Hosea 9:7 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

The prophet is a fool, &c.— Stupid is the prophet, &c.; that is to say, the false prophets, who foretel nothing but peace, shall be convinced of their folly and madness, when they see the events happen contrary to what they had foretold. See Calmet and Lowth. The title of prophet seems to have been given to all of the prophetical order; that is, to all who had been educated in the schools of the prophets; because these were usually the persons to whom the gift of prophesy was imparted, though it was by no means given to all, or even to the greater part of them. Some, perhaps, among them pretended to it, who had never received it at all; and others, to whom it was in some degree given; temporized in the use of it, by profane accommodations to the humour of the people, the religious opinions, or the political measures of the court. Of the latter in particular we have a remarkable instance in those prophets of Israel, who encouraged Ahab to the expedition against the Syrian, for the recovery of Ramoth Gilead, which proved so fatal to himself. That the gross imposture of pretences to the spirit of prophesy by persons that had it not at all, was actually practised, seems to be implied in Micah 2:11 and Jeremiah 23:31-32. That those, who had the extraordinary gift, pretended, upon some occasions, to visions which they had never seen, and to commands which they had never received, is certain, from the very memorable history of the imposition practised by the old prophet, who dwelt in Beth-el at the time of the schism of the ten tribes, upon the man of God of Judah, who had prophesied against Jeroboam's altar, 1 Kings 13. The old prophet, whatever his crime might be in this deceit, and it certainly was great, appears to have been in his general character a true servant of God. But the more frequent crime was certainly that of temporizing, in the manner of delivering messages of warning, which had been really received. The persons guilty of this conduct were deeply implicated in the guilt of the nation, and were promoters of the idolatry to which the kings and the people were so much addicted; and they are reproved and threatened in every page of the prophetical writings. These are the persons, who, in this text of Hosea, under the title of prophets, are taxed with stupidity and madness. The communication of the gift of prophesy, to persons so false to the duties of their office, seems somewhat analogous to the communication of the miraculous gifts, in the primitive church, to many who made, if not a wicked, certainly an improper and injudicious use of them. And analogous to the threatened punishment of false teachers, in the latter ages of Christianity, was the punishment of these prevaricating prophets. "God sent them strong delusion that they should believe a lie." See 2 Thessalonians 2:11. "If the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet; and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel." Ezekiel 14:9. How it was, that God deceived the prophet, is an awful question, to be cautiously touched. It is evident, from the text of Ezekiel, that the prophet himself was highly criminal in the deception which he suffered. It may be, that, for his unworthiness, the spirit of wisdom and understanding was withheld from him, which might have enabled him to discern the true meaning of the allegorical visions presented to his imagination. Or it may be, that, for the guilt of the nation, the prophetic spirit was imparted to those, who wilfully misinterpreted their visions. Thus the vision was true, and the whole falsity was in the error, or the dishonesty, of the prophet. It cannot be conceived, that falsified scenes of futurity could be obtruded by the Holy Spirit on the prophet's mind. I would observe, that in the case of Ahab, the lying spirit in the mouth of the prophets was not a spirit that lied to them, but a spirit that incited them in effect to lie to the king.