Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Hosea
Book: Hosea
Chapter: 13
Overview:
The abuse of
God's favour leads to
Punishment.
(1-8) A promise
of
God's
Mercy.
(9-16)
1-8 While
Ephraim kept up a holy fear of
God, and worshipped
Him in that fear,
So long he was very considerable. When
Ephraim
forsook
God, and followed
Idolatry, he sunk. Let the men that
Sacrifice Kiss the calves, in token of their adoration of them,
Affection for them, and obedience to them; but the
Lord will not
give his
Glory to another, and therefore all that
Worship images
shall be confounded.
No solid, lasting comfort, is to be
expected any where but in
God.
God not only took care of the
Israelites in the
Wilderness, he
Put them in possession of
Canaan, a good land; but worldly prosperity, when it feeds men's
pride, makes them forgetful of
God. Therefore the
Lord would
meet them in just vengeance, as the most terrible
Beast that
inhabited their forests. Abused
Goodness calls for greater
severity.
9-16 Israel had destroyed himself
By his rebellion; but he
could not save himself, his help was from the
Lord only. This
may
Well be applied to the case of spiritual
Redemption, from
that lost state into which all have fallen
By wilful sins.
God
often gives in displeasure what we sinfully desire. It is the
happiness of the saints, that, whether
God gives or takes away,
all is in
Love. But it is the misery of the wicked, that,
whether
God gives or takes away, it is all in wrath, nothing is
comfortable. Except sinners repent and believe the
Gospel,
anguish will soon come upon them. The
Prophecy of the ruin of
Israel as a nation, also showed there would be a merciful and
powerful interposition of
God, to save a remnant of them. Yet
this was but a
Shadow of the
Ransom of the true
Israel,
By the
Death,
Burial, and
Resurrection of Christ. He will destroy
Death
and the
Grave. The
Lord would not repent of his purpose and
promise. Yet, in the mean time,
Israel would be desolated for
her sins. Without fruitfulness in good
Works, springing from the
Holy
Spirit, all other fruitfulness will be found as empty as
the uncertain riches of the world. The wrath of
God will wither
its branches, its sprigs shall be dried up, it shall come to
nothing. Woes, more terrible than any from the most cruel
warfare, shall fall
On those who rebel against
God. From such
miseries, and from
Sin, the cause of them, may the
Lord deliver
us.