O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God. Hosea 14:1 Man's evil estate, and hope of deliverance H. Melvill, B. D. While the freeness of God's mercy is the leading idea suggested by the text, it is not the only one: the condition of our nature is accurately expressed, as is the mode by which alone it can be ameliorated. I. THE STATE INTO WHICH MAN HAS BROUGHT HIMSELF. There are few things more important than the fastening on the sinner all the blame of his sin. Adam might have obeyed the simple injunction, and, holding on his probation, might have won for himself and his descendants a hereafter fenced up against the spoiler. God foreknew that Adam would transgress, and prepared for the contingency. We can see that if there had been no ruin there could have been no restoration. The work of redemption takes, of course, for granted the apostasy of our race. On Adam must be fastened all the blame of his transgression. There was no extenuating plea which the offender could in justice have urged. The blame of the fall belongs individually to man. Thou hast not fallen through an inherent inability to stand; He has so constituted thee that thou mightest have stood. Thou hast not fallen through the ground being slippery, and thick-set with snares. He placed thee where thy footing was firm, and thy pathway direct. So that upon man himself comes home wholly all the effect of the fall. We argue from this the unqualified gratuitousness of God's interposition on man's behalf. In whatever degree there may be a necessity of sinning, in no degree is there a necessity of perishing. God places no man in such a moral condition that our falling into perdition is unavoidable. Let a man have once heard of Christ, and from that moment forward salvation is within arm's length of this man. Man can have no right to take off the burthen of responsibilities and cast it on the secret decrees of his Maker. II. THE MODE OF MAN'S DELIVERANCE. "Return unto the Lord thy God." It comes not within our power to destroy or diminish God's title to our service. The fall did not do away with God's claim on man. Some teach that God proportions His demands to our impaired capacities, and will be satisfied with the honest endeavour, seeing that we cannot come up to the thorough performance. But this is making God answerable for the apostasy of man. We may, however, gather an inference of consolation as well as one of admonition. There is the groundwork of hope, that God will yet look mercifully upon us, and restore us, seeing that, notwithstanding our alienation, He is still our God. Man of himself hath no power to turn unto God; but since God invites, He surely enables. He bestows all requisite assistance, and a clear pathway has been made. ( H. Melvill, B. D. ) On repentance E. Edwards. In the history of the children of Israel we see the perverseness and ingratitude of man, and the forbearance and goodness of God. Israel's sins were peculiarly aggravated by their having been committed after repeated and wonderful deliverances, after signal chastisements and mercies. At the period of Hosea's prophecy Israel's continued rebellion against God had nearly exhausted His patience toward that people. Though these words were primarily addressed to Israel, we shall consider them — I. AS CONVEYING A GRACIOUS EXHORTATION TO ALL SINNERS TO "RETURN UNTO THE LORD." 1. We must "return unto the Lord" with consideration. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways." 2. With weeping and supplication. A proper review of our past follies and perverse wanderings, and of God's mercies and patience towards us, will produce sorrow of heart, will cause tears of compunction to flow. 3. With humility. Our lofty imaginations and high opinion of ourselves must be brought low. 4. Through the Mediator. We cannot expect to find mercy unless, we seek mercy through Christ. Of this righteousness, not our own, we must make mention. 5. Without delay. This may be urged from the shortness and uncertainty of life, and from the greatness of the work which we have to do. II. AS DECLARING THE REASONABLENESS OF THE EXHORTATION. "For thou hast fallen by thine iniquity." The text is applicable to the case of backsliders who have fallen from their steadfastness. But all mankind have fallen from God. Adam fell, and in him fell all his posterity. 1. Man is fallen from the favour of God, and is under the displeasure of God. 2. Man is fallen under the dominion of sin and the curse of the law. 3. Man is fallen into the snares and power of the devil. 4. Man, if not recovered by Divine grace, will at last fall into the bottomless pit.Apply to those who are still in their fallen state, and are wandering from God. 1. Yield to the solemn and affecting truth that you have fallen by your iniquity, and let this truth stir you up to inquire with solicitude, "What must I do to be saved?" 2. Listen to God's gracious invitation, and believe His willingness to receive you. 3. Contemplate what has been done to accomplish the great work of your redemption. 4. Consider the awful doom of the finally impenitent transgressor. ( E. Edwards. ) Repentance as return John Eadie, D. D. , LL. D. The Divine love is content with nothing less than return. And nothing less and nothing else will give safety. There must not only be a cessation of the present journey, but a definite and conclusive retracement of the steps. What the prophet sighs for, and what his God so earnestly commands, is not the mere inactive terror of proceeding onwards when the fiery abyss stretches to the view, nor the attempt, while that terror lasts, to breathe a hasty vow or utter a disordered prayer. What the Divine love insists on is a decided and complete retreat, such as when, conscious of peril and aware of only one refuge, and that in God, he eagerly seeks Him with the whole heart. "I will arise and go to my Father" is his earnest and practical resolution. ( John Eadie, D. D. , LL. D. ) A message to backsliding Israel Samuel Eyles Pierce. I. THE LORD'S ADDRESS UNTO HIS BACKSLIDING ONES. "O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God." God glorifies His sanctifying grace in some, and His pardoning grace in others. Let the children of God be in what state they may, as it respects their acts of grace or sin, this makes no alteration in the Lord's love unto them. As they have the body of sin and death dwelling within them, there is a continual propensity in their fallen natures, to slide into themselves, and to backslide from the Lord Jesus Christ. Israel's case was extreme. Be could not return unto the Lord by any strength of his own. He must be fallen by his iniquity into a state and kind of desperation. This was the fruit of his iniquity. It is the Lord Himself who here speaks. He does so in the language of commiseration. From these words what an infinity of grace and blessed encouragement may be derived, so as to encourage the people of the Lord to trust and hope in Him. None but backsliders know and feel the sorrows which arise from the same. II. ONE SUBSTANTIAL REASON FOR THE RETURN OF BACKSLIDING ISRAEL TO GOD. "O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God." It lies in their relation to Him, and His relation to them. All sin is the effect of unbelief. Every act of departure from the Lord is the fruit of it; let it be mental, or let it be open and manifest. Backsliders need great encouragement, even from the Lord Himself, to return to Him. He is pleased to give it them. The interest the Lord God hath in His people can never be broken in upon, neither can their interest in Him ever be impaired or cease. It is always the same on both sides. The intercourse between the Lord and His people may be interrupted. But God is immutable in His love and mercy. III. THE REASON MADE USE OF TO HASTEN GOD'S PEOPLE'S RETURN TO HIM. "Thou hast fallen by thine iniquity." The mercy of God in Christ Jesus exceeds the very uttermost of our minds to receive any adequate ideas of. Guilt in the conscience produces fear in the heart; so long as we indulge the same it weakens our faith and keeps us from Christ. ( Samuel Eyles Pierce. ) A call to repentant return In Hosea's days idolatry was first universally set up and countenanced by regal power. Here we have — I. AN EXHORTATION TO REPENTANCE, WITH THE MOTIVES ENFORCING THE SAME. Every word hath its weight, and in a manner is an argument to enforce this returning. "Israel" is a word of covenant. Return unto the "Lord Jehovah," who is the chief good, the fountain of all good. "Thy" God in covenant, who will make good His gracious covenant unto thee. Thou hast fallen by thine iniquity; thine own inventions have brought these miseries upon thee, and none but God can help thee out of these miseries. God comes not as a sudden storm upon His people, but gives them warning before He smites them. He is a God of long-suffering, and has a special regard to His own children. Another point — II. THE BEST PROVISION FOR PREVENTING OF DESTRUCTION IS SPIRITUAL MEANS. Of all spiritual means the best is, to return to the Lord. In this returning there must be a stop. To make this stop there must be examination and consideration, humiliation and displeasure against ourselves, judging and taking revenge of ourselves, for our ways and courses. There must be a resolution to overcome impediments. In the original it is a very emphatic, "Return even to Jehovah." Do not only begin to return, but so return as you never cease coming till you come to Jehovah. Where there is a falling into sin there will be a falling into misery and judgment. The cause of every man's misery is his own sin. Then take heed of sin. Pray to God to make our way plain before us, and not to lead us into temptation. "Take with you words." They who would have help and comfort against all sins and sorrows must come to God with words of prayer. Barrenness and want of words to go unto God are blameworthy. This is for consolation: if they can take words, and can pray well, they shall speed well. ( Sibbes, Richard , D. D. ) Sin separates from God B. Wilkinson, F. G. S. You may sometimes see in the ocean a pile of rock rising steeply to a considerable height, and having on it here and there, where a patch of soil covers it, the remains of what was once a luxuriant vegetation. If you examine it, and also the mainland a few furlongs off, you will come to the conclusion that they were at one time, now long gone by, united together. They have become separated by the action of the sea. At first there was but a small inlet, scarcely large enough for a single boat to anchor in; this was gradually enlarged by the incessant beating of the surf until it became a broad bay, and at last the sea, striking with more and more force upon the cliffs every year, cut its way completely through, and now what was once part of the mainland is but a solitary and desolate isle. One of the most direct and appalling effects of sin is the breach which it makes between the human heart and God. Man is made in the likeness of God; he is an offspring of the Divine thought and love; he is endowed with the same moral and spiritual capacities as those which God Himself possesses; but let sin be suffered to find an entrance into his heart, and, like the gnawing, devouring, destructive sea, it will eat away all the holy and sacred ties which bind his:heart to God, and cut him off from God, and leave him inwardly lonely and desolate. ( B. Wilkinson, F. G. S. ) How to return to an earnest Christian life F. B. Meyer, B. A. As long as the bright summer sun shines into the forest glades the fungus has no chance to flourish; but when the sunshine wanes, in the months of autumn, the woods are filled with these strange products of decay. It is because we drift from God that our lives are the prey to numberless and nameless ills. Make the best of all new starts, and returning to the more earnest habits of earlier days, or beginning them from now, give yourself to God, believing that He will receive and welcome you, without a word of remonstrance or a moment of interval. Form habits of morning and evening prayer; especially in the morning get time for deep communion with God, waiting at His footstool, or in the perusal of the Bible, till He speaks to you. Take up again your habits of attendance at the house of God: in the morning and the evening go with the multitude that, with the voice of praise, keeps holy-day, and in the afternoon find some niche of the Christian service, in your home or elsewhere. Then, inasmuch as you do not wish to be a slip-carriage, which, when the couplings are unfastened, runs for a little behind the express, but gets slower and slower till it comes to a stand, ask the grace of the Holy Spirit to confirm these holy desires, keeping you true to them, causing you to be steadfast, immovable, and set on maintaining life on a higher level. ( F. B. Meyer, B. A. ) God always watching for our return Bianconi, the introducer of the car system in Ireland, on leaving his home in Italy, found his most trying leave-taking in separating from his mother. She fainted as he left her. Her last words were words which he never forgot: "When you remember me, think" of me as waiting at this window watching for your return." We may think of God in the same way if we have departed from Him at all. In spite of all our faults, all our sins, He is always watching for our return, for "His mercy endureth for ever." For thou hast fallen by thine iniquity Our fall by sin Rombeth. The sight of fallen greatness is exceedingly affecting to the mind of a thoughtful man, and excites inquiries concerning the cause or causes of it. The prophet looked on the kingdom of Israel fallen from its past strength and honour, and declares the cause of the fall to be — iniquity. I. THE FALL BY SIN IS THE MOST GRIEVOUS IN HUMAN EXPERIENCE. 1. The fall by sin is from the highest relationships the soul can enjoy. No relationships, how distinguished and valued soever, can equal those of God, There are none so essential to the soul's good and safety. Without holiness no true relationship with Him can be sustained. 2. The fall by sin is from life's great purpose. Short as life is, it has a great mission to fulfil. Eternal life has to be secured. The world's truest good has to be promoted. Sin causes a lamentable failure. 3. The fall by sin is a loss of truest power. A right life wields a great influence. No power can be compared with that of a holy character. This power is lost by sin. 4. The fall by sin is from truest content of soul. The hallowed quiet and peace depart. Painful misgivings and pangs of remorse tear the breast. The consciousness of guilt prevents the light and joy of hope. II. THIS FALL IS THE INEVITABLE RESULT OF SIN. The course of sin is the act of man's free will. But if he choose the path he cannot escape the ruin. 1. The path of sin leads to ruin. (1) The pleasures of the way cannot avert the consequences. (2) The fall may be delayed, but it will come. 2. None can pursue the path of sin and escape the ruin. The individual cannot; the Church cannot; the nation cannot. III. FOR THIS FALL MAN HIMSELF IS RESPONSIBLE. He falls by his own iniquity, 1. None can compel another to sin. 2. As none can compel another to sin, so none can compel his fall.Apply — 1. Sin with such power and consequences should have our intensest hate, and should be guarded against. 2. He who is fallen should forsake his sin, and seek mercy and grace from God. God's mercy can cover the past, and His grace can sanctify and secure the future. ( Rombeth. ) Message to the remnant Rowland Williams, D. D. So the admonition of Hosea has ended, and the note of destruction has been sounded. It only remains to look for a remnant out of the fallen nation, which by repentance and faithfulness may plead with God for their own rescue if not for the nation's restoration. Hope, unwilling to be quenched in the pious patriarch's breast, suggests words of returning to God, to relinquishment of human politics, and reliance on His faithfulness. To such a remnant, be it small or great, the everlasting mercy of God offers out of the jaws of ruin, as out of death and the grave, the possibility of return to Him who is not afar from every one of us. If there are any that will understand, let them not charge their Maker with folly. He has dealt justly by sinful Israel, and will deal mercifully with all men repentant. ( Rowland Williams, D. D. ) God's call to the fallen W. Hay Aitken, M. A. God seems to find an argument in the very fact of our fall. He is moved with compassion at the spectacle. He sees from what a height to what a depth man has fallen. 1. The call to return implies that we had wandered away. Our fall has indeed been occasioned by our wandering. All sin originates in the apostasy of the human heart from God. Sin would never have entered human hearts, and defiled the lives of men, if man had been true to his primal relations with God. As with the race, so with the individual. Moral deterioration and corruption naturally and necessarily ensue from the apostasy of the soul from God. Evil works naturally flow from the corrupt condition. The fallen soul not only loses contact and fellowship with God, but comes under the influence of a certain feeling of aversion, and almost of antipathy, towards God which leads him to shrink from the very thought of God. The apostate man is fallen not only in position, but in character. Innocence has been forfeited instead of being developed, and sin reigns where moral beauty should be crowned. Man needs no revelation to convince him of his fall. He alone of all the animals fails to live up to his own proper ideal, and violates in many cases systematically the laws of his own nature. Fallen in position and character, he is fallen in conduct also. Then the first thing needful for the fallen and falling is to return to God. He who invites us wants us to come back to Him. ( W. Hay Aitken, M. A. ) Take with you words, and turn to the Lord. Hosea 14:2 Turning to God in prayer Dr. Thorpe. This passage teaches us how we are to come back to God. "Take with you words and turn." We are to come in prayer to God. We are to come in supplication, to come and acknowledge that we have nothing, and with an entreaty that He will furnish us with that which we require. The prophet gives us the very prayer we are to offer. That must be an acceptable prayer which God Himself has indited! Here is the sum and substance of every acceptable prayer that has ever been offered to God. Two things which this prayer presents to us — 1. It teaches in what character we are to draw nigh to God; who they are that are warranted to come to the Father of mercy and God of all grace- sinners. 2. In "Receive us graciously" we have our Saviour presented to us. It is in Him that the grace of God is manifested. In the latter part of the text and in the succeeding verse there is presented a sort of supplement to this prayer. It contains the promises of the servant, the vows which he offers to the Most High, and which he is determined to pay. The besetting evil of the Israelites was their trusting to the neighbouring heathen nations for help, and forming associations and unions with them. We too have our besetting evils. We trust to anything rather than to God in our various emergencies and distresses. We use all the means that are placed within our power to relieve us in our distresses, but we use them without reference to God. When in repentance we turn to the Lord, then in His strength we determine to abandon our sins. ( Dr. Thorpe. ) Israel's petition in time of trouble Edward Reynolds. The blessing of Ephraim was fruitfulness. And throughout this prophecy the judgments of God against Ephraim are expressed by needs, emptiness, barrenness, dryness of roots, of fruits, of branches, of springs, etc. I. AN INVITATION TO REPENTANCE. The matter of it is conversion; which must be to the Lord, and spiritual. It must be a full, thorough, constant, continued conversion, with a whole, fixed, rooted, united, and established heart. The motives to this duty are, God's mercies and God's judgments. II. THE INSTITUTION: HOW TO PERFORM IT. 1. A general instruction. "Take unto you words," which importeth the serious pondering and choosing of requests to put up to God. He expects there should be preparation in our accesses to Him. Preparation of our persons; by purity of life. Preparation of our services; by choice of matter. Preparation of our hearts; by finding them out, and stirring them up. We must attend unto His will, as the rule of our prayers. Unto His precepts and promises, as the matter of our prayers. Unto the guidance of His Holy Spirit, as the life and principle of our prayers. There is a kind of omnipotency in prayer, as having an interest and prevalence with God's omnipotency. 2. A particular form. A prayer for two benefits: the removal of sin, the conferring of good. A promise of two things. Thanksgiving, and a special care for the amendment of their lives. Observe especially the ground of their confidence so to pray, and of their resolutions so to promise. "Because in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy. ( Edward Reynolds. ) Israel exhorted to return unto the Lord C. Simeon, M. A. I. AN AWFUL FACT STATED. "Thou hast fallen by thine iniquity." Israel had — 1. Fallen from their allegiance to God. 2. Fallen from His worship. 3. Fallen from the enjoyment of His favour. II. AN AFFECTIONATE EXHORTATION URGED. "O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God." Observe — 1. The persons addressed. "Israel." 2. The nature of the address. "Return." 3. The object to whom they were to return. "The Lord thy God." III. INSTRUCTIVE DIRECTION ADMINISTERED. "Take with you words." Words of sincerity. Appropriate words. Words of humble confession. Words of petition. "Take away all iniquity" — 1. From our affections, that we may no longer love it. 2. From our consciences, that we may no longer labour under the burden of it. 3. From our lives, that it may no longer have dominion over us. 4. From our hearts, that we may be dead to it. "Receive us graciously." Receive our prayers. Receive our persons. Receive us into Thy favour. IV. RETURNS OF GRATITUDE EXPRESSED. "Render calves of our lips." 1. Gratitude is a debt which all owe to, God. 2. Gratitude is a debt which gracious souls are ready to pay. Learn —(1) That neither our civil nor religious privileges will preclude the possibility of falling by iniquity.(2) That those who have fallen by iniquity should be induced to return to the Lord their God.(3) Those whose iniquity is taken away should bless the Lord. ( C. Simeon, M. A. ) The need for expression is words What need God words? He knows our hearts before we speak unto Him. God needs no words, but we do, to stir up our hearts and our affections. Our words must not be empty, but such as are joined with a purpose of turning to God. To turn to Him with a purpose to live in any sin is the extremity of profane impudence. The petition is, "Take away all iniquity." Because where there is any true good ness in the heart, that hatred which carries the bent of the soul against one sin is alike against all. Because the heart which desires to be at peace with God desires also to be like God, who hates all sin. "Take away all" sin; both the guilt and the reign of every sin, that none may rule in me. Forgive the sin, and overcome the power of it by sanctifying grace, and remit the judgments attending it. They pray for the taking away of their iniquity; for take away this and all other mercies follow after; because this alone stops the current of God's favours, which removed, the current of His mercies run amain. Many say, How shall I know whether or no my sins are forgiven? You may know by something that goes before, and by something which follows after. Before, a humble and hearty confession. After, when a man finds strength against it; for where God forgives He gives strength withal. Another evidence is some peace of conscience, though not much perhaps, yet so much as supports us from despair. Again, where sin is pardoned our hearts will be much enlarged with love to God. And forgiveness frames the soul suitably to be gentle and merciful, and to pardon others. Therefore let us labour for the forgiveness of our sins, that God would remove and subdue the power of them, take them away, and the judgments due to them, or else we are but miserable, though we enjoyed all the pleasures of the world. "Receive us graciously, and do good to us." So it is in the original. All the goodness we have from God, it is out of His grace. God's mercy to His children is complete and full. God not only takes away ill, but He doth good. We cannot honour God more than by making use of His mercy in the forgiveness of sins; and of His goodness, in going to Him for it. The prayer is an acknowledgment of our own emptiness. The best that we can bring to thee is emptiness, therefore do Thou do good to us, fill us with Thy fulness. Do good to us every way. "So shall we render the calves of our lips." Here is the re-stipulation or promise. They return back to God. There should be a rendering according to the receiving. This promise of praise is a kind of vow. "So will we render." To bind one's self is a kind of vow. The Church therefore binds herself that she may bind God. It is good thus to vow, if it were but to excite and quicken our dulness and forgetfulness of our general vow; to put us in mind of our duty, the more to oblige us to God, and refresh our memories. The "calves of our lips" implies not only thankfulness to God, but glorifying of God, in setting out His praise. In glorifying there are two things, a supposition of excellency, and the manifestation of this glory. The yielding of praise to God is a wondrous acceptable sacrifice. Besides this "the calves of our lips" carries us to work. The oral thanksgiving must be justified by our works and deeds; or else our actions will give our tongue the lie. Why doth the prophet especially mention lips, or words? Because — 1. Christ, who is the Word, delights in our words. 2. Because our tongue is our glory, and that by which we glorify God. 3. Our tongue is that which excites others. ( Sibbes, Richard , D. D. ) A form of prayer for backsliders Samuel Eyles Pierce. It pleased the Lord to draw up for them a form of prayer, which He puts into their mouths, and with which He sends them, that they might present themselves before Him at His throne and mercy-seat, and there repeat it. I. THE CONNECTION OF THESE WORDS WITH THE FORMER, Israel is fallen by her iniquity. -What is requisite in this case? Most assuredly, a return to the Lord. But Israel might say, "I know not how to return." To prevent despairing thoughts the Lord gives suitable words for those who would return but hardly know how to do so. The words are cogent and most particular, and exactly suited unto and expressive of the grace which those persons stood in need of. II. OPEN AND EXPLAIN THE EXPRESSIONS MADE USE OF IN THIS PRAYER. They contain for substance the whole grace and gracious design of the everlasting Gospel. If all iniquity were not taken away there could be no expectation of being received graciously, therefore the order, propriety, and connection of these words, with the vast subject and importance of them. III. THE SUITABLENESS OF THEM TO SUCH AS ARE IN A STATE OF BACKSLIDING, OR ARE ON THE VERGE OF THE SAME. There is a continual change, a flux and reflux, in the frames, temper, cases, and feelings of the people of God. None are safe, one single moment, but as they are kept by the power of God. IV. THE MOST GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS OF THESE SUPPLIANTS. "We will render the calves of our lips." When the Lord is pleased to overcome our. minds by the manifestations of His pardoning mercy, we cannot but open our mouth, and with our lips shew forth His glorious praise. ( Samuel Eyles Pierce. ) The prophet's call to repentance Moses Margoliouth. We are furnished in this chapter with a most vivid picture of God's unchangeable love towards His people. No sooner are the children of Israel brought to a sense of their helpless wretchedness, and led to betake themselves to the footstool of their God, to ask for pardon and mercy, than they obtain grace, and find help in the time of need. They no sooner assay to go to Him than He anticipates them; binds up their broken hearts, pours the balm of consolation into their wounded spirits. I. THE PROPHET'S CALL TO REPENTANCE. This is pathetic to a degree. "O Israel!" What boundless instances of unspeakable love does this single expression imply! "In Me is thy help." Return, only return, and it shall be well with you again. You must have learnt, long ere this, the hopelessness of the prodigal, without a father's love and protecting care. But let that return be a sincere, earnest, and permanent return. Let it be a truthful and spiritual return. Only genuine repentance can do us any effectual good. The wording of the call suggests that the prophet's appeal is dictated by mercy and judgment, Mercy. "Return unto the Lord thy God." Jehovah is still thy God, and not yet thy Judge, still gracious and merciful, long-suffering, of great kindness, and repenteth Him of the evil. It is by the attribute of mercy that God first appeals to His covenant people to return to Him. What a glorious motive for repentance! The Lord Jehovah is still ready and willing to be your God, in order to smooth the way for your return to Him. Judgment. "For thou hast fallen by thine iniquity," and art therefore amenable to the just punishment which is the portion of all those who transgress God's law. If mercies do not work upon your love, let judgment work upon your fear. II. THE NATURE OF GENUINE REPENTANCE. "Take with you words," etc. The penitent is not left., to frame words according to his own fancy or imagination, but the Holy Sprat actually puts words into the sinner's mouth. We must also be prepared personally, we must endeavour to begin a pure and holy life. It was for lack of a personal preparation that Israel's prayer was rejected. It is also necessary to endeavour to be possessed of such a state of mind as to entitle the suppliant to the benefits of paternal compassion. We need preparation of the heart. This fourfold preparation must be obtained from Him alone who is almighty. Of ourselves we can do nothing. From the simple expression, "Take with you words," we learn — 1. That God's will must be our rule in prayer, for it is under such circumstances only that we need expect our supplications to be accepted. 2. That God's precepts and promises must be the subject-matter of our prayer. We are too short-sighted to know what is good for us, or what God in His inscrutable dispensations has appointed for us. 3. That the help of the Holy Spirit must be the life and principle of our prayer. The Spirit who now abides with us must be our teacher in all things, and bring all things to our remembrance. He will teach us what is the will of God. Observe now the "sound form" dictated for the use of the penitents, when really and truly returning unto the Lord their God. "Take away all iniquity," etc. In this passage there is a petition and a promise. The petition is subdivided into two distinct requests, an entreaty for the pardon of sin, and a solicitation for granting unmerited favours. The promise consists of thanksgiving. "So will we render the calves of our lips"; and of amendment of life. "Asshur shall not save us," etc. The text concludes with a reason for the petition and promise. "For in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy." Note that repentance cannot exist without thanksgiving, nor can sincere thanksgiving be found in an individual not truly penitent. "Asshur shall not save us," means, we give up all human succour. Genuine repentance takes the heart from all carnal confidence. Many are the gods and lords which the unconverted create for themselves. Men of power deify strength. Men of wisdom deify knowledge and prudence. Men of morality and virtue deify their good works. ( Moses Margoliouth. ) How to return to God W. Hay Aitken, M. A. God not only invites us to return, but He tells us how to do it. He puts the very words in our mouth. The first act of the awakened is usually an act of prayer. The very act of expressing our need has a tendency both to bring about clearer views of what it is that we need, and to intensify our desire. A true conversion involves, above everything else, personal transactions between the penitent, on the one hand, and his wronged and injured God on the other. Now the very act of prayer tends to bring to the front and impress upon our consciousness th

Benson Commentary Hosea 14:1 O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Hosea 14:1-2 . O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God — O Israel, return now at length, after thou hast suffered so many evils, to the Lord by true repentance and reformation of conduct. The whole family of Israel, in both its branches, seems to be here addressed. For thou hast fallen — From God’s love and favour into his displeasure, and consequently into misery, by thine iniquity — Which has involved thee in endless troubles, and will be the cause of thy destruction. Take with you words — Make your confessions, present your petitions, and signify your promises and resolutions unto God, not only in your thoughts, but also by words well chosen and digested; sanctioned by the Holy Scriptures, and agreeable to the will of God. The prophet here prescribes a form of confession, petition, and supplication very proper to be used upon their repentance and conversion. It implies in substance, Confess your sins, entreat for pardon, and promise amendment. And turn to the Lord — In heart and life, in faith, love, and new obedience, otherwise your confessions and prayers will be to little purpose. Say, Take away all iniquity, &c. — Deliver us from the guilt and power of our sins, internal and external; take entirely away the sinful principle within us, the carnal heart of the old Adam. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me; and receive us graciously — Accept our persons and performances of thy mere grace and favour, thy unmerited mercy and love. But this clause may be rendered, Give us what is good; that is, bestow thy grace and blessing upon us: or, accept the good; that is, when we are begotten again unto holiness by thy Spirit, accept, as good, what we, thus regenerated, shall be enabled to perform. So will we render the calves of our lips — That is, the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving uttered by our lips. By calling vocal devotions calves, (or bullocks, as Bishop Horsley renders the word ???? ,) “is shown, that this form of supplication is prepared for those times, when animal sacrifices will be abolished, and prayer and thanksgiving will be the only offering.” Hosea 14:2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. Hosea 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. Hosea 14:3 . Asshur shall not save us — We will not rely on Assyria for protection and help. The Israelites frequently sought the alliance of the Assyrians, and are often reproved by the prophets for so doing. We will not ride upon horses — We will not implore the help of Egypt, as we did formerly, nor depend on horses brought thence, or on any of our military preparations. It was chiefly on account of their cavalry that the Jews and Israelites courted the help of Egypt, having no cavalry of their own. This is the first part of the people’s repentance. It consists in their renouncing all dependance on foreign alliances, and on every arm of flesh. The second is, their renouncing every species of idolatry and image-worship, expressed in the next clause, Neither will we say, &c., to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods — This is often spoken of in the prophets, as an introduction to that state of the church which is to commence from the time of the conversion of the Jews: see notes on Hosea 2:17 ; and Isaiah 1:29 . For in thee the fatherless findeth mercy — Thou art the helper of the weak and friendless; of us, who are unable to help ourselves, and are exposed to the injuries of others, having none to defend us. Observe, reader, God never fails to be the helper of all that are destitute of strength in themselves, and destitute of help from others: and who, being sensible of their helpless condition, look for it from God, who hath sufficient power, mercy, and wisdom to help. Hosea 14:4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. Hosea 14:4 . I will heal their backsliding — I will deliver them from a backsliding heart and way, and remove those judgments they have brought upon themselves thereby. The Lord says, I will heal, &c., a usual metaphor in Scripture, because sin is our disease, and God is the physician who healeth us, Psalm 103:3 ; Jeremiah 3:22 ; and he doth it through Christ, in whom this promise is made to returning backsliders. God makes this promise to the Israelites by his prophet, to encourage them to hearken to his advice, given in the preceding verses. I will love them freely — That is, of my own mere grace, and favour, and liberality. Bishop Horsley renders this verse, I will restore their conversion; (that is, as he understands it, their converted race, taking conversion as a collective noun for converts; like captivity for the captives; and dispersion for the dispersed; ) I will love them gratuitously; for mine anger is departed from me. In these words, God promises, he says, to restore the converted nation [of the Israelites] to his favour, and a situation of prosperity and splendour. On the word gratuitously he quotes the following passage from Luther’s commentary on this chapter: “Are good works then nothing? you will say. Is there no place at all for them in the doctrine of repentance? I answer, that hitherto the discourse hath been about remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. These are entirely gratuitous, and not of our merit, but simply of the inexhaustible goodness and compassion of God. Therefore, when we speak of the remission of sins, it is right to be silent about our own works; which, because they are done without the Holy Spirit, although with regard to civil society they may not be bad, yet cannot be called good, and ought not, because of the unclean heart from which they proceed. But when through faith we have received remission of sins, and, together with that, the gift of the Holy Ghost, forthwith from the heart, as from a pure fountain, come forth works also good, and well-pleasing to God. For although, by reason of the remains of original sin, the obedience even of the saints is not perfectly pure, yet, on account of faith in Christ, it is pleasing and acceptable to God.” Hosea 14:5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. Hosea 14:5-6 . I will be as the dew unto Israel — These verses contain gracious promises of God’s favour, and of blessings upon Israel’s conversion, represented by different metaphors. These are first described by that refreshment which copious dews give to the grass in the heat of summer. And if we consider the nature of the climate, and the necessity of dews in so hot a country, not only to refresh, but likewise to preserve life; if we consider also the beauty of the oriental lilies, the fragrance of the cedars which grow upon Lebanon, the beauteous appearance which the spreading olive-trees afforded, the exhilarating coolness caused by the shade of such trees, and the aromatic smell exhaled by the cedars; we shall then partly understand the force of the metaphors here employed by the prophet; but their full energy no one can conceive, till he feels both the want, and enjoys the advantage of the particulars referred to, in that climate where the prophet wrote. See Bishop Lowth’s xiith and xixth Prelection. Mr. Harmer’s illustration of this passage will be acceptable to the reader. “The image in general,” says he, “made use of here by Hosea, is the change that takes place upon the descent of the dew of autumn on the before parched earth, where every thing appeared dead or dying; upon which they immediately become lively and delightful. Israel, by their sins, reduced themselves into a wretched, disgraceful state, like that of the earth, when no rain or dew has descended for a long time; but God promised he would heal their backslidings, and restore them to a flourishing state. The gentleman that visited the holy land in autumn 1774, found the dews very copious then, as well as the rain, and particularly observed, in journeying from Jerusalem, a very grateful scent arising from the aromatic herbs growing there, such as rosemary, wild thyme, balm, &c. If the fragrant herbs between Jerusalem and Joppa afforded such a grateful smell, as to engage this ingenious traveller to remark it in his journal, the scent of Lebanon must have been exquisite; for Mr. Maundrell found the great rupture in that mountain, in which Canobin is situated, had ‘both sides exceeding steep and high, clothed with fragrant green from top to bottom, and everywhere refreshed with fountains, falling down from the rocks, in pleasant cascades; the ingenious work of nature.’“ This sufficiently illustrates the clause, His smell, that is, his fragrance, shall be like that of Lebanon. To illustrate the clause, He shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon, Mr. Harmer quotes a passage from Dr. Russell’s account of the natural history of Aleppo, vol. 1. c. 3: “After the first rains in the autumn, the fields everywhere throw out the autumnal lily daffodil; and the few plants which had stood the summer now grow with fresh vigour.” The other trees of Lebanon, as well as the cedars, are admired by travellers on account of their enormous size. So de la Roque, describing his ascending this mountain, says, the farther they advanced, the loftier were the trees, which, for the most part, were plane-trees, cypresses, and evergreen oaks. And Rauwolff, after mentioning several kinds of trees and herbs which he found there, goes on; But chiefly, and in the greatest number, were the maple-trees, which are large, high, and expand themselves very much with their branches: but, above all, the size of the cedar attracts admiration. “I measured,” says Maundrell, “one of the largest, and found it twelve yards six inches in girt, and yet sound; and thirty-seven yards in the spread of its boughs. At about five or six yards from the ground it was divided into five limbs, each of which was equal to a great tree.” The beauty of the olive-tree is frequently mentioned in Scripture, and has come under our observation before: see note on Psalm 128:3 . Hosea 14:6 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. Hosea 14:7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. Hosea 14:7 . They that dwell under his shadow shall return — “Not only was Israel to regain its former prosperity, but those smaller tribes of people that were connected with Israel, and shared in its depression, which are here described by dwelling under his shadow.” But many versions translate this clause, They shall return and dwell under his shadow. That is, they shall return to their own country, and rest safely under the protection of the Almighty. They shall revive as the corn — They shall arise out of their calamities: this is properly expressed by reviving as the corn, because the corn is buried, and lies as it were dead in the earth, till, after some time, it springs forth. And grow as the vine — Which in winter seems dead, but yet has life, sap, and a fructifying virtue in it. The reference here is to a vine that had been stripped of its leaves, and afterward flourishes again, recovering its lost verdure. A lively emblem this of the Jewish nation, arising from a state of great depression and affliction, and recovering its former prosperity and dignity. And a still more lively image of the revival and increase of true religion in the church of God, and of the graces and virtues of its members after a time of barrenness and unprofitableness. The scent thereof shall be as the vine of Lebanon — Their wisdom, holiness, and usefulness, their piety and virtue, shall diffuse an agreeable fragrance far and wide, and shall be acceptable both to God and man. Mr. Harmer produces several testimonies in proof of the excellence of the wine of Lebanon above all the wines of that part of the world: and indeed above those which have been most celebrated elsewhere. Hosea 14:8 Ephraim shall say , What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him , and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found. Hosea 14:8 . Ephraim shall say, &c. — The words, shall say, are not in the Hebrew. The clause is therefore translated thus by Bishop Horsley, Ephraim! What have I to do any more with idols, “an exultation,” says he, “of Jehovah over idols. Ephraim! even he is returned to me. I have no more contest to carry on with idols. They are completely overthrown. My sole Godhead is confessed.” I have heard him, and observed him — It is I, not his idols, who have heard his petitions and watched over him to preserve him. I am like a green fir-tree — If these be understood as the words of God, the meaning is, It is I, who am ever-existing, and have it in my power to give my people blessings at all times; as the fir is ever green and flourishing, and affords its shelter, not only in the summer, but in the winter too, when all the rest of the trees are stripped of their leaves and can afford no shelter at all. In other words, As a weary traveller finds rest and safety under a green, thick, and flourishing tree, so there are safety and refreshment under the protection of Jehovah. But some understand these as the words of Ephraim, or Israel, acknowledging that he is in a flourishing condition; and then God reminds him in the next words, that his fruitfulness and prosperity are wholly owing to the divine blessing. Thus the church of God, and all the members thereof, how much soever they may abound in the fruits of righteousness, and in the comforts connected therewith, must confess, that from Christ the true and living vine is their fruit found; and they must not fail to give him the glory thereof, remembering, that without him they can do nothing excellent or praiseworthy; nothing that will ultimately promote the glory of God, or their own salvation. Hosea 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 fall therein. Hosea 14:9 . Who is wise, &c. — That is, who is so truly wise as duly to weigh and consider the important things contained in this prophecy, the duties prescribed, the blessings promised to the obedient, and the judgments threatened to the disobedient? The prophet’s words imply, that there were but few that were endued with such spiritual wisdom and understanding as to do so; but that those who were, would seriously consider and be affected by these things. He shall understand — he shall know them — Those that set themselves to understand and know these things, thereby make it appear that they are truly wise and prudent, and will thereby be made more so; and that many do not understand and know them, is because they are inconsiderate and unwise. Those that are wise in the doing of their duty, that are prudent in practical religion, are most likely to know and understand both the truths and providences of God, which are a mystery to others. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. For the ways of the Lord are right — “The ways of the Lord are both the ways which he himself takes in his moral government of the world, and the ways of godliness which he prescribes to man. These, taken together, are the ways of the Lord, and they are right, or straight,” (as ?????? may be properly rendered,) “because they go straight forward, without deviation, to the end, — the happiness of man, and the glory of God.” And the just shall walk therein — The truly righteous will conform to the will of God, both in his precepts and in his providences, and shall have the comfort of so doing. They shall well understand the mind of God, both in his word and in his works, shall be well reconciled to both, and shall accommodate themselves to God’s intention in both. The righteous shall walk in those ways toward their great end, and shall not come short of it. Bishop Horsley renders this clause, And in them shall the justified proceed, but revolters shall stumble. “In the ways of God,” says he, “as they have been described, the justified, those who by faith in Christ have obtained remission of their sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost, shall proceed; they will be making daily and hourly approaches to their journey’s end. They shall be able to advance continually in the understanding of the ways of Providence, and of the way laid out by Jehovah for them. But to the incorrigible enemies of God, the very scheme of mercy itself will be a cause of error, confusion, and ruin.” Thus also Mr. Lowth: “They who are sincerely desirous to know and do the will of God, will be fully satisfied of the reasonableness of his laws, and the methods of his providence, and will readily comply with the directions of both, to the securing of their own eternal happiness; whereas men of perverse and disobedient tempers take offence at God’s commands, and repine against his providence, to their own ruin and perdition. The same sense is expressed in that observation of the son of Sirach, Sir 39:24 , As God’s ways are plain to the holy, so they are stumbling blocks to the workers of iniquity. To the same purpose are those words of Christ, Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice, John 18:37 ; and, He that is of God heareth God’s word, chap. John 8:47 . And St. Peter says, that Christ is become a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence to the disobedient, 1 Peter 2:8 . The observation of Grotius is very remarkable upon this subject, De Verit. Christian. Relig., lib. 2. c. ult. The doctrine of the gospel was designed to be ‘tanquam lapis Lydius, ad quem ingenia sanabilia explorarentur,’ as a touchstone to try the tempers of men, whether they were corrigible or not.” Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Hosea 14:1 O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. -16 2. THE LAST JUDGMENT Hosea 13:1-16 - Hosea 14:1 The crisis draws on. On the one hand Israel’s sin, accumulating, bulks ripe for judgment. On the other the times grow more fatal, or the prophet more than ever feels them so. He will gather once again the old truths on the old lines-the great past when Jehovah was God alone, the descent to the idols and the mushroom monarchs of today, the people, who once had been strong, sapped by luxury, forgetful, stupid, not to be roused. The discourse has every mark of being Hosea’s latest. There are clearness and definiteness beyond anything since chapter 4. There are ease and lightness of treatment, a playful sarcasm, as if the themes were now familiar both to the prophet and his audience. But, chiefly, there is the passion-so suitable to last words-of how different it all might have been, if to this crisis Israel had come with store of strength instead of guilt. How these years, with their opening into the great history of the world, might have meant a birth for the nation, which instead was lying upon them like a miscarried child in the mouth of the womb! It was a fatality God Himself could not help in. Only death and hell remained. Let them, then, have their way! Samaria must expiate her guilt in the worst horrors of war. Instead of with one definite historical event, this last effort of Hosea opens more naturally with a summary of all Ephraim’s previous history. The tribe had been the first in Israel till they took to idols. "Whenever Ephraim spake there was trembling. Prince was he in Israel; but he fell into guilt through the Ba’al, and so-died. Even now they continue to sin and make them a smelting of their silver, idols after their own modelsmith’s work all of it. To them"-to such things-"they speak! Sacrificing men kiss calves!" In such unreason have they sunk. They cannot endure. "Therefore shall they be like the morning cloud and like the dew that early vanisheth, like chaff which whirleth up from the floor and like smoke from the window. And I was thy God from the land of Egypt; and god besides Me thou knowest not, nor savior has there been any but Myself. I shepherded thee in the wilderness, in the land of droughts"-long before they came among the gods of fertile Canaan. But once they came hither, "the more pasture they had, the more they ate themselves full, and the more they ate themselves full, the more was their heart uplifted, so they forgat Me. So that I must be to them like a lion, like a leopard in the way I must leap. I will fall on them like a bear robbed of its young, and will tear the caul of their hearts, and will devour them like a lion-wild beasts shall rend them." When "He hath destroyed thee, O Israel-who then may help thee? Where is thy king now? that he may save thee, or all thy princes? that they may rule thee; those of whom thou hast said, Give me a king and princes." Aye, "I give thee a king in Mine anger, and I take him away in My wrath!" Fit summary of the short and bloody reigns of these last years. "Gathered is Ephraim’s guilt, stored up is his sin." The nation is pregnant - but with guilt! "Birth pangs seize him but"-the figure changes, with Hosea’s own swiftness, from mother to child-"he is an impracticable son; for this is no time to stand in the mouth of the womb." The years that might have been the nation’s birth are by their own folly to prove their death. Israel lies in the way of its own redemption-how truly this has been forced home upon them in one chapter after another! Shall God then step in and work a deliverance on the brink of death? "From the hand of Sheol shall I deliver them? from death shall I redeem them?" Nay, let death and Sheol have their way. "Where are thy plagues, O death? where thy destruction, Sheol?" Here with them. Compassion is hid from Mine eyes. This great verse has been variously rendered. Some have taken it as a promise: "I will deliver. I will redeem" So the Septuagint translated, and St. Paul borrowed, not the whole Greek verse, but its spirit and one or two of its terms, for his triumphant challenge to death in the power of the Resurrection of Christ. As it stands in Hosea, however, the verse must be a threat. The last clause unambiguously abjures mercy, and the statement that His people will not be saved, for God cannot save them, is one in thorough harmony with all Hosea’s teaching. An appendix follows with the illustration of the exact form which doom shall take. As so frequently with Hosea, it opens with a play upon the people’s name, which at the same time faintly echoes the opening of the chapter. "Although he among his brethren is the fruit-bearer"- yaphri’ , he Ephraim-"there shall come an east wind, a wind of Jehovah rising from the wilderness, so that his fountain dry up and his spring be parched." He -" himself," not the Assyrian, but Menahem, who had to send gold to the Assyrian-"shall strip the treasury of all its precious jewels. Samaria must bear her guilt: for she hath rebelled against her God." To this simple issue has the impenitence of the people finally reduced the many possibilities of those momentous years; and their last prophet leaves them looking forward to the crash which came some dozen years later in the invasion and captivity of the land. "They shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child ripped up." Horrible details, but at that period certain to follow every defeat in war. 4 THE FINAL ARGUMENT Hosea 12:1-14 - Hosea 14:1 THE impassioned call with which the last chapter closed was by no means an assurance of salvation: "How am I to give thee, up, Ephraim? how am I to let thee go, Israel? On the contrary, it was the anguish of Love, when it hovers over its own on the brink of the destruction to which their willfulness has led them, and before relinquishing them would seek, if possible, some last way to redeem. Surely that fatal morrow and the people’s mad leap into it are not inevitable! At least, before they take the leap, let the prophet go back once more upon the moral situation of today, go back once more upon the past of the people, and see if he can find anything else to explain that bias to apostasy { Hosea 11:7 } which has brought them to this fatal brink-anything else which may move them to repentance even there. So in chapters 12 and 13 Hosea turns upon the now familiar trail of his argument, full of the Divine jealousy, determined to give the people one other chance to turn; but if they will not, he at least will justify God’s relinquishment of them. The chapters throw even a brighter light upon the temper and habits of that generation. They again explore Israel’s ancient history for causes of the present decline; and, in especial, they cite the spiritual experience of the Father of the Nation, as if to show that what of repentance was possible for him is possible for his posterity also. But once more all hope is seen to be in vain; and Hosea’s last travail with his obstinate people closes in a doom even more awful than its predecessors." The division into chapters is probably correct; but while chapter 13 is well ordered and clear, the arrangement, and, in parts, the meaning of chapter 12 are very obscure. Hosea 14:2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. "I WILL BE AS THE DEW" Hosea 14:2-9 LIKE the Book of Amos, the Book of Hosea, after proclaiming the people’s inevitable doom, turns to a blessed prospect of their restoration to favor with God. It will be remembered that we decided against the authenticity of such an epilogue in the Book of Amos; and it may now be asked, how can we come to any other conclusion with regard to the similar peroration in the Book of Hosea? For the following reasons. We decided against the genuineness of the closing verses of Amos because their sanguine temper is opposed to the temper of the whole of the rest of the book, and because they neither propose any ethical conditions for the attainment of the blessed future, nor in their picture of the latter do they emphasize one single trace of the justice, or the purity, or the social kindliness, on which Amos has so exclusively insisted as the ideal relations of Israel to Jehovah. It seemed impossible to us that Amos could imagine the perfect restoration of his people in the terms only of re-quickened nature, and say nothing about righteousness, truth, and mercy towards the poor. The prospect which now closes his book is psychologically alien to him, and, being painted in the terms of later prophecy, may be judged to have been added by some prophet of the Exile, speaking from the standpoint, and with the legitimate desires, of his own day. But the case is very different for this epilogue in Hosea. In the first place, Hosea has not only continually preached repentance, and been, from his whole affectionate temper of mind, unable to believe repentance impossible; but he has actually predicted the restoration of his people upon certain well-defined and ethical conditions. In chapter 2 he has drawn for us in detail the whole prospect of God’s successful treatment of his erring spouse. Israel should be weaned from their sensuousness and its accompanying trust in idols by a severe discipline, which the prophet describes in terms of their ancient wanderings in the wilderness. They should be reduced as at the beginning of their history, to moral converse with their God; and abjuring the Ba’alim (later chapters imply also their foreign allies and foolish kings and princes) should return to Jehovah, when He, having proved that these could not give them the fruits of the land they sought after, should Himself quicken the whole course of nature to bless them with the fertility of the soil and the friendliness even of the wild beasts. Now in the epilogue and its prospect of Israel’s repentance we find no feature, physical or moral, which has not already been furnished by these previous promises of the book. All their ethical conditions are provided; nothing but what they have conceived of blessing is again conceived. Israel is to abjure senseless sacrifice and come to Jehovah with rational and contrite confession. {Cf. Hosea 6:6 } She is to abjure her foreign alliances. {Cf. Hosea 12:2 } She is to trust in the fatherly love of her God. {Cf. Hosea 1:7 } He is to heal her, {Cf. Hosea 11:4 } and His anger is to turn away. {Cf. Hosea 11:8-9 } He is to restore nature, just as described in chapter 2 and the scenery of the restoration is borrowed from Hosea’s own Galilee. There is, in short, no phrase or allusion of which we can say that it is alien to the prophet’s style or environment, while the very keynotes of his book -"return," "backsliding," "idols the work of our hands," "such pity as a father hath," and perhaps even the "answer" or "converse" of Hosea 14:9 -are all struck once more. The epilogue then is absolutely different from the epilogue to the Book of Amos, nor can the present expositor conceive of the possibility of a stronger case for the genuineness of any passage of Scripture. The sole difficulty seems to be the place in which we find it-a place where its contradiction to the immediately preceding sentence of doom is brought out into relief. We need not suppose, however, that it was uttered by Hosea in immediate proximity to the latter, nor even that it formed his last word to Israel. But granting only (as the above evidence obliges us to do) that it is the prophet’s own, this fourteenth chapter may have been a discourse addressed by him at one of those many points when, as we know, he had some hope of the people’s return. Personally, I should think it extremely likely that Hosea’s ministry closed with that final, hopeless proclamation in chapter 13; no other conclusion was possible so near the fall of Samaria and the absolute destruction of the Northern Kingdom. But Hosea had already in chapter 2 painted the very opposite issue as a possible ideal for his people; and during some break in those years when their insincerity was less obtrusive, and the final doom still uncertain, the prophet’s heart swung to its natural pole in the exhaustless and steadfast love of God, and he uttered his unmingled gospel. That either himself or the unknown editor of his prophecies should have placed it at the very end of his book is not less than what we might have expected. For if the book were to have validity beyond the circumstances of its origin, beyond the judgment which was so near and so inevitable, was it not right to let something else than the proclamation of this latter be its last word to men? was it not right to put as the conclusion of the whole matter the ideal eternity valid for Israel-the gospel which is ever God’s last word to His people? At some point or other, then, in the course of his ministry, there was granted to Hosea an open vision like to the vision which he has recounted in the second chapter. He called on the people to repent. For once, and in the power of that Love to which he had already said all things are possible, it seemed to him as if repentance came. The tangle and intrigue of his generation fell away; fell away the reeking sacrifices and the vain show of worship. The people turned from their idols and puppet-kings, from Assyria and from Egypt, and with contrite hearts came to God Himself, who, healing and loving, opened to them wide the gates of the future. It is not strange that down this spiritual vista the prophet should see the same scenery as daily filled his bodily vision. Throughout Galilee Lebanon dominates the landscape. You cannot lift your eyes from any spot of Northern Israel without resting them upon the vast mountain. From the unhealthy jungles of the Upper Jordan, the pilgrim lifts his heart to the cool hill air above, to the ever-green cedars and firs, to the streams and waterfalls that drop like silver chains off the great breastplate of snow. From Esdraelon and every plain the peasants look to Lebanon to store the clouds and scatter the rain; it is not from heaven but from Hermon that they expect the dew, their only hope in the long drought of summer across Galilee and in Northern Ephraim, across Bashan and in Northern Gilead, across Hauran and on the borders of the desert, the mountain casts its spell of power, its lavish promise of life. Lebanon is everywhere the summit of the land, and there are points from which it is as dominant as heaven. No wonder then that our northern prophet painted the blessed future in the poetry of the mountain-its air, its dew, and its trees. Other seers were to behold, in the same latter days, the mountain of the Lord above the tops of the mountains; the ordered cite, her steadfast walls salvation, and her open gates praise; the wealth of the Gentiles flowing into her, profusion of flocks for sacrifice, profusion of pilgrims; the great Temple and its solemn services; and "the glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, fir-tree and pine and box-tree together, to beautify the place of My Sanctuary." { Isaiah 60:13 } But, with his home in the north, and weary of sacrifice and ritual, weary of everything artificial, whether it were idols or puppet-kings, Hosea turns to the "glory of Lebanon" as it lies, untouched by human tool or art, fresh and full of peace from God’s own hand. Like that other seer of Galilee, Hosea in his vision of the future "saw no temple therein." { Revelation 21:22 } His sacraments are the open air, the mountain breeze, the dew, the vine, the lilies, the pines; and what God asks of men are not rites nor sacrifices, but life and health, fragrance and fruitfulness, beneath the shadow and the Dew of His Presence. "Return, O Israel, to Jehovah thy God, for thou" hast stumbled by thine iniquity. Take with you words and return unto Jehovah. Say unto Him, Remove iniquity altogether, and take good, so will we render" the calves of our lips"; confessions, vows, these are the sacrificial offerings God delights in. Which vows are now registered:- "Asshur shall not save us; We shall not ride upon horses (from Egypt) And we will say no more, "O our God," to the work of our hands: For in Thee the fatherless findeth a father’s pity." Alien help, whether in the protection of Assyria or the cavalry which Pharaoh sends in return for Israel’s homage; alien gods, whose idols we have ourselves made, -we abjure them all, for we remember how Thou didst promise to show a father’s love to the people whom Thou didst name, for their mother’s sins, Lo-Ruhamah , the Unfathered. Then God replies:- "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: For Mine anger is turned away from them. I will be as the dew unto Israel: He shall blossom as the lily, And strike his roots deep as Lebanon: His branches shall spread, And his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, And his smell as Lebanon- smell of clear mountain air with the scent of the pines upon it. The figure in the end of Hosea 14:6 seems forced to some critics, who have proposed various emendations, such as "like the fast-rooted trees of Lebanon," but any one who has seen how the mountain himself rises from great roots, cast out across the land like those of some giant oak, will not feel it necessary to mitigate the metaphor." The prophet now speaks:- "They shall return and dwell in His shadow. They shall live well-watered as a garden, Till they flourish like the vine, And be fragrant like the wine of Lebanon." God speaks:- "Ephraim, what has he to do any more with idols! I have spoken for him, and I will look after him. I am like an evergreen fir; From Me is thy fruit found." This version is not without its difficulties; but the alternative that God is addressed and Ephraim is the speaker-"Ephraim" says," What have I to do any more with idols? I answer and look to Him: I am like a green fir-tree; from me is Thy fruit found"-has even greater difficulties, although it avoids the unusual comparison of the Deity with a tree The difficulties of both interpretations may be overcome by dividing the verse between God and the people:- "Ephraim! what has he to do any more with idols: I have spoken far him, and will look after him." In this case the speaking would be intended in the same sense as the speaking in chapter 2. to the heavens and earth, that they might speak to the corn and wine. Then Ephraim replies:- "I am like an ever-green fir-tree; From me is Thy fruit found." But the division appears artificial, and the text does not suggest that the two I’s belong to different speakers. The first version therefore is the preferable. Some one has added a summons to later generations to lay this book to heart in face of their own problems and sins. May we do so for ourselves. "Who is wise, that he understands these things? Intelligent, that he knows them? Yea straight are the ways of Jehovah, And the righteous shall walk therein, but sinners shall stumble upon them." The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.