CRITICAL NOTES.] The guilt of the sinful nation and the punishment awaiting have been described: now there is a call to conversion, and a promise that God will bless abundantly.
Hosea 14:1. Return] Heb. intensive, expressing strong desire. Unto] Lit. up to, not merely towards the Lord. “Great is repentance which maketh men to reach quite up to the throne of glory,” is a Jewish saying.
Hosea 14:2. Words] Not empty, yet outward gifts not required; only words, and these even found. Rec-] Lit. receive the good, viz. the words of sincere repentance, given by thyself (1 Chronicles 29:14). Calves] i.e. our lips shall be for calves. Instead of offering sacrifice we give thanksgiving and praise, the fruit of our lips (Hebrews 13:5).
Hosea 14:3. Save] Israel relied upon Assyria and Egypt; now horses (warlike power) and the work of our hands (idolatry) are entirely renounced. Fatherless] Descriptive of Israel’s condition without God; a reason for turning from idols, and an inducement to prayer (Exodus 22:22; Deuteronomy 10:18).
HOMILETICS
REAL CONVERSION TO GOD DESCRIBED.—Hosea 14:1-3
There is a change in the words of the prophet now. Wrath and threatening are past, and “sweetness and light,” like the sun, burst from the dark clouds. Every word of the invitation is full of mercy, urgent upon Israel and upon all who have gone astray. God is still unchangeable and true to his covenant. There is hope for all who sincerely repent and return to him. The character of this return is clearly described in the text.
I. Its necessity. “For thou hast fallen.” This is the first dawn of light upon the sinner. God discovers to him the abyss into which he has fallen.
1. He has fallen by iniquity: not a mere stumble, but a fall. All sin is a deep fall. A fall from God into idolatry; from holiness into guilt; from honour to disgrace. A fall from which we cannot raise ourselves. It is a pit of distress, “an horrible pit and miry clay” (Psalms 40:2), out of which God alone can deliver us. “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do thy first works.”
2. He has fallen by his own iniquity. Nations often ascribe their calamity to civil dissension, foolish rules, and disuse of military discipline: to the cruelty of the enemy and reverse of fortune; but the fall is caused by opposition to God, and contempt of his word. Individuals blame their circumstances and their fate; but sin is their own act and deed. The fall is the result of their own conduct. The sinner eats the fruit of his own way, and is filled with his own devices. But though fallen he need not stay in his sin. The way of return is open. The invitation is given. “Return unto the Lord thy God.”
II. Its nature. “Return (up to) the Lord thy God.” True conversion is abandonment of all sin and restoration to all good.
1. Idolatry is abandoned. “Neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods.” It is folly to trust to creatures which God has made. How much greater folly to adore things which we ourselves have made. The penitent renounces all idolatry, and views God as the Lord his God. Williams gives a graphic account in his missionary enterprises of the conversion of a chief from idolatry. Romatane decreed the destruction of his temples, the conflagration of his gods, and the erection of a house for God. We must not pride ourselves in monuments of genius, gains of the world, and external performances in religion. Consecration to God excludes every kind of worship to strange gods. “Make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth” (Exodus 23:13).
2. Former sins are renounced. Israel were guilty of two things—reliance upon foreign aid and upon their own warlike strength. (a) Human dependence is renounced. “Asshur shall not save us.” They will betake themselves no more to an arm of flesh: for vain is the help of man. Human helps must never take the place of God. All merit and self-righteousness must be renounced. The best proof of true repentance is utter forsaking of former sin. (b) Dependence upon self is renounced. The horse was a symbol of their own, as well as foreign strength. “A horse is a vain thing for safety, neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.” The strongest self-defences are nothing when most needed. Sennacherib with all his cavalry was no match for the angel of God. We must not look to creature strength, to personal merit, for salvation. “The sufficiency of my merit is to know that my merit is not sufficient,” says Quarles. “Some put their trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”
3. Entire return to God is seen. The true penitent rises up from his fall, feels that he cannot stay in distance, and returns right up to God. Many vow and never perform, resolve and resolve again, but never forsake their sins. Others shed tears, feel desires, and take some steps towards repentance, and conclude that they are safe. The prodigal started home, did not merely turn his face, nor stop half-way; but “came to his father,” up to his father’s house, quite home.—Many come out of Egypt who never enter Canaan; put on garments of sorrow, who never rend their hearts and return to God. Half-conversions are unsafe; “almost a Christian” is not enough. Nothing short of actual conversion will do; an entire change is necessary. Whatever distance we travel, however high we mount in religion, if we come short of Christ we cannot be saved. “If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me” (Jeremiah 4:1).
III. Its method. “Take with you words and turn to the Lord.” Words are not necessary to God. We do not induce him to bless us by mere words. We may argue and persuade men to grant a thing; but words without meaning are sounding brass and tinkling cymbal.
1. Take words of confession. God does not require costly gifts; nor burnt-offerings of goats and bullocks; but a humble and contrite heart; a full and free confession of sin. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
2. Take words of prayer. “Say unto him.” God himself supplies the words and directs our hearts. We are sensible of inaptitude and ignorance; but he bestows the spirit of prayer, and orders our speech before him (Job 37:19); Method is helpful in everything, and the ordering of words in prayer, words marshalled like military ranks, may quicken and discipline. “Method is the soul of business.” Ask for two things. (a) Take away iniquity. The true penitent is most concerned about sin, desires to be free from its consequences and dominion, to be entirely cleansed and preserved in the future. “All iniquity.” We must not have partial zeal, but strike at all sin, great and small. God must take it away from our hearts and lives. We can neither remove its guilt nor destroy its power. God’s grace can deliver, renew and save. “If the Son make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (b) Receive us graciously. When God has pardoned sin and imparted grace, he accepts our imperfect services. “Give what thou demandest and then require what thou wilt,” says Augustine. The gifts are from God and then received by him. “For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.”
3. Take words of thanksgiving. “So will we render the calves, i.e. the fruit, of our lips, giving thanks to his name” (Hebrews 13:15). Those that receive much from God “will offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually.” The expressions of the lips will spring from a grateful heart. Lip service without sincerity of heart is an abomination to God: but a holy life is a perpetual thank-offering. The sacrifices of the law are abolished; but God’s goodness lays us under deep obligation to praise him. The penitent feels that he cannot praise too much, and resolves that the language of his lips and the fruit of his life shall be given to God. “Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince.”
IV. Its motive.
1. God will hear prayer. This we may presume, and hence the request. “Take words.” But this truth is specially revealed and taught in the word of God. The grand fact which distinguishes God from heathen deities is the fact that he is accessible. “O thou that hearest prayer!” We have every encouragement and every motive to pray. “It is the first thing wherewith a righteous life beginneth, and the last wherewith it doth end. So much of our lives is celestial and divine as we spend in the exercise of prayer,” writes Hooker.
2. God will have mercy upon the miserable. “With thee the fatherless findeth mercy.” Men without God are fatherless; orphans in a sinful world. Israel was helpless, and the prey to every oppressor. The sinner forsaking God forsakes his own mercy. Christ does not leave his people orphans, or comfortless (John 14:18). God, “the Father of the fatherless,” will have compassion on returning sinners. Men are cruel, but God is kind, and reserves his greatest mercy for greatest need. God governs not as an absolute monarch, but as a tender father. He has greater pleasure in showing his goodness than his power. “The poor committeth himself unto thee: thou art the helper of the fatherless.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Hosea 14:1. Fallen. The holy contrasted with the sinful state of man. Fallen in nature and condition, in pursuit and desire. God calls men to him by his prophets and his providence. “O Israel.” “It is well to hear when God calls through his deeds; but it is better to hear his words.”
Return.
1. The object. “The Lord thy God,”—not to a strange god. The God of mercy, and the fountain of all good.
2. The reason. “Thou hast fallen.” Thoughts of a fall should make us think of rising from our sad condition.
Hosea 14:2. Take words. The influence of words in prayer—
1. Not necessary to inform God of our wants.
2. A means of stirring up and relieving our own hearts. Words require more exertion than thoughts, and influence our minds by their sounds.
3. Exercise a power over others often when uttered—prompts them to kindred feelings and acts, and quickens them with pathos, passion, and thought.
4. When our words accord with our hearts and the Scriptures we shall be encouraged.
5. God supplies us with words adapted to our varied feelings and necessities. Come to God with his own words. Plead help in his own promises, and you shall find it. “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 in lips.”
Say unto him. Mentally and vocally, with spirit and speech. 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 knows not, nor move him to show us more mercy than he intendeth. But yet prayers are necessary, as a means which God will have used, that he 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 [Trapp].
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 [Pusey].
Hosea 14:3. Fatherless. A plea for orphans. God takes special care of them in his law (Exodus 22:22.) and providence (Psalms 68:4-5; Psalms 27:10).
1. A description of the sinner’s condition. Without the love, help, and guidance of a father.
2. A display of God’s mercy. When earthly fathers sleep in the grave, God watches over and provides for orphan children. This should be a motive to penitence, prayer, and daily trust in God.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 14
Hosea 14:2. “Words are the daughters of earth, and deeds are the sons of heaven.”
Hosea 14:3. Gods. At the introduction of Christianity into this country, a general council was summoned to consider the new doctrines of Paulinus. All present were unanimous as to the utter inefficiency of the gods whom they worshipped. Coifi, the pagan high-priest, in an eloquent harangue proposed their overthrow, and casting aside his priestly garments, called for arms, which Saxon priests were forbidden to wield, and for a horse, which they were not permitted to mount; and thus accoutred, galloped to the shrine at Godmundham, where the chief idol stood, hurled his lance into the enclosure, and profaned the consecrated shrine. The people, encouraged by the example of their priest, destroyed the sacred temple.