Hosea 7:14

And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me. AND THEY HAVE NOT CRIED UNTO ME WITH THEIR HEART - but unto other gods (Maurer). (Job 35:9.) Or, rather, they did indeed cry unto me, but not "with their heart:" answering to "lies," Hosea 7:13 (see note). WHEN THEY HOWLED UPON THEIR BEDS - sleepless with anxiety. Image of deep affliction. Their cry is termed howling, as it is the cry of anguish, not the cry of repentance and faith. THEY ASSEMBLE THEMSELVES FOR CORN ... - literally, 'assemble themselves tumultuously' [ guwd (H1464)] - namely, in the...

The Prophet here again reproves the Israelites for having not repented, after having been so often admonished; for, as it was said yesterday, all the chastisements which God by his own hand inflicts on us, have this as the object — to heal us of our vices. Now the Prophet says here that the Israelites had not cried to God, which is yet the chief thing in repentance. But this expression is to be noticed. _They have not cried to me with their heart; _that is sincerely. We indeed know that some worship of God had ever remained among them; though the Israelites devised for themselves many gods, yet the name of the true God had never been wholly obliterated among them; but they blended the worship of God with their own inventions; God, at the same time, could not endure these fictitious invocations. Hence he says, that_they cried not from the heart. _He accuses them, not that they performed n...

8-16 Israel was as a cake not turned, half burnt and half dough, none of it fit for use; a mixture of idolatry and of the worship of Jehovah. There were tokens of approaching ruin, as grey hairs are of old age, but they noticed them not. The pride which leads to break the law of God leads to self-flattery. The mercy and grace of God are the only refuge to which obstinate sinners never think of fleeing. Though they may howl forth their terrors in the form of prayers, they seldom cry to God with their hearts. Even their prayers for earthly mercies only seek fuel for their lusts. Their turning from one sect, sentiment, form, or vice, to another, still leaves them far short of Christ and holiness. Such are we by nature. And such shall we prove if left to ourselves. Create in us a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within us....

Verse Hosea 7:14. _THEY HAVE NOT CRIED UNTO ME WITH THEIR HEART_] They say they have sought me, but could not find me; that they have cried unto me, but I did not answer. I know they have _cried_, yea, _howled_; but could I hear them when all was forced and hypocritical, not one sigh coming from their _heart_? _THEY ASSEMBLE THEMSELVES FOR CORN AND WINE_] In dearth and famine they call and howl: but they assemble themselves, not to seek ME, but to invoke their false gods for corn and wine....

AND THEY HAVE NOT CRIED UNTO HIM WITH THEIR HEART, WHEN THEY HOWLED UPON THEIR BEDS - Or, in the present time, “they cry not unto Me when they howl.” They did “cry,” and, it may be, they “cried” even “unto God.” At least, the prophet does not deny that they cried to God at all; only, he says, that they did “not cry to” Him “with their heart.” Their cries were wrung from them by their temporal distresses, and ended in them, not in God. There was no sincerity in their hearts, no change in their doings. Their cry was a mere howling. The secret complaint of the heart is a loud cry in the ears of God. The impetuous “cry” of impatient and unconverted suffering is a mere brutish “howling.” Their heart was set wholly on their earthly needs; it did not thank God for giving them good things, nor cry to Him truly when He withheld them. But, it may be, that the prophet means also to contrast the act...

EXPOSITION This chapter may be divided into three sections. In the first section, including Hosea 7:1, the prophet reproves with much but deserved severity the depraved morals of king and princes. In the second section, consisting of Hosea 7:8, he rebukes their sinfulness, silliness, pride, and stupid obstinacy, notwithstanding the many manifest tokens of decay. Otherwise the first section deals with the internal corruption of the northern kingdom, and the second exposes their sinful and harmful foreign policy. The third section, continuing from the twelfth verse to the end of the chapter, that is, Hosea 7:12, threatens the infliction of punishment incurred by their gross wicked. Hess and base ingratitude to God....

AND THEY HAVE NOT CRIED UNTO ME WITH THEIR HEART,.... In their distress, indeed, they cried unto the Lord, and said they repented of their sins, and promised reformation, and made a show of worshipping God; as invocation is sometimes put for the whole worship of God; but then this was not heartily, but hypocritically; their hearts and their mouths did not go together, and therefore was not reckoned prayer; nothing but howling, as follows: WHEN THEY HOWLED UPON THEIR BEDS; lying sick or wounded there; or, as some, in their idol temples, those beds of adultery, where they pretended to worship God by them, and to pray to him through them; but such idolatrous prayers were no better than the howlings of clogs to him; even though they expressed outwardly their cries with great vehemency, as the word used denotes, having one letter more in it than common: THEY ASSEMBLE THEMSELVES FOR CORN AND...

CHAPTER 7 The Moral Depravity of Israel _ 1. Their moral depravity (Hosea 7:1) _ 2. Mingling with heathen nations (Hosea 7:8) Hosea 7:1. All the gracious efforts of the Lord to heal Israel resulted in a greater manifestation of the iniquity of Ephraim. Instead of turning to Him in true repentance and self-judgment their evil heart turned away from Jehovah, and they continued in their downward course. They did not consider that the Lord would remember all their evil deeds and punish them for it. The king and the princes, the political heads were as corrupt as the priests, they were pleased with the impenitence and wickedness of their subjects. Then follows a graphic description of their moral depravity. They w

HOSEA 7:8 TO HOSEA 8:3. POLITICAL DECAY THE OUTWARD SIGN OF ISRAEL'S MORAL DECAY. The attempts to cure national ills and secure safety by foreign aid, instead of by turning to Yahweh, are foredoomed to failure; Yahweh Himself frustrates them and will bring the misguided people to punishment and ruin (Hosea 7:8). Their doom is sealed, for they have been disloyal to Yahweh; they do not turn to Him with a true heart, but use heathen devices (cut themselves, Hosea 7:14 _mg._, see p. 110) when they appeal to Him. Their shallow hearts are incapable of real and acceptable repentance; therefore their princes shall fall by the sword, and this shall be their derision i

THEY HAVE NOT CRIED. Compare Job 35:9; Job 35:10; Psalms 78:36; Jeremiah 3:10; Zechariah 7:5. WITH THEIR HEART. They cried with their voice. ASSEMBLE THEMSELVES. In their idol temples. WINE. new wine. Hebrew. _tirosh._ App-27. Not the same word as in Hosea 7:5. REBEL AGAINST. apostatized from....