CRITICAL NOTES.—
Hosea 4:15. Come not] by pilgrimages to places of idolatrous worship. Swear not] in temples of idols. “The confession of Jehovah is hypocrisy in the mouth of an idolater; pretended piety, which is more dangerous than open ungodliness, because it lulls the conscience to sleep” [Keel].
Hosea 4:16. Backsliding heifer] Stubborn and refractory (Jeremiah 7:24). As a lamb] Free play. If Israel would not submit to the joke, they might go where they liked, become prey of wolves in the field, be given up to exile and dispersion.
Hosea 4:17. Joined] Closely and voluntarily bound, and cannot give them up (cf. Numbers 25:3; 1 Corinthians 6:16-17). Alone] Lit. give him rest from all further expostulation, which he will not hear [Pusey]. Give him up as incorrigible [Boothr.]. Have nothing to do with him. He is bent on his ruin, let him suffer the consequences (Jeremiah 7:16); punishment cannot long be delayed.
HOMILETICS
THE DOOM OF SOME A WARNING TO OTHERS.—Hosea 4:15-17
A different turn is now given to the prophecy. Israel had sinned, would not heed, and must be punished; but Judah, who had the law and the temple of God, ought not to prove so stubborn and incorrigible. God specially warns his own, and if they sin their condemnation will be greater. The idea is that we must not partake of other men’s sins lest we share in their punishment.
I. The provoking sin. Israel had played the harlot, backslided from God, and continued in idolatry, heedless of Divine warning and judgment.
1. Israel were guilty of idolatry. They knew Jehovah, but set up idols. They had made graven images and worshipped golden calves in opposition to God’s command. They did not intend to worship the images themselves, but God through the images. One step led to another in the corrupting practices. Papists and Ritualists spring from ranks which some would call earnest and devout. Men make gods, honour and serve them, and fall into gross superstitions and idolatry. The proneness of the Jews to polytheism is instructive to us. Churches favoured with the purest worship, nations enriched with the oracles of God, individuals privileged with means of grace, may fall into formalism, perfect apathy in religion, and undue veneration of the creature. Formalism, corrupt worship, and entire abandonment of God are the steps which lead to idolatry. God has real claims upon all his creatures. “Thou shalt have no other gods but Me.” Obedience to his law is not merely an integral part of true morality, but essential to all religion. Regard to him, therefore, is our first and highest duty. Disregard to God accounts for idolatry in all its forms, for moral evil in all its features.
2. Israel were guilty of neglecting Divine warnings. They listened not to the prophets. Servant after servant was sent by God, but all to no purpose. They despised the message, and persecuted the messenger. A person unwarned may have some excuse; but “forewarned, forearmed,” yet Israel repented not nor turned from danger. Many sit under the sound of the gospel, but take no heed. If you despise exhortations, warnings, and reproofs, neglect privileges which exalt you to heaven, how can you escape at last? You incur sevenfold guilt by such conduct. Continuance in sin after Divine admonition will provoke God to anger. “Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone.”
3. Israel were guilty of despising Divine chastisements. God not only warns, but chastises the sinner to wean him from his sins. Personal health fails, business prospects fade away, and family circumstances change, but prayer is not made to the God of our life, and comfort is not sought in him (Psalms 42:8). Grievous sickness, personal and domestic troubles, do not convert men, nor turn them from the error of their ways. Trials ought to make us think, they are the strokes of a loving hand, designed to purify our hearts and lives. The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without affliction. “Sweet indeed” should be “the uses of adversity,” but they often fail to correct. They do not remind of neglected duty, nor separate the sinner from his sin. Pharaoh, Jehoram, and the Jews, are solemn warnings. “O God, I have made an ill use of thy mercies,” says Bp Hall, “if I have not learnt to be content with thy correction.” The intractable ox resisting the yoke is an apt image of the impenitent casting off Divine restraints. Conviction follows upon conviction, chastening upon chastening, still he rebels, hardens his neck, and invites threatened judgments. Ahab would not be corrected, and “the bow drawn at a venture” performed its mission. Pharaoh grew more stubborn under the rod, and madly rushed to ruin. “If men will harden their hearts, God will harden his hand,” says Howe. Unheeded reproof ripens us for judgment. “He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”
II. The fearful doom. “The Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place.” Scatter them into exile and expose them to danger, as a lamb becomes the prey to wild beasts. And this “now.” The judgment is immediate and at hand, no longer delayed. “Ephraim is joined to idols,” in love with his sins; “let him alone,” let him rest from further correction and expostulation, and take the consequences of his folly. This is the last and most hopeless state of guilt.
1. Let alone by man. The godly must not reprove nor exhort some men. They feel on account of the sins, and are deeply anxious for the welfare, of their fellow-creatures. But there are sins beyond hope, total apostasy and final impenitence. “There is a sin unto death; I do not say that he shall pray for it.” Apostasy and idolatry are not only sins against God, but destructive to men. The intercession of Moses and Samuel would not avail (Jeremiah 15:1), when God is angry. “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me; for I will not hear thee.”
2. Let alone by God. It is sad to be without the sympathy and prayers of men; but to be left of God is a most awful condition. It is something more than being without the warnings of the minister, and the exhortations of a mother or friend. One let alone is not troubled with the power of truth, the checks of conscience, and the restraints of providence. He is undisturbed and unfettered in his course of sin. He goes from bad to worse, and his end is destruction. Like the adder, he cannot and will not hear the wisest charmer. The will is averse, the purpose is fixed, and the ear is deaf. As stones fall to the ground, sparks fly upward, and rivers roll to the ocean, so silly men run from God, and beyond the reach of mercy. “The soul that sinneth presumptuously shall have no atonement; it shall be cut off from the midst of my people.”
3. Let alone without any pity and protection. “As a lamb in a large place.” A lamb exposed to peril is a most helpless and pitiable creature. What more lamentable to behold than the sinner let alone, exposed to temptation and death. This made Christ weep over the guilty city, and Paul wish that he was accursed for his kindred in the flesh. “The large place” of Israel were the territories of the Medes, where they were deprived of temple worship, prophetic teaching, and Divine protection. The large place of the sinner is the broadway to destruction; to places where strong drink drowns reason and conscience; where sensibility is consumed by burning passions; where tender memories are quenched, conscience benumbed, and every noble feeling destroyed. The man who ruins his health and his happiness, his circumstances and his life, and who implicates his family and his fellow-creatures by the unbridled gratification of sense, is to be pitied for his folly. Woe to that man who has forsaken Christ, and whom God permits to go the downward road, unpitied, unprotected, and unsaved!
III. The kindly warning. “Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend.” Israel and Judah were at variance, and such warm sympathy could not be expected from those at enmity with each other. But the heart of the prophet beats warmly for Judah, who alone represented the people of God. God is anxious to preserve Judah from the ways of Israel. Spiritual, theocratic feelings are stronger than natural feelings, and must prevail. Christianity is not insensible to private friendship and the claims of kindred; but it kindles within us the fire of universal benevolence.
1. A needful warning. (a) Proximity to Israel endangered Judah. Temptations are near, friends and neighbours entice, and the Christian is in danger of conforming to the world. Like a rebellious province, the world has customs, statutes, and pursuits, contrary to the law of God. Friendship with it is forbidden. Its pomp and vanities must be renounced. We must “come out from the world, and be separate,” that is, be Christians wholly or not at all. (b) The mixture of idolatry with the worship of God endangered Judah. “Come not ye unto Gilgal,” &c. Gilgal and Bethaven were places of note and great resort. Here people were accustomed to “swear the Lord liveth,” or associate the living God with idols. Formulas of Christian worship were employed to justify the service of idols. Man will worship something. When the worship of Jehovah is forsaken then the devices of man are chosen. Examples and places infect. God will not divide his claims with idols. Superstitions are not more warranted or imitable because they are practised under the pretence of serving God. Aaron’s golden calf was no excuse for the neglect of Jehovah. We must have no halting, no mixture in religion. Either Baal or the Lord must be our master and God. We cannot serve two masters. To swear by idols, by heaven or earth, or any creature, dishonours our nature, offends our God, and makes us a warning to others. “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”
2. A timely warning. God warns before he strikes. Spaces for repentance are given men, and they are urged to flee from the judgment before it is too late. Though Israel is given up, yet Judah must be cautioned. This indicates Divine wisdom, love, and forbearance. “Sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily.” “The long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah.” Provocations are given, yet God forbears to punish. But we must not question his providence, disregard his word, and abuse his mercy. There is clear and constant warning. The impenitent are without excuse, and the punishment will be complete. Punishment lingers long, but falls heavily at last. “Woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him.”
3. A reasonable warning. Let not Judah offend, “though Israel play the harlot.” The separation of Israel from Judah was most unrighteous and disastrous in its results on both kingdoms; but Israel’s departure from God was most aggravating and hazardous. It was harlotry and wantonness. God’s service is a reasonable service, in harmony with our mental and moral constitution. God is no hard task-master, demanding impossibilities and requiring bricks without straw. “His commandments are not grievous.” He treats men as rational and responsible beings, beseeching them to repent, and warning them of the consequences of neglect.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Hosea 4:15. Places of good reputation become infamous, lose all honour, by connection with idolatry and immorality. Bethel, the house of God, becomes Beth-aven, the house of idols, the house of vanity. Places consecrated by the piety of our forefathers and the mercy of God are turned into scenes of corruption and vice. We are forbidden to go to such places lest we should be infected. Christians must not sanction worldly customs and amusements in which God has no place. Abstain from the very appearance of evil.
Hosea 4:16. The sinner, like Israel, is often fretful under Divine restraint, impatient in the narrowness of God’s ways, and is bent on backsliding; but when God lets him alone, gives him his wish, liberty brings no security and happiness, like a lamb bleating alone, bewraying its solitude, and he wanders about to destruction. How much better to be in God’s fold, daily fed, and led into green pastures, and beside the still waters!
Hosea 4:17. “Ephraim is joined,” &c.
1. The Alliance.—
1. Unholy.
2. Ruinous. II. The Abandonment.—
1. Just
2. Severe.
3. Hopeless. “A man may be given up to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the soul may be saved; but to be given up to sin is a thousand times worse, because that is the fruit of Divine anger, in order to the damnation of the soul” [John Shower]. Ah, Lord! this mercy I humbly beg, that whatever thou givest me up to, thou wilt not give me up to the ways of mine own heart; if thou wilt give me up to be afflicted, or tempted, or reproached, &c., I will patiently sit down and say, “It is the Lord; let him do with me what seems good in his own eyes.” Do anything with me, lay what burden thou wilt upon me, so that thou dost not give me up to the ways of my own heart [Brooks]. Deliver me, O Lord, from that evil man, myself [Augustine].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 4
Hosea 4:15-17. If sin be fashionable, Christians should be out of fashion. If others be punished for it, we should take warning from them. Three things arise from sin, viz. fear, shame, and punishment. The first arises from the guilt of sin, the second from its defilement, and the third from its demerit. A sinful life is the death of the soul. Look at sin in its guilt, malignity, and curse. Abhor it, oppose it, and dread it more than death [Wilson].