin, root and branch, if possible, and says, “What have I to do any more with idols?”

But he more particularly devotes to destruction his besetting sin.—The besetting sin of the ten tribes was idolatry: and therefore when Ephraim is brought to repentance, he is represented as fixing his eyes more particularly on that sin. Indeed this was remarkably exemplified in the Jews, after their return from the Babylonish captivity: for though, before their captivity, they could never be kept long together from idolatry, they could not after their return be drawn to it; insomuch, that when it was proposed to set up a statue of Augustus in the Temple, the Jews determined to perish rather than submit to it. �ow every man has some sin which more easily besets him: and it is oftentimes a very difficult matter to find it out, by reason of the various shapes which it assumes, and the deep recesses in which it lurks. But it is a distinguishing mark of the true penitent, that, whatever he imagines to be his besetting sin, he will be more particularly solicitous to mortify and subue it. The hypocrite and self-deceiver will plead for his darling lust; he will make excuses for it; he will cast the blame on his constitution, or his situation in life; he will palliate his guilt, and not endure to be admonished respecting it: but the truly upright soul will be exceeding glad to discover his secret enemy, and will by prayer and all other means labour to bring it into subjection.

�or is this all: he will prosecute his lurking foe with vigilance, and cast him out with

indignation and abhorrence. This is strongly intimated in the text: Ephraim does not merely resolve that he will not have any more to do with idols; but with an holy indignation against them, and an everlasting abhorrence of them, he says, “What have I to do any more with idols?” He determines never to join himself to them again: the folly and wickedness of such conduct appear to him now in such glaring colours, that he cannot endure the thought of ever relapsing into it any more. Thus it is with the true penitent: O! how does he lothe the sins that have led him captive, and the secret sins that have so defiled his conscience! How does he determine, if possible, to withstand the baneful influence of his in-dwelling corruption, and to watch and pray against it! How does he aggravate the guilt of his besetting lust, till he sees it in all its vileness and deformity! How unreasonable does it appear to him to harbour such an enemy in his bosom! How does he mourn because he cannot get rid of it! How desirable does the furnace itself appear, if it may but purify and retine his soul!

Say, Believer, are not these the thoughts of thy heart? Say, thou that weepest, like Mary, at thy Saviour’s feet, dost thou not hate thy sins, and thyself on account of them? Couldst thou but bring forth the lurking foe, and slay him utterly, wouldst thou not rejoice? Is it not thy grief that thou canst not get more complete victory over him? Is it not thy shame that thou art at any time deceived by him? Does it not make thee lothe thyself, to think how ready thou art to favour this enemy, and to be enticed by him before thou art aware? Art thou not often filled with indignation against thyself, to think that thou shouldst ever offend thy God through the solicitations of some base lust or evil principle within thee? Yea, I go further, and ask, Dost thou not hate thyself because thou canst not hate thyself more? I know thy heart vibrates; I know it is in unison; I know there is no discordant string; I know that these must be thy feelings, if thou be upright before God.]

It is with pleasure therefore that I proceed to set before you,

II. The notice which God takes of this disposition—

[It is impossible that there should be the smallest good in our hearts, and God not observe it: there was but “some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel” in the heart of young Abijah, and the Lord noticed it, and remembered him on account of it. The Prophet Jeremiah sets this in a striking point of view: he represents Ephraim [�ote: Chap. 31:18.] as mourning over his sins in secret, and God as listening to him, and at last as breaking out into this soliloquy; “I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus:” then, after repeating the substance of Ephraim’s complaint, he adds, “Is not Ephraim my dear son? is he not a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still; yea, my bowels are troubled for him, I will surely have mercy on him [�ote: Chap. 31:20.].” Exactly thus, in my text, God hears Ephraim saying, “What have I to do any more with idols?” and he adds immediately, “I have heard and observed him;” I have had my eye fixed upon him, though he did not know it; I have attended to every word he has been saying; he has not uttered a sigh, but it has entered my ears; he has not poured forth a groan, but it has pierced my heart; he has not shed a tear, but I have

treasured it up in my vial: he thinks I will not regard him, but I have heard and observed him all the while: there is not a thought of his heart that has escaped my notice; and what is more, I now say respecting him, and respecting all that shall resemble him even to the end of the world, “I am, and will be, to him as a green fir-tree; and of me shall his fruit be found.”

I must here just observe, that the words of my text which are printed in different characters are not in the original, but are supplied by the translators; and that therefore the verse maybe read, and I think should be read, thus; “Ephraim saith, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him and observed him: I will be like a green fir-tree: of me shall thy fruit be found.” The sense is the same indeed either way; only in the latter it is more clear: and according to it we have two blessed promises of God to the penitent and contrite soul, namely, that he will afford him protection, and engage for his perseverance.

First, he promises protection to the repenting sinner, “I will be as a green fir-tree.” The fir-tree affords a remarkably thick shade, which cannot be penetrated either by sun or rain; so that it afforded a safe retreat, either from the rays of the meridian sun, or from the violence of the impending tempest. Conceive then a burthened sinner travelling towards Zion: see him either trembling from an apprehension of Divine judgments, even of that “fire and brimstone, storm and tempest, which God will rain upon the ungodly;” or fainting through the heat of temptation and persecution, What a reviving cordial to his soul is here! Let him come to me, says God; “I will be as a green fir-tree to him;” I will shelter him from the curses of my broken law; I will guard him from the fiery darts of Satan; I will hide him from the assaults of all his enemies; none shall hurt him: I will hide him in the secret of my tabernacle, even in my pavilion, where he shall have not only safety, but all manner of refreshing viands: “he shall sit under my shadow with great delight.” Hear this, ye who desire to renounce your idols; ye who long to be delivered from the attacks of your great adversary, and to find a place of rest unto your souls: to you God says, “Surely I will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence: I will cover thee with my feathers, and under my wings shalt thou trust: my truth shall be thy shield and buckler [�ote: Psalms 91:3-4.].” You know how our blessed Saviour complains of the Jews, that when he would often have gathered them, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, they would not. O! let him not utter the same complaint against you. They indeed would not flee to him, because they would not believe their danger; but you are in danger of keeping from him through a doubt of his ability or willingness to protect you. But, O! flee to him: he is a sure Refuge: only rest under his shadow, and you need not fear: none can ever hurt you, if you be found under the shadow of his wings: he promises that he will be as a green fir-tree to you; and he will fulfil his word unto all that put their trust in him.

The other promise which God here makes to the repenting sinner is, that he himself will engage for his perseverance in the ways of holiness; “Of me shall thy fruit be found.” The penitent no sooner determines to cast his idols to the moles and to the bats, than fears arise in his mind, and he says, “But how shall I do this? Who is

sufficient for these things?” To silence therefore all such doubts as these, God himself undertakes the work; “Be not afraid, sinner;” I will take that work upon myself; “my grace shall be sufficient for thee;” I will furnish thee with strength according to thy day of trial; “Of me shall thy fruit be found:” “I will make thee fruitful in all the fruits of righteousness: the things thou desirest are the fruits of my Spirit; and my Spirit shall produce them in thee.”

Can we conceive a more comforting declaration than this? If the drooping sinner were permitted to dictate what God should say to him, could he devise any thing more calculated to comfort and refresh the soul? My dear brethren, behold your God undertaking for you, not merely to bring you to heaven, (for that would be a small matter, if you were not made holy,) but to deliver you from all your sins. Hear his gracious words, as they are recorded by Ezekiel; “From all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you: a new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will cause you to keep my statutes and my judgments to do them.” Hear again what he says to the same purpose by Jeremiah; “I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not depart from them to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me: yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.” Is it possible for God to express more earnestness in your cause, or a more full determination to preserve you in spite of all your in-dwelling corruptions; or rather, I should say, to deliver you from them? O! lift up your heads, ye drooping penitents, for your redemption draweth nigh: only commit yourselves into the hands of a faithful God and a loving Saviour: there is a fulness of all that you can want treasured up in Jesus; and out of his fulness ye may all receive, grace for grace. He is the Vine, from whom you must receive sap and nourishment continually; “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in him: separate from him ye can do nothing: but if ye abide in him, ye shall bring forth much fruit;” yea, ye may“do all things, through Christ strengthening you.” However inveterate therefore your corruptions be, fear not, but look unto Christ: instead of being terrified, as though they were invincible, let the sight of them remind you what great things the Saviour has undertaken for you: instead of despairing on account of your own weakness, rather learn to glory in it, as the means of displaying your Saviour’s strength. Do not misunderstand me, as though I would have you glory in sin: God forbid! sin is, and ought to be, your shame and aversion: but I say again, your inability to any thing that is good ought not to discourage you, because the Apostle says, “When you are weak, then are you strong:” and therefore, while you lament your sins, you may at the same time “glory in your weakness, that the power of Christ may rest upon you.” Your extremity shall assuredly be the season of God’s interposition: “In the mount of difficulty the Lord shall be seen;” according as it is written in Deuteronomy 32:36. “The Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up or left.”]

Here let us close, with one obvious reflection—

Do ye not see from hence how excellent repentance is?

[Whether it be viewed in its nature or its consequences, surely it is a most inestimable blessing. What can be more desirable than to be delivered from those base lusts and idolatrous affections, which rob us of our happiness, and God of his glory? If we had discarded all our idols, and were determined to have nothing more to do with them, we should have a very heaven upon earth; especially if we found the grace of Christ sufficient for us; as we certainly should do, if we sought it humbly, and depended on it simply. God will never disappoint our expectations which are founded on his promises. If indeed we presume to limit him with respect to the time and manner in which he shall deliver us, we may be disappointed; but if we commit ourselves to him, to carry on his work in the time and manner that he sees fit, we shall never be disappointed: he will assuredly cover our defenceless heads, and make fruitful our withered branches: he will perfect that which concerns us, and fulfil in us all the good pleasure of his goodness; nor will he ever leave us till he has accomplished all the good things which he has spoken concerning us. And is this the nature, is this the consequence, of repentance? Shall every contrite soul have an experience of these things? O that God may grant us all, “repentance unto life, even that repentance which is not to be repented of!” May we thus experience the power and grace of Christ, and find everlasting rest unto our souls!

But let not those whose hearts are yet cleaving to their idols conclude themselves penitent. What repentance has the worldling, who is minding nothing but his earthly business? Surely Mammon is his God; and, till this idol be put away, there is no repentance, no salvation to his soul. �or has the proud, passionate, carnal, worldly-minded professor any pretensions to repentance; for what repentance has he, when he is yet harbouring idols in his heart? �o, professor, thou must be delivered from thine idols; thy besetting sin in particular must be lamented, lothed, and mortified: nor, till this be thine experience, wilt thou have any defence against the impending wrath of God: thou mayest talk of Christ, and have a clear head-knowledge of the truth; but knowledge will not serve instead of repentance: thou must be divorced from thy lusts, thine evil tempers, and every thing else to which thou hast been glued. Christ gave himself to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works; and therefore, if thou wouldst ever dwell under the shadow of God in heaven, see that this fruit be found on thee on earth. God is willing to produce it in you: look therefore to Him; and he will be as the dew unto you; he will heal your backslidings, and love you freely — ——]

PETT, "‘Ephraim (will say), “What have I to do any more with idols? I have answered, and will regard him. I am like a green fir-tree, from me is your fruit found.”The bare word ‘Ephraim’ (it is not ‘O Ephraim’) probably indicates that at least the first phrase is spoken by Ephraim, with ‘Ephraim’ signifying the whole of Israel. But recognising that in the whole of the Old Testament YHWH is never likened to a tree, and certainly not to a green tree, a description which could have resulted in dangerous misinterpretation because ‘green trees’ were notoriously regularly connected with idolatrous worship (‘under every green tree’ - Deuteronomy 12:2;

Isaiah 57:5; Jeremiah 2:20; Jeremiah 3:6; Jeremiah 3:13; Jeremiah 17:2; etc), we are probably to see the whole of the verse as spoken by Ephraim. In it Ephraim rejects idolatry once and for all, and declares that, having ceased to regard idols he has rather ‘answered’ YHWH (responded to Him, compare Hosea 2:15), and will from now on ‘regard’ Him (by obeying the covenant and following the procedures in Hosea 14:2-3). He has thus now become like a green fir tree (the evergreen element indicating permanent loyalty) from whom Israel’s people can ‘find fruit’ (compare Hosea 14:7 for the similar differentiation in context between Israel as a nation and the people), a fruit which being from a fir tree will itself grow into strong trees. The picture can be compared with that of Israel as the blossoming lily and the beautiful olive tree (Hosea 14:5-6). Here Israel is now a green fir tree. This interpretation suitably caps off the prophecy with a declaration by Ephraim/Israel that they are once more the covenant community through whom permanent and self-sustaining life is offered to all. It is therefore a declaration of the triumph of YHWH.

The majority of commentators, however, rather see the reference to the ‘green fir-tree’ as (uniquely) a reference to YHWH, with the implication being that from now on their fruit will be found from Him and not from Baal (even though fir-tree fruit was not one of Baal’s specialities. His supposed expertise was the grain and the oil and the wine).

BI, "Ephraim shall say, what have I to do any more with idols.

Joined to idols

Compare this account of Ephraim with that given in Hos_4:17. How is this surprising Change to he accounted for?

I. A sinner in his natural state is joined to idols. Herein consisteth the essence of man’s apostasy. Something that is not God is the supreme object of his love, and possesseth that place in his heart which is due only to the living and true God. This world, the things of the world, its riches and pleasures and honours, are the great rivals of God which, ever since the fatal apostasy, have usurped the throne of the human heart. This present world, in one shape or other, is loved and served in preference to God by every man, without exception, who hath no other principle of life than what he derived from the first Adam.

II. To separate a sinner from his idols must be the peculiar work of God himself. The natural man may change the object of his devotion; but he will only turn from one idol to another. He stops short of God. All the objects of his pursuit belong to the present state of things. The conversion of a sinner is in Scripture represented as the effect of omnipotent creating power. It is called “a new creation,” a being “born again,” “a resurrection,” a “passing from death to life.” The apostate creature is really dead, in the truest and most important sense of the word.

III. How does God accomplish this work? By the discovery and application of His pardoning mercy and sanctifying grace. Fear is the immediate consequence of guilt, which soon degenerates into hatred, or that enmity against God which is the distinguishing characteristic of the carnal mind. The report of God’s pardoning mercy presents him in a light so suited to the necessities of the apostate creature that, in proportion as it is believed, the sinner is encouraged to look to Him with hope. Then

how powerful must the actual experience of such pardoning mercy be.

IV. These words of Ephraim will be adopted by all upon whom God hath been pleased to confer His pardoning mercy. By this means alone can the sinner be separated from idols. Learn—

1. How to account for that idolatry which is so prevalent in the world.

2. That nothing can avail for the cure of this idolatry which doth not relieve from the guilt of sin and vanquish the tormenting fear of wrath, by representing God in a light wherein we can behold Him with pleasure. 3 The importance and use of faith in Christ. (R. Walker.)

Some of our idols

When the Holy Spirit comes into any heart He drives out the buyers and sellers. If you have received the Spirit you will be crying now in your heart: Lord, take these things hence; what have I to do any more with idols? Some of the idols to be cast away are—

1. Self-righteousness. The largest idol of the human heart—the idol which man loves most and God hates most.

2. Darling sins. Every man has his darling sins. Dash down family idols, and secret idols of your own heart.

3. Unlawful attachments. There is not a more fruitful source of sin and misery than this.

4. Ministers. It is right to love them, but beware of making idols of them.

5. Earthly pleasures. This is a smiling, dazzling idol. Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. Sometimes it is a gross idol.

6. Money. You must not love money. You must be more open-hearted, more open-handed.

7. Fear of man. Grim idol! Many souls has he devoured. His eyes are full of hatred to Christ’s disciples. This keeps some of you from secret prayer, from worshipping God in your family, from going to lay your case before ministers, from openly confessing Christ. (R. M. M’Cheyne.)

Turnings in life

This is a touching delineation of true repentance, not the less applicable to us in our turning to God because it describes the repentance of a nation, not of an individual, or because it was written thousands of years ago. Israel and Judah were at this time in a miserable condition. The form under which the prophet presents the lesson he would teach his people is very curious. He was directed to take a wife; she was faithless to him, and fell lower and lower in infidelity and infamy. In his own distracted home-life the prophet is taught to see a parable of the state of his country. The words of the text are spoken partly by returning and repentant Israel, and partly by God. Ephraim exclaims, “What have I to do any more with idols?” The response of God is, “I have heard him, and observed him.”

1. The recoil and disgust of Ephraim when he remembers his past idolatries. Idolatry

in the Bible is always associated with moral debasement. It is not necessary that the idol should be an image of wood or stone. It may be money, position, a splendid establishment, or aesthetic feeling; it may be senseless parsimony, or drink, or licentiousness. And sooner or later there comes a sense of debasement, a wonder that we could have brought ourselves so low. If we have ever known true repentance, we must have known also that feeling which is of its very essence,—“What have I to do any more with idols” To hate our idol, even though we confess its power over our souls, is at least an advance, the beginning of spiritual life, But by one manly effort to say,—“What have I to do any more with idols?” and to lay our heart’s allegiance and love and reverence before Him who deserves it and asks it, this is repentance or change of mind, this is to pass from death unto life.

2. But that is a tremendous revolution. Such a resolve demands the very highest form of moral courage. The spell of our false gods does not withdraw itself all at once: But God is not unaware of the struggle in which you are engaged. And to returning Ephraim His loving response is, “I have heard him and observed him.” Our warfare is so feeble because we do not believe that God is witnessing and approving and aiding us. It is well to hear Ephraim recognising his own weakness in the words, “I am like a green fir-tree.” “I do not think I am a giant of the forest; I know I am but a slight and delicate sapling.” Then comes the response of God, deepening Ephraim’s humility and trust, “From Me is thy fruit found.” The great spiritual need of our souls is to trust God more perfectly, to lay the full weight of our spiritual being on His promises and His character; not to trust Him a little, and ourselves much, but to say out of the fulness of our hearts, “All my fresh springs are in Thee.” Such trust means strength, not weakness. It is manly; it is truthful; it is self-respecting. (J. A. Jacob, M. D.)

True penitents

I. THE LANGUAGE AND CHARACTER OF TRUE PENITENTS. Godly sorrow for sin is always found when sin is perceived in its pollution and native deformity. The language, “What have I to do any more with idols?” is the language of confession: a sincere acknowledgement of sin committed against God. Unless the sinner confess his sins unto God he cannot entertain the least degree of hope that they will be forgiven. But this sorrow is not that godly sorrow which issues in repentance unto salvation, unless it has respect to Him who was made a sin-offering for us. Godly sorrow is the gift of God. It is the effect of His Spirit brooding on the heart, softening and melting it. A constituent part of true repentance is faith in the Saviour of sinners. It implies also a steadfast determination to break away from idols, to cast them off. The idols of the heart are to be treated as heathen should treat their idols of wood and stone. But this costs us supreme difficulty.

II. God’s disposition towards such as call upon Him in penitential prayer.

1. His attentive observation. The words of this passage depict the notice which God takes of those who have any spark of generous indignation against themselves. The ears of the Almighty are open to the very first words which betoken humiliation and penitence.

2. His favourable mind towards them. He regards them with a placable mind, as well as a favourable eye. If there is any one truth to which we should cling with the greatest tenacity it is surely this, the favourable disposition of God towards returning

penitents.

3. He is a shadow of protection for those who repair to Him in penitence and faith. “I am a green fir-tree.” He will shield and defend them from the fiery darts of Satan, from their own clamorous lusts, and from the depraved examples of the world.

III. Fruit proceeding prom the relation into which the truly penitent are brought with God.

1. What is to be deemed “fruit.” The worth of a tree consists in its bringing forth the fruit which is proper to its nature. The fruit differs according to the kind of the tree. God’s people are called “trees of righteousness.” They bring forth the fruits of the Spirit.

2. This fruit is produced by the grace of God working in those who are in union with Christ.

3. This fruit is found in all who are truly turned to God, truly converted to God. Faith is lifeless and dead if it produce no fruit. There must be life and reality in our religion if we would glorify our Father who is in heaven. (H. J. Hastings, M. A.)

Ephraim forsaking idols

Here are two voices—first, the penitent voice of the returning wanderer, then the welcoming answer of the Father. Here is a wonderful expression of the perfect simplicity of a true return to God. “What have I to do any more with idols?” That is all! No paroxysms of grief, no agonies of repentance, no prescription of so much sorrow, so much grief, for so much sin; no long, tedious process, but, like the finger put upon the key here, the sound yonder. Look at the answer, the echo of this confession which comes from heaven: it is the welcoming voice of the Father, “I hear him, and observe him.” Note how instantaneously that Divine ear, strong enough to hear the grass grow, fine enough to hear the first faint shootings of the new life in a man’s heart, catches the sound that is inaudible to all besides, and as soon as the word comes from the pale penitent lip of Ephraim the answer comes from God. Observation is here used in a good sense: watching as a nurse watches a feeble child. Then comes a singular metaphor. “I am like a green cyprus-tree.” The cyprus is an evergreen. So God means, I am unchanged amidst the changing seasons, unaffected by all the change. To the prophet this tree, with its wealth of continual shadow, was an emblem of an unchanging blessing and protection. There is another possible association in these words—fanciful but beautiful—for which I am indebted to an old Jewish rabbi and commentator. He says a cyprus-tree bends down, and anybody that has seen one knows that its shelves of leafage do droop and come down near to the ground; that a man may lift up his hand and grasp the branches. There is an old legend that the boughs of the tree of life used to droop of themselves to the level of Adam’s hand when he was pure and good. And when he had sinned and fallen they lifted themselves above his reach. This metaphor, then, may hint the condescension of the great loving Father, who stoops down from heaven in order that He may bring Himself within our reach. If you take these three points, unchangeableness, protection, condescension, you exhaust the force of this lovely emblem. And so it all comes to this: the humblest voice of conscious unworthiness and lowly resolve to forsake evil, though it be whispered only in the very depths of the heart, finds its way into the ears of the merciful Father, and brings down the immediate answer, the benediction of His shadowing love and perpetual presence, and the fulness of fruit, which He alone can bestow. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Portraiture of a Christian

The text exhibits the temper of all converted people towards God. Converted men forsake their idols. The Christian knows that everything becomes an idol to a man which occupies more of his thoughts, his time, his care, his desires, and his pursuit than God and His glory. In setting before you the temper and characteristics of a child of God, our attention must be directed before all things to its principles, which is that of universal conformity to the image of Jesus Christ. If it be said that the character of our blessed Lord is too grand and too holy for our imitation, the excuse may be met by saying, that imitation does not mean perfection. It is by the perpetual earnest study of the character of Christ that we are first of all brought to love, and afterwards impelled to imitation. The more we study Christ, the more we must love Him; and the more we love Him, the more we shall assuredly copy His features. The Christian’s temper of heart and mind is, of course, displayed in the two great duties of life—

1. That which concerns his Maker.

2. That which concerns his neighbour.

With the former of these only are we now engaged. In casting away the idols of his heart and life, the Christian, like Ephraim, serves, loves, and acknowledges no other but God. The first thing in the character of the child of God is holy fear. The next is obedience. How many idols are overthrown by obedience! Then comes gratitude, which makes a man seek all occasions of showing love and honour to his benefactor. Then trust. This is ever a peculiar mark of the Christian’s temper towards God. This trust keeps the Christian watching, striving, praying, and expecting. Then comes supreme desire for the glory of God, which over throws the great idol of selfishness. This temper is very necessary to prevent many deceptions of the heart. It is of all things most difficult to keep the motives pure; and without pure motives how barren and contemptible ‘is our abstinence from evil and our practice of good. Purity is the temper of right motives. Purity of heart is the most eminent and distinguished temper in the circuit of the Christian graces. This temper brings with it the love of God. Love is the spring that moves all the wheels. It is that delight in God which makes us choose Him above all things. There is one more characteristic of the child of God—a constant endeavour to draw nigh to Him. For this cause the Christian loves and values the ordinances of religion. He prizes them as gracious means whereby he is brought into that nearer fellowship with God after which he is aspiring. Humility forms the crowning feature in the Christian’s temper towards God. It is the seeing our own proper position before God. (W. Harrison, M. A.)

Ephraim renouncing his idols

The necessity and power of Divine influence to regenerate the heart is a truth in which all Christians will agree who make the Word of God their sole guide. This doctrine receives confirmation from the history of Ephraim. Two things. Ephraim’s abandonment of idols; and God’s reception of him.

I. The renunciation. Here is—

1. The language of confession. The strong aversion he expresses is a virtual admission of his precious attachment. The state of Ephraim in his degeneracy is a

correct picture of the entire family of man in their irreligious condition.

2. The language of detestation. The predominating sin of Israel was the worship of idols. With us the sin which has been most prevalent lies the heaviest on the conscience, and becomes the object of the most unqualified indignation.

3. Ephraim resolved on the abandonment of his idols. There is a noble promptitude in this pious determination.

II. the reception.

1. The Divine attention. “I have heard him.”

2. The Divine observation. “I have observed him:”

3. The Divine protection. “I am like a green fir-tree,” which affords grateful shade and security to the traveller. It conveys the ideas of repose, refreshment, safety.

4. Fruitfulness is provided for. This extends the previous image. Reference probably is to the fruit which the penitent bears after conversion to God. This subject is a check to despondency. No true penitent has cause for despair. (Anon.)

Idols abandoned

1. What men pursue, before conversion, are idols, i.e. things which give trouble.

2. When the grace of the Gospel is received into the heart it divorces the sinner from his sins.

3. The language of a penitent renouncing his sins is most pleasing to God.

4. Converts shall find that happiness in Christ Which idols offered, but gave not.

5. Whatever good we do and enjoy is in and from Jesus Christ.

6. True wisdom is to know and understand God’s Word, in its threatenings and in its promises. (H. Foster.)

Giving up idols

Ephraim does not give up his idols without a reason. He says, I have tried you, and you are vain; I have leaned upon you, and you are broken staves; I have consulted you, and you had no answer; I have looked to you, but you never turned a kind eye upon me. The great apostle says, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols”; the old Scotch version says, “Wee bairns, keep yourselves frae dolls”; the meaning is the same. I like the quaintness of the Scotch version. There is a caressing tenderness in that gruff old tone; listen to it; it is the kind of tone that grows upon the heart. At first it is very singular, and not wholly desirable, but there is in it a latent music; if you say the words over and over again you will come to like them. The time is on the surface; open it, and you find eternity. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)

True repentanc

e:—

I. THE EVIDENCE OF A TRUE REPENT ANCE. Entire renunciation of idolatry. The repentant sinner is led to confess the folly and sin of his empty pursuits (Rom_6:21). Sinful pleasures (1Co_6:9-11). False confidences: e.g., self-righteousness. Unconditional mercy, etc. And to determine to renounce them. This gracious melting: of heart is the Lord’s doing. Jesus is exalted to give repentance (Act_5:31):It is produced here as the blessed fruit of sanctified afflictions. Illus.

Manasseh. Prodigal.

II. The notice which God takes of a repentant sinner. “He listens to his meanings.” (Job_33:27). He watches for his return. His eye is upon the repentant sinner when least he thinks so. He observes him.

III. The gracious encouragement which God gives to him.

1. A promise of security. Shadow from the heat. Shelter from the storm.

2. An assurance of supply. Fruits of comfort derived from God. Fruits of grace produced by God’s help. (John D. Lowe, M. A.)

The pious determination of the true penitent

Whatever we set our affections upon, in preference to God, is an idol; and grace will teach us to renounce it. Every man in an impenitent state seeks his happiness in some forbidden and sinful enjoyment. He is therefore an idolater. We have here—

I. A confession of guilt. “Any more” implies that in the past he had been concerned with idols.

II. A determination to renounce sins. Implied in the language taken form as an interrogation.

III. The determination is a humble one, formed in reliance on God’s heavenly Grace. Reasons for renunciation of sin are—

1. Penitent sees something of the real nature and evil of it.

2. Penitent has had experience of the vanity and unprofitableness of all sinful pleasures and pursuits.

3. Penitent has already experienced some, and expects more of, solid and permanent happiness.

4. A principle of love and gratitude to God in the penitent’s heart cannot but operate to make him abhor and renounce all iniquity.

5. Every true penitent has the strongest reason to express and maintain the most determined disavowal of all iniquity, in consequence of having surrendered himself to God, and in solemn covenant devoted himself to His service. And this is true religion. This is genuine repentance. All that comes short of this is but vanity and deception. (S. Knight, M. A.)

Ephraim and his idols

The statement here is, that Ephraim shall and will go on in abominating idols, be

constant in his former resolution. Under the term “idols” gather—

1. False doctrine, which is the foundation of idolatry.

2. Idols themselves.

3. Idolatry, which they tend to.

4. Idolaters. Idolatry frameth base conceits of God.

Consider the opposition between any representation of God, and God. Because God is a jealous God, He will not give His glory to another. Unconverted persons are prone to idolatry; to set up their own wits and wills, instead of God’s. Some commit this great sin of idolatry by trusting to the outward performances and tasks of religion. Consider God’s hatred unto all sorts of idolaters; for He accounts such to hate Him, and so accordingly punishes them. (R. Sibbes, D. D.)

God corroborates Ephraim’s promise

There are two causes of repentance, one is fear, the other is love. That repentance which owes its existence to fear is to be repented of, but that which originates in love tends to the soul’s salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Repentance which owes its existence to love is distinguished by the infallible effects of a new heart and a right spirit. Penitents, from the effects of redeeming love, endeavour to keep God’s commandments. The truly penitent is never left to the treachery of self-dependence The text is a ratification or corroboration of the terms of the covenant which Israel promises to fulfil. Unless the Almighty confirms our promises and resolves our own determination would be of no avail. We learn the confidence of the truly penitent in God’s mercy. The truly penitent ascribes all to the great First Cause. And the truly penitent loses no time to make a firm stand against his former sins. The words also express that the penitent does not cavil or reason as to the effect his conversion might have upon his worldly prospects. Genuine repentance affords comfort in every condition of life. (Moses Margoliouth, B. A.).

NISBET, "EPHRAIM FORSAKING IDOLS

‘Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have beard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From Me is thy fruit found.’

Hosea 14:8

These are the last words of Hosea’s prophecy. They sum up his whole hopes for his people. They are somewhat difficult of understanding, from the perplexity in which the frequent occurrence of the word ‘I’ involves us. But it is quite clear, I think, that we have in them two speakers: ‘Ephraim’—that is, the personification of the kingdom of Israel—‘shall say, What have I to do any more with idols?’ And then there follows the answer to that word, from another speaker, and that other speaker is God.

Here are two voices—first, the penitent voice of the returning wanderer, then the welcoming answer of the Father. ‘What have I to do any more with idols?’ The nation which is here represented as thus speaking, as the last point and object of the whole prophecy, is described in a former part of this remarkable book as being ‘joined to his

idols.’ And now that strait band and bond that link him to his idols is snapped, and he is set free.

I. We get here, first of all, a wonderful expression of the perfect simplicity of a true return to God.—‘What have I to do any more with idols?’ That is all! No paroxysms of grief, no agonies of repentance, no prescription of so much sorrow, so much grief, for so much sin; no long, tedious process; but, like the finger put upon the key here, the sound yonder.

Heard far away, the nation has only to whisper the resolve, to break away from the evil, and immediately there, in the heavens, the voice is heard.

And then there follows: ‘And the Lord hath made to pass from me the iniquity of my soul.’ Two words—for it is only two words in the original—two words; we pass out of the evil when a man turns to God. ‘What have I to do any more with idols?’

II. Then look at the answer, the echo of this confession which comes from heaven; it is the welcoming voice of the Father, ‘I hear him, and observe him.’ (1) Notice how, instantaneously, that Divine ear, strong enough, according to the old story about the ears of the gods, to hear the grass grow, fine enough to hear the first faint shootings of the new life in a man’s heart, catches the sound that is inaudible to all besides, and as soon as the words come from the pale, penitent lips of Ephraim, the answer comes from God—‘I hear him; and if I hear him, that is all that is necessary. I hear him, and observe him.’

There, of course, observation is used in a good sense. The insecure, uncertain footsteps of the returning child are watched and kept by the gracious Father: ‘I hear him, and I turn My eye upon him.’ The good eye and the good hand of the Lord upon the returning prodigal for good.

And then we come to a very beautiful, although a very singular metaphor: ‘I am like a green cypress tree.’ The singularity of this metaphor has led many people to suppose that it cannot be intended to apply to the Divine nature. But I think there can be no question but that it does, and that it yields a worthy and a very beautiful signification. The cypress tree, for one thing, is an evergreen, unchanged amidst the changing seasons, unaffected by all the change. An everlasting metaphor, ‘the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.’ Our melancholy associations were altogether foreign to the mind and imagination of the prophet. To him this tree, with its wealth of continual shadow, was an emblem of unchanging blessing and protection.

So my text says, ‘I am like a green cypress,’ strong, immutable; a shadow, a protection to all those that come beneath my branches, shielding them from the hot sunshine; keeping them dry in all the tempests and rain of the winter time; spreading a green bough above them in the summer; putting my broad sheaf of leaves between them and the blistering

heat, and so preserving them from outward and from inward dangers. ‘The Lord is thy shade at thy right hand.’

So I think that if you will take these two points—unchangeableness and protection, condescension—you understand the force of this lovely emblem. (2) And then there follows a last truth: ‘From Me is thy fruit found.’ The hard cones of the cypress are not worth calling fruit; there is no fruit on it that anybody can eat; but it has so embodied in itself the virtues of all, and having the shadow of the cypress has the fruit, like that of the grape and the pomegranate.

But all that is not enough. The fruit that we bear in ourselves is not fruit that any man can take pleasure in. The fruit that shall sustain and help us must be the fruit that we gather from the rich branches of that ‘tree that bare all manner of fruits, and bare them every month,’ and whose very leaves were ‘for the healing of the nations.’ Not enough that we should have the productive energy within ourselves; we must feed upon the rich harvest that is provided for us in God.

So it all comes to this, the humblest voice of conscious un-worthiness and lowly resolve to forsake evil, though it be whispered only in the very depths of our heart, finds its way into the the ears of the merciful Father, and brings down the immediate answer, the benediction of His shadowing love and perpetual presence, and the fullness of fruit, which He alone can bestow.

Illustration

‘There is some mistake often made as to what are “idols.” Remember that “idols” are, generally, rather objects of fear than of affection. Almost all heathen deities are worshipped in dread—to avert the evil which they might otherwise do. This is the first intention. Nevertheless, there is a fascination in “an idol,” by which, though feared, it becomes almost a subject of love. So that the thing which we fear, and while we fear, has a fascination over us which is hurtful. An “idol” is anything too lovable. A person who exercised a bad power over you, and whom you feared, and almost you disliked—but to whom you were still strangely attracted, and by whom you were badly bound and enthralled—that would be “an idol.”’

PULPIT, "Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? This is full, final, and for over a renunciation of idolatry on the part of Israel. I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found. This is God's promise, that his eye is fixed on Israel in order to look after him, care for him, and provide for him, and to protect and prosper him; while the figure of a green fir tree is the pledge of shelter and security. But, though the fir tree is evergreen, it is fruitless; and therefore it is added that God will prove the Source of fruitfulness, and supply all that his people shall or can ever need.

9 Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand.The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

BAR�ES, "Who is wise and he shall understand these things? - The prophet says this, not of the words in which he had spoken, but of the substance. He does not mean that his style was obscure, or that he had delivered the message of God in a way difficult to be understood. This would have been to fail of his object. Nor does he mean that human acuteness is the key to the things of God. He means that those only of a certain character, those “wise,” through God, unto God, will understand the things of God. So the Psalmist, having related some of God’s varied chastenings, mercies and judgments, sums up, “Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord” Psa_107:43. So Asaph says that God’s dealings with the good and bad in this life were “too hard” for him to “understand, until” he “went into the sanctuary of God;” then “understood” he “their end” Psa_73:16-17.

In like way Daniel, at the close of his prophecy, sums up the account of a sifting-time, “Many shall be purified and made white and tried, and the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand” Dan_12:10. As these say that the wise alone understand the actual dealings of God with man, so Hosea says, that the wise alone would understand what he had set forth of the mercy and severity of God, of His love for man, His desire to pardon, His unwillingness that any should perish, His longing for our repentance, His store of mercies in Christ, His gifts of grace and His free eternal love, and yet His rejection of all half-service and His final rejection of the impenitent. “Who is wise?” “The word “who” is always taken, not for what is impossible, but for what is difficult.” So Isaiah saith, “Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed?” Isa_53:1.

Few are wise with “the wisdom which is from above;” few understand, because few wish to understand, or seek wisdom from Him who “giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not” Jam_1:5. The question implies also, that God longs that people should

understand to their salvation. He inquires for them, calls to them that they would meditate on His mercies and judgments. As Paul says, “Behold the goodness and severity of God; on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in His goodness. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out” Rom_11:22, Rom_11:33. Unsearchable to intellect and theory; intelligible to faith and for acting on.

And he shall understand these things - (that is, that he may understand). The worldly-wise of that generation, too, doubtless, thought themselves too wise to need to understand them; as the wise after this world counted the Cross of Christ foolishness.

Prudent - Properly “gifted with understanding,” the form of the word expressing, that he was “endowed with” this “understanding,” as a gift from God. And He shall know them. While the wise of this world disbelieve, jeer, scoff at them, in the name of human reason, he who has not the natural quickness of man only, but who is endued with the true wisdom, shall “know” them. So our Lord says, “If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it is of God” Joh_7:17. The word, “wise,” may especially mean him who contemplates these truths and understands them in themselves, yet plainly so as to act upon them; and the word “endued with prudence,” may especially describe such as are gifted with readiness to apply that knowledge to practice, in judgment, discrimination, act . By uniting both, the prophet joins contemplative and practical wisdom, and intensifies the expression of God’s desire that we should be endowed with them.

For the ways of the Lord are right - If in the word, “ways,” the figure is still preserved, the prophet speaks of the “ways,” as “direct and straight;” without a figure, as “just and upright.”

The ways of the Lord - Are, what we, by a like figure, call “the ‘course’ of His providence;” of which Scripture says, “His ways are judgment” Deu_32:4; Dan_4:37; “God, His ways are perfect” Psa_18:30; “the Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works” Psa_145:17; “Thy way is in the sea, and Thy paths in the great waters, and Thy footsteps are not known” Psa_77:19; “lo, these are parts of His ways, but how little a portion is heard of Him, and the thunder of His power who can understand?” Job_26:14; “who hath enjoined Him His way, and who can say, Thou hast wrought iniquity?” Job_36:23. These “ways of God” include His ordering for us, in His eternal wisdom, that course of life, which leads most directly to Himself. They include, then, all God’s commandments, precepts, counsels, His whole moral law, as well as His separate purpose for each of us. In the one way, they are God’s ways toward us; in the other they are God’s ways for us.

The just shall walk in them - God reveals His ways to us, not that we may know them only, but that we may do them. “The end of moral science is not knowledge, but practice,” said the Pagan philosopher . But the life of grace is a life of progress. The word, “way,” implies not continuance only, but advance. He does not say,” they shall “stand” in God’s ways,” but “they shall walk in them.” They shall go on in them “upright, safe, and secure, in “great peace” and with “nothing whereat to stumble” . In God’s ways there is no stumbling block, and they who walk in them, are free from those of which other ways are full. Whereas, out of God’s ways, all paths are tangled, uneven, slippery, devious, full of snares and pitfalls, God maketh His “way straight,” a royal highway, smooth, even, direct unto Himself.

But - (and) the transgressors shall fall therein - Literally, “shall stumble thereon” Psa_119:165. Transgressors, i. e., those who rebel against the law of God, “stumble” in divers manners, not “in,” but “at” the ways of God. They stumble at God Himself, at His All-Holy Being, Three and One; they stumble at His attributes; they

stumble at His providence, they stumble at His acts; they stumble at His interference with them; they stumble at His requirements. They rebel against His commandments, as requiring what they like not; at His prohibitions, as refusing what they like. They stumble at His Wisdom, in ordering His own creation; at His Holiness, in punishing sin; but most of all, they stumble at His Goodness and condescension. They have a greater quarrel with His condescension than with all His other attributes. They have stumbled, and still stumble at God the Son, becoming Man, and taking our flesh in the Virgin’s womb; they stumble at the humility of the Crucifixion; they stumble at His placing His Manhood at the Right Hand of God; they stumble at the simplicity, power and condescension, which He uses in the sacraments; they stumble at His giving us His Flesh to eat; they stumble at His forgiving sins freely, and again and again; they stumble at His making us members of Himself, without waiting for our own wills; they stumble at His condescension in using our own acts, to the attainment of our degree of everlasting glory.

Every attribute, or gift, or revelation of God, which is full of comfort to the believer, becomes in turn an occasion of stumbling to the rebellious. “The things which should have been for his wealth, become to him an occasion of falling. “They cannot attemper their own wishes and ways to the divine law, because, obeying what they themselves affect, “the law of their members,” they stumble at that other law, which leadeth unto life” Psa_69:22. : With this the prophet sums up all the teaching of the seventy years of his ministry. This is the end of all which he had said of the severity and mercy of God, of the Coming of Christ, and of our resurrection in Him. This is to us the end of all; this is thy choice, Christian soul, to walk in God’s ways, or to stumble at them. As in the days when Christ came in the Flesh, so it is now; so it will be to the end. So holy Simeon prophesied, “‘This Child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel’ Luk_2:34; and our Lord said of Himself, ‘For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see, and that they which see might be made blind’ Joh_9:39. And Peter; ‘Unto you which believe He is precious; but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling and rock of offence, to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient’ 1Pe_2:7-8. ‘Christ crucified was unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the Power of God, and the Wisdom of God’ 1Co_1:23-24. The commandment, which’ was ordained ‘to life,’ Paul, when yet unregenerate, ‘found’ to be ‘unto death’ Rom_7:10. : “Pray we then the Eternal Wisdom, that we may be truly wise and understanding, and receive not in vain those many good things which Christ has brought to the race of man. Let us cleave to Him by that ‘faith, which worketh by love;’ let us seek the Good, seek the Just, ‘seek the Lord while He may be found, and call upon Him while He is near.’ Whatever God doeth toward ourselves or others, let us account right; ‘for the ways of the Lord are right,’ and ‘that’ cannot be unjust, which pleaseth the Just. Whatever He teacheth, whatever He commandeth, let us believe without discussion, and embrace most firmly for “that” cannot be false, which the Truth hath taught. Let us walk in His ways;” for Christ Himself is “the Way” unto Himself, “the Life.” : “Look up to heaven; look down to Hell; live for Eternity.” “Weigh a thousand, yea thousands of years against eternity what dost thou, weighing a finite, how vast soever, against Infinity.”

CLARKE, "Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? - What things? Those which relate to the backslidings, iniquity, and punishment of Israel; and

to the mercy and kindness of God in their promised restoration. The things which belong to the work of sin in the heart; the things which belong to the work of grace in the soul; and particularly the things mentioned in this wonderful chapter.

Prudent, and he shall know them? - He who endeavors to understand them, who lays his heart to them, such a person shall understand them.

For the ways of the Lord are right - This is the conclusion which the prophet makes from the whole. All God’s conduct, both in the dispensation of justice and mercy, is right: all as it should be, all as it must be; because he is too wise to err, too good to be unkind.

The just shall walk, in them - This is a truth which he will always acknowledge; and illustrate it by a righteous and godly life.

But the transgressors shall fall therein - Howsoever good they might have been before, if they do not consider the necessity of depending upon God; of receiving all their light, life, power, and love from him; ever evidencing that faith which worketh by love; maintaining an obedient conduct, and having respect to all God’s precepts; they shall fall, even in the “way of righteousness.” When still using the Divine ordinances, and associating with God’s people, they shall perish from the way; and be like Ephraim, who once “spoke trembling,” and “was exalted in Israel,” who was “God’s beloved son,” and “called out of Egypt;” yet, by “offending in Baal,” giving way to “the idols of his heart,” fell from God, fell into the hands of his enemies, and became a wretched thrall in a heathen land.

“Whoso is wise, let him understand these things!Whoso is prudent, let him know them!” -

He who is well instructed will make a proper application of what he has here read; will tremble at the threatenings, and embrace the promises, of his God.

The Targum is worthy the most serious attention.

“The ways of the Lord are right, and the just who walk in them shall live for ever; but the ungodly, because they have not walked in them, shall be delivered into hell.”

How instructive, how convincing, how awakening, and yet how consolatory, are the words of this prophecy! Reader, lay them to heart. A godly mind cannot consider them in vain; such shall know them, and know that the ways of the Lord are right.

GILL, "Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent,

and he shall know them?.... Contained in this book, and particularly in this chapter; which expresses so much of the goodness of God and grace of Christ to Israel; though it may be applied to the whole Scripture, and to all the mysteries and doctrines of the Gospel, respecting Christ and his grace; and be a recommendation of these to the consideration of every wise and prudent man; where he will find enough to exercise his wisdom and understanding; though he need not be discouraged in his search and inquiry into them. It suggests as if there were but few such wise persons, and that they are the only wise men that do know and understand these things; and all others are but fools, let them be thought as wise as they will:

for the ways of the Lord are right; straight, plain, even, according to the rules of, justice and equity; there is no unrighteousness in them; none in the ways in which he himself walks; either in his ways and methods of grace, his decrees and purposes, his counsels and covenant; or in his providential dispensations; nor in those he directs others to walk in, the paths of faith and doctrine; or the ways of his commandments:

and the just shall walk in them; such as are, justified by the righteousness of Christ, and have ills grace wrought in them, and live righteously; these walk, and continue to walk, in the ways of God; which shows that the doctrine of justification by Christ's implored righteousness is no licentious doctrine:

but the transgressors shall fall therein; the transgressors of the law of God, not being used to his ways, as Kimchi's father observes, stumble in them and fall; or rather, as Jarchi and the Targum, they fall into hell, into ruin and destruction, because they walk not in them; though the sense seems to be, that as Christ himself, so his ways and his word, his doctrines and his ordinances, are stumbling blocks to wicked men, at which they stumble, and fall, and perish; see Luk_2:34 Rom_9:33.

HE�RY, " Concerning every one that hears and reads the words of the prophecy of this book (Hos_14:9): Who is wise? and he shall understand these things. Perhaps the prophet was wont to conclude that sermons he preached with these words, and now he closes with them the whole book, in which he has committed to writing some fragments of the many sermons he had preached. Observe, 1. The character of those that do profit by the truths he delivered: Who is wise and prudent? He shall understand these things, he shall know them. Those that set themselves to understand and know these things thereby make it to appear that they are truly wise and prudent, and will thereby be made more so; and, if any do not understand and know them, it is because they are foolish and unwise. Those that are wise in the doing of their duty, that are prudent in practical religion, are most likely to know and understand both the truths and providences of God, which are a mystery to others, Joh_7:17. The secret of the Lord is with those that fear him, Psa_25:14. Who is wise? This intimates a desire that those who read and hear these things would understand them (O that they were wise!) and a complaint that few were so -Who has believed our report? 2. The excellency of these things concerning which we are here instructed: The ways of the Lord are right; and therefore it is our wisdom and duty to know and understand them. The way of God's precepts, in which he requires us to walk, is right, agreeing with the rules of eternal reason and equity and having a direct tendency to our eternal felicity. The ways of God's providence, in which he walks toward us, are all right; no fault is to be found with any thing that God does, for it is all well done. His judgments upon the impenitent, his favours to the penitent, are all right; however they may be perverted and misinterpreted, God will at last be justified and glorified in them all. His ways are equal. 3. The different use which men make of them. (1.) The right ways of God to those that are good are, and will be, a savour of life unto life: The just shall walk in them; they shall conform to the will of God both in his precepts and in his providences, and shall have the comfort of so doing. They shall well understand the mind of God both in his word and in his works; they shall be well reconciled to both, and shall accommodate themselves to God's intention in both. The just shall walk in those ways towards their great end, and shall not come short of it. (2.) The right ways of God will be to those that are wicked a savour of death unto death: The transgressors shall fall not only in their own wrong ways, but even in the right ways of the Lord. Christ, who is a foundation stone to some, is to others a stone of stumbling and

a rock of offence. That which was ordained to life becomes through their abuse of it, death to them. God's providences, being not duly improved by them, harden them in sin and contribute to their ruin. God's discovery of himself both in the judgments of his mouth and in the judgments of his hand is to us according as we are affected under it. Recipitur ad modum recipientis -What is received influences according to the qualities of the receiver. The same sun softens wax and hardens clay. But of all transgressors those certainly have the most dangerous fatal falls that fall in the ways of God, that split on the rock of ages, and suck poison out of the balm of Gilead. Let the sinners in Zion be afraid of this.

JAMISO�, "Epilogue, summing up the whole previous teaching. Here alone Hosea uses the term “righteous,” so rare were such characters in his day. There is enough of saving truth clear in God’s Word to guide those humbly seeking salvation, and enough of difficulties to confound those who curiously seek them out, rather than practically seek salvation.

fall — stumble and are offended at difficulties opposed to their prejudices and lusts, or above their self-wise understanding (compare Pro_10:29; Mic_2:7; Mat_11:19; Luk_2:34; Joh_7:17; 1Pe_2:7, 1Pe_2:8). To him who sincerely seeks the agenda, God will make plain the credenda. Christ is the foundation-stone to some: a stone of stumbling and rock of offense to others. The same sun softens wax and hardens clay. But their fall is the most fatal who fall in the ways of God, split on the Rock of ages, and suck poison out of the Balm of Gilead.

K&D, "Hos_14:9 (10) contains the epilogue to the whole book. “Who is wise, that he may understand this? understanding, that he may discern it? For the ways of Jehovah are straight, and the righteous walk therein: but the rebellious stumble in them.” The

pronoun א,ה and the suffix to ידעם refer to everything that the prophet has laid before the people in his book for warning, for reproof, for correction, for chastening in righteousness. He concludes by summing up the whole substance of his teaching in the one general sentence, which points back to Deu_32:4 : The ways of the Lord are straight.

“The ways of Jehovah” (darkhē�Yehōvâh) are the ways taken by God in the guidance and government of men; not only the ways which He prescribes for them, but also His guidance of them. These ways lead some to life and others to death, according to the different attitudes which men assume towards God, as Moses announced to all the Israelites that they would (Deu_30:19-20), and as the Apostle Paul assured the church at Corinth that the gospel of Jesus also would (1Co_1:18).

CALVI�, "Verse 9The Prophet, I have no doubt, very often inculcated what he here says, and frequently recalled it to mind, for we know that he had a constant struggle with extreme obstinacy. It was not only for one day that he found the people hard and perverse, but through the whole course of his preaching. Since then the Israelites continued, either openly to despise the Prophet’s teaching, or at least to regard as fables what they heard from his mouth, or to chide him in words, and even to threaten him, when he treated them with severity and when the Prophet saw that

the wickedness of the people was irreclaimable, he, being armed with confidence, no doubt went forth very often among them, and said “Ye think that you shall be unpunished, while ye make a mock of what I teach; ye shall surely find at last that the ways of the Lord are right.” And I have already reminded you, that the Prophets, after having harangued the people at large and in many words, reduced at last into brief heads what they had taught; for it is not probable, that since Hosea had so long discharged the office of a teacher, he had spoken only these few things, which might have been gone through in three hours. This is absurd. But when he had diligently attended to the office deputed to him, he afterwards, as I have said, collected together these few chapters, that the remembrance of his teaching might be perpetuated. What he was constrained then often to repeat, he now lays down at the end of his book, that it might be as it were a complete sealing up of his teaching.

Who is wise, he says, and he will understand these things? who is intelligent, and he will know them? This interrogatory mode is expressive; for Hosea was amazed at the fewness of those who yielded themselves to be taught by God. The Israelites no doubt, arrogated to themselves great wisdom, as ungodly men are wont to do. For they seem to themselves to be then especially acute, when they laugh at every thing like piety, when they treat God’s name with scorn, and indulge themselves, as we see at this day, in their own impiety. And this diabolical rage lays hold on many, because they think that they would be very simple and stupid, were they to embrace any thing the Scripture contains. “O! what is faith but foolish credulity?” This is the thought that comes to their minds. There are also filthy dogs, who hesitate not to vomit forth such a reproach as this, “Only believe! But what is this thy believing, but wilfully to give up all judgement and all choice, and to allow thyself to be like mute cattle driven here and there? If then thou art wise, believe nothing.” Thus godless men speak; and hence, as I have said, they pride themselves on their own acuteness, when they can shake off every fear of God and all regard for divine truth. There were many such, we may easily believe, in the time of the Prophet. Since then the whole land was filled with dreadful contempt of God, and yet men commonly thought themselves wise, nay, imagined in their deep thoughts, as Isaiah says, (101) that they could deceive God, he now asks, Who is wise, and he will understand? As though he said, “I indeed see, that if I believe you, ye are all wise; for, imitating the giants, ye dare to rise up against God, and ye think yourselves ingenious when ye elude every truth, when ye proudly tread religion under foot; in this way ye are all wise. But at the same time, if there be any grain of wisdom in you, you must surely acknowledge me to be sent by God, and that what I declare is not the invention of men, but the word of the living God.” We now then see what force there is in this question, when the Prophet says, Who is wise, and he will understand these things? Who is intelligent, and he will know them?

We at the same time see that the Prophet here condemns all the wisdom of men, and as it were thunders from heaven against the pride of those who thus presumptuously mock God; for how much soever they imagined themselves to be pre-eminent, he intimates that they were both blind and stupid and mad. Who then is wise? he says. But at the same time, he shows that the true wisdom of men is to obey God and to embrace his word; as it is said in another place, that wisdom and the beginning of

wisdom is the fear of God, (Proverbs 1:7.) Whosoever then wishes to be truly wise, he must begin with the fear of God and with reverence to his word; for where there is no religion, men cannot certainly understand any thing aright. Let us suppose men endued, not only with great clearness of mind, but also with the knowledge of all the sciences; let them be philosophers, let them be physicians, let them be lawyers, let nothing be wanting to them, except that they have no true knowledge of eternal life, would it not be better for them to be mere cattle than to be thus wise, to exercise their minds for a short time on fading things, and to know that all their highly valued treasure shall perish with their life? Surely to be thus wise is far more wretched than if men were wholly void of understanding. Justly then does the Prophet intimate here that those were not only foolish, but also mad, and wholly destitute of all understanding, who regarded not celestial truth, and were deaf to the Prophets, and discerned not when God spake, nor understood the power of his word. All then who are not thus wise, the Prophet justly says, are utterly void of all prudence and judgement: he therefore repeats the same thing, Who is wise, and he will understand these things? Who is intelligent, and he will know them? that is, “If any excels others, he ought surely to show in this particular his wisdom, and if any one is endued with common understanding, he ought to know what this doctrine means, in which the image and glory of God shine forth brightly. All then who know and understand nothing in this respect are no doubt altogether foolish.”

He afterwards adds, For right are the ways of Jehovah He alleges this truth in opposition to the profane rashness of men, who haughtily reject God, and dare to despise his word. Right, he says, are the ways of the Lord: and by saying that they are right, he no doubt glances at the abominable blasphemies which the ungodly have recourse to, when they wish to render the word of God not only odious and contemptible, but also absurd, so as not to deserve any respect. Thus we see at this day, that godless men not only in words reject both the Law and the Prophets, but also search out pretences, that they may appear to be doing right in destroying all faith in the oracles of God. For instance, they seek out every sort of contradiction in Scripture, every thing not well received, every thing different from the common opinion, — all these absurdities, as they call them, they collect together, and then they draw this conclusion, that all those are fools, who submit to any religion, since the word of God, as they say, contains so many absurd things. This raving madness prevailed then no doubt in the world: and the Prophet, by saying that right are the ways of Jehovah, means, that how much soever the ungodly may clamour, or murmur, or taunt, nothing is yet done by the Lord but what is right, and free from every blame and defect. However much then the ungodly may vomit forth slanders against the word of God, it is the same as if they threw dust into the air to darken the light of the sun; just so much they effect, he seems to say, by their audacity: for perfect rectitude will ever be foundin the ways of the Lord; his word will ever be found free from every stain or defect.

He then adds, And the just shall walk in them, but in them shall the ungodly stumble By saying that the just shall walk in them, he confirms the last sentence by experience, for the just really find the ways of the Lord to be right We ought also to be furnished with this assurance, if we would boldly repel all the impious calumnies,

which are usually heaped together by profane men against the word of God: for if we know not what it is to walk in the ways of the Lord, we shall surely, as soon as any thing is alleged against them, be suspended in doubt, or be wholly upset; for we see that many, not deeply rooted in the word of God, instantly quail, as soon as any thing is said against it, because they know not what it is to walk in the ways of the Lord; but they who walk in the Lord’s ways courageously fight against all the temptations of the world; they carry on the context that they may attain celestial life; they feel assured that though now miserable for a time, they shall yet be blessed, for they have embraced the grace of God in Christ; they are sustained too by their own conscience, so that they can look down on all the reproaches and slanders of the world, and proceed onward in their course. They then who thus walk in the ways of the Lord are unconquerable; yea, were the whole world to oppose them, and were the ungodly with their profane words to infect the whole atmosphere, the godly would still pursue their course until they reached the end. All the ways of Jehovah are therefore right, the just shall walk in them; but in them shall the ungodly stumble, or fall; for כשל, cashel, means both, but I prefer rendering it “stumble,” as it seems more suitable to the design of the Prophet. The just then find a plain and an even way in the word of the Lord, and nothing stands in their path to obstruct their course, and by daily advances they attain that to which the Lord calls them, even their celestial inheritance. The just shall thus walk in the Lord’s ways, because the Lord will lead them, as it were, by his hand; faith will be to them for hundred eyes, and also for wings: and hope, at the same time, sustains them; for they are armed with promises and encouragements; they have also stimulants, whenever the Lord earnestly exhorts them; they have, besides, in his threatenings, such terrors as keep them awake. Thus then the faithful find in the word of the Lord the best ways, and they follow them. But what of the ungodly? They imagine all doubts, even the least, to be mountains: for as soon as they meet with any thing intricate or obscure, they are confounded, and says “I would gladly seek to know the Holy Scriptures but I meet with so many difficulties.” Hence when a doubt is suggested, they regard it as a mountain; nay, they purposely pretend doubts, that they may have some excuse, when they wish to evade the truth, and turn aside that they may not follow the Lord. The ungodly, then,stumble in the ways of Jehovah. But this ought to be read adversatively, “Though the ungodly stumble, yet the just shall always walk in the ways of Jehovah;” which means, that there is no reason why the ungodly should stop or retard us by their continual stumbling, and by exclaiming that the word of God is full of what gives offence; for we shall find in it an even way, only let us ascribe to God this glory, that he is just, and that his ways are right. This is the meaning of the sentence.

End of the Prophecies of Hosea

COFFMA�, "Who is wise, that he may understand these things? prudent, that he may know them? for the ways of Jehovah are right, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall therein."

Most of the commentators set this verse at naught, making of it a somewhat insipid

comment by some later editor; but we will have none of that. Hosea had just written a chapter that doubtless appeared enigmatical even to himself, one that seemed totally at variance with practically the entire message of previous chapters in his prophecy. It was the astounding prophecy of the ultimate Israel of God to be attained in the church of Jesus Christ; but the homely metaphors of it seemed to him no doubt to be impossible of understanding in the light of all God had previously revealed to him. This ninth verse is the proof that Hosea very well knew that something lay in this chapter which was totally beyond the reach of his earthly vision; yet he faithfully declared it, uttering the warning in this verse, to the effect that there was a lot more in it than met the eye. Hosea was profoundly correct. Most of the commentators we have read regarding this chapter do not even now have any adequate understanding of it, applying it to all kinds of millennial theories, restorations of secular Israel in Palestine and otherwise missing totally the glimpse of the Church of Christ which shines in every line of it. How wonderful are the words of the Lord.

BE�SO�, "Hosea 14:9. Who is wise, &c. — That is, who is so truly wise as duly to weigh and consider the important things contained in this prophecy, the duties prescribed, the blessings promised to the obedient, and the judgments threatened to the disobedient? The prophet’s words imply, that there were but few that were endued with such spiritual wisdom and understanding as to do so; but that those who were, would seriously consider and be affected by these things. He shall understand — he shall know them — Those that set themselves to understand and know these things, thereby make it appear that they are truly wise and prudent, and will thereby be made more so; and that many do not understand and know them, is because they are inconsiderate and unwise. Those that are wise in the doing of their duty, that are prudent in practical religion, are most likely to know and understand both the truths and providences of God, which are a mystery to others. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. For the ways of the Lord are right — “The ways of the Lord are both the ways which he himself takes in his moral government of the world, and the ways of godliness which he prescribes to man. These, taken together, are the ways of the Lord, and they are right, or straight,” (as ישרים may be properly rendered,) “because they go straight forward, without deviation, to the end, — the happiness of man, and the glory of God.” And the just shall walk therein — The truly righteous will conform to the will of God, both in his precepts and in his providences, and shall have the comfort of so doing. They shall well understand the mind of God, both in his word and in his works, shall be well reconciled to both, and shall accommodate themselves to God’s intention in both. The righteous shall walk in those ways toward their great end, and shall not come short of it. Bishop Horsley renders this clause, And in them shall the justified proceed, but revolters shall stumble. “In the ways of God,” says he, “as they have been described, the justified, those who by faith in Christ have obtained remission of their sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost, shall proceed; they will be making daily and hourly approaches to their journey’s end. They shall be able to advance continually in the understanding of the ways of Providence, and of the way laid out by Jehovah for them. But to the incorrigible enemies of God, the very scheme of mercy itself will be

a cause of error, confusion, and ruin.” Thus also Mr. Lowth: “They who are sincerely desirous to know and do the will of God, will be fully satisfied of the reasonableness of his laws, and the methods of his providence, and will readily comply with the directions of both, to the securing of their own eternal happiness; whereas men of perverse and disobedient tempers take offence at God’s commands, and repine against his providence, to their own ruin and perdition. The same sense is expressed in that observation of the son of Sirach, Sirach 39:24, As God’s ways are plain to the holy, so they are stumbling blocks to the workers of iniquity. To the same purpose are those words of Christ, Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice, John 18:37; and, He that is of God heareth God’s word, chap. John 8:47. And St. Peter says, that Christ is become a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence to the disobedient, 1 Peter 2:8. The observation of Grotius is very remarkable upon this subject, De Verit. Christian. Relig., lib. 2. c. ult. The doctrine of the gospel was designed to be ‘tanquam lapis Lydius, ad quem ingenia sanabilia explorarentur,’ as a touchstone to try the tempers of men, whether they were corrigible or not.”

TRAPP, "Hosea 14:9 Who [is] wise, and he shall understand these [things]? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD [are] right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

Ver. 9. Who is wise and he shall understand these things] A pathetic perclose, whereby the prophet (orator-like) would leave a sting in the hearts of his hearers, and so seal up, and set on all that he had said before, conclusio gnomica, exclamatio emphatica.

Who is wise?] q.d. I could wish there were more; but I see there are not many. Store there are of fools, Stultorum plena aunt omnia, such dust-heaps there are in every corner to be found, not a few that either know not the will of God, or stumble at it. "But who hath known the mind of the Lord?" 1 Corinthians 2:16. "Who among you will give ear to this? Who hath believed our report? or to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Who is the wise man, that may understand this?" Isaiah 42:23; Isaiah 53:1, Jeremiah 9:12. Lucerna accensa hominem quaerebat Aesopus. Jeremiah was bidden run to and fro to find a man that sought the truth, v. 1. Rari quippe boni (Juven. Sat. 13). �ot many wise, wise, I mean, to salvation, 2 Timothy 3:15, that make sure work for their souls, and draw their wisdom from God’s holy word, from the mine of the mystery of Christ, Psalms 119:98-99. All others are "foolish people, sottish children; they have no understanding," Jeremiah 4:22, be they never so shrewd and of deep reach for the world, be they never so wise in their generation. The fox is so in his; and the devil in his, for when he was but young he outwitted our first parents, 2 Corinthians 11:3, who yet were no babes, simple and weak in understanding, as the Socinians affirm them to have been or else they would not (say they) have so sinned. A fond conceit, and without footing in God’s holy word, where we find that they were created in God’s image, which consisteth in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, as saith the apostle, Ephesians 4:24.

And he shall understand these things] "Which none of the princes of this world know," 1 Corinthians 2:8, because their learning hangs in their light; and, like moles, they dig dexterously under-ground, but are blind above-ground. Sapiens est cui res sapiunt prout sunt, saith Bernard. He is the wise man that savoureth things as they are. And herein lieth the whole wisdom of a man, saith Lactantius, ut Deum cognoscat, et colat, that he know and worship God aright, that with a practical judgment he ponder the words and ways of God, in order to salvation. This is that wisdom that dwelleth with prudence, Proverbs 8:12. Aristotle, in many places of his works, distinguisheth between wisdom and prudence. Wisdom he maketh to be a right apprehending of truths in general; prudence, an applying them to particular cases and uses. But Socrates said, that there was no such difference; since he that knoweth good things to do them, and evil things to avoid them, is to be held a wise man, and none else. They may seem here to be put for one and the same; since the wise man is said not to know, but to understand, judge, and ponder, and the prudent to know; teaching us, that God calls for a prudent wisdom, and a wise prudence, directing the soul to aa orderly carriage, and a holy care, that godliness (which is the only wisdom) may run through our whole lives, as the woof doth through the web.

For the ways of the Lord are right] Understand it not so much of the ways of predestination, providence, &c., wherein God walks towards us (which yet are all right and equal), as of those ways of his will, word, and worship, wherein he requireth us to walk towards him. These are called the way of God, Matthew 22:16, and the way of salvation, Acts 16:17, and the way of truth, 2 Peter 2:2, and the right way, 2 Peter 2:15, and the way of righteousness, 2 Peter 2:21. Right these ways are called, or straight. First, because they are conformed to the will of a righteous God, which is the mensura mensurans, the first rule of right, the standard, �on solum recta, sed et regula. Secondly, because the matter of it is holy, and just, and good, a doctrine of righteousness, that teacheth us to give God his due, and men theirs. It is also put for every purpose, Psalms 19:7-8, Proverbs 30:5. Of the Book of Psalms, Athanasius hath observed, that they are so penned that every man may well think they speak de se, in re sun, of himself, and to his own particular necessities. Thirdly, because it rectifieth us, and transformeth us into the same image; it maketh such as deliver up themselves thereunto to walk as patterns of the rule, as a transcript of the word, that dwelleth richly in them, and worketh effectually, as a seed of immortality. Fourthly, because it carrieth us on in a straight line unto a right end without crooking or compassing about, Psalms 19:8; Psalms 25:4; Psalms 125:5. Has vias qui terit, non terit. Pray therefore as David did, Psalms 18:29, lest breaking out into byways (all which are highways to hell), or but stepping over the hedge, to avoid a piece of foul way, we brush and bruise ourselves to get in again, break our bones with David.

And the just shall walk in them] Such as are just with a double righteousness, imputed and imparted; that of justification, and this of sanctification: these will

choose the way of truth, Psalms 119:39; Psalms 25:12, and be willing to walk honestly, Hebrews 13:18, orderly, and by rule, Galatians 5:25, accurately, and to the utmost, Ephesians 5:15, directly and distinctly, eyeing the mark, and propounding to themselves the highest pitch, and the best patterns ( στοιχεινακριβως): often comparing themselves with the rule, laying their lives by the line, and reforming their outstrays, Psalms 119:59-60, making it the main of their endeavour, that all their deeds may be wrought in God, John 3:21. Lo, this is the just man’s practice; and it is here propounded for a precedent.

But the transgressors shall fall therein] They perish from the way, Psalms 2:12; they stumble at the Word and fall into perdition, as the Chaldee here hath it; and so show themselves to be transgressors, traitors, rebels, yea, reprobates. See 1 Peter 2:8, they "stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed." Oh, fearful! "A bridge is made" (saith a reverend divine) "to give us a safe passage over a river, but he who stumbleth on the bridge is in danger to fall into the river. The Word is given us as a means to carry us over hell to heaven; but he who stumbleth and quarrelleth at this means shall fall in thither, from whence otherwise he had been delivered by it." �either may we think the worse of the Word for this accidental effect of it upon transgressors; since the fault is merely in themselves: as when a lame man stumbleth in a plain path, the fault is not in the way, but in the foot. Blear eyes cannot abide the light; nor children endure honey when they have sore mouths. The same sun makes flowers smell sweet, but carrions stink loathsomely. Moses saved the Israelite, killed the Egyptian; and Abigail’s voice pacified David, but made �abal’s heart died within him as a stone. Oecumenius telleth us that the fragrance of precious ointments is wholesome for doves, but kills the beetle, columbam vegetat, scarabaeum necat. And Aristotle affirmeth, that oil of roses is deadly to vultures, who hunt after only dead men’s carcases. Christ himself, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, was set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign to be spoken against, Luke 2:34, for a butt mark, against whom his enemies should shoot the shaft of their gainsayings. To the Jews he became a stumblingblock, and unto the Gentiles foolishness, 1 Corinthians 1:23. Let them alone (saith he, concerning the Pharisees, who were offended at his sayings, Matthew 15:14). Let them stumble and fall, and be broken, and snared, and taken, Isaiah 8:15. Christ in his ordinances is to reprobates a rock of offence, 2 Peter 2:8, but such a rock as that, 6:21, out of which goeth fire and consumeth them. "For if any love not the Lord Jesus Christ, he is Anathema Maranatha," 1 Corinthians 16:22. "Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?" Jeremiah 8:9.

“ Linea ducta mihi est, gratia, Christe, tibi. ”

“By the plumline it has been leading to me, oh Christ by grace to thee”

PETT, "‘Who is wise, that he may understand these things?Prudent, that he may know them?

For the ways of YHWH are right,And the righteous will walk in them,But transgressors will fall in them.’There is a hint of wisdom writing in these final words (compare the similar parallel situation in Psalms 107:43), but it will be noted that whilst the wisdom writers in the Old Testament always contrast ‘the righteous’ with ‘the wicked’, here Hosea contrasts ‘the righteous’ with ‘transgressors’. Being familiar with wisdom writing he calls on it and fashions it in accordance with his own purpose, at least in the first two lines. We should, however, note that the thoughts behind the second two lines are found elsewhere in Scripture, in what some would call ‘Deuteronomic’ literature, with the phrase ‘the ways of YHWH’ appearing in 2 Samuel 22:22 (and not appearing in any wisdom literature). Compare also Psalms 138:5; Deuteronomy 32:4. Furthermore the thought of ‘walking in His ways’ is comparable to Deuteronomy 10:12 (compare also Deuteronomy 5:33). Reference to ‘transgressors’ is found in the Davidic Psalms 51:13 and in Isaiah 1:28 (whose ministry would by now be under way).

That being said Hosea’s purpose here is simply to make his readers consider his prophecy more deeply, something which indicates that the heart of the prophecy is by this stage already in writing. He is emphasising, with all the authority of a wisdom teacher, that the wise and the prudent will take note of what he has said, and with all the authority of the Scriptures available to him that they will do so because YHWH’s ways are right, and because those who are righteous will therefore walk in them.

In contrast he points out that transgressors will fall in them. So all must consider seriously which path they take, and will know whether they are righteous or transgressors by how they respond. Furthermore while the wise will know that His ways are right, it is the righteous who will walk in them. It is a reminder that it is possible to be ‘wise’ without being obedient, and that that then makes the person a transgressor.

COKE, "Hosea 14:9. Who is wise, &c.— Many interpreters are of opinion, that the prophet here hints at the obscurity of his prophesy: as much as to say, "Behold, I have set before you what is dark and difficult, surrounded with obscurity: who will have penetration sufficient to enter into and develope the mystery?" See Calmet, and Bishop Reynolds's Sermons on this chapter; where the reader will find a variety of useful and improving remarks.

Transgressors— It should be rendered revolters. פשעים poshiim. This word expresses a degree and enormity of disobedience far beyond any thing contained in the notion of "transgressors, prevaricators," or any other denomination of guilt, by which the word is rendered in our English Bible. It denotes rebels, in the highest sense of the word; and, in a religious sense, such as wilfully, with premeditation, disobey God from hatred of his authority. It is bold avowed rebellion, or revolt, disowning the authority of the sovereign, and having for its end the overthrow of his

sovereignty. But it will be said, Who ever was so mad, as to avow or entertain a design or hope of overthrowing the sovereignty of God? I say, numbers in all ages of the world. Atheists, deists, idolaters, and secular powers that persecute revealed religion. Many of these, indeed, retain the name of a god, or gods, as signifying, in their conceptions, an animus mundi, or physical powers in the different parts of the material world. But they all disown and oppose the God of the Old Testament, and the �ew; the God of Jews, and of Christians. And they endeavour what they can to overthrow his authority, by uniting their efforts (in vain, but much in earnest) for the extirpation of the Christian religion. If those, who, in the present day, are the most forward, and most powerful, in this work of impiety, affect a partiality for the Jews; it is because they hope to draw them in, to take part in the demolition of Christianity; and, when that is effected, they expect to find in Judaism an easy conquest. Whether any part, or what part, of the Jews may be drawn into this snare of hell, we presume not to predict. We hope that the great majority of that race will have too much discretion to be duped. This at least we know, that ultimately the whole race of Israel, of the natural Israel, will return and seek Jehovah their God, and the David their king. They shall return, and, sitting under his shadow, they will flourish. The head of the faction leagued against us and them, against our God and theirs, is the devil. If I am not much mistaken, he is more than once named in Scripture פשע posheang, The Rebel, The Apostate. And the same participle in the plural, which is the word here, denotes the followers of that chief, rebels, revolters. See Bishop Horsley. This ninth verse, the close of Hosea's written prophesies, much resembles those grave moral sayings, with which the Greek dramas are usually closed by the chorus; but for the weightiness of the matter, and the simplicity, brevity, and solemnity of easy unaffected diction, it is not to be equalled by any thing that the Attic muse, in her soberest mood, produced.

REFLECTIO�S.—1st, A door of hope is here opened for God's believing people. He is not inexorable, if we will return: he waiteth to be gracious.

1. They are called upon and enjoined to come to him. O Israel, return unto the Lord, who is still ready to receive the perishing but returning sinner, to pardon and save him; and, though so long rejected, will not in that case refuse to be called thy God: for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity, which then, now, and ever, was, is, and will be, the cause of all our miseries; but when we see, feel, and lament it, and turn to God, then shall not iniquity be our destruction.

2. Words are suggested to them, suitable to their state and condition. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord; say unto him, Take away all iniquity, this being the first great want of the penitent sinner's soul. His guilt lies upon him as a heavy burden, which he longs to have removed; his corruptions thrust sore at him, and he is without power of himself to help himself: earnestly, therefore, he prays for a sense of God's pardoning love, to deliver him from the condemnation of sin, of all sin, as blotted out through the blood of Jesus; and for power against iniquity, against every iniquity, that it may be mortified and conquered by divine grace: and receive us graciously; for we have no desert to plead, but the very reverse: or receive good; accept us and our services as well-pleasing in Christ Jesus: or give good, every

blessing which we need, and the ability for that goodness which thou dost enjoin; for from him alone cometh every good and perfect gift: so will we render the calves of our lips, those sacrifices of praise which shall please the Lord better than a bullock that hath horns and hoofs. Asshur shall not save us, we will not ride upon horses, seeking to Assyria or Egypt for help; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods, their idols being renounced and abhorred; and thus the returning sinner, who in simplicity approaches a pardoning God, feels his heart constrained to part with every idol; to renounce his most easily besetting sin; to disclaim all dependence upon his own doings and duties, and every trust upon creature help, that he may solely rest on the blood, the infinite merit, and the Spirit of a Redeemer, and expect his whole salvation from the rich and unmerited grace of God. For in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. It is God's great honour and glory, that he doth not despise nor reject the prayer of the poor destitute penitent: nay, though our distresses arise from our own folly and perverseness, he will not therefore cast us out, if we penitently apply to him for mercy; but the more magnify the wonders of his mercy in the depths of our misery, and in the views of our utter unworthiness.

2nd, Great and precious are the promises recorded in this chapter, in answer to the prayer of real penitence. God assures the penitent,

1. Of the removal of that wrath which they dreaded: mine anger is turned away from him. There is no wrath in God against the sinner who returns to him through Jesus Christ, and pleads the full atonement and infinite merit of his divine Substitute.

2. I will love them freely. Sin, the cause of his displeasure, being now through the Redeemer forgiven and blotted out, he can, consistently with his own glory, love them; and he will do it freely, not in consideration of any desert in his believing people, for they have none; but according to his own rich mercy and amazing love.

3. I will heal their backsliding; recover his returning people from their sinful departures, apply the suitable medicines of grace to their wounds, and deliver them from the power of all that iniquity against which they pray.

4. He will quicken, comfort, stablish, strengthen, settle them. I will be as the dew unto Israel, refreshing the parched ground; and so do his Word and Spirit revive the drooping heart of the poor dejected sinner. He shall grow as the lily, in the beauty of a gracious profession, and the unsullied exemplariness of a good conversation; and cast forth his roots as Lebanon, firm rooted on the rock Christ, enabled to withstand every stormy blast of temptation and the united force of earth and hell. Thus in the faithful believer the purity of the lily and the strength of the cedar are united. His branches shall spread, the gospel-church being enlarged with converts, and each believing soul increasing in the knowledge and love of God; and, abounding in every good word and work, his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, whose leaves are ever green; so pleasing in the beauty of holiness shall God's people appear; and his smell as Lebanon, the graces that he exercises, and the acceptable

sacrifices that he offers, fragrant as the odoriferous trees which grew on that famed mountain. They that dwell under his shadow shall return, under the shadow of Jesus, which covers the genuine believer from the scorching heat of a fiery law, and refreshes the soul of the weary; and to him shall they confidently fly for shelter and consolation; they shall revive as the corn, which in the spring vegetates strongly after the nipping blasts of winter's cold; so the saints of God rise from their afflictions and temptations, fairer and stronger than before; and grow as the vine, supported by the divine power, and fruitful in all good works, to the praise and glory of God; and the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon, diffusing their fragrance, and by their examples and gracious discourse serving as cordials to revive the dejected and disconsolate.

3rdly, We have,

1. Penitent Ephraim's final determination. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? with abhorrence casting them away, and purposing in the strength of divine grace to return to them no more. Thus does the converted soul renounce, with detestation, its once most beloved sins; not that we can fulfil the least of these resolutions in our own natural strength, but by the grace of God, and by his love shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto us. �o. It is God who promises, that he will enable penitent returning Ephraim to speak thus; and he will give him the ability to perform his resolutions.

2. God's gracious regard towards him. I have heard him, and observed him; heard his prayers, and seen his tears, and noted all the gracious purposes which his heart has formed; for God delights to behold the returning prodigal, and looks with tenderest compassion and warmest affection on him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, ready to answer and relieve all his complaints.

3. The Lord will bless, protect, and save him. I am like a green fir-tree. Under the shadow of Jesus, his believing people sit with delight, safe from the sultry beams of day, and protected from storm and rain, from every spiritual enemy, and from the power of evil: from me is thy fruit found; all our spiritual blessings being derived from him, and all our fruits of grace springing from the supplies ministered by him the living root, are therefore to be ascribed entirely to his praise and glory.

4. The prophet closes with recommending these words to our most serious attention: Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? such will be inquisitive into the mind of God, and searching the scriptures daily, shall be enlightened with the knowledge of the truth: for the ways of the Lord are right, all his dispensations of providence and grace being consonant to the strictest rules of eternal justice; and the more they are truly understood, the more shall we acknowledge them to be so; and the just shall walk in them; obedient to his will, submissive to his providences; but the transgressors shall fall therein; the same word, which is a savour of life unto life to some, will prove the savour of death unto death to others, through their disobedience to God's word, or their abuse of the most glorious truths contained therein; the same doctrines of gospel-grace affording

the sweetest consolations, and suggesting to the faithful the strongest arguments for all holy conversation, while the hypocrite and apostate suck from them deadly poison, and make that which should have been for their help an occasion of falling.

SIMEO�, "SPIRITUAL K�OWLEDGE PECULIAR TO GOD’S PEOPLE

Hosea 14:9. Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

TO guide mankind into the way of peace, and to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation to their souls, is certainly the most pleasant and honourable employment in the world: but it is an employment accompanied, for the most part, with heavy discouragements, and those peculiar to itself. If we labour to convey instruction in any branch of science, we find our labours attended with some degree of success to all: for though all make not the same proficiency, yet all reap some advantage. This however is very far from being the case when we would impart spiritual knowledge: some, blessed be God! receive benefit; but the generality of our hearers continue as ignorant and blind as ever. Many indeed get somewhat of head-knowledge; but as to any saving experience of the things we teach (and that alone is worthy the name of knowledge), few, very few, attain to it. �or is this unteachableness peculiar to the present age: it is frequently represented in the Scriptures as a subject of lamentation, not only to the prophets, but even to God himself. How often does God call his people foolish and unwise; and, with a mixture of tenderness and disappointment, say, “O that they were wise, and that they understood these things [�ote: Deuteronomy 32:6; Deuteronomy 32:29.]!” Hence the inspired writers, as though they had no expectation that all should profit from their instructions, express themselves as looking for success only among those who were endued with heavenly wisdom. Thus the Psalmist, after expatiating largely upon the goodness of God, both in his works of providence and grace, concludes the psalm [�ote: Psalms 107.] with saying, “Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord.” And in nearly the same terms the Prophet Hosea, having preached no less than seventy years with very little effect, and having comprised the principal and most important parts of the Divine messages in a book, concludes the whole with these most affecting words; “Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right; and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall therein.”

From these words we shall take occasion to shew,

I. Who they are that will understand divine things—

[The things which the prophet is speaking of in the former part of our text, are the same which he afterwards calls “the ways of the Lord.” �ow we might be led to suppose that he refers to the sins against which he had guarded them, the duties he

had inculcated, the punishments he had denounced, and the blessings which he had promised them in the name of God; seeing that these things are the general scope of the whole book: but he limits his own words to one particular sense, and teaches us to understand him as speaking, not so much of those ways wherein God had walked towards them, as of the ways wherein they were to walk before him: and therefore the things which the wise only can understand, are the things which pertain to vital experimental religion: and indeed this best agrees with the preceding context; for through the whole chapter, God delineates the experience of true penitents, and shews, that when he shall come down as the dew upon their souls, they shall resemble the olive in their beauty, the lily in their growth, the cedar in their stability, the wines of Lebanon in their fragrancy, and the corn itself, or vine, in their fruitfulness. These things, it must be confessed, surpass the comprehension of the natural man; and therefore the prophet adds, “Who is wise, and he shall understand these things; prudent, and he shall know them.”

But here we must attentively consider whom the prophet intends under the description of the “wise and prudent?” Is it worldly wisdom and worldly prudence of which he speaks in such high terms? Are these the great requisites for the right understanding of spiritual matters? Surely not; this cannot be the meaning of the prophet; for then he would directly oppose the whole tenour of the sacred writings. Carnal wisdom and prudence are universally represented in the Scriptures as most adverse to divine truth, and as the greatest obstacles to the attainment of spiritual knowledge. Hear how St. Paul speaks of the wisdom and prudence of this world, in 1 Corinthians 1:18, and following verses; “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness; but unto us who are saved, it is the power of God; for it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? for, after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” Then, in ver. 26, he appeals to their own experience and observation; “Ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called; but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, that no flesh should glory in his presence.” If any additional testimony were needed, we might take that of our Lord himself, who not only affirmed the same truth, but was exhilarated and comforted by the consideration of it, and made it the subject of his devoutest thanksgiving: “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.” God indeed has been pleased in all ages to enlighten and convert some who were reputed wise; because he would shew to all the world, that his truths, however despised, were consistent with the profoundest wisdom, and capable of enlarging the most refined understanding: nevertheless, the wise and prudent of this world have always been the foremost to reject the truth of God. �one cavilled more at our Lord’s discourses than the Scribes and Pharisees; nor were any more contemptuous in their treatment of Paul than the philosophers at Athens. We may be sure, therefore, that such are not the persons intended by the prophet in my text?

Who then are the wise? who are the prudent? First, they are those whose understandings have been enlightened by the Holy Ghost. True “wisdom is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.” We have not the smallest spark of it by nature: on the contrary, we are blind; and folly is bound up in our hearts: nor unless He, who first commanded light to shine out of darkness, shine into our hearts, can we ever see one ray of that divine glory which shines in the person of Jesus Christ. Hence they who are truly wise have learned that most humiliating lesson, to “become fools, that they may be wise:” they have been deeply convinced that they needed a divine illumination, and have obtained it in answer to their prayers: to them has been fulfilled that blessed promise, “All thy children shall be taught of God.” This therefore is the first part of the wise man’s character, that he has been taught by the Holy Ghost. But a further mark whereby the wise and prudent are to be distinguished is, that they view things in their proper colours; they no longer “call good evil, and evil good; they no longer put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter;” but they see things in the light of God’s word, and estimate every thing, in a measure, according to the judgment of God respecting it: the body appears to them of small value, when set in competition with the soul; nor do the enjoyments or sufferings of this present world appear worthy to be compared with the glory that shall ere long be revealed in them. Sin is now considered by them as a most tremendous evil, more to be shunned than death itself: and a life of holiness appears to be the perfection and happiness of man. But most of all, true wisdom and prudence discover themselves in this, that they unite their influence to govern our whole lives: “I Wisdom dwell with prudence,” says Solomon. They who are truly enlightened do not rest satisfied with clear notions, but desire to have their practice conformable to the convictions of their minds: they therefore take the word of God as a light to their feet and a lantern to their paths: they strive to walk in the fear of the Lord all the day long: this, I say, is the best evidence of their wisdom; for indeed it is the very beginning of wisdom; as Solomon has observed, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;” and as Job also says, “The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil, that is understanding [�ote: Chap. 28:28.].”

We see then who are the wise and prudent. �ot they who boast of their intellectual powers, and abound with human learning, but those who are taught of God to judge and act agreeably to the sacred oracles.

�ow these persons shall have a true knowledge and understanding of divine things: the ways of the Lord shall be clear to them from their own experience: they shall know how delightful it is to live a life of faith on the Son of God: they shall understand what it is to have fellowship with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ: they shall enjoy that sweet security which they possess, who are instructed in the Covenant of Grace, and who know the faithfulness of a promise-keeping God. These indeed are secrets hid from the natural man; but we are assured, that they are, and shall be, revealed unto those who are spiritual: David says, (and he himself had experienced the truth of it,) “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will shew them his covenant.”]

But this knowledge is peculiar to the persons above described; and this leads me to

shew you,

II. Why this knowledge is peculiar to them—

[Two reasons the prophet assigns: one taken from the peculiar excellence of the things known, and the other from the use which different persons make of them.

The first reason is taken from the excellence of the things known—“Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right.” There is a rectitude in a life of godliness; there is something in it which is fit and proper in itself; something which is agreeable to the mind and will of God; something which is calculated to promote the perfection and happiness of man. The most refined reason cannot conceive any thing more fit and becoming, than that He, whose loveliness and loving-kindness are infinite, should be the supreme object of our affections; or that He who is omnipotent, immutable, and eternal, should be honoured, trusted, and obeyed with our whole hearts. To a carnal eye, that views only the Majesty of God, it might appear unsuitable, that the Deity should condescend to commune with such sinful worms: but his condescension and grace reflect a lustre on all his other attributes, and overwhelm us with wonder and astonishment. As for the pleasantness and peace which are found in the ways of religion, or the effect of it on our hearts and lives, we have the united testimony of all who ever devoted themselves to it, that “in keeping of God’s commandments there is great reward.” Indeed it is this excellency which helps the godly to know and understand the things themselves; at least it helps to enlarge and perfect their knowledge of them. The Holy Spirit first leads them to a life of godliness, and then discovers to them how fit in itself, how honourable to God, and beneficial to man, such a life is: and then this discovery confirms them in their ways: confirms them, I say, beyond every thing in the world; so that though they began to walk in the Lord’s ways from the fear of hell, and from a desire after heaven, they now walk in his ways because they are right; they now see, that to “yield themselves a living sacrifice to God is the most reasonable service” in the world: and so much is their knowledge and understanding confirmed by this discovery of the rectitude and excellency of God’s ways, that they would wish to walk in them, even though there were no heaven to reward their obedience, nor any hell to punish their disobedience: they can say with David, “I esteem thy commandments concerning all things to be right, and I hate every false way;” that is, “My soul approves the way of duty, therefore would I walk in it, and not for the sake of the reward: I hate sin, and therefore would I avoid it to the uttermost, and not merely because I am afraid of punishment: I would not be excused from my duty, if I might; nor would I practise sin, though I might do it with impunity.” On the other hand, this very excellency is one reason why none but the wise and prudent can know these things. A weak and disordered eye cannot bear the light. This is true with respect to spiritual light, as well as to the light of the sun. Our Lord says, that the ungodly “hate the light, neither come to the light; they love darkness rather than light.” If we draw a picture of morality, the amiableness of it will commend itself to them; but if we set before them a life of godliness, they are dazzled by it; they are hurt with it; its splendour, like that of the sun, overwhelms them: it is so high above them, that they cannot

comprehend it: not having a spiritual discernment, they account it foolishness: it appears to them more like the ravings of enthusiasm, than the words of truth and soberness: they know not how to annex a proper meaning to our words: being low and carnal in their apprehensions, they cannot rise above a carnal sense of our expressions. We see therefore, that the very excellency of these things is one reason why the true knowledge of them is peculiar to the wise and prudent. Thus it was in our Lord’s time: he told his hearers, that the reason they murmured at his words was, that their apprehensions were carnal, whereas his words were spiritual: “Doth this offend you? The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” At another time he said, “Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my words.”

The other reason assigned by the prophet is taken from the use which different persons make of spiritual truths: “The just,” he observes, “will walk in them, but the transgressors will fall therein.”

�ow the just and righteous, as far as they are acquainted with the ways of God, will endeavour to walk in them: they desire to reduce every truth to practice, and wish to have even “the thoughts of their hearts brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ:” and their knowledge is wonderfully furthered and advanced by this disposition: their apprehension is quickened by the previous disposition which they feel to embrace the truth; and their memory is strengthened by the love which they bear towards it, when once it is discovered. Hence unenlightened persons, who have studied the Scriptures critically for many years, are often not half so well acquainted with them as others of very inferior abilities, who, under the influence of such a disposition, have studied them but a short time: to the one, the Bible is “a sealed book;” its contents are dark, intricate, and unintelligible: to the other, it is clear, perspicuous, and easy to be understood: the one meets with nothing but difficulties and stumbling-blocks; the other has a clew to every truth contained in it. And whence is it that the one knows the mysteries of the kingdom, while the other sees nothing but dark and obscure parables? Our Lord enables us to solve this difficulty; “If any man,” says he, “will do my will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God;” his disposition and desire to do my will shall operate in such a manner as greatly to facilitate the understanding of my word.

On the other hand, the indisposition which others feel towards the ways of God will prevent the introduction of Divine knowledge into the soul: “the transgressors will fall therein.” The pillar and the cloud by which God led the Israelites, may serve to illustrate the operation of his word, by which he leads us: the cloud was a pillar of fire to give light to the Israelites by night, while it was a cloud of darkness towards the Egyptians, insomuch that they could not advance, but were obstructed in their march by means of it. �ow so it is with the word of God: to God’s people, it exhibits a bright and luminous appearance, so that they can walk in the light of it: but to transgressors, who do not desire above all things to be conformed to it, it is an offence: to the former it is “a savour of life unto life;” but unto the latter it is “a savour of death unto death:” yea, Christ himself, who is the sum and substance of the Bible, is to the former “a sanctuary;” but to the latter “a snare and a gin, and a

stone of stumbling and a rock of offence,” by means of which “many are snared, and taken, and fall,” to their more aggravated condemnation. Daily experience shews us that the strictness and purity of God’s ways are an offence unto many: they take occasion from what they hear to shew their enmity against God, more than ever they would have done, if the light had not been thus set before them: Christ being set forth, they make him only “a sign to be spoken against; and thus the thoughts of their hearts are revealed.” And that this vile and wicked disposition blinds them more than ever, we are sure from the testimony of our Lord: the Pharisees had shut their hearts against conviction, and then were incensed against our Lord for intimating that they were blind; “Are we blind also?” Upon which our Lord answers them, “If ye were blind, ye would have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.” It is evident therefore, that the very opposite uses which different persons make of the ways of God, must necessarily, and of themselves, as well as by Divine appointment, contribute greatly to enlighten the one, while the others are confirmed in ignorance and unbelief.]

Let us now conclude with an application of the foregoing truths;

1. To those who are unacquainted with the truths and ways of God—

[Many, it is to be feared, there are among you, who are wise and prudent enough with respect to the things of this world, but yet are miserably ignorant of the nature and excellency of vital godliness. Your own consciences testify, that you know not what it is to have God come down as the dew upon your souls: you know not what is meant by that beauty, that growth, that stability comma; that fragrancy, and that fruitfulness, which characterize the true Christian. �ay, some perhaps, instead of experiencing these things in their own souls, are hurt and offended by the very mention of them: instead of judging the ways of the Lord to be right, they are ready to condemn them as enthusiastic or righteous overmuch. To all such persons therefore, whether they be only ignorant of these things, or have taken offence at them, we must testify, that the ways of the Lord are right: whatever exception may be taken against them, they will assuredly prove right in the issue: “Wisdom will be justified of all her children.”We may challenge all the world to shew, that there is any thing unreasonable in a life of devotedness to God, or that such a life is not calculated to make us happy. Let me therefore entreat you to seek the knowledge of these things: your not having the wisdom and learning of this world will be no obstacle to your proficiency in divine knowledge: it is spiritual wisdom that you want: seek wisdom therefore from Him who has promised to “give it liberally, and without upbraiding:” seek prudence also; for “a prudent man,” says Solomon, “foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on and are punished.” But if you will not be persuaded, remember what God has said, “My people perish for lack of knowledge;” and again, “They are a people of no understanding; therefore He that made them will not have mercy on them, and He that formed them will shew them no favour.” Such declarations as these fully prove how awful it is to remain in ignorance: and therefore I entreat you all to improve your present opportunities. “Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom; and, with all your getting, get understanding.”]

2. To those who know and walk in the ways of God—

[What do you owe to God, my Brethren, for the divine wisdom and prudence which he has bestowed upon you! Surely you were once foolish and unwise, even as others; and perhaps were ready to say of those who felt what you now experience, “Thou art beside thyself: much attention to religion hath made thee mad.” Well, bless God that your eyes are opened, and that, though ye were once blind, ye now see. Yet rest not in what ye have attained: you know but little yet in comparison of what remains to be known: there are heights and depths in divine things, which will be opened more and more to your view to all eternity; and the promise is, that “you shall know, if you follow on to know the Lord:” therefore seek to “grow in knowledge and in grace: while others stumble at the word, and make the ways of God an occasion of falling, do you be pressing forward; and let “your profiting appear unto all men.” Pray more and more for “a spirit of wisdom and understanding;” and endeavour, with truly Christian prudence, to act up to the convictions of your conscience: so shall your knowledge and holiness advance each other, till you come to that blessed place, where faith shall be turned into sight, and hope be consuminated in enjoyment.]

BI, "Who is wise, and he shall understand these things?

Who is wise

There must be prudence and wisdom before we can understand Divine truths; there must be an illumination within. A man may know whether he be prudent and wise by his relishing of Divine truths, for otherwise he is not wise and prudent in these things which are the main. The prophet now comes to shew and defend the equity of God’s ways, how crooked soever they seem to flesh and blood. By “ways” he understandeth the whole law and Gospel, the whole Word of God; which he calleth right, not only because they are righteous in themselves, but because they reform whatsoever is amiss in us, and rectify us; and work whatsoever is needful for our good and salvation. God’s ways are those wherein He walks to us: the ways that He prescribes us to walk in; and our ways as they are comformable to His. “The ways of the Lord are right”; as they agree to that which is right or straight; and right likewise, because they lead directly to a right end. Observe that man is not a prescriber of his own way, and that no creature’s will is a rule. The Word of the Lord is every way perfect, and brings us to perfection. The best way to come to a good and right end is to, take God’s ways. Shew the divers effects these right ways of God have in two sorts of people, the godly and the wicked.

1. The just shall walk in them. They are just who give to every one their due, and give God His due. They are such as have respect unto all God s commandments. They do things to a good end, even the glory of God and the good of man. They desire to grow in grace and they love the brethren. In the worst times, God will have always a people that shall justify wisdom. Men must have spiritual life, and be just, before they can walk. For our encouragement to walk in God’s ways, know that they are the most safe ways of all; they are the most pleasant, and they are the cleanest and holiest. “The transgressors shall fall therein.” The same word which is a word of life and salvation to the godly is an occasion of sin and perdition unto the wicked. (R. Sibbes.)

Who are the truly wise and prudent?

I. The character of the persons who would give heed to the words of this prophecy, and to these doctrines.

1. What does the Spirit mean by “wise”? Wisdom is described in the Book of Proverbs. In it wisdom calls, reproves, and has a spirit to pour out, actions and attributes which belong only to the very and eternal God. In it wisdom is said to be the source of royal and judicial authority. It is described as eternal. It is said to have a temple and sacrifices.. It promises to do that which the Almighty alone can do. It threatens to execute judgment upon those who refuse to accept the proffered mercy. Then who else can wisdom be but the Lord of Hosts? “Wise” must mean those who make the knowledge of God their chief study and pursuit. They are wise whose heart, mind, and soul are pervaded by wisdom.

2. What does the Spirit mean by prudent? The original means, an “understanding one,” or “a sound reasoner.” So the real meaning of the expression differs considerably from the apparent one. The Spirit means an individual who, by diligent searching and study of God’s dispensations and providential visitations, arrives at accurate conclusions with reference to the Almighty’s promises and threats; to the consequences of obedience and disobedience; to the effects of impenitence and repentance. A prudent man, in Scripture, but especially in this place, means a knowing individual in the deep mysteries of God’s holy Word.

II. The nature of the doctrines taught. “The ways of the Lord are right.” This is an expression for true religion which binds and knits man to God. True religion is irresistible. What can be more “reasonable” than that He who made all things for Himself should demand us to Himself? The ways of the Lord “are right,” with regard to their conformity to the holy nature and will of God, with regard to the peace which they confer.

III. The double use made of the ways of the Lord by different parties. “The just shall walk in them: the transgressors shall fall therein.” We never make the Word of the Lord our rule of life whereby to walk, until we are made righteous; until the sun of righteousness hath shone in our hearts, and illumined our souls. But how fearful is the doom of those who have despised the wisdom and prudence which the prophet recommended for their knowledge and understanding. The same Being who helps forward the just on their way, and removes every impediment from their path, becomes the insurmountable obstruction in the way of transgressors. Many are the things in the Word of God at which corrupt hearts are apt to stumble. The profoundness and incomprehensibleness of some of its mysterious doctrines, instead of humbling the finite mind and bringing it into subjection to the infinite, puffs up with pride and arrogance the depraved and scanty reason, and makes it exalt itself against Him who is exalted above all. The sanctity and strictness of God’s ways make many an unholy temper and disposition revolt against making those ways their choice. (Moses Margoliouth, B. A.)

The right ways of the Lord

Here the prophet makes an application of his subject.

I. The import of this question of appeal.

1. Vain men would fain be wise. The question implies that the number of the wise and intelligent on these subjects was but small. And those who did not understand such things as the prophet had delivered did not deserve the name of wise and intelligent, however they might assume it to themselves.

I. The important declaration. “The ways of the Lord are right.” Need not prove this. It is a first principle in religion. It is now before us as matter of reflection.

III. The different views of the ways of God which are entertained, and the different effects produced thereby. The righteous, being taught of God, have a proper and spiritual discernment of things. Transgressors, blinded by the god of the world, discern no spiritual objects in their proper colours. (S. Knight, M. A.)

God’s ways made known unto the wise

The truth is, that men live the chief part of their lives without any knowledge of their own separation from the Lord; they do not understand that sin separates the sinner from his Maker.

I. Who are the wise?

1. They are willing hearers of God’s truth. Like Cornelius of old.

2. Humble receivers of truth. Like the jailer at Philippi.

3. They are careful thinkers. Like Mary, who pondered things in her heart. No others but these can really be spoken of as wise.

II. God’s right ways. He has a right to demand obedience on our part to whatever He may please to lay down. If we walk in His ways we shall have grace to support us, and supply our various wants, we shall have guidance in the hour of difficulty, we shall have our hearts prepared for the enjoyment of those pleasures which are at God’s right hand for evermore. He will give us strength for the day, and grace unto the end. The ways of the just shall be increasingly clear. “The wicked shall fall therein.” The ways are the same, but men receive them and walk in them differently. That which is really good for those who are anxious to serve God, we are told here, is turned into evil in the case of the wicked. (H. Montagu Villiers, M. A.)

Walking or failing in God’s ways

In the worst times God will have always a people that shall justify wisdom. Some are foolish; not caring for the ways of God, cavilling at them. But the “just shall walk in them,” that is, they take a contrary course to the world that slights wisdom. In ill times, let us labour to justify truth, both the truth of things to be believed and all just religious courses.

1. Men must have spiritual life, and be just, before they can walk. Walking is an action of life; there must be life before there can be walking. Unless there is first spiritual life in the inward man there will not be a harmony and correspondency betwixt a man and his ways.

2. Because a just man is also a prudent and wise man, he walks in God’s ways. Spiritual wisdom and prudence lead to walking in obedience.

What things doth this walking in the ways of God imply?

1. Perspicuity. Those who walk in the ways of God discern those ways to be God’s ways, and discern them aright.

2. Resolution to go on in those ways till he come to the end, though there be never so much opposition.

How shall we know whether we go on in this way or not?

1. When earthly profits and pleasures seem little, and heaven and heavenly things seem near.

2. It implies a uniform course of life.

3. He who would walk in God’s ways must be resolute against all opposition whatsoever.

The use of this teaching may be—

1. Reprehension unto those who can talk, but not walk; that have tongues, but not feet.

2. It is for instruction, to stir us up to walk in God’s ways.

3. It is for consolation. If this be our walk, then God will walk with us, and the angels of God shall have charge of us, to keep us in all our ways. (R. Sibbes, D. D.)

The cause and cure of social evils

It cannot be said that our position as a nation is like that of Israel in those days when she was tottering to her fall. But the same, or very similar, evils to those which proved the ruin of Israel exist among us to a deplorable degree. Those who are familiar with the prophecy will know what I mean when I say that evil is with us at the moth stage, not yet at the lion stage (see chap. 5.). The moth stage is when evil keeps eating like a canker into the vitals of a people, but where there is nothing, or very little, to attract attention; no noise, nothing to alarm. But let the moth stage go on, let corruption increase among the people, and presently the roar of a lion will be heard; there will be tumult and commotion, there will be the outbreak of open rebellion against the powers that be, in heaven and on earth too. Hosea has it for his great object throughout to show the cause and the cure of all these evils. The cause is unfaithfulness to God, and the cure is returning to Him with the whole heart. There is never more vigour in Hosea’s tone than when, reminding of the sin of Jehovah, he says, “Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off!” Has modern society no calf? Does it not make a god of gold? Is not that “covetousness which is idolatry” a national vice? Israel had a calf at Dan as well as at Bethel. This may be taken to represent the idol of natural law. People trust in the laws of evolution, working through the struggle for existence to the survival of the fittest. The great effort, of these people is to bring man and all that concerns him under the stern operation of that law. What shall we do? A question much more easily asked than answered. There are many reforms, and these by far the most needful and far-reaching in their result, which can only be accomplished by the diffusion of a spirit of love; and this is only possible by a general return of the people to the Lord their God. The humanitarian spirit which is shown by not a few of those who make no profession of faith in God is much to be commended; but it never can by its inherent force make way in society. To flow as a fertilising stream through the waste places of society, it must take its rise in the high

mountains of Divine faith and hope and love. The nether springs of human generosity must be fed by the upper springs of Divine grace. (J. Monro Gibson, D. D.)

NISBET, "THE MORAL OF HOSEA’S PROPHECIES

‘These things.’

Hosea 14:9

Hosea was a good man in a bad time. He let his light shine, and it shone the brighter because of the darkness. He walked straight in crooked surroundings. He dared to be right when all the world was wrong. The voice of the people did not shut his ears to the voice of God. He listened to hear what God might say, and then he spoke without fear or withholding. God needs prophets wherever there is wickedness.

I. The story of the Prodigal Son was repeated in Hosea’s time, with the difference that a nation was the prodigal.—Israel had left the Father’s house, and now it was eating the unsatisfying husks of sin. Hosea was the voice to call the prodigal home. It is true that whole nations may sin and incur God’s punishment. Our own nation’s hope is in being true to God. Her wealth and possessions cannot make her great; Israel was never richer nor larger than in Hosea’s time. Our patriotism and our religion should unite in impelling us to labour for the holiness of our country. Righteousness alone exalteth a nation.

II. Foolish persons sometimes get ‘too big’ for religion.—They think they can get along very well without it. Nations have adopted the same principle, scores of times, and have surrendered their faith in God. Inevitably, of course, iniquity has followed infidelity in the history of nations, as usually in the case of individuals. When we give up God it does not take long to give up goodness. When a tide of unbelief sweeps over a people it is usually followed by a wave of wickedness. And, as in the case of Israel, prosperity cannot long abide with dissoluteness and debauchery. Drunken hands cannot hold either gold or land. So poverty stalks after sin. The bad people soon become the poor people. It never pays—to consider the subject on the lowest ground—to try to get along without God. When religion departs, righteousness and prosperity follow.

III. The trouble with Israel, as with us, was one that Assyria or Egypt could not mend.—There are some difficulties in which friends and neighbours can be of no help. The secret of Israel’s distress was sin, which is likewise the secret of most everything that is wrong in our life and in the world to-day. There is only one source of help for sin—God. The remedy that alone can make whole and holy is the love and power of our offended Father. Turning to God is the only way to better our condition and to secure happiness. In His forgiveness is peace and prosperity. God alone can kelp in life’s greatest difficulties.

Illustration

‘“Have you ever been here before?” demanded a magistrate of a prisoner. “Once, your

honour, and you let me go. Please let me off again.” But the second offence found no mercy with the court, and the man was sent to jail. This is the world’s way. It may forgive once, but there its forgiveness ends. But the mercy of God—how great it is! Again and again He forgives the penitent sinner. His pity and tender mercy are beyond finding out.’

PULPIT, "Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall far therein. This verse demands attention to all the prophet has written, whether for warning, or reproof, or correction in righteousness, or encouragement to piety and virtue, and evidently alludes to Deuteronomy 32:4. The ways of the Lord are those he prescribes for them to walk in, as also the ways he takes in guiding, guarding, and governing men. Like the dictates of the Word, so the dispensations of his providence are to some the savor of life, to others the savor of death; therefore it is added that, while the righteous walk therein, the wicked stumble in them (comp. Deuteronomy 30:19, Deuteronomy 30:20).