CRITICAL NOTES.
Hosea 11:5. Shall not] An apparent contradiction to Hosea 8:13; Hosea 9:3; but Egypt there is a type of bondage, here the hope of relief against Assyria. They would no longer go to Egypt for help, but be taken captive to Assyria.
Hosea 11:6. Abide] Lit. to whirl round, turn in a circle, indicating the violence and extent of punishment, often the sense of falling and staying until the mission is fulfilled (Jeremiah 23:19; Jeremiah 30:23; Lamentations 4:6; 2 Samuel 3:29). Branches] Some, villages which are branches, dependencies upon cities; mighty men, others. Baddim] Sig. poles (Exodus 25:13), made of branches, firmness derived from being woven together; bars or bolts by which gates were fastened together (Job 17:16).
HOMILETICS
THE SHORT-SIGHTED POLICY OF SINNERS.—Hosea 11:5-6
Israel were rebelling against Assyria, and looking to Egypt for help. They had forsaken God and desired to escape his judgments. But they should have what they did not wish, and be deprived of what they sought to have. There was no refuge nor retiring place; Assyria would take them captive, and the sword would perpetually rest on their cities and people. This punishment would be the result of their own short-sighted policy.
I. In refusing Divine and following their own counsels. “They refused to return” to God and his ways, and were defeated by adopting their own plans. God’s counsel is continually given to guide and correct us, and to reject this counsel is folly in the extreme.
1. It is the only safe counsel. Human guides may err. The wisest only guess. We require certainty and security. Many stumble, but in God “shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.”
2. It is the only firm counsel. Man’s instructions change, and his purpose can be frustrated. He may adjust circumstances and take precautions, yet not escape. God has knowledge to foresee and power to overcome opposition. “The counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.”
3. It is the only rational counsel. It is the only probable way to succeed according to our desire. The wisdom of the fool is conceit and self-delusion. He wanders into danger, and wrongs his own soul. “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes; but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.”
II. In bringing destruction upon them when they expected safety. They were trusting to Egypt, and depending upon their mighty men and fortified cities, but the sword would devour them.
1. The destruction was violent. The sword fell, whirled down upon them in all its weight, like “a whirlwind of the Lord gone forth in fury, a grievous whirlwind which fell grievously upon the head of the wicked” (Jeremiah 23:19).
2. The destruction was extensive. It “shall abide on his cities and shall consume his branches, and devour them” like flames of fire. Whether branches mean mighty men, villages, or bars of the cities, it is all one. Power could not defend the mighty, and defenced places were levelled to the ground. Princes and people, storehouses of wealth and palaces of splendour, fall through the sins of the nation.
3. The destruction was lasting. The sword abode upon them as long as they continued their rebellion against God. Israel’s kings were inaugurated by blood, and by God’s appointment they should reap just retribution. “Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from thy house.”
III. In rushing into the bondage from which they seek to escape. They sought to avoid Assyria by flying to Egypt, but this was the very means to bring them into bondage. We cannot escape God’s presence, nor shun the consequences of broken law. What appears the nearest refuge is often the remotest hope and the swiftest punishment. Persons to whom we fly for help are often the weakest to defend, and rushing from one danger the surest way to fall into another. Men fall by their own counsel and are taken in their own craftiness. They mistake if they think to avoid the judgments of God by cunning artifice and deceit, to promote their true interests by refusing to follow Divine counsel (Job 5:13; Job 18:7). “Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee.”
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 11
Hosea 11:5-6. Shall consume. Guilt and punishment are bound together. One should act as a warning to the other. The threat of punishment is a merciful declaration to some, though a terror to others. If there are rocks and shoals in the ocean of life, it is not cruelty to chart them down; it is an eminent and great mercy [Beecher].