IN reading the prophecies of Hosea one cannot fail to be struck with two things-the insensibility of. Israel to their moral condition, and the yearning of Jehovah over the people He had chosen. " When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria " (7: 1). When this was the prophet does not state. Perhaps 2 Kings 13:33And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael, all their days. (2 Kings 13:3) may throw light on the matter. God had interposed in the days of Jehoahaz, and given Israel a savior, " so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians, and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before time." What a picture of security and rest after trouble have we here. Did they not value this respite, which surely they could well appreciate? Let us hear the historian again, " Nevertheless they, departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein; and there remained the grove also in Samaria." God's recent intervention on their behalf made no more permanent impression on the people than did His several gracious dealings with them, from their earliest origin in patriarchal days to their entrance into the land under Joshua. That all was not right with them their political condition in the days of Hosea might prove to the dullest of intellects; but how to rectify matters was another point.
This is brought out in the prophecies of Hosea in a most beautiful way. His presence among them witnessed that God had not finally cast them off; his official position as Jehovah's prophet was a sign that they had departed from the right way. And, since the great feature of this book is God's moral dealings
with those who have wandered far from Him, with a view to their ultimate restoration, and that in the fullest of blessings, so we see portrayed in Israel's history what God's people may become if they turn away in heart from Him; and we learn what is the only road to be traversed if restoration is to take place, and favors from God are to be again enjoyed.
Glancing at the book we may see it divides itself into three great parts-the historical outline of events from the day of Hosea till the ultimate return, and recognition as God's of the people He has now disowned the moral condition of the people (chiefly the ten tribes) in the days of the prophet, because of which judgment would have to take its course (9.-10.); and the past dealings of God in sovereign grace with the people, closing with the future dealing with their souls, because of which those "lo Ammi" shall become again "Ammi," and "lo Ruhamah" rejoice in the full tide of mercy then to be experienced (11.-14.). Attention to this order will help us in the study of the book.
In the first portion we get Israel's present political condition predicted, like the woman of chap. 3. waiting for the prophet; abiding "without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim," with the promise of future blessing, but only after she has been allured into the wilderness. God's gracious dealings are thus promised at the outset. But why is the distant future brought forward " after many days "? Was He not willing even in the prophet's day to deal in grace? lie was, but they were unwilling to receive it. This the second portion brings out.
Nothing is more common than for any one smarting under the consequences of disobedience to look for some way of getting free from the present distress. But, like a man caught in a net, who, the more he struggles, the more he gets entangled, and at last sinks down exhausted by his efforts, yet still a captive; so does the soul, which knows not the divine way of restoration, weary itself with fruitless efforts to get free from the condition induced by its disobedience. Is God, then, hard to be entreated? The surrender of His only Son for us, when ungodly and without strength, must ever be a sufficient, an overwhelming, answer in the negative. God desires the restoration of His people. He who wills that all should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, longs, may we say it, for the recovery of His children who have strayed. But how shall this be accomplished?
What 'Israel in the prophet's day would attempt, we learn: " They shall go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord, but they shall not find Him" (v. 6). Was it not right to bring sacrifices? He had commanded them. Why, then, would God not receive them? Because this step on Israel's part was really an endeavor to approach Him as if nothing had happened. They would bring sacrifices as of old, and then look for His favor. Now, such conduct would be no confession of their grievous departure from His ways. Had they never sinned, sacrifices ought still to have been offered up, as they will be again in the Millennium, when the law will be written on their hearts. Thus the mere outward conformity to the Mosaic ritual was no recognition of their grievous declension. God would not have this conduct. " They shall not find Him," is the warning of the prophet. "He hath withdrawn Himself from them," is the oracular announcement of the sure failure of all such measures if attempted by the people.
In a similar way do not souls sometimes attempt to act now, and with a corresponding result? The end looked for is not secured because there is no acknowledgment of failure. Activity in service, attention to duties, can never obliterate the past nor atone for previous neglect. After failure has come in, we cannot present ourselves before God as if no failure had taken place. Hence acting, as He ever must, according to what He is, if Israel would thus approach Him, He could only withdraw Himself from them: and of this they are warned beforehand, not left to find it out afterward. But if He should withdraw Himself, how should they follow Him? how penetrate the thick darkness in which He enshrouded Himself? As far as they were concerned, their condition seemed desperate, the case hopeless. It was so, had not God been willing to act in grace, being desirous to restore them as a nation. At the close of the chapter this is brought out.
" When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to King Jareb; yet he could not heal you, nor cure you of your wound." They confessed by their action what their condition was, but took steps in their own wisdom to recover what they had lost. Need we wonder that disappointment attended them? Their plan had failed. " He could not cure you," proclaimed the inability of any man to effect such a restoration to blessing as they needed. Far worse, however, than the mere failure of their efforts was the insult to Jehovah of which they were thus guilty. They had turned from God to man. Would He forsake them? He would, but not finally: " I will go and return unto my place, till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early" (v. 15).
The Lord would withdraw from them until.... not a final withdrawal. That would have ended in everlasting rejection: they must feel, however, the consequences of their sins by the absence of Jehovah from their midst, until-they acknowledge their offense. Confession must take place; then He would again be gracious. He had not withdrawn Himself hastily: their conduct necessitated it. 'It had not been the wish of His heart; but their pride and obstinacy left Him no other course to pursue. Now, apart from them, He would await the acknowledgment of their sins. Renewed activity was not what He wanted. How ready is man to proffer that! Confession He desired; then activity and worship would find their place. Such was the line marked out for Israel. Would they follow it?
To show God's desire for the people's restoration, the prophet, His messenger, immediately, on this announcement, exhorts all to return. There was but one course open for them; surely they would take it. " Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He bath smitten, and He will bind us up. After two days will He revive us: in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight. Then shall we know; we shall (so we should translate) follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come to us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth;" or, as some render it, " as the latter rain which waters the earth." Human resources had failed; there was still the unfailing divine one open to them. " He bath torn, and He will heal us," etc. This was not the language of uncertainty, or the utterance of one clutching hold of what might prove unequal to the exigency of the case. It was the language of one who knew from whence their troubles came, and who was assured of the true remedy. Thus the prophet spake; but not a word of response have we from the people. Life as from the dead and returning fruitfulness he depicted; but all in vain. He spake to what was dull and insensible to its welfare. He exhorted; but to no purpose. They did not turn to the Lord; so judgment had to take its course. The afflictions of those days were not enough to bring them to their right mind, so yet darker times must come, and severer trials must be endured, are confession would be drawn from their hearts. " My people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the Most High, none at all would exalt Him" (11: 7).
The prophet's exhortation unheeded, for the people in his day there was no hope of averting the threatened judgment. They deserved it, as these chapters (4.-10.) bring out; therefore all their " fortresses should be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day of battle," and transportation to Assyria would be undergone. Was there any hope of recovery in the distant future? There was, because they had to do with God, who had dealt in sovereign mercy with them at the first. So, commencing with chap. xi., another key-note is struck, not the past and present doings of the people, but the past dealings of God with the nation and with their ancestor Jacob; and now it is not the deserts of the people, but the heart of God that Hosea so beautifully depicts, He could not give them up, though they had so grievously sinned against Him. Restoration, both national and spiritual, should take place. As Admah and Zeboim He would not make them: the exiled nation should return, ransomed by God from the power of the grave, and redeemed by Him from destruction (11: 8, 11; 13: -14).
Again, -therefore, the prophet speaks, and this time there is a response. Is it that he acts in a different manner to what he did before (6.), and therefore they listen and answer? Does he justify them, or let them justify themselves? Far from it. He exhorts them to return to the Lord their God, for they had fallen by their iniquity. No excuse for them is allowed, no extenuating circumstances admitted. " Thou hast fallen by thine iniquity," yet there was hope. Confession, however, must take place before they can again enjoy the light of Jehovah's countenance. How should they then confess who had, as a nation, so grievously sinned, and aggravated it by refusing to comply with the exhortation of the prophet in his day? The Spirit of God by the prophet puts the words into their mouth. God teaches them what to say, who, now so fearfully chastised, have sought Him early in their affliction. They cast themselves upon God, saying, " Receive us graciously;" and learn from His immediate response what they can look for: " I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him" Confession made, no uncertainty or torturing doubt is allowed to remain in their hearts. God speaks at once, and how beautifully! He will heal, and He will love, and He will refresh. They had abused His gifts in days of old. He will make them fruitful on the earth in the days yet to come; and predicts it in most beautiful language, abounding with illustrations from nature. The dew which revives the plant after the scorching heat of the day, and the fragrance which perfumes the air on a summer morning, the tender lily and majestic cedar, with the corn, wine, and oil, proofs of fertility, are all needed to depict their final blessing, for healing will take place and returning freshness and fruitfulness be experienced. And Ephraim will discern the difference, as he will say-" What have I to do any more with idols?" Then Jehovah will answer-" I have heard him, and observed him." And to Ephraim's rejoinder in the happiness of his heart-" I am like a green fir tree," the Lord will give him the word of caution-" From Me is thy fruit found."
Different, indeed, are the circumstances of Israel in the past and in the future from that of God's children in our day. The principle, however, on which restoration to the enjoyment of divine favor and renewed fruitfulness can be experienced is the same. God desires the blessing of His people, but confession after failure is the appointed road to it. Subjective teaching, too, whilst needed to show man what he is, does not, as Hosea sets forth, draw out the heart to God. Objective teaching is needed for that. The appeal in 6., after the setting before them of their way (4: 5.) is unheeded. But the recital of God's ways with them (11.-13), which brings out His character in grace, evokes a response from them. Are they peculiar in this? This book, it is true, is full of special application to the condition of Israel, amongst whom the prophet labored; but its closing words show its value for all time. " 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 fall therein" (14: 9).