Ephraim provoked him, &c.— Ephraim hath provoked the extremest anger. His blood shall be sprinkled upon him; and his reproach, &c. Houbigant.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, We have here,
1. The folly of Ephraim; he feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east-wind, entertaining fallacious hopes, and courting his idols, or his heathen neighbours, for assistance; a labour as vain as pursuing the wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation, his strange gods and foreign alliances, which will prove a lie in his right hand, and bring ruin upon him; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, Exodus 15:19 thinking to secure their safety thereby; and oil is carried into Egypt to purchase their favour and help; but neither shall be of any service to them, but will help to impoverish them, and hasten their destruction. Note; They who trust on creature-confidences will find them not only deceitful but ruinous.
2. The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah, who now began to degenerate and fall into idolatry, and therefore he will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him, discovering his sins and taking vengeance for them.
3. Their degeneracy from the piety of their forefathers was a great aggravation of their guilt. He, Jacob, took his brother by the heel, so soon did he begin to struggle for the birthright, while they had bowed down their necks to idols, and subjected themselves to the heathen; and by his strength he had power with God, yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed, when he wrestled with him in the way, Genesis 32:24 the Son of God in human form coming to prove his faith and constancy, and strengthening him for the conflict: he wept and made supplication unto him, and thus prevailed; these being the most potent arms that we can use to obtain every blessing from the Angel of the covenant, whose eternal power and godhead here appear, being the object of the patriarch's adoration and prayers. His faithless seed had given up the struggle, and, having revolted from God's worship, had forfeited all interest in him, and communion with him; as all must do who live a prayerless life. He found him in Beth-el, both before and after this, Genesis 28; Genesis 35 and there renewed the covenant with him, and in him with his posterity, there he spake with us: but they had apostatized, and turned Beth-el, the house of God, into Beth-aven, the house of iniquity; and therefore had justly forfeited the promised mercies. And this person with whom Jacob wrestled, and who spake to him, was the true Jehovah, even the Lord God of hosts; the Lord Jehovah is his memorial, his name, expressive of his self-existence, eternity, and immutability, who should by right be worshipped, adored, and served by all, and by them especially to whom he had appeared so gracious. Their neglect of him, therefore, and disobedience were the more criminal.
4. They are exhorted yet to return to God. Therefore turn thou to thy God, to this glorious Jehovah, from whom they had so greatly departed; and, whenever they did so, they would prove his covenant mercies still offered to them, and he would own his relation to them as their God. Keep mercy and judgment, the two grand pillars of vital godliness, comprehending every act of kindness to men's bodies and souls, and that integrity and uprightness which in every word and deed should be observed; and wait on thy God continually, in every appointed means of grace, for those supports of his Spirit which alone can enable us for the exercise of charity and justice to men, and that unreserved obedience and resignation which we owe to his blessed Self.
2nd, We have a change of person from Judah to Ephraim,
1. Ephraim is charged with deceit in trade. He is a merchant, or a Canaanite, more like such a one than a descendant from Israel; the balances of deceit are in his hand, imposing by false weights and measures on those with whom he dealt: he loveth to oppress, takes delight in such wickedness, and pleases himself with the thought of his own ingenuity. Note; Fraudulent tradesmen are the vilest of robbers.
2. Ephraim vindicates himself from the accusation. Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance; as if his success sanctified the means by which he acquired his riches; and that his prosperity, notwithstanding the warnings of the prophets, secured his impunity. In all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin, none such as deserved that name, so fair and upright they pretended their dealings had been; and that, if their trade was submitted to the severest scrutiny, it would stand the test; while to their own labour, not God's blessing, they impiously ascribe their gain. Note; (1.) A carnal heart regards its riches as its most substantial good. (2.) Many pride themselves on their fair character among men, who in the day of God will be found very different from what they appear. (3.) Self-deceivers will not call their iniquity sin: "it is the way of trade; every body does so; one could not live without it:" these are plausible excuses; but God is not mocked; all unrighteousness is sin, and the wages of it death eternal.
3. Idolatry is charged upon them. Is there iniquity in Gilead? in that pleasant land, in a city of priests, a city of refuge too? Surely they are vanity; the inhabitants, like the other Israelites, are devoted to idolatry; they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal to their idols, yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields, so thick they stood; or, as some suppose, so should they be beaten in pieces, and become a heap of rubbish.
4. Notwithstanding these provocations, God gives some intimations of mercy in store for them, if they will return. And I, that am the Lord thy God, still owning in some sense the relation, from the land of Egypt, from that time having taken them nationally for his people, will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feasts; which might refer to their return from Babylon; or rather respects the times of the Gospel, when the converted Jews should rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have a place in his church; and it also looks forward to their expected restoration to their own land. I have also spoken by the prophets in time past, or I will speak, sending forth pastors and teachers to preach his Gospel; and I have multiplied, or will multiply, visions; I have done so, and will again under the Gospel dispensation; and I have used, or will use, similitudes, as was the case in the Jewish church, where the whole service was figurative, and was especially fulfilled in the parables which Christ so frequently delivered. Note; The Lord hath used every gracious method to communicate to us the messages of his grace. If, after all, we continue wilfully ignorant, sin lieth at our door.
5. What God had done for their forefathers was a strong proof of his kindness to them, and served to shew their ingratitude. And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, to Laban; and Israel served for a wife seven years; and, being then deceived by Laban, who gave him Leah instead of Rachel, on receiving her also the following week, for a wife he kept sheep seven years more; which is instanced both as a proof of the meanness of their original, for a Syrian ready to perish was their father, and as a mark of God's favour to them, in raising them from so low a beginning to be a mighty nation; and reflected highly on their ingratitude. And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved, by Moses, who was the figure of Christ, the great Redeemer and Saviour, the deliverer of his faithful people from the bondage of sin, Satan, death, and hell. Now God having so wonderfully dealt with them, and saved them from their enemies, they were bound by every tie of love and duty to serve him; but they made the basest returns when they rebelled against him, and rejected his prophets, to one of whom they had such unspeakable obligations. Note; All God's goodness to the sinner will be remembered at the last, to convince him of his ingratitude, and leave him without excuse.
6. They having made the most base returns to God for his kindness; he is justly provoked to punish them severely. Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly by his sins, and especially idolatry: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him; either the innocent blood shed by him shall be required of him, or his own blood shall be poured upon him, shed by the sword of vengeance for all his crying sins; and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him; the reproaches cast upon God by his idolatry, and on the prophets who terrified against it, shall return into his own bosom, when he shall be a poor, wretched, despicable captive in a strange land. Note; The sinner shall surely bear the shame of his iniquities, either in time covered with penitent confusion, or in eternity with everlasting contempt.