CHAPTER VI _The prophet earnestly exhorts to repentance_, 1-3. _God is then introduced as very tenderly and pathetically_ _remonstrating against the backslidings of Ephraim and Judah,_ 4-11. NOTES ON CHAP. VI Verse Hosea 6:1. _COME, AND LET US RETURN UNTO THE LORD_] When God had purposed to a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 6:2. _AFTER TWO DAYS WILL HE REVIVE_] Such is his power that in _two_ or _three_ days he can restore us. He can realize all our hopes, and give us the strongest token for good. _IN THE THIRD DAY HE WILL RAISE US UP_] In so short a time can he give us complete deliverance. These words a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 6:3. _THEN SHALL WE KNOW_] We shall have the fullest evidence that we have not believed in vain. If _WE FOLLOW ON TO KNOW THE LORD_] If we _continue_ to be as much in _earnest_ as we _now_ are. _HIS GOING FORTH_] The manifestation of his mercy to our souls is as certain as the _rising... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 6:4. _O EPHRAIM, WHAT SHALL I DO UNTO THEE?_] This is the answer of the Lord to the above pious resolutions; sincere while they lasted, but frequently forgotten, because the people were fickle. Their _goodness_ (for goodness it was while it endured) was _like the morning cloud that fade... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 6:5. _THEREFORE HAVE I HEWED_ THEM _BY THE PROPHETS_] I have sent my prophets to testify against their fickleness. They have smitten them with the most solemn and awful threatenings; they have, as it were, slain them by the words of my mouth. But to what purpose? _THY JUDGMENTS_ ARE AS... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 6:6. _I DESIRED MERCY, AND NOT SACRIFICE_] I taught them righteousness by my prophets; for I desired mercy. I was more willing to _save_ than to _destroy_; and would rather see them full of _penitent_ and _holy resolutions_, than behold them offering the _best_ and most _numerous victims... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 6:7. _BUT THEY LIKE MEN_ (כאדם keadam, "like Adam") _HAVE_ _TRANSGRESSED THE COVENANT_] They have sinned against light and knowledge as _he_ did. This is _sense_, the other is scarcely so. There was a striking similarity in the two cases. _Adam, in_ _Paradise_, transgressed the commandme... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 6:8. _GILEAD_ IS _A CITY OF THEM THAT WORK INIQUITY_] In this place Jacob and Laban made their covenant, and set up a _heap of_ _stones_, which was called _Galeed_, the _heap of testimony_; and most probably idolatry was set up here. Perhaps the very _heap_ became the object of superstit... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 6:9. _AS TROOPS OF ROBBERS_] What a sad picture is this of the state of the priesthood! The country of Gilead was infamous for its robberies and murders. The idolatrous priests there formed themselves into companies, and kept possession of the roads and passes; and if they found any pers... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 6:10. _I HAVE SEEN A HORRIBLE THING_] That is, the idolatry that prevailed in Israel to such a degree that the whole land was defiled.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Hosea 6:11. _O JUDAH, HE HATH SET A HARVEST FOR THEE_] Thou also hast transgressed; thy _harvest_ will come; thou shalt be _reaped_ _down_ and sent into captivity. The _sickle_ is already thrust in. That which thou _hast sowed_ shalt thou _reap_. They who _sow_ unto the _flesh_ shall _reap cor... [ Continue Reading ]