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The foregoing part of this book abounds with denunciations of punishment; this closing chapter superabounds with promises of pardon. Wave after wave of threatened wrath had rolled over Israel and come in unto their soul; now offer after offer of grace is made to them. O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God. The invitation to return implies previous departure, or distance, or wandering from God. The return to which they are invited is expressed, not by àÆì , to or towards, but by òø , quite up to, or as far as right home; the penitent, therefore, is not merely to turn his mind or his face toward God, but to turn his face and his feet home to God; he is not to go half the way and then turn aside, or part of the way and then turn back, but the whole way; in other words, his repentance is to be complete and entire, wanting nothing, according to the state merit of the psalmist, "It is good for me to draw near to God." As punishment was threatened in case of obstinate impenitence, so mercy is promised on condition of thorough repentance. For thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. A reason is here assigned for the preceding invitation; kashalta is properly "thou hast stumbled," "made a false step," fallen, yet so that recovery was among future possibilities. The same thought may be included in the fact that Jehovah continues to call his erring people by the honored and honorable name of Israel, and to acknowledge himself their God. Further, many and grievous were the calamities into which by their fall they had been precipitated; neither were any to blame but themselves—their iniquity or their folly was the cause, nor was there any one to lift them up, now that they lay prostrate, save Jehovah. After referring to the desolation of Samaria and the ruthless destruction of its inhabitants, as portrayed in the last verse of the previous chapter, Jerome adds, "All Israel is invited to repentance, that he who has been debilitated, or has fallen headlong in his iniquities, may return to the physician and recover health, or that he who had fallen headlong may begin to stand." The penitent is to direct his thoughts to Jehovah; to him as Center he is attracted, and in him he finds his place of rest; nor is there ether means of recovery or source of help. Thus Kimchi says, "For thou seest that through thine iniquity thou hast fallen, therefore it behooves thee to return to Jehovah, as nothing besides can raise thee from thy fall but thy return to him." "There is none," says Aben Ezra, "can raise thee from thy fall but the Eternal alone."
Hos_14:2
Take with you words, and turn to the Lord.
(1) Some render this clause. "Take with you [i.e. forget not, neglect not, but receive with obedient spirit] my words." This rendering is obviously erroneous.
(2) The correct translation is that of the Authorized Version, and the words referred to are such as express prayer for pardon and confession of sin—the audible sound of the heart's desires. There is an allusion, perhaps, to the requirement of the Law: "None shall appear before me empty." Not outward sacrifices, but words of confession, were the offering to be presented. Thus Cyril eloquently explains it: "Ye shall propitiate the Deity, not by making offerings of riches, not by dedicating gold, not by honoring him with silver vessels, not gladdening him by sacrifices of oxen, not by slaughtering of birds; but ye shall give him discourses and wish to praise the Lord of the universe, appeasing him." To the same purport is the exposition of Aben Ezra: "He desires not from you, when ye go to seek his favor, treasures or burnt offerings, only words with which ye are to confess;" so also Kimchi: "He does not require of you on your return to him silver or gold or offering, which the Israelites lavished at great expense on their idols, but good works with which ye are to confess your iniquities." Say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously. On turning to the Lord with their whole heart, not with their lips only, they are furnished with a form of sound words which God by his prophet puts into their mouth. Elsewhere a formula is prescribed, thus: "Publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save thy people, the remnant of Israel" (Jer_31:7); compare also Isa_48:20; Psa_16:3; 1Ch_16:35.
The position of ëÈì before the verb creates a difficulty and causes diversity of rendering; for example,
(1) besides the ordinary rendering, which takes kol as holding its peculiar position by an hypallage, there is a modification of it: "All take away of iniquity."
(2) Some supply mem, and translate accordingly: "From all take away iniquity." Kimchi explains it as a transposition: "All iniquity forgive," and compares Eze_39:11; or, understanding le, "Forgive to every one iniquity." The object of the separation may be for greater emphasis. In like manner, the following clause is also subject to diversity of translation and interpretation.
There is
(1) the rendering of the Authorized Version, which appears to supply le before tov: "Receive us for good," viz. in bonam partem, or graciously; or, "receive our prayer graciously."
(2) Another rendering or exposition is: "Take what is good (of thine own to bestow it on us);" thus in the sixty-eighth psalm at the nineteenth verse God is said to receive gifts among men, i.e. for distribution among men, and hence the apostle, in Eph_4:8, substitutes ἔδωκε for ἔλαβε , and thus expresses the sense. The literal sense
(3) is the correct sense, namely, "and receive good:" "And receive good," says Jerome, "for unless thou hadst borne away our evil things we could not possibly have any good thing to offer thee, according to that which is written, 'Cease from evil and do good.'" Thus also the words are translated and interpreted by Pusey: "When then Israel and, in him, the penitent soul, is taught to say, receive good, it can mean only the good which thou thyself hast given; as David says, ' Of thine own we have given thee;'' while he adds in a note on these words, "No one would have doubted that ÷é è means, 'receive good,' as just before, ÷é ãé means 'take words,' but for the seeming difficulty—What good had they?"
So will we render the calves of our lips.
This is more accurately rendered,
(1) "So will we render young bullocks, even our lips." The word shillem, to render, or repay, is almost technical in its application to thank offer-tugs or sacrifices in fulfillment of a vow; the best animals for thank offerings were parm, or young oxen; but the lips, that is, the utterances of the lips, consisting of prayers or praises, or both, are to take the place of the animal sacrifices offered in thanksgiving. Thus the psalmist says, "I will praise the Name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs."
(2) The Septuagint, reading ôÀøÀé instead of ôÈøÀéí , renders by καρπὸν χείλεων , to which the inspired author of Hebrews alludes, "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks [margin, 'confessing'] to his Name;" or perhaps the reference in Hebrews is to Isa_57:19, "I create the fruit of the lips." Further, as words of confession in Isa_57:2 take the place of sacrifices of sin offerings, so here words of thanksgiving replace sacrifices of thanksgiving.
Hos_14:3
Asshur shall not save us: we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. This was the practical side of Israel's repentance; this was bringing forth fruits meet for repentance. Here was a renunciation of all hope of safety from the world-powers—both Assyria and Egypt. They would never again have recourse to Assyria for help, nor to Egypt for horses; nor confide in their own unaided power or prowess; while this renunciation of worldly power and carnal confidences implied, as its opposite, unfaltering faith in the protecting power and saving strength of Jehovah. All thin was much, and yet more was required; next to such renunciation of merely human aid, as indicated, and its contrary, the recognition of Divine assistance, comes the absolute and complete abandonment of their national and besetting sin of idolatry. They have so far come to themselves and received the right use of reason as to confess that the manufacture of man's hands cannot be man's god, thus giving up with feelings of contempt and disgust the groveling sin of idolatry with its attendant vices. Still more, they are penetrated with the conviction that man without God is a poor fatherless creature, in no better, if not in a worse, condition than that of a weak orphan child. They have the consolation at the same time that for all such, on their return to him, the father of the fatherless and the God of the orphan has bowels of tenderest compassion. To the presumed prayer of the penitent an answer overflowing with mercy is promised at once, and by God himself in the next section, consisting of—
Hos_14:4-7
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. The penitential prayer put in the mouth of the people receives in this verse a gracious response; words of contrite confession are echoed back in accents of compassion and consolation. When thus penitent and prayerful they returned to the Lord, he promises them favor as well as forgiveness, so as to heal the moral malady under which they had long labored, remedy the evil effects of their apostasy, and withhold the stripes he was going to inflict. Meshubhatham means
(1) their turning away from God and all included therein—defection, rebellion, idolatry, and other sins. The disease would be healed, and its consequences averted.
(2) Some, however, understand the word, in a good sense, to mean "conversion ' or "the converted," the abstract being put for the concrete; the blessing is thus promised them when they turned or returned to God. Thus the Syriac version.
(3) The LXX. again, connecting meshubhah with yashav, to sit or dwell, render it by κατοικίαν , that is," I will heal their dwelling." There is little doubt that (1) is the correct translation, and it is generally accepted as such. They are next assured of God's love, and that spontaneously ( ðÀãÈáÈä , the preposition le understood) with ready willinghood and unfeignedly. God's love is
(a) free, anticipating its objects, not waiting to be merited or purchased, without money and without price; it is
(b) also purest and most sincere affection, altogether unlike that feigned affection sometimes found among men, who profess much love while their heart goeth after their covetousness, or after some other and different object from that pretended. Then follows an assurance that there is no barrier to the exercise and no obstacle to the outgoing of God's love; the turning away of God's anger from Israel is the ground of such assurance. Some copies read mimmeni, my anger is turned away from me, instead of mimmena; this, however, is erroneous, though the sense is not much affected by it. The error may have arisen from a misunderstanding of Jer_2:35. Rashi explains the verse correctly: "After they have thus spoken before me: I will heal them of their apostasy, and love them of my own free will; although they themselves are not worthy of love, yet will I love them freely, for mine anger has turned away from them." Aben Ezra says. "Backsliding is in the soul what disease is in the body, therefore he uses the word 'heal.' But God proceeds to perform what he has promised; he does not confine his goodness to words, he exhibits it in works, as the following verses show." I will be as the dew unto Israel. "The Jussive assumes different shades of meaning, varying with the situation or authority of the speaker … . Sometimes, from the circumstances of the case, the command becomes a permission: Hos_14:6, 'I will be as the dew to Israel: let him flourish, åÀéÇêÀ , and strike forth his roots as Lebanon'" (Driver). In lands where there is little rain, the dew, falling copiously, fertilizes the earth, refreshes the languid plants, revives the face of nature, and makes all things grow. Thus the dew becomes the source of fruitfulness. So God, by his Spirit's grace, is the Source of Israel's spiritual fruitfulness. He shall grow (margin, blossom) as the lily. This comparison suggests many qualities, any one of which may characterize, or all of which may combine in, the spiritual growth thus pictured. There is the purity of the lily, the beauty of the lily, the fecundity of the lily, the perfume of the lily, the rapidity of its growth, the stately slightness of its stem. We may combine the rapidity of its growth; its fecundity, with regard to which Pliny informs us that a single root produces fifty bulbs; its beauty, to which our Lord refers in contrast with the glory of Solomon. But its root is weak, and he, on that account perhaps, subjoins: And cast forth (margin, strike) his roots as Lebanon. Whether it mean that the roots are as the trees of Lebanon or the mountain of Lebanon itself, the thought expressed by this comparison is stability. "As the trees of Lebanon," says Jerome, "which strike their roots as far down into the depths as they lift their heads up into the air, so that they can be shaken by no storm, but by their stable massiveness maintain their position." His branches shall spread; margin, go; rather, go on. This feature in the representation denotes enlargement or expansion. The tender branches (suckers) spreading out in all directions very aptly set forth the multiplication of Israel or their growth and increase numerically. But branches straggling, crooked, and ill-shaped would rather be a blemish than a beauty. It is, therefore, added: His beauty shall be as the olive tree. The olive has been called the crown of the fruit trees of Palestine, but besides, its fruitage so plentiful and useful, the splendor of its green, and the enduring freshness of its foliage, make it a vivid picture of that beauty of holiness or spiritual graces which it is here employed to represent. There is still an additional element of interest pertaining to this goodly tree, namely, And his smell as Lebanon. This signifies the fragrance of this beautiful tree of righteousness. The smell of Lebanon is referred to in So Hos_4:11, "And the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon." What with its cedars, and spices, and fruit, and flowers, and aromatic shrubs, and fragrant vines, Lebanon must perfume the air with the most delightful odors. Thus acceptable to God and pleasing to man shall Israel become. The commentators quote with commendation Rosenmüller's explanation of the individual features of this inimitable picture: "The rooting indicates stability; the spreading of the branches, propagation and the multitude of inhabitants; the splendor of the olive, beauty and glory, and that constant and lasting; the fragrance, hilarity and loveliness." The simile changes into the metaphor; Israel, from being likened to a tree, becomes the tree. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow (margin, blossom) as the vine: the scent (rather, renown) thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. There is some difficulty and consequent diversity of rendering and explanation in connection with this verse. If the tree be Israel in its collective or national capacity, the dwellers under its shadow are the members of the nation, separate]y and severally, flourishing under the widespread branches of this umbrageous tree. The word yashubhu is explained:
(1) (a) return, i.e. betake themselves to his shadow, which is incongruous, for how could they be said to return to their own shadow or dwell securely under it?
(b) return to their native land, so the Chaldee,—this is somewhat better;
(c) return to the worship of Jehovah, said of Israelites who had abandoned it, not properly of Gentiles turning to that worship;
(d) Rosenmüller, comparing Jdg_15:19 and 1Sa_30:12, explains it in the sense of coming to themselves, reviving.
(2) Keil constructs yashubhu adverbially by a common idiom with yechayyu, and
(a) translates "shalt give life to come again," that is, "Those who sit beneath the shade of Israel, the tree that is bursting into leaf, will revive corn, cause it to return to life, or produce it for nourishment, satiety, and strengthening." Similarly the Vulgate, "sustain life by corn." This, however, must appear tame after the splendid promises that went before.
(b) Vivify; i.e. produce seed like corn, and rejoice in a numerous offspring as from a seed of corn many proceed; according to this, "seed" ( æÆøÇò ) must be supplied, and caph of comparison. The added clause agrees with this, for the flourishing of the vine also symbolizes prolific persons (comp. Psa_128:3). Further, the vine does not always flourish, yet, not like the corn which after harvest ceases and is no more seen, its root remains, and next year grows green and yields its fruit anew. The fame of the wine of Lebanon is celebrated for its taste and fragrance. Kimchi cites Asaph, a physician, as writing that the wine of Lebanon, of Hermon, of Carmel, of the mountains of Israel and Jerusalem and Caphior, surpass all others in flavor, taste, and for medicinal purposes.
Hos_14:8
Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? This is full, final, and for over a renunciation of idolatry on the part of Israel. I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found. This is God's promise, that his eye is fixed on Israel in order to look after him, care for him, and provide for him, and to protect and prosper him; while the figure of a green fir tree is the pledge of shelter and security. But, though the fir tree is evergreen, it is fruitless; and therefore it is added that God will prove the Source of fruitfulness, and supply all that his people shall or can ever need.
Hos_14:9
Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall far therein. This verse demands attention to all the prophet has written, whether for warning, or reproof, or correction in righteousness, or encouragement to piety and virtue, and evidently alludes to Deu_32:4. The ways of the Lord are those he prescribes for them to walk in, as also the ways he takes in guiding, guarding, and governing men. Like the dictates of the Word, so the dispensations of his providence are to some the savor of life, to others the savor of death; therefore it is added that, while the righteous walk therein, the wicked stumble in them (comp. Deu_30:19, Deu_30:20).
I. HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF. The history of Israel repeats itself in the history of mankind in general. Their history is the history of sin and of salvation, of ruin and of recovery, of the mercy of God and of the backsliding of man. Their bondage in Egypt represents the slavery of sin; their rescue out of the hand of the oppressor, our redemption; their sojourn in the wilderness, our strangership on earth; their entrance into Canaan, our admission into the better country, even the heavenly; their backsliding from time to time, our own wanderings of heart and life from the living God; their return to the path of obedience, our repentance.
II. GOD'S READINESS TO RECEIVE THE PENITENT. The reproofs for sin and threatenings of wrath scattered over the preceding chapters of this book now give place to invitations to repentance and promises of mercy. The former were a preparation for the latter. Not only so, even interspersed with reproofs for sin we find most gracious calls to repentance; alongside the threatenings of wrath are the most precious promises. It is in this way that God wounds in order to make whole; when he convinces us of sin, his object is to comfort us; when he brings to mind our sin, it is that he may lead us to the Savior; when he proves to us our ruin by sin, he is at pains to point us to the remedy and provide for our restoration; having warned us of our danger, he urges us to the discharge of duty. He deals with us as with Israel at the time to which the prophet refers, showing us our fall and how we are to rise again; he urges us to repentance, instructing us what to do and what to say, and encouraging us withal by God's willingness to receive us on repentance.
III. MAN'S FALL AND ITS CAUSE. In the passage before us the words apply in the first instance to Israel; they had stumbled, such being the meaning of the original word. Their stumbling-blocks were their idols; they had forgotten the living and true God; they had proved ungrateful for his benefits and unmindful of his favors. Despising the riches of his goodness and forbearance, they had lapsed into gross idolatry; they had sunk deep into that degrading sin, making molten images of their silver and idols according to their own understanding,—all of it the work of the craftsman. Their ingratitude for the Divine goodness made their iniquity still less excusable, for according to the multitude of his fruit they increased the altars, according to the goodness of his land he made goodly images. No wonder the Majesty of heaven was provoked with that stiffnecked and rebellious people. But the fall of Israel reminds us of the fall of man, and leads us naturally to revert to the infancy of our race.
1. Before the Fall. When we picture to ourselves, as far as the Scripture record enables us, the place of our first parents in the state of pristine innocence, we think of that lovely garden "planted eastward in Eden ;" of its trees and shrubs; of its fruits and flowers; of the rivers that watered it; of its unclouded sky; of the genial warmth of the glorious sun fructifying and beautifying it; of the dews that refreshed it; of man its caretaker and cultivator of his pleasant position in that paradise, placed there as he was to dress it and to keep it. To this must be added the communion of the creature with the Creator, so close, so cordial, and so confidential as that communion then must have been. If Enoch, after sin and Satan had done their worst, still walked with God; if Abraham was called, not only the father of the faithful, but the friend of God; if God spake face to face with Moses, as a man speaketh with his friend;—we may form some faint idea, and it is only a faint idea, of that heavenly communion which man there enjoyed with his Maker as he walked in the garden in the cool of the day.
2. After the Fall. We know how the scene was changed—suddenly and shockingly changed. We have seen a picture designed to represent the change which sin introduced into Paradise, and the wreck which iniquity wrought. In one part of the picture all is beauty, all is loveliness; the sky is cleat', earth beneath is charming; above, below, around, everything appears inexpressibly gay and grand and gorgeous. Man is the monarch of all; every bird of every wing is subject to him, every animal of every species is submissive to his sway, even the most savage beast of prey owns his sovereignty. The lion crouches at his feet, he strokes the tiger with his hand. But no sooner has he tasted the forbidden fruit than the sky is clouded, lightning flashes with fearful fury, the elements are at war with him. The animals, lately so meek and mild, rise in rebellion against him—the lion opens his mouth in wrath, the tiger is wild with fury. Our first parents themselves, shivering with horror, shuddering with fright, are hurried out of Paradise. A flaming sword prevents their return, and guards on every side the tree of life. Such is the painting referred to, and it pictures a dread reality. It points out how man fell, and how far he fell from his state of primeval bliss, of fellowship with the Holy One, and of Divine favor.
3. The cause of such a fall. Iniquity was the cause, as we here read of Israel, "Thou hast fallen by thine iniquity." In that iniquity there were various elements; when analyzed it is found to be made up of several component parts. There was the lust of the flesh, for the tree was good for food; there was the lust of the eyes, for that tree was pleasant to the eyes; there was the pride of life, it was a tree to be desired to make one wise—"Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." There was, in short, rebellion against the mildest authority; there was disobedience to the most reasonable command.
4. Consequences of the fall are seen in posterity. When we read the records of the ancient nations of heathendom, even the most enlightened and polished, we cannot fail to be convinced of the deep degradation into which man by iniquity had fallen. In Egypt, the cradle of civilization, men worshipped animals and plants, and even reptiles. In Greece, with all its boasted intellectual superiority, aesthetic tastes, and fine arts, men worshipped a host of false gods, deified men, and even impersonations of the lowest passions and worst vices that agitate the human heart; while of Athens itself it was said that you could as easily find a god as a man in that celebrated city in Rome men multiplied gods, for, in addition to the national divinities, they readily admitted into their pantheon the gods, however monstrous and motley, of the nations which they conquered. Among the people of Israel in the prophet's time the great besetting sin was idolatry with all its foul accompaniments. In heathen lands at the present day it is still the same; multitudes bow down to stocks and stones, and call these vanities gods. Can anything afford clearer evidence of the fearful fall of our race than this sottish idolatry of ancient and modern heathen, as also of the Hebrew people, though so highly favored with the written Law, besides that which they had in common with their heathen neighbors? We forbear to speak of the gross impurities and shocking immoralities that go hand-in-hand with idolatry.
5. Illustration of the Fall. Of manifold illustrations which the subject admits take that of a stately tree. Its dimensions are mighty and magnificent—its top waves high in air, its branches spread far around, its leafy honors are luxuriant, its foliage umbrageous; it claims or seems to claim supremacy over all the forest trees. But the axe is laid to its root. You beg the woodman to spare that tree. It is vain, however; he has made up his mind, and it is doomed to fall. Blow after blow is struck; the sturdy strokes are redoubled; at length the root is giving way, the top is nodding, the tree topples to its fall. One creak, one crash, and the goodly tree is prostrate; ruin spreads the ground. Ere long the branches wither and the leaves decay. What a contrast between that tree flourishing in the stateliness of its strength and the loveliness of its life, and that same tree felled to the earth, its leaves stripped off, its branches lopped, the whole a sad emblem of decay, a solemn memorial of destruction! Such is the contrast between man in his original purity, while standing by faith, and man at the present day fallen by iniquity.
6. Greatness of the Fall. When the great Roman dictator had usurped the liberties of his country and changed the republican form of government to the imperial; when he had overcome all opposition, conquered all enemies, and fully gained the mastery; when he had reached the summit of popularity and power;—just then the daggers of the conspirators smote him to the earth. He fell at the foot of his great rival's statue. The friend who spoke his funeral oration and improved the occasion did justly magnify that fall, exclaiming, as well he might, "What a fall was there, my countrymen!" But what, after all, is the fall of the warrior, or hero, or emperor, even from the pinnacle of his fame and of his fortune, compared with the fall of an immortal soul by sin, dragged down into the deep pit of perdition? The sight of the fallen warrior, as he sat amid the ruins of Carthage, has furnished a subject for men to moralize on, while historians have commented on the fact; and it is indeed sufficiently impressive. The harmony that existed between the person and the place was necessarily striking and even startling; the fate of the one was so like that of the other, the downfall of the one was so similar to the desolation of the other, that we scarcely know which of the two is more entitled to the tear of pity or sigh of sympathy—the degradation of the chieftain or the destruction of the city. Yet greater far are the degradation and desolation which the blight of sin brings upon person or place.
7. Practical considerations. We need not travel far for proof of our fallen state; we do not need to go back to our first parents except for the purpose of tracing the evil to its fountain-head; we need not visit pagan lands, whether past or present; we do not require to quit the lands of Christendom. The condition of the Hebrew people as set forth by the Prophet Hosea is one that often repeats itself in the experiences—some of them sad enough—of everyday life. How many have fallen by iniquity around us! How many are falling by iniquity at our very doors, on this side and on that! How many have we known to begin life well, but they fell by iniquity! The wrecks of the fallen are strewn on the right hand and on the left. Some fall by drunkenness, some by lewdness, some by want of rectitude and right principle, some by what the world calls unsteadiness. If the sword slays its thousands, iniquity slays its tens of thousands.
8. Personal duties. Several personal duties of much importance may be learnt from this part of the subject; these may be expressed in Scripture language as follows: "Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall;" "Give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall;" "Beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness." Also pity the fallen; try to lift them up; pray for the backslider who has fallen back from the position he seemed to have attained, and seek to restore such a one in the spirit of meekness.
IV. THE RETURN OF THE PENITENT. Many motives, and those of the most powerful kind, urge the sinner to return to God.
1. There is the character of the invitation. It is an earnest one, a precious one, and a glorious one. It is the gospel re-echoing through the past and resounding about us at the present. This invitation proves the height, and depth, and length, and breadth of the Divine goodness.
2. There is the Author of the invitation. It proceeds from the Friend whom we have treated so ungratefully and so ungraciously; he comes after us, as it were, calling and entreating us to return; he promises us a hearty welcome when we do return; he assures us that his heart and hearth and home stand open to receive us; his arms are stretched out to embrace us.
3. There are the persons invited. The vilest are subjects of this invitation; the oldest, the worst, the most wicked, are comprehended; they are offered present pardon, they are assured of instant forgiveness, and all without money and without price: "The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Oh, then, since God is waiting and willing to be gracious, let not the sinner ignore that goodness, nor regard it with insensibility, nor trample underfoot his great mercy, nor treat his gracious overtures as the idle wind that passeth by; but allow himself to be led by the goodness of God to repent race.
V. THE MODE OF RETURNING TO GOD. We are to take with us words, as the worshipper in the olden time did not go empty-handed, but brought with him an offering when he went to worship God.
1. The words we are required to bring are words of confession, like the poor prodigal when he said, "Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son;" like the contrite publican when he cried, "God be merciful to me a sinner." If we thus confess our sins, he "is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
2. There must be petition as well as confession; our words must be words of earnest pleading. Nor are we left without instruction on this head; suitable petitions are suggested, and the very words put in our lips. There is, according to the Authorized Version, a petition for forgiveness and one for favor. The former is, "Take away all iniquity;" for it is iniquity that has wrought our ruin, it is sin that is the source of all our sorrows; take it away, for by it we have fallen. Take it all away—the guilt of it, the defilement of it, the dominion of it, the love of it, and the practice of it. Take it all away and forever, for it is only thus we can be saved; only thus our souls are washed and justified and sanctified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. The second part of the petition pleads for favor; it is, "Receive us graciously;" that is, receive us into thy favor, thy family, and thy service. Receive us graciously, that is, gratuitously, of thy free favor and sovereign grace; not on the ground of innocence, for—
We bow before thee in the dust:
And through our Savior's blood alone
We seek acceptance at thy throne."
Simply to thy cross we cling."
3. There are words of thanksgiving. The calves, even the lips, are the thank offerings and service of the lips in general; nor do these differ aught from the fruit of the lips. Thanksgiving, praise, prayer, self-dedication, and self-surrender are all expressed by the lips, and are thus their offerings or their fruit.
Thanksgiving offer thou;
To the Most High perform thy word.
And fully pay thy vow:
And in the day of thy distress
Do thou unto me cry;
I will deliver thee, and thou
My Name shalt glorify."
Hos_14:4-7
2. We next learn the fullness of God's forgiving love and his superabundant mercy to them that trust in him. By the most pleasing figures we are taught what God promises to be to his people; what they themselves become; and what a blessing they prove to others.
I. PICTORIAL CHARACTER OF DIVINE TEACHING. We find great variety as well as great beauty in the lessons of the Bible. There is great variety, for all nature, animate and inanimate, is laid under contribution to supply fit illustrations of Divine things; there is great beauty, for the loveliest objects above us, around us, and beneath us are employed for this purpose. In the passage before us there is a cluster of lovely natural objects employed in this manner to set forth spiritual truths with all the reality of nature and all the vividness of life. Here we read of the dew, the deep-rooted and everlasting hill, the lily, the tall tree with umbrageous foliage, the olive ever green, and Lebanon ever fragrant. We read also of the springing corn, the blooming vine, and wine of aromatic odor. These, it must be acknowledged, are beautiful figures, and the facts which they are intended to convey are equally blessed. But what enhances the beauty and the blessedness is the circumstance that the persons to whom these facts and figures have reference are those very persons who had erred and strayed from the Lord their God—even Israel who had fallen by their iniquity, Israel who had sadly backslidden, Israel who had grievously provoked the just anger of the Almighty; but Israel repenting and returning, praying and pleading, giving up their false refuges and casting aside their false gods. Oh how cheering and encouraging that God welcomes his erring children to return! Like the father in the parable, he runs to meet the prodigal, he casts the arms of his love around him; he receives the penitent to his fond embrace, laying aside the wrath that had been provoked; he bestows the love that had been undeserved; he forgives the sins that had been committed; he foregoes the punishment that had been incurred; and, physician-like, he heals the backslidings great and manifold.
II. SCRIPTURAL APPLICATIONS OF THE DEW. Figurative applications of dew are frequent in Scripture. Sometimes it signifies temporal benefits, as when Isaac blessed his son Jacob, saying, "God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine." Sometimes it denotes spiritual blessings, as in the case of Israel, of whom we read," His heavens shall drop down dew. Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the Shield of thy help, and who is the Sword of thy excellency!" Sometimes it implies the reviving power and refreshing nature of the Divine Word, as when Moses the man of God, before he went up to the top of Pisgah and closed his eyes in death, addressed the people in that lovely song in which he says," My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew." Solomon compares the king's favor to "dew upon the grass." The psalmist compares brotherly love and union and peace to dew.
On Zion hills descend;
For there the blessing God commands—
Life that shall never end."
III. PROPERTIES OF THE DEW AS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THIS PROMISE. The first and perhaps most obvious property of the dew is its refreshing quality.
1. This refreshing property is experienced most in the summer months, and especially during a season of drought, like that with which the land of Israel was visited, when, for three years and a half, there was neither rain nor dew. At such a time the ground is dry and parched; vegetation languishes; gardens and meadows and corn-lands are scorched; fields of grain, blades of grass, and leaves of trees wither; fruits and flowers droop. The showers of the sky have been withheld; rain-clouds, it may be, have gathered and darkened and promised much; but they have passed over without the long-hoped-for and much-required rain. Oh, how refreshing at such a juncture is the dew when it comes down copiously on the bosom of the thirsty earth! There it lies like a shower of gems upon the ground, shimmering in the morning sunrise; it covers the surface with pearly beauty.
Advancing, sows the earth with Orient pearl."
2. Dew has a fertilizing and fructifying property. Hence the dew is indispensable to germination and growth. Without it the husbandman would labor in vain and spend his strength for naught. He might industriously break up the fallow ground and carefully scatter the seed, but without the moisture of rain or dew the seed sown would neither bud nor grow; so in spiritual husbandry, men may plough and sow, but without the dew of Divine grace there will be no increase. How different when the dew of God's grace is abundantly bestowed l Then hard hearts are softened, stubborn wills renewed, invitations of the gospel accepted, the warnings of the Divine Word touch the conscience, its instructions impress the heart, awakenings take place in Churches, revivals occur throughout the land. Nay, more, the weakest means become effectual, the simplest instrumentalities powerful; while in individual life the weak Christian is strengthened, the weary is refreshed, the fainting revived, the unlovely spiritually beautified, and the spiritual fruitfulness or virtues of all developed or revived.
3. God's wise economy of the dew. There is not a single drop of dew formed by the rude hand of chance or made in vain. Neither is there a shrub, or herb, or leaf, or flower, or blade of grass that does not collect as much dew as is needed 10r its peculiar wants. Grass-lauds and cultivated soils radiate very freely by night the heat which they absorb by day; consequently they cool down speedily and condense plentifully into dew the vapor of the air as it passes over them. Gravel, rocks, barren lands, on the contrary, radiate very slowly and very little heat, so that very little dew forms upon them. Thus there are places where little or no dew falls and which no dew refreshes. There is the barren rock—no dew refreshes it; there are the gravel walk and the sandy desert—little or no dew is formed, collected, or needed thereon; there is the stone-paved street—no dew is needed to moisten it. Exactly so there are hearts so hardened by unbelief that no dew of grace either settles on them or softens them. The seed of Divine truth may be scattered on them from sabbath to sabbath, but it makes no impression on them, and takes no root in them; it lies, it may be, for a little on the surface, then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown thereon. It is not for want of willingness in God to bestow the dew of his grace, or for want of sufficiency in Divine grace, that such is the case; but because the heart has been so hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, the conscience so seared by iniquity, and the whole man so alienated from the life of God, that there is no disposition to receive or profit by the heavenly boon.
IV. EFFECTS PRODUCED BY THE DEW OF GOD'S GRACE. The first effect is growth as of the lily.
1. The growth of the lily is rapid as it is beautiful. Here we may consider it as an emblem of beauty. Thus our Lord says, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That oven Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." In a passage in Ezekiel God says to his people, "Thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God." The comeliness to which the prophet refers is the comeliness of the soul. There is nothing so beautiful as holiness; there is no ornament like piety. The earth is beautiful when God adorns it with the bounties of his providence; when he replenishes it with fruit and flower, with grass for the cattle and herb for the service of man; when he carpets its surface with living green, clothing the fields with verdure, and covering the hills with corn. There is beauty in the over-canopying sky, in the bright orbs that sparkle like gems in the firmament. There is beauty in the widespread world of waters, and in the waves that dimple ocean's cheek. There is beauty twinkling in every star above us, sparkling in the dewdrops at our feet, and shining in every shimmer of noonday splendor. All these testify how beautiful this world once was, and how beautiful it would still be but for sin. There is beauty in the human face divine: there is beauty in the face of fair woman, and beauty of a rougher east in the countenance of man, and beauty, playful, cheerful beauty, in the pretty countenance of childhood. But all the varied beauties of a lovely world are not to be compared with the beauty of holiness. It is a beauty that reflects God's own image, and by which we resemble Christ.
To worship at his shrine;
And, walking in the light of God,
With holy beauties shine."
2. The next characteristic of this growth is stability. The growth of the lily may be fair or fast, but it soon fades; it may be easily plucked up, and so another figure is added to show the firmness of the believer. He is firmly rooted as well as spiritually fair. Some colors are very beautiful and very showy, but they are not fast colors; they soon fade, they soon lose their vividness. Some plants are very beautiful in their bloom, but weak in their root and soon uptorn. Not so the Christian. He casts forth his roots as Lebanon—either as the mountain itself, one of earth's deep foundations; or as the forest trees, those cedars of God, deeply rooted therein. Thus, with the flower of the lily, the believer has the root of the mountain or of the cedar tree, over which the winds of heaven have swept for centuries. He is fair as the one and firm as the other, for Christ dwells in his heart by faith; he is rooted and grounded in love; he is rooted in Christ and established in the faith, abounding therein with thanksgiving. He is, moreover, "steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord," forasmuch as he knows that his labor is not in vain in the Lord. Besides, as the root of trees draws up nourishment from the ground, so the Christian derives nourishment and strength from Christ; while the union is so close and so constant that nothing can separate him from Christ, nothing can wrench him from that rock in which he is rooted, nothing can detach him from the foundation on which he rests.
3. The next characteristic is expansiveness, as expressed by the words, "His branches shall spread." While his roots spread far and sink deeply into the soil, his branches spread. The application of this promise is to Israel literally, and so to the Church in general, as well as to the individual Christian. The Church of God is destined to grow to a great extent, and to spread her branches widely on every side, sending out "her boughs into the sea, and her branches unto the river," and ultimately to fill the whole earth. The Christian's growth likewise is expansive. He grows inwardly in the graces of the Spirit, outwardly in good works, upward in heavenly mindedness, and downward in humility. He adds to his faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity. These things are in him and abound, and thus is neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of God and in the doing of the Divine will. Whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy, he thinks on and practices these things. His profiting appears to all, and his holy demeanor is so manifested that he promotes the growth of grace in others, and consequently the progress of the gospel in the world. He resembles the shining light, which continues to spread more widely and to shine more brightly until the perfect day.
4. The next element of this growth is permanence of beauty and abundance of fruit. In addition to the beauty or glory of the lily, the stability of the cedar rooted in Lebanon, or of Lebanon itself, the expansiveness of numerous and magnificent branches, we have also the abiding beauty and rich fruitage of the olive. The beauty of the lily is frail and its glory lading; but the greenness of the olive is perpetual; and as abundance of branches and plenty of leaves may make a show for a time, and suggest the idea of a sort of empty ostentatiousness, the prophet gives a fresh touch to his picture by adding the greenery of the olive, which is lasting, and the fruitfulness of the olive, which is so profitable and for many purposes serviceable—enlightenment, nourishment, and embellishment. Thus the psalmist says, "I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever." So also in Jer_11:8 God calls his people a green olive tree, fair and of goodly fruit; such too is the individual believer—planted in the garden of the Lord, watered by the dew of heaven, his leaf is ever fresh and his fruit ever seasonable. Even in the winter of adversity the leaf of the righteous is green; in the winter of age they still bear fruit; in the wintry storms of the world their beauty remains like that of the olive tree, ever green, ever fresh, and ever flourishing. The beauty of an evergreen is enhanced, like most other things, by contrast; it appears most when other shrubs and trees are stripped and bared by the wintry blast; it is seen to most advantage when deadness and desolation reign around. In like manner, when the storms of' life, when the decrepitude of age, when the languor of decay, has stripped the mere worldly professor of the leaves of a merely assumed and temporary profession, a profession without reality, then true Christians stand out in striking contrast.
Are planted by his grace,
They shall grow up and flourish all
In our God's holy place:
And in old age, when others fade,
They fruit still forth shall bring:
They shall be fat and full of sap.
And aye be flourishing."
6. The people or Church of God become a blessing to others, Not only are they blessed themselves, but are made a blessing to others; they benefit all around. Like the pebble dropped into a pool and sending out wavelets to the furthest shore, so the people of God communicate benefits that, may reach to the utmost bound of earth and to the very end of time. Such as are converted through their influence, repenting of sin and returning to God, will join themselves to God's people and rest under the shadow of God's Church—shall be spiritually fruitful, reviving like the corn, of which a grain when it dies in the earth brings forth many more; and prolific as the vine, which, when pruned, produces many clusters, and each cluster many grapes; while their persons and their services are fragrant and even medicinal spiritually, as the scent of the far-famed wine of Lebanon physically. So with the Church of the old dispensation; so with that of the new; so with God's Church still.
Hos_14:8, Hos_14:9
I. THE LORD BESEECHING. (Hos_14:1) As applied to Israel, the exhortation has for its background all the judgments which have been threatened throughout the Book. And since these words were written Israel "has fallen" indeed. The ten tribes were soon carried into Assyria; Judah was by-and-by driven away to weep beside the rivers of Babylon; regained Jerusalem was at length fiercely overthrown by the Romans; and for eighteen centuries now the Jews have been dispersed over the wide world, and exposed to reproach and persecution and cruelty. All this has been the punishment of Israel's own "iniquity"—the political schism, the calf-worship, the Baalism, the godless pride, the unblushing immorality, and at last the rejection and murder of the Son of God. Jehovah could not avoid punishing; he could not but allow the apostate nation to lie under its doom during centuries and millenniums; but all the while the Divine heart is saying, "O Israel, return!" How wonderful that the eternal God should condescend to entreat men to repent! But "the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations" (Psa_100:5). If, however, there is to be salvation, there must be repentance, and all true repentance takes its rise in the call of God's Spirit. The Lord seeks the sinner with his grace before the sinner can seek him. And thus "Return unto the Lord" is the burden of the entire revelation of the Bible; it is the key-note of all Hebrew prophecy, as of all New Testament gospel. Not only so, but in this passage God also condescends to direct the people as to the thoughts and words" with which they may acceptably approach him in complying with his urgent entreaty (verses 2, 8). How different all this from "the manner of man"!
II. THE PENITENT PRAYING. (Verse 2) This verse and verse 3 form a sort of &