Hosea 10:12-14

REMONSTRATINGRENOVATE FALLOW GROUND

TEXT: Hosea 10:12-14

12

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to kindness; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek Jehovah, till he comes and rains righteousness upon you.

13

Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies; for thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.

14

Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces with her children.

15

So shall Beth-el do unto you because of your great wickedness: at daybreak shall the king of Israel be utterly cut off.

QUERIES

a.

Why is it time to seek Jehovah?

b.

Who were Israel's mighty men?

c.

Who is Beth-el?

PARAPHRASE

Sow seeds of righteousness among your fellow men and you will reap loving kindness in turn. In order to do this, however, you will have to turn over the hard and weed-infested soil of your sinful hearts. And do not delay for the time to seek the Lord is nowit is ever present. He will come and shower you with blessings of mercy and grace. In the past you have sown wickedness and reaped the consequences of your iniquityfalseness, shame, vanity. You trusted in your own rebellious ways and in the false security of your army. Because you still insist in doing this a war shall come to your people and all the fortresses which made you feel so secure will be destroyed. Shalmaneser destroyed Beth-arbel giving you an example of his cruelty against even women and children. And now, because you did not heed the warning but continued in your wickedness, Shalmaneser shall do the same to the whole land of Israel, even to Bethel, and your king will perish with unexpected suddenness!

SUMMARY

A last hour call to repentance and reformation of life is given. Unheeded, it calls forth inevitable destruction at the hands of Shalmaneser.

COMMENT

Hosea 10:12 SOW. RIGHTEOUSNESS, REAP. KINDNESS. BREAK UP YOUR FALLOW GROUND. Sowing and reaping are favorite Oriental and Semitic figures of speech to use in expressing spiritual and moral conduct (cf. Job 4:8; Psalms 126:5; Jeremiah 4:3; Matthew 13:3 ff; Luke 8:5 ff; Proverbs 6:14; Proverbs 6:19; Proverbs 11:18; Proverbs 22:8; Hosea 8:7; John 4:36-37; 1 Corinthians 9:11; 2 Corinthians 9:6; 2 Corinthians 9:10; James 3:18, etc.) Here, it is evident, the prophet is exhorting the people to sow deeds of righteousness toward one another, in order that they may reap kindness from one another. Some commentators, in their attempt to belittle the idea that man must do righteous deeds in order to be pleasing to God, have misinterpreted this text by saying, It is not a man-made righteousness, but that righteousness which the Lord is ready to grant abundantly as a gift of His grace to all that seek Him and His righteousness. Hence, sow toward righteousnessseek the Lord and His righteousness, prepared for you without any merit on your part by the Lord and sent by Him as freely, graciously, and abundantly as the rain from heaven. Now we agree that man can never earn or attain, through his own meritorious deeds, the righteousness which God's Holy Law demands. Man must, however, respond to the revealed will of God by doing righteous deeds in order to come into covenant relationship and remain in covenant relationship with God through Christ. Faith in God can be efficacious only if it issues forth in an obedient life of righteous deeds. My little children, let no man lead you astray: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous (cf. 1 John 3:1-24). There is only one way to be righteous. By the powerful motivation of faith in God through Christ to do the righteous will of God as it is revealed in His word! There is only one way to reap kindnessthat is to actively sow righteousness. To do this, the people of Israel must have a change of mind, a change of heart, a conversionthey must break up the hard, weed-infested soil of their sinful hearts.

How is this fallow ground to be broken up? By seeking Jehovah with the whole heart, (cf. our comments on Hosea 6:1-3). Jeremiah gives the same exhortation in Jeremiah 4:1-4. God will not rain righteousness down upon men until they have done something about their relationship to God's commandments! God's love, mercy, faithfulness, power, have all been demonstrated and revealed. God's covenant terms have all been revealed, Now it is up to man to willingly, actively make the proper response.

The time for man to make such a response is always Right Now with God. It is always Today with God! For the man who chooses to live by faith in God it is also always Today! The man of God lives always in the present tenseyesterday is past and un-reclaimable, tomorrow is future and only God knows tomorrow, and so Today is the day of salvation (cf. Hebrews 3:7-19; 2 Corinthians 6:2; James 4:13, etc.), Men must seek the Lord while He may be found (cf. Isaiah 55:6-9), and call upon Him while he is near by forsaking their wicked ways and returning to His commandments!

Hosea 10:13 YE HAVE PLOWED WICKEDNESS. REAPED INIQUITY. EATEN THE FRUIT OF LIES. Israel not only sowed wickedness, they cultivated it! They actually nurtured evil like a farmer would a crop of grain by cultivating and fertilizing it. But what was their harvest? Crime, anarchy, distrust, immorality, falsehood, all flourished in high places and low places. Their whole society was built on the crumbling foundation of lies. They deceived others, were deceived by others, but worse than all the rest, they deceived themselves and knew they were doing so all the time! You see, they trusted in their own counsel by which they deliberately deluded themselves; they trusted in their military and economic prowess which they knew from history was not equal to the power of God. How relevant the prophets are for twentieth century society!

Hosea 10:14 THEREFORE SHALL A TUMULT ARISE AMONG THY PEOPLE. Tumult is the word used to describe the noise and din of war. Right in the middle of their prosperous but decadent unconcern shall suddenly come war. They will suddenly be besieged and invaded by a foreign power. Their so-called impregnable fortress will be torn asunder. Their cities and villages will be burned and plundered. There will be many thousands slain, thousands of others taken captive and deported to a far away land. Their invaders will be the cruel, blood-thirsty Assyrians who destroyed Beth-arbel (very likely the modern Kirbeth Irbid, about six miles southwest of Magdala in Galilee). Their king will be Shalman who is to be identified as the Shalmaneser II of 2 Kings 17:3-6. Not even women and innocent children will be spared.

Hosea 10:15 SO SHALL BETH-EL DO UNTO YOU BECAUSE OF YOUR GREAT WICKEDNESS. And all this destruction and blood-letting is a consequence of Israel's stubborn rebellion against a merciful God. Their rebellion is manifested most openly at Bethel where the temple and altar to the golden-calf is located and where the nation made pilgrimage constantly to bow down before its idols. All this will bring sudden, swift (at daybreak) destruction of the ruling monarch and of the nation. Israel will perish suddenly! She will be taken away quicklythere will be no long, extended expiration or wasting away. Her oblivion will come rapidly and completely!

QUIZ

1.

How does Hosea intend Israel to sow righteousness?

2.

How is fallow ground to be broken up?

3.

To what extent did Israel plow wickedness?

4.

What were the consequences of plowing wickedness?

5.

Who is Shalman and what did he do to Israel?

6.

Where is Beth-arbel?

7.

How long did it take for Israel to disappear from history?