Hosea 8:7

For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up. FOR THEY HAVE SOWN THE WIND, AND THEY SHALL REAP THE WHIRLWIND - (, "He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity;" ). They reap not merely as they have sown, "the wind," but, with deadly increase, "the whirlwind," or (as the Hebrew is an intensive form), 'the violent whirlwind.' "Sow ... wind" - i:e., to make the vain show of worship, while faith and obedience are wanting (Calvin). Rather to offer senseless supplications to the calves for good harvests (cf. ). IT HATH NO STALK - the result is, that God will make them reap "no stalk...

The Prophet here shows by another figure how unprofitably the Israelites exercised themselves in their perverted worship, and then how vainly they excused their superstitions. And this reproof is very necessary also in the present day. For we see that hypocrites, a hundred times convicted, will not yet cease to clamour something: in short, they cannot bear to be conquered; even when their conscience reproves them, they will still dare to vomit forth their virulence against God. They will also dare to bring forward vain pretences: hence the Prophet says, that they have sown the wind, and that they shall reap the whirlwind. It is an appropriate metaphor; for they shall receive a harvest suitable to the sowing. The seed is cast on the earth, and afterwards the harvest is gathered: _They have sown, _he says, _the wind, they shall then gather the whirlwind, _or, _the tempest_. To sow the wind...

5-10 They promised themselves plenty, peace, and victory, by worshipping idols, but their expectations came to nothing. What they sow has no stalk, no blade, or, if it have, the bud shall yield no fruit, there was nothing in them. The works of darkness are unfruitful; nay, the end of those things is death. The hopes of sinners will deceive them, and their gains will be snares. In times of danger, especially in the day of judgment, all carnal devices will fail. They take a course by themselves, and like a wild ass by himself, they will be the easier and surer prey for the lion. Man is in nothing more like the wild ass's colt, than in seeking for that succour and that satisfaction in the creature, which are to be had in God only. Though men may sorrow a little, yet if it is not after a godly sort, they will be brought to sorrow everlastingly....

Verse Hosea 8:7. _THEY HAVE SOWN THE WIND, AND THEY SHALL REAP THE_ _WHIRLWIND_] As the husbandman reaps the same kind of grain which he has sown, but in far greater abundance, _thirty, sixty_, or _one_ _hundred_ fold; so he who sows the wind shall have a whirlwind to reap. The _vental_ seed shall be multiplied into a tempest; so they who sow the seed of unrighteousness shall reap a harvest of judgment. This is a fine, bold, and energetic metaphor. _IT HATH NO STALK_] Nothing that can yield a _blossom_. If it have a _blossom_, that blossom shall not yield _fruit_; if there be _fruit_, the sower shall not enjoy it, for _strangers shall eat it_. The meaning is, the labours of this people shall be utterly unprofitable and vain....

FOR THEY HAVE SOWN THE WIND, AND THEY SHALL REAP THE WHIRLWIND - “They shall reap,” not merely as “they have sown,” but with an awful increase. They sowed folly and vanity, and shall reap, not merely emptiness and disappointment, but sudden, irresistible destruction. “They sowed the wind,” and, as one seed bringeth forth many, so the wind, “penn’d up,” as it were, in this destructive tillage, should “burst forth again, reinforced in strength, in mightier store and with great violence.” Thus they “reaped the whirlwind,” yea, (as the word means) “a mighty whirlwind”. But the whirlwind which they reap doth not belong to “them;” rather they belong to it, blown away by it, like chaff, the sport and mockery of its restless violence. IT HATH NO STALK - If their design should for the time seem to prosper, all should be but empty show, disappointing the more, the more it should seem to promise. H...

EXPOSITION This chapter deals with the punishment of apostasy. Once more the sins of the northern kingdom are enumerated and its approaching fall predicted. There is a close connection between the verses in the first section of the chapter. That connection is as follows: The first verse begins with an exclamation containing Jehovah's command to the prophet to act as his herald, putting the trumpet to his mouth and sounding the alarm about coming calamity. In the second clause of the same verse the nature of the calamity is announced. In the third and last clause of it the cause of the calamity is declared. The second verse represents Israel in their extremity crying to God for deliverance; the cry is very earnest, and proceeds from every member of the community, backed also with the assertion of their acquaintance with Jehovah. In the third verse Jehovah rejects their cry and refuses to...

FOR THEY HAVE SOWN THE WIND, AND THEY SHALL REAP THE WHIRLWIND,.... The sense is, the Israelites took a great deal of pains in the idolatrous worship of the calves, and made a great stir, bustle, and noise in it, like the wind; were very vainglorious and ostentatious, made a great show of religion and devotion, and promised themselves great things from it, peace and plenty, wealth and riches, all prosperity and happiness, enjoyed by Heathen nations; but this was lost labour, it was labouring for the wind, or sowing that; they got nothing by it, or what was worse than nothing; it proved not only useless, but hurtful, to them; for, for their idolatry, and continuance in it, the whirlwind of God's wrath would be raised up against them, and the Assyrian army, like a vehement storm of wind, would rush in upon them, and destroy them; so they that sow to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corru...

CHAPTER 8:1-9:9 The Apostasy is Followed by Judgment _ 1. The judgment announced (Hosea 8:1) _ 2. The apostasy which resulted in judgment (Hosea 8:8) 3. Warning against self-security (Hosea 9:1) Hosea 8:1. The prophet is commanded to sound the alarm of the impending judgment. The message is that the enemy will come swift as an eagle upon the house of the Lord, which here does not mean the temple (which was in connection with Judah), but Israel as the chosen people was the house, the dwelling-place of the Lord. All their spurious profession, their false claim, “My God, we know Thee, we, Israel”, will go for nothing, because

ISRAEL'S UNSANCTIFIED NATIONAL LIFE. Man-made kings, like man-made gods (the calf of Samaria), are impotent; Israel sows the wind and shall reap the whirlwind; the sources of the national life are withered, and the nation ceases to count (Hosea 8:4). Resort to foreign aid only further diminishes its vital forces (Hosea 8:8). Multiplication of altars only multiplies sin; the rites of an unholy cultus can but hasten the Divine punishment (Hosea 8:11). Probably Hosea 8:14 is an addition, and there may be glosses besides. HOSEA 8:4. Hosea is the first prophet to denounc

WIND. Hebrew. _ruach._ App-9. THE BUD... MEAL. Note the Figure of speech _Paronomasia_ (App-6), for emphasis. Hebrew. _zemach_... _kemach._ It may be Englished: "the _flower_ will yield no _flour_ ". STRANGERS. outsiders. Compare Hosea 7:9....