As He saith also in Osee, I will call them My people, which were not My people.
The calling of the Gentiles
I. Their former condition.
1. Not My people.
2. Not beloved.
II. Their gracious call--an act of--
1. Sovereign will.
2. Unmerited.
3. Effected by the gospel.
III. Their lofty privilege--called to be the sons of the living God--
1. Through faith.
2. In Jesus Christ. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
A people who were no people
(text and Hosea 2:23):--
1. We accept the supreme authority of Holy Scripture: every word of it is truth to us.
2. Yet we attach special weight to words which are the personal utterances of the Lord, as here.
3. Still more are we impressed when a Divine message is repeated, as here.
4. “God saith” still what He said long ago. Come, then, anxious souls, and hear the story of God’s grace to His chosen, in the hope that He may do the like for you. Observe concerning the Lord’s people--
I. Their original state.
1. They not only were not “beloved,” but they were expressly disowned. Their claim, if they made any, was negatived. This is the worst case that can be; worse than to be left alone. This conscience, providence, and God’s Word all appear to say to men who persist in sin.
2. They had no approval of God. They were not numbered with His people, and were not “beloved “ in the sense of complacency.
3. They had not in the highest sense obtained mercy. For--
(1) They were under providential judgment.
(2) That judgment had not become a blessing to them.
(3) They had not even sought for mercy.
4. They were types of a people who as yet have--
(1) Felt no application of the blood of Jesus.
(2) Known no renewing work of the Spirit.
(3) Obtained no relief by prayer; perhaps have not prayed.
(4) Enjoyed no comfort of the promises.
(5) Known no communion with God.
(6) No hope of heaven or preparation for it.
It is a terrible description, including all the unsaved. It is concerning such that the promise is made--“I will call them My people.” Who these are shall be seen in due time by their repentance and faith, which shall be wrought in them by the Spirit of God. There are such people, and this fact is our encouragement in preaching the gospel, for we perceive that our labour will not be in vain.
II. Their new condition.
1. Mercy is promised.
2. A Divine revelation is pronounced. “I will say, Thou art My people.” This is--
(1) Done by the Spirit of God in the heart.
(2) Supported by gracious dealings in the life.
3. A hearty response shall be given. “They shall say, Thou art my God.” The Spirit will lead them to this free acceptance.
(1) As a whole, they will say this with one voice.
(2) Each individual will say it for himself in the singular. “Thou.”
4. A declaration of love shall be made. “I will call her beloved,” etc. Love shall be enjoyed.
5. This shall be perceived by others. “They shall be called,” etc. Their likeness to God shall make them to be called the children of God, even as the peacemakers in Matthew 5:9. Thus every blessing shall be theirs, surely, personally, everlastingly.
Reflections:
1. We must give up none as hopeless; even though they be marked out by terrible evidence to be not the people of God.
2. None may give up themselves in despair.
3. Sovereign grace is the ultimate hope of the fallen. Let them trust in a God so freely gracious, so mighty to save, so determined to bring in those whom it seemed that even He Himself had disowned, whom everybody had abandoned as not the people of God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A great reversal
Whether the original reference of the prophet is to the ten tribes or to the Gentile world is immaterial, since St. Paul employs the quotation to illustrate his contention that it is the purpose of Him who is Eternal Wisdom and Unchanging Righteousness to transfer privilege and blessing from those who pretended to an ancestral claim to them, unto those who had usually been regarded as aliens and reprobates--even the “sinners of the Gentiles.” If this phase of Divine action has to some extent lost its interest, the principle it illustrates is ever important.
I. The highly favoured may abuse their advantages and lose them. Consider the case of the Hebrews.
1. Their special prerogatives in religious knowledge and means of spiritual improvement.
2. Their rebellion and apostasy in yielding to idolatry.
3. Their frequent chastisements, especially in the captivity, and their subsequent humiliations.
4. The repetition of their insensibility and disobedience in the rejection of the Christ.
5. The final catastrophe which overtook the nation in the destruction of Jerusalem and the final dispersion.
II. The less favoured may be, in God’s providence, exalted to privilege. Consider the case of the Gentiles.
1. The publication of the gospel to them by Paul upon its rejection by the Jews.
2. The acceptance by many of the glad tidings intended for the enlightenment and salvation of men.
3. The position taken by Gentile converts in the diffusion of Christianity.
4. The subsequent conversion of the Roman empire.
5. The course of Christian history which may all be traced to the operation of this wonderful principle.
Application:
1. They act foolishly who rely on their privileges.
2. They are wise who, grateful for their privileges, are concerned so to use them that they may become the vehicles of the highest blessing to themselves, and to those over whom their influence may extend.
3. They who are cast down because their circumstances seem unfavourable should not forget that those who were “not God’s people” became “His people,” “His beloved,” “the children of God.” (Prof. Thomson.)
The character and privileges of the saints
I. What they were.
1. “Not My people.” Who’s then? Men do not occupy neutral territory, nor are they an independent republic. God’s people own and serve Him as their Sovereign and Master--dread alternative then, those who throw off this allegiance become the slaves and subjects of the prince of this world, doing homage to him in their sentiments, and serving Him in their lives. And such were some of you.
2. “Not beloved.”
(1) Because unlovely and unloving. “Alienated and enemies in their minds by wicked works.” How could God love in the sense here mentioned those who defied His authority, broke His commandments, and made bad that which He pronounced “very good.”
(2) Therefore--
(a) The wrath of God abideth on them--rests as long as the provoking cause remains.
(b) The coming wrath menaces them.
II. What they are.
1. “My people.”
(1) They belong to God. He has bought them; He has taken them to be His peculiar possession; they gladly acquiesce in the Divine proprietorship. How safe and happy this makes them! “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
(2) They are God’s people.
(a) A homogeneous people. They are not His as so many scattered units, but His as a body, a Church. United to Him they are bound to one another for mutual protection, edification, comfort and general usefulness.
(b) A royal people. A kingdom. The Church is not a mere school of thought, but a kingdom of priests unto God. God’s people are royal in their birth, bearing, privileges, duties, and hopes.
(c) A people with a destiny. While some peoples have fulfilled their destiny, and others have theirs trembling in the balance, and others yet again all uncertain of theirs that of the people of God is sure. They and only they are to inherit the earth. That destiny is being fulfilled every day, and will be perfectly fulfilled when “Jesus shall reign where’er the sun,” etc.
2. “Beloved.”
(1) God’s anger is passed away from them. What then? What happens when the clouds rollaway at noon-day? So when the clouds of our rebellion and sinfulness pass away from before His countenance we bask in His smile. So--
(2) They are the objects of His complacency. He sees in them that which fills Him with delight--His beloved Son’s purchase and image. Hence--
(3) They are the subjects of His special care (Romans 8:39). And--
(4) They await the highest manifestations of His favour.
3. “Children of God.”
(1) They are born from above, and become partakers of the Divine nature.
(2) They are adopted into the Divine family.
(3) They are heirs of Divine possessions.
III. How they become what they are
1. By sovereign grace. There was no merit in them, but every demerit. Had not God chosen them they had never chosen God.
2. By compliance with the conditions laid down by sovereign grace. Repentance and faith. (J. W Burn.)
And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not My people.
Hope for the outcasts:
I. Their condition--“Not My people.”
1. Without God.
2. Without knowledge of the truth.
3. Without hope.
II. Their happy change.
1. Adopted.
2. Transformed.
3. Admitted to fellowship with God--the true source of life and happiness. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
The sovereignty of God
I. The miserable condition of “this people” at the first--“Not My people.” What an awful position is that of nations, families, or men where they are not God’s people. What privileges they lose! What anticipations they are without! How empty their existence! How fearful their prospects! It is evident that nations have been under this denomination. There was not a country, except the Jewish, in ancient times that knew anything about the living God. And at the present day there are those nations which revel in their ignorance of Divine truth. Besides which, even in Christian lands, only a small proportion truly serve the Lord God.
II. The blessed condition of “this people” at the last. There is a remark-able contrast. They are the same people. But their condition is changed. They are to become not only God’s people, but God’s children, not only His servants, but His heirs. The change is a remarkable one, for it--
1. Involves a change of nature, disposition, heart, character, and it manifests the power of Divine grace which can so transform “stones” into children.
2. Alters the condition and future of those who are its subjects. They look forward to a period of blessedness in a Father’s house. (J. J. S. Bird, M.A.)
Though the number of … Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved.--
The example of Israel a warning to the world
I. Judgement begins at the house of God.
II. Cannot be arrested by numbers or force.
III. Is exceedingly terrible--only a remnant saved.
IV. will be complete.
V. Will de executed in righteousness.
VI. Will be sudden and summary. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
The rejection of the Jews
I. Predicted.
II. National.
III. Judicial--in righteousness.
IV. Terribly fulfilled--only a remnant saved.
V. Mixed with mercy.
VI. Alleviated by hope--a seed left. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
The remnant saved
Our text is a quotation from Isaiah, and is intended to show the great disparity, in point of number, between the believing and the unbelieving Israelites.
I. Though multitudes appear to be the people of God, yet those who are so in reality are comparatively few.
1. The children of Israel according to the flesh were numerous “as the sand of the sea.” The promise of Genesis 22:17 was in great measure fulfilled in Moses’s time (Numbers 23:9-10). When they went down into Egypt they were only seventy-five persons; but when they came out from thence, all told, they probably amounted to three or four millions. Yet they are not all Israel (1 Corinthians 10:1-11; Hebrews 4:1-2; Hebrews 4:11). The Jews also in our Lord’s time were very numerous; but the greater part of them perished in their unbelief, and were at length dispersed and ruined as a nation (Matthew 23:34-39; 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16).
2. Those also who profess religion have in all ages been very numerous, yet the number of the truly pious is very small.
(1) How many who are called Christians are entirely ignorant of the fundamental truths of Christianity (Isaiah 29:11-12).
(2) How many rest in outward privileges and performances.
(3) How many selfish worldlings there are who follow Christ for the loaves and fishes.
(4) What shall we say of those heartless and barren professors, who bring forth no fruit; or if any, it is to themselves, and not to God.
II. They are called a remnant, “a remnant that shall be saved.” With respect to the Jews in the apostles’ time, only a small part of them were brought to believe in Christ; and though some thousands were converted in one day, the far greater number continued in obstinate unbelief. Instances of conversion since that time have been very rare. We are assured, however, that at the appointed time the Redeemer will come, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And with respect to the Gentiles, there has ever been and will be, even in times of the grossest darkness and corruption, a remnant according to the election of grace.
1. There is and shall be a remainder, a part reserved out of the whole, as the word generally signifies (Isaiah 10:12 : Revelation 12:17). This implies--
(1) Paucity or fewness. Christ’s Church is a little city, and few men in it. A little flock, under the care of the great and good Shepherd; small when compared with the rest of the world, and with what it will be hereafter (Revelation 7:9). But in any one age, and especially in any one place, the Church of Christ is comparatively small; and if the chaff were separated from the wheat, it would be smaller still (Matthew 20:16).
(2) Choice or separation. God’s remnant is a chosen remnant, according to the election of grace; and this alone it is that secures its existence (Romans 8:29).
2. This remnant shall be saved, net only from the wrath to come, but also from innumerable evils in the present life (Isaiah 26:20; Ezekiel 9:4). But eternal salvation is chiefly intended, which includes--
(1). A deliverance from all evil and the fear of evil (Revelation 21:4).
(2) The possession of all good; perfect knowledge, holiness, peace; the true enjoyment of ourselves, and the most intimate communion with God.
3. The salvation of this remnant is certain, both from the promises of God and the engagements of the Redeemer. Christ must reign. Conclusion: If we have hitherto been indifferent about this salvation, let us take warning. If we have immortal souls, surely their interest demands our chief attention. Are we only nominal Christians, let us remember that an empty name will be of no avail hereafter; but if we are Israelites indeed, how delightful are our prospects! (B. Beddome, M.A.)
For He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness.--
Judgment
I. Is the work of God.
II. Must be severely executed upon sinners--when God arises His procedure is rapid, righteous, complete. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Some points in the Divine procedure
Irrespective of the particular application of this prophecy by Paul there are certain fundamental and abiding principles that are worth attention.
I. Completeness. “As for God, His way, His method of operation,” is perfect. From the atom to the sun there is no flaw in His handiwork. It will be found to be the same when we review the course of history from the standpoint of eternity. Things are fragmentary now, but the very fragments are complete, and when fitted into each other as a compacted whole we shall say, “Thou hast done all things well.” “He will finish the work “--
1. Why? Because--
(1) His calculations are infallible who sees the end from the beginning.
(2) His resources are inexhaustible who has all power in heaven and earth.
(3) His determinations must take effect who “doth according to His will in the armies of heaven,” etc. Men fail because they neglect to take all the factors into account; because their resources are limited, or because they are irresolute. But there can be no failure when we take into account God’s omniscience, power, and sovereign will.
2. In spite of what?
(1) The cunning, malice, strength, and determination of His enemies. These are many, and to any other than God would be formidable.
(2) The ignorance, feebleness, apathy, and irresoluteness of His professed friends. These would lead any other than God to give up in despair.
3. What in?
(1) Creation, which when “finished” was pronounced very good.
(2) Providence. This is now in progress, but when “finished” no flaw will be detected in its procedure.
(3) Redemption. Redemption by price was “finished” on the Cross; redemption by power when heaven’s courts shall echo with “It is done.”
(4) Judgment. No one shall be missing from the great assize, and nothing will mar the completeness of the final awards.
II. Promptness. “Cut it short.” In creation, where God had only to deal with inert matter, this finds a perfect illustration. “He said, and it was done.” In dealing with men it is somewhat different, yet the same in the end. God is patient, is willing, and can afford to wail; but when the hour of destiny is struck His action is decisive and irrevocable. This is seen in--
1. The history of redemption. “When the fulness of the time was come,” when the preparatory work was “finished,” God sent His Son. “Down from the shining seats … He fled.” What a “short work,” too, the redeeming ministry was, and the expiating act.
2. The history of nations. The method of the Divine procedure with the antediluvians, the Canaanites, Babylon, Israel, and the Roman empire was first long-suffering, forbearance (chap. 2:4; 2 Peter 3:1-18.); and then, when the cup of their iniquities was full, how suddenly was it emptied and destroyed.
3. The history of men--
(l) In ordinary life. How long matters often are in coming to a climax, but how sharp and short is the decisive hour which determines temporal destiny.
(2) In salvation. The preparatory process may be protracted, but the soul passes from death into life in a moment.
(3) As regards the future. We may slumber in the dust for ages, but “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” we shall awake.
III. Righteousness. Without this the other two methods might fill us with terror. But it reassures us to know that in His providential government of the world, or in the salvation or judg-ment of men, God always acts--
1. From a right motive.
2. In a right way.
3. At the right time.
4. With right results. (J. W. Burn.)
Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma.--
The Lord of Sabaoth
I. The meaning of the term. Lord of hosts--of--
1. The whole universe, with its hosts of things animate and inanimate.
2. The hosts of the heavens.
3. The hosts of hell.
II. Why God is termed Lord of Sabaoth.
1. Because He is supreme Ruler of all.
2. To oppose the prevailing worship of the heavenly bodies.
3. To give us some idea of His almighty power and grandeur. (M. Thomson.)
The Divine considerateness
Sodom and Gomorrha were utterly wiped out. No human being remained to perpetuate the progeny of the inhabitants of the plain. It might have been so, and deservedly, with Israel; but it was not so, and graciously. A remnant was, and always has been left, notwithstanding the most frightful devastations--a seed to propagate the race. So in God’s procedure generally, where men and nations have not sinned past recovery. A seed of some sort is left, which, by sedulous cultivation, may result in future harvests. This principle may be illustrated in--
I. The history of humanity at large.
1. After the fall the human race might have been as Sodoma, but in wrath God remembered mercy. He left man not only life, but a promise which kept human hope from utter extinction; some relics, too, of the Divine image on which the Redeemer could take hold in fashioning the new man.
2. After the flood the family of Noah was left, not only to preserve the species, but to hand on the hope. The covenant with the Patriarch was but the first of a series which culminated in the fulfilment of the covenant of redemption. A second time the Lord of Sabaoth left a seed.
3. In the fulness of time, when the world was ripe for destruction, the gift of the seed saved it. The state of things depicted in chaps, 1 and 2 could not have gone on much longer but for the Divine interposition, which has at last changed the condition of the world. But for this it must have perished; as it is it lives, and has in it the germs of a total regeneration.
II. The history of nations.
1. Sometimes a few good men are left whose prayers, efforts, and influence save the nation from decay. Who can tell but that the preservation of the seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal postponed the catastrophe of the Hebrew nation. What a different history France would have had but for the expulsion of the Huguenots. It is impossible to tell what would have become of England but for the godly few who remained to perpetuate the Puritan revival through the reigns of Charles II. and James II. 2. Sometimes the seed presents itself in the form of a gracious opportunity.
(1) The Reformation was such a seed. Contrast the destinies of the nations which accepted it with those that rejected it.
(2) The missionary impulse of the close of the last century was another. Great Britain and America yielded to it, and the material and moral prosperity of both has never since looked back.
III. The history of the individual. Here history repeats itself on a small scale.
1. Home reminiscences have often been as a seed perpetuating the life and moral character of a man. In temptation the remembrance of prayers offered or words uttered have made many a man stop short on the brink of ruin and retrace his steps into a nobler and better life.
2. The Word read or preached in myriads of instances has been such a seed.
3. So has some great affliction.
4. And some special summons to duty. (J. W. Burn.)
God’s judgments are
I. Richly deserved. Our sins are--
1. Multiplied.
2. Aggravated.
3. Obstinately persisted in--like Sodom, etc.
II. Mercifully alleviated.
1. A remnant is spared.
2. As a seed of promise.
3. Through sovereign grace. (J. Lyth, D. D.)