CRITICAL NOTES.—
Hosea 7:11. Dove] A type of simplicity (Matthew 10:16). Silly] Simplicity. Without heart] Lit, without understanding, easily taken in the net (Ezekiel 12:13).
Hosea 7:12. Congregation] i.e. the threatenings of the law read to them by teachers in assemblies (Leviticus 26:14; Deuteronomy 28:15).
Hosea 7:13. Fled] As birds from their nests (Proverbs 27:8; Isaiah 16:2). Redeemed] from Egyp first, and constantly afterwards, “habitual, oft-renewed deliverance.” I and they both emphatic. I redeemed, they lied. God’s mercy overflowed man’s ingratitude.
HOMILETICS
THE SILLINESS OF THE SINNER.—Hosea 7:11-13
Ephraim was stricken and afflicted, stupefied and insensible, because without heart or understanding they revolted against their best interests. Like a silly dove, simple, and liable to be befooled (Job 31:27); easily seduced, and trusting to its rapidity of flight instead of taking the nearest shelter. Israel negotiated with others, depended not upon God, and was caught in the net. Looking at sin generally—
I. The sinner is silly in boasting of knowledge without wisdom. There is a great difference between knowledge and wisdom. The knowledge of this world and the wisdom from above are not always found together. The world may consider men wise and cunning, but a wicked man is not a wise man. Sin is folly, and folly denotes insipidity, which is opposed to wisdom derived from tasting or experience. There is no true knowledge without godliness. There may be intellect and useful learning, but men are brutish and foolish through sin. “The ox knoweth his owner,”—we know not our owner,—“and the ass his master’s crib;” but we are insensible of our dependence upon God; “do not know” nor consider. We “lack wisdom.” Some are totally ignorant. Others, gifted with genius and erudition, “think highly of themselves.” All are liable to be duped by their own fancy or snared by their own understanding. “A head full of vain and unprofitable notions, meeting with a heart full of pride and self-conceit, disposes a man directly to be an atheist,” says Philip Henry. Men are silly for boasting of knowledge, and ensnared by leaning to their counsels. “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom: and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28).
II. The sinner is silly in depending upon human and forsaking Divine aid. “They call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.”
1. They called not upon God, who could help them as he had done in the past.
2. They called to Egypt, delusive in promising and disappointing in execution.
3. They go to Assyria, a powerful oppressor; sought each by turns to help against the other. Thus men, troubled and oppressed, seek relief from one thing and then another, only to display their folly and bring on their ruin. “What else is almost the whole history of Christian states?” asks a writer. “The ‘balance of power,’ which has been the pride of the later policy of Europe, which has been idolized as a god, to which statesmen have looked as a deliverance out of all their troubles; as if it were a sort of Divine Providence, regulating the affairs of men, and dispensing with the interference of God; what is it but the self-same wisdom which balanced Egypt against Assyria?” Men flee like a bird from their nest and security (Hosea 7:13), only to be caught in the net of “destruction.”
III. The sinner is silly in not discovering his danger. The dove has neither courage to stay in its resting-place when frightened, nor sense to discern its peril when it flies away. Instead of remaining in protection it flies away and is caught in the net. So men in sin rush from God into risks, seek no place of safety, and have no sense of loss. As “the ox goeth to the slaughter,” unconscious of its fate, and dreaming of pasture; “as a fool to the correction of the stocks,” careless and unfeeling; “as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life,” so blindfolded and silly men go to their fall. They soar upward, “as the fowls of heaven,” in freedom, independence, and pride, but the net is “spread upon them.” They are humiliated and overwhelmed.
1. The danger may be seen. It is open and exposed. The net is spread out to surround them and hold them down. But “man also knoweth not his time; as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare. so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.”
2. The danger is not without warning. “Their congregation hath heard.” In the law and by the prophets, by judgment and mercy, God had forewarned Israel. So men now sin against light and truth, in the face of God’s word and God’s providence. If you add blows to reproofs, so incurable is the folly of some that they will not grow wiser and better. “Yet will his foolishness not depart from him.”
THE FOWLER OF RETRIBUTION.—Hosea 7:12
As they go to Egypt and Asshur for help, God will spread his net over them like a bird-catcher, and bring them down to the earth like flying birds, i.e. bring them from the open air—freedom—into the net of captivity or exile. Here the work of retribution is spoken of as the work of the fowler, and includes two things—entrapment and abasement. I. Entrapment. The literal reference here is 2 Kings 17:4. The retributive providence of God employed Assyrians to ensnare Israel. This entrapment of providence was seen in the case of Joseph’s brethren and the crucifixion of Christ. Popery confined Luther in Wartburg Castle, where he translated the Bible, which shattered the whole system. Anglican bigots imprisoned Bunyan in Bedford jail; there he produced a book which has given him immortal fame. The net that entangles sinners is not made in heaven, but on earth, by themselves. Righteous providence permits them so to be ensnared as to render that enthralment painful and lasting. II. Abasement. “I will bring them down,” &c. However high they may tower, retribution has missiles to bring them down. Men in worldly prosperity, pride and ambition, soar like eagles above the rest. An ancient philosopher, when asked what Jupiter did in heaven, replied, “He pulls down the haughty, and exalts the humble.” Read the words—“The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee,” &c. (Obadiah 1:3-4). Ponder well thy condition, sinner. Retributive justice is upon thee wherever thou art and whatever thou dost. If down grovelling in the earth, working out thy sordid soul, it has nets that will ensnare thee there. If high up in the heavens of worldly prosperity and haughty ambition, proudly exulting in superiority, it has shots that will reach thee and bring thee down to the dust [The Homilist].
MAN’S WEAL AND WOE.—Hosea 7:13
There are but two conditions in which men are found, near to or distant from God. There can be no neutrality in religion. We must either be for or against God. If to depart from God be woe; to be intimate with him, to know and love him, must be man’s weal, moral health, wholeness, and happiness. Hence—
I. God is the chief good of men. “Who will show us any good?” is the cry of the “many” in disappointment or unbelief. Man wants good: hates evil as evil, because it brings woe, suffering, and death. He wishes to find that supreme good which he craves for, which alone will satisfy his heart. This is not found in the creature, in the pleasures of sense and sin. God alone can satisfy the soul. He is the chief, the only good of men. But the summum bonum, the well-being of man, is not mere happiness, it is right character, the perfection and harmony of being. Happiness and joy are secondary and incidental to this. The only blessedness is the blessedness of the godly. We have not found this until restored and reconciled to God. To seek the chief good of man without God, without conformity to his will, is to subvert supreme reason, break down the eternal laws of the universe, and seek the impossible. “Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole of man”—not his duty merely (duty is interpolated), but his health and happiness—the sum of all that God requires—the end and perfection of his being.
II. Departure from God brings misery upon men. “Woe unto them, for they have fled from me.”
1. Forsaking God involves misery. “Woe unto them.” Those who sin against God wrong their own soul (Proverbs 8:32); rob it of happiness and vigour, and are tempted to soul-murder. They forsake their own mercy (Jonah 2:8); the God of my mercy (Psalms 59:17), the personal knowledge of whom is the condition of happiness. Estrangement from God involves misery and deep distress (Jeremiah 2:13; Jeremiah 17:13). Therefore the laws of God are (a) the expression of benevolent design, (b) in harmony with our moral constitution, and (c) should be constantly obeyed.
2. Forsaking God involves destruction. “Destruction unto them, because they have transgressed against me.” God is not only the happiness, but the protection of the soul. “Salvation is of the Lord,” and those who forget or forsake him bring present woe and future destruction upon themselves. God has connected our safety with the keeping of his law. Obey and we shall be saved; but disobedience to all laws, physical and moral, will result in pain and death. Sinners die because they will die: put from them that which will be their life, and love that which will be their death. “They that hate me love death.”
GOD’S WAYS AND MAN’S WAYS
I. God’s ways towards man. God’s ways to train the believer and save the sinner are manifold and wonderful. There are three specially indicated in the text.
1. We have love. The prophet speaks not mechanically. The man’s soul is touched, and we see the sympathy of God in his pleadings and expostulations. With melting overtures he pours out the tenderest feelings of Divine love. “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?” &c. It is not a love cold and indifferent to the sins and sorrows of men. Some men with a selfish stoical heart behold the misery around them without the slightest feeling. Some are annoyed, and others endeavour to shun it. But few are pained at the sight, try to bear or remove it. God’s love is wounded with the sins of his people, bursts forth into deep emotion. His “soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.” Like a father’s pity and a mother’s tender care, this love is heard in the cry, “O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.”
2. We have law. “They have transgressed.” Sin is the transgression of the law, “for where no law is there can be no transgression.” Law is found in all departments of the universe; is essential to order and good government. God has expressed his love in law, and entered into human history with authority and redeeming grace. Love is the natural, the parental feeling of God. But positive law is required to direct and control the actions of men. “Thou shalt not” is a necessary part of education; a boundary line between right and wrong—an essential condition of a happy life. God has written the words on the shore of every sea, in the constitution of every moral being, and in the history of every nation. Passions must be curbed; order must be preserved, lest confusion and death should spread in God’s dominions.
3. We have providence. Love may exist in the heart and not be displayed in outward act. Providence is God’s love in action, written in facts. Divine agency is displayed in human history, delivering men from sin. God had redeemed Israel from captivity and bondage. He made known to them what he promised to be, and what he was by what he did. Thought and character are known best when expressed in deeds. A mother’s love is not known simply by word; but when she cares for her child, walks with it, and delivers it in danger, then she gives life and meaning to her words. So God fulfils his promise, honours his law, and redeems his people. The name Redeemer should therefore be above every name, should quicken and inspire our hearts with love. In the death of Jesus we have love historical and supernatural; redemption and moral influence spreading themselves through all time and reaching to all people. God’s providence in Israel and God’s love in Christ have become history and action in the past, energy in the present, and promise for the future. “He saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.”
II. Man’s ways towards God. Such treatment from God ought to excite gratitude and service. The truths of the Bible and the blessings of providence should not be entertained as mere external verities, but should become living and abiding sources of thought and feeling; motives to action and praise. The mercies we receive should be specially acknowledged. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” Israel were guilty of three glaring sins.
1. There was apostasy from God. “For they have fled from me.” God had made them a peculiar people, gave them a special covenant, and took them into intimate relationship with himself; but they forsook him, and were guilty of religious defection. It was not a partial, but a complete falling away. They turned from God in their hearts, and wandered from him in their ways. They fled in fear and anger, as if God was a cruel and inveterate enemy. God called unto them, but they refused to come: he sought to reclaim them, but they wandered further from him. The instinct of the bird teaches that its only place of safety and rest is the nest. Seldom does she return without injury or inconvenience to herself. So man, wandering from “the precincts,” remains not under “the protection” of God. To leave his place and duties in society exposes him to temptation. He has no true rest, and only changes imaginary for real troubles. The discontented man, the unsteady professor, departing from God, wanders from his proper place and position. Man is a fugitive, wandering from his home, broken away from the law of holy and blessed allegiance. Sin has separated him from God. Where art thou? was the significant question put to rouse our first parent to a sense of guilt. Like a kind father, God calls now to men, holds out his arms of love to embrace them in return. “But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.”
2. There was rebellion against God. It was no ordinary crime of which they were guilty. To apostasy they added open rebellion. “They have transgressed.” Once depart from God, the way is open for all sins and temptations. When Israel had fled from God, they sinned wilfully and presumptuously, with a high hand and a stiff neck. They broke the law and thwarted the design of Divine love. Many now have no determination, no decision for God: changeful as the waves and fickle as the winds. Their heart is not right, neither are they stedfast in his covenant. They detract from the authority of God, and continually break the bonds of law; they set up self and refuse to yield to God; and, like a refractory horse and untamed bullock, constantly reject the bridle and draw back. “A stubborn and rebellious generation.”
3. There was contradiction to God. “They have spoken lies against me.” Oft as he redeemed them so often did they traduce him. Their whole life was a contradiction to his will, character, and conduct. They spoke lies in their lips and profession, added insult to ingratitude. They belied his prophets, and set up false gods in opposition to the true. They denied the providence and power of God, robbed him of the glory of their deliverance, and ascribed all their blessings to idols. “Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.” Thus Israel treated God for his kindness, and provoked him to anger by their sins. Well might God say, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Spoken lies.
1. Men lie in thought. When they have hard or slight thoughts of God—when they think that prosperity is given by idols, is gained by their own skill.
2. Men lie in word. When they declare that God does not see them and will not punish their sin.
3. Men lie in worship. When they represent God in graven images, offer prayers which do not come from the heart, and defraud God of his due.
4. Men lie in conduct. When they profess one thing and are really another—when they substitute error for truth, and deny the Holy One.
Sin is emphatically a lie. The sinner is antagonistic to God and his ways, a contradiction to God in his character and condition. In his whole conduct and career he has “belied the Lord.” Yet this lying to God is—
1. A common sin.
2. A hateful sin.
3. A dangerous sin.
The visible Church doth lie against God, having been delivered of him, either when she denieth him in her practice (Titus 1:16; Psalms 14:1); or when being delivered she doth belie her those professions and promises she made in trouble; or, when she cleaves still to false doctrine or corrupt religion, pretending it to be the truth, and constructs of God’s delivering her, as if it were a testimony that he favoured her way; or when in her prosperity she forgets God, ascribing all her deliverances to her idols, as all her afflictions to him, as chap. Hosea 2:5; Jeremiah 44:17-18 [Hutcheson].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 7
Hosea 7:12. Retribution. As some eagle pierced with a shaft feathered from its own wing, so many a sufferer, even in this present time, sees and cannot deny that it was his own sin that fledged the arrow of God’s judgment, which has pierced him and brought him down [Trench].
Hosea 7:13. Woe. The iniquity of a bad man will itself be his ruin. Those wicked devices by which he designed and expected to secure himself becoming the instruments of his destruction. The essence of all wickedness is forsaking God.