An Introduction to

Hosea

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An Introduction to

Hosea
A Brief BACKGROUND to Hosea
AUTHOR:
*The prophet Hosea (1:1), whose name signifies, salvation. *Hosea was contemporary with Isaiah, Joel, Amos, and Jonah; and prophesied, instructed, reproved, or comforted the people, during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judahin all above sixty years. . . *Nothing is known of the family or personal history of Hosea beyond what is recorded in this book. His language and the general scope of his prophecies show that he belonged to the northern kingdom; though as a loyal servant of God he only acknowledges in the beginning of his book the legitimate, because divinely appointed, rulers of Judah. 1

DATE:
Hosea ministered during the latter half of the 8th century B.C, just before the exile of Israel to Assyria.

AUDIENCE:
Hosea's audience is primarily the ten tribes of Israel in the north.

CONTEXT: *Hosea in the context of the other Minor Prophets:

This book and the eleven following were, by the Jews, comprehended in one volume, called the Lesser Prophets. Hosea is placed at the head of the twelve Lesser Prophets, who are so called, not from any inferiority in their character, authority, or matter, but merely on account of their brevity when compared with Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. It would seem that the twelve minor prophets are grouped in chronological order. The first group of them prophesied in Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II, and in Judah during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, and Ahaz; following very closely upon the ministry of Elisha. The last group, consisting of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, closed the prophetic cycle.

*Hosea in his immediate context:

Hosea's prophetic ministry was the longest on record. It could scarcely have been less than seventy years. It embraced the darkest period of the kingdom of Israel. Towards its
1 Last two paragraphs are quotes taken from John Brown of Haddington.

close there was in reality no government. Kings made their way to the throne through the murder of their predecessors. Shallum slew Zechariah; Menahem slew Shallum; Pekah slew the son of Menahem; Hoshea slew Pekah. The religious state of the kingdom was even worse than the political. The worship of God was entirely ignored. Idolatry in its worst forms was universally practiced. The grossest immorality prevailed. People, priests, and rulers vied in debauchery. It was in such times and under such circumstances Hosea prophesied to Israel. It was because of such sins he was commissioned to warn and threaten: I will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease; I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; They shall be wanderers among the nations; Israel is swallowed up, etc. The greater part of the book is one continuous dirge of woe, in which the guilt and the punishment of Israel are depicted with terrible minuteness. Almost every prophetic utterance is the voice of a judge pronouncing sentence upon a guilty people. At the close, however, the dark cloud of wrath clears away; a bright future is revealed; the people repent in response to God's gracious invitation; and promises of mercy and grace are given.2

OVERVIEW:
*Hosea lived to see most of what he had foretold fulfilled in the misery and ruin of the ten tribes of Israel. *His STYLE is concise and expressive; in some places very obscure, and in others clear and affectionate. *His general SCOPE is to convince the Hebrews of their sins, excite them to repent, and prevent their own destruction, and to denounce the judgments of God against such as should remain obstinate. But with these he intermixes some very evangelical promises (1:7, 10, 11; 2:1, 7, 14-23; 3:5; 5:15; 6:1-3, 11; 11:8-9; 13:4, 9-10, 14; 14:1-8), which indeed almost all respect the happy restoration of the Jews in the glorious millennium. *His OUTLINE, in brief, is the following: Chapters 1-3: Instruction given through SIGNS Chapters 4-14: Instruction given through DISCOURSES *His book is quoted or referred to in the New Testament in, at least, the following passages: Matthew 2:15; 9:13; 12:7; Luke 15:18; 23:30; John 7:34; Romans 9:25-26; 1 Corinthians 15:54-56; Galatians 6:7-8; Hebrews 4:12; 1 Peter 2:9-10; Revelation 6:16. 3

PICTURES of the Lord in the book of Hosea

The Lord as HUSBAND: 1:2, When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, 'Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord.'
A FAITHFUL husband

11:12, Ephraim surrounds Me with lies and the house of Israel with deceit; Judah is also unruly against God, even against the Holy One who is faithful.
2 . . .As are these. 3 These likewise are quotes taken from John Brown of Haddington.

An AFFECTIONATE husband

11:8, How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned over within Me, all My compassions are kindled. The Lord as FATHER: 1:10-11, Yet the number of the sons of Israel will be like the sand of the sea which cannot be measured or numbered; and in the place where it is said to them, 'You are not My people,' it will be said to them, 'You are the sons of the living God.' And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one leader, and they will go up from the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel. 11:1, When Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. 11:10, They will walk after the Lord, He will roar like a lion; indeed He will roarand His sons will come trembling from the west.
Israel was God's NATURAL son. . .

Exodus 4:22, Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the Lord, 'Israel is My son, My firstborn.'Jeremiah 31:9, With weeping they will come, and by supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk by streams of waters, on a straight path in which they will not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.
Who disowned and rejected their own Father. . .

John 1:11-13, He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Through which rejection we Gentiles have received the adoption as sons. . .

Romans 9:25-30, As He says in Hosea, 'I will call those who were not My people, 'My people,' and her who was not beloved, 'beloved''. . .'Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved. . .What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith. . . Romans 11:11,15,17, by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. . .their rejection is the reconciliation of the world. . .some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree. . . 1 Peter 2:10, for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
But one day will be grafted back into the family (more on this later):

Romans 11:23-25, And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree? For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mysteryso that you will not be wise

in your own estimationthat a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in The Lord as PHYSICIAN: 6:1, Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. 11:3, . . .But they did not know that I healed them. 14:4, I will heal their apostasy The Lord as REDEEMER: 3:1-2, Then the Lord said to me, 'Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.' So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a half of barley. The Lord as VINEDRESSER: 2:12, I will destroy her vines and fig trees. . .and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field will devour them. 2:23, I will sow her for Myself in the land. . . 9:6, . . .Weeds will take over their treasures of silver; thorns will be in their tents. 9:10, I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your forefathers as the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season. But they came to Baal-peor and devoted themselves to shame, and they became as detestable as that which they loved. 10:1, Israel is a luxuriant vine; he produces fruit for himself. The more his fruit, the more altars he made; the richer his land, the better he made the sacred pillars. 14:7, Those who live in his shadow will again raise grain, and they will blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon. The Lord as SHEPHERD: 4:16, Since Israel is stubborn like a stubborn heifer, can the Lord now pasture them like a lamb in a large field? The Lord as HUSBANDMAN: 11:4, I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love, and I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws; and I bent down and fed them. The Lord as PRIEST: 1:6, . . .I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel. . . 6:10, In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; Ephraim's harlotry is there, Israel has defiled itself.
The significance of the language of the house of Israel points us back to Leviticus 14:40-42,

where we read of what a faithful priest was to do in the case of a house infected with leprosy: the priest shall order them to tear out the stones with the mark in them and throw them away at an unclean place outside the city. He shall have the house scraped all around inside, and they shall dump the plaster that they scrape off at an unclean place outside the city. Then they shall take other stones and replace those stones, and he shall take other plaster and replaster the house. And this, it seems, is what the Lord does to the house of Israel. He had been so ever patient with her. But her disease had not only remained, but had spread, infecting every remaining clean part of the house. There was only one thing for the Lord to doher infected stones must be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the cityand new stones must be brought to replace them. Israel must be cast away, out of the land, into an unclean placeinto exile in Assyria; and new stones must take her place.

The PRIMARY PICTURE of Israel in the book of Hosea: An Unfaithful wife

1:2, When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, 'Go take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord.' 2:2,5, Content with your mother, contend, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; and let her put away her harlotry from her face and her adultery from between her breasts. . .For their mother has played the harlot; she who conceived them has acted shamefully; for she said, 'I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.' 3:1, Then the Lord said to me, 'Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisen cakes.' 4:12-13, My people consult their wooden idol, and their diviners wand informs them; for a spirit of harlotry has led them astray, and they have played the harlot, departing from their God. They offer sacrifices on the tops of the mountains and burn incense on the hills, under oak, poplar and terbinth, because their shade is pleasant. Therefore your daughters play the harlot and your brides commit adultery. 4:18, Their liquor gone, they play the harlot continually 5:3, I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; for now, O Ephraim, you have played the harlot, Israel has defiled itself. 9:1, Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation like the nations! For you have played the harlot, forsaking your God. You have loved harlots' earnings on every threshing floor.

ADDITIONAL PICTURES of Israel's unfaithfulness to the Lord

A stubborn heifer (4:16)
They were UNWILLING to submit to God.

A wild donkey (8:9)

They were UNABLE to submit to God.

A cake not turned (7:8)

They were INCONSISTENT in their walk with God. Their practice contradicted their profession. How about us? Do our lips match our life? Are we overcooked in ortho doxy while entirely raw in orthopraxy?

A silly dove (7:11)

They were UNSTABLE in their worship of God (see also Proverbs 27:8).

A deceitful bow (7:16)

They were USELESS as instruments of God.

A vessel of no delight (8:8)

They were UNPLEASANT in the sight of God. As a useless and unpleasant vessel is thrown away to an unclean place outside the city, so too Israel was about to be likewise cast away from their land and thrown away to the nations (see also Romans 9:22-23).

The SOURCE of Israel's unfaithfulness to the Lord: An uncircumcised heart

4:12, My people consult their wooden idol, and their diviner's wand informs them; for a spirit of harlotry has led them astray 5:4, Their deeds will not allow them to return to their God. For a spirit of harlotry is within them, and they do not know the Lord. 11:7, So My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call them to the One on high, none at all exalts Him.

The DESCRIPTION of Israel's unfaithfulness to the Lord

9:9, They have gone deep in depravity as in the days of Gibeah. . . Gibeah refers back to the abominable occurrence that took place in Judges chapter 19; the city where a man's concubine was ravished to death by the men of the city. The implication is clear. Gibeah's wickedness was a kin to the evil recorded in Sodom and Gomorrah in the days of Lot (Genesis 19). Sins of COMISSION:
Idolatry (3:1; 4:12-13, 17; 8:4; 11:2; 13:2). Falsehood (4:2; 7:1; 10:4; 11:12). Deception (4:2; 7:16; 11:12; 12:1). Theft (4:2; 7:1). Murder (4:2; 6:8-9). Immorality (4:2, 11, 14). Worldliness (7:8). Looking to man for deliverance (7:10-11; 12:1).

Religious formality (8:13). Straying away from the Lord (7:11, 13). Rebelling against the Lord (7:13). Turning away from the Lord (7:14). Devising evil against the Lord (7:15).

Sins of OMISSION:
No faithful leadership in the OT church (4:4, 18; 5:1, 10; 6:9; 7:7). No knowledge of God's commandments (4:1, 3, 14). No heart for God (7:11).

The RESULT of Israel's unfaithfulness to the Lord: Judgment

The OBJECTS of judgment:
Primarily apostate ISRAEL in the north, signified mostly by:

*Israel (3:1; 4:15; 5:1, 3; 6:10; 7:1, 10; 8:3, 6, 8, 14; 9:1, 7, 10; 10:1, 9; 11:1; 13:9). *Ephraim, one of the tribes of Israel (4:17; 5:3, 9, 11-14; 6:10; 7:1, 8, 11; 8:9, 11; 9:3, 8, 11, 13, 16; 10:6, 11; 11:3, 8-9, 12; 12:1, 8, 14; 13:12; 14:8). *Gilgal, a city of Israel in Manasseh (4:15; 9:15). *Samaria, the capitol of Israel (7:1; 8:5, 6; 10:5, 7; 13:16).
Also JUDAH in the south to a lesser degree (5:5, 10, 13-14; 6:4, 11; 8:14).

The GIVER of judgment:

The LORD (2:6-13; 5:14; 6:1; 7:12; 8:13-14; 9:9, 15-17; 10:2, 11; 13:7-8)

The FORM of judgment:

EXILE to Assyria (2:9-14; 3:4; 5:14; 9:3, 17; 10:6).

The REASON for judgment:

Violation of the marriage covenant (5:7; 6:7; 8:1; 9:17).

The PURPOSE of judgment:

Repentance (2:14-23; 5:15).

The OUTCOME of judgment:

*The RESTORATION of Israel (2:14-23; 3:4-5; 5:15; 6:11; 11:10).

NEAR: restoration from exile in Assyria. FAR: restoration of latter glory days in Romans 11.
*The INGRAFTING of the Gentiles (1:10-11, in light of Romans 9; 2:18, 23).

The Lord's COVENANT DEALINGS recalled in Hosea

COVENANT of WORKS with Adam: 6:7, But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant; there they have dealt treacherously against Me. NOAHIC Covenant: 2:18, In that day I will also make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds of the sky and the creeping things of the ground. . . ABRAHAMIC Covenant: 1:10, Yet the number of the sons of Israel will be like the sand of the sea; which cannot be measured or numbered. . . MOSAIC Covenant: 13:4-6, Yet I have been the Lord your God since the land of Egypt; and you were not to know any god except Me, for there is no savior besides Me. I cared for you in the wilderness, in the land of drought. As they had their pasture, they became satisfied, and being satisfied, their heart became proud; therefore they forgot Me. DAVIDIC Covenant: 3:5, Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king, and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days. NEW Covenant: 2:16-17, 'It will come about in that day,' declares the Lord, 'That you will call Me Ishi and will no longer call Me Baali, for I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, so that they will be mentioned by their names no more. 14:4, I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely.

The DOCTRINES OF SALVATION revealed in Hosea

CALLING: 2:23, I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, and I will say to those who were not My people, 'You are My people!' And they will say, 'You are my God!' 11:1, When Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. REGENERATION:

The NEED of:

4:12, My people consult their wooden idol, and their diviner's wand informs them; for a spirit of harlotry has led them astray. . . 4:18, . . .their rulers dearly love shame. 5:4, Their deeds will not allow them to return to their God. For a spirit of harlotry is within them, and they do not know the Lord.
The PROMISE of:

2:15-17, 'And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. It will come about in that day,' declares the Lord, 'that you will call Me Ishi and will no longer call Me Baali. For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, so that they will be mentioned by their names no more. 14:4, I will heal their apostasy CONVERSION:
The WAY to:

5:15, I will go away and return to My place until their acknowledge their guilt and seek My face
An INVITATION to:

6:1-2, 'Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him.' 14:1, Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. JUSTIFICATION:
The NEED of:

4:1-2, Listen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel, for the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land, because there is no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land. There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing, and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. 13:12, The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up, His sin is stored up.
The PROMISE of:

2:19-20, I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness and in compassion, and I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, then you will know the Lord. 11:9, I will not execute My fierce anger; I will not destroy Ephraim again. ADOPTION:

11:1, When Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. SANCTIFICATION:
The NEED of:

14:9, Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous will walk in them, but transgressors will stumble in them.
The PROMISE of:

14:9, Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous will walk in them, but transgressors will stumble in them. 2:17, For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, so that they will be mentioned by their names no more.
The WAY of:

6:1, 'Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.' 14:1, Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. PERSEVERANCE and GLORIFICATION: 2:19, I will betroth you to Me forever. . .

Seeing CHRIST in Hosea

Prophesy of the LIFE of Christ: 11:1, out of Egypt I have called My Son Allusion to the RESURRECTION of Christ: 6:2, on the third day He will raise us up Need for the DEATH of Christ:
*God's people had become as a cake not turned, a deceitful bow, and a vessel of no delight, fit only for Gehennathe rubbish heap of fire outside the city; but Jesus was the one who was thrown to the fiery pit outside Jerusalem, in our stead, and for our sins. As believers, we are just as guilty as Israelbut Jesus has taken in full the punishment due to us for our innumerable sins. Jesus bore on His body the curse of exile from God, that we might be reconciled to Him. Thus, Jesus shed His blood to ATONE for our idolatry.

Promise of the SPIRIT of Christ:

*Jesus also shed His blood to FREE us from our idolatry. We are, by nature, slaves of sin. But when Jesus saves a man, He gives him a completely new nature with radically different

desires. Though still constantly at war with their sin, Christians are no longer slaves to their sin, for they have been set free from its bondage. Obedience is thus not only required but it is actually promised, through the work of the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of Christ will melt the hearts of those He has purchased with His blood, granting the gift of regeneration (2:16; 11:10-11).

LESSONS GLEANED from Hosea:

We cannot be friends with both the Lord and our sin. We cannot serve two masters. God wants our whole hearts, not just a small piece. He is a jealous God. To make sin a friend is to declare war on the Almighty. There is no peace with God if there is peace with our sin. The Lord will not bless an unrepentant church. Christ is not bound to bless churches that grieve and resist Him. He sees fit to remove those lampstands that continue in unrepentance. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either (Rom.11:20-21). Idolatry is not a light matter: it is as spiritual harlotry; adultery against our heavenly husband. This we glean from the major theme running through the book of Hosea. Sin is not a light matter. It ought to bring us low before God when we think of ourselves not only as sinners, but adulterersnot only guilty of sin, but guilty of committing adultery. The sin of God's people does not leave Him unmovedthe Lord is deeply affected by our sin. We see this from the Lord's reaction throughout the book (see especially 11:8). We need to remember that our sin does not leave Christ unmoved. He is not a stone. His heart is tender. His Spirit may be deeply grieved by our treatment of Him. The Lord's way is often to make men sensible of their misery before He reveals His mercy and love. As we study the book of Hosea, we see that the Lord does not begin the opening chapters with the offer of mercy. Most of the book is an indictment of the people of God for their sin. They stand condemned. It is only after the indictment of chapters one through five that we have the offer of mercy in chapter six; and only after the judgments pronounced in chapters seven through 13 that we have again the offer of mercy in chapter 14. So too, we ought to follow this pattern in speaking to men of Christ, as modeled not only by the prophets, but John the Baptist, Paul (in Romans), and our Lord himself, who would not speak words of grace to men until they had been crushed by the weight of their own sin and wretchedness. The Lord's arms are always open wide to receive returning prodigals (6:1-2; 14:1-4). If ever there were unworthy sinners, it was during the time of Hosea. If ever a people deserved to perish for their sin, it was the people described in this book. But there is a very real offer of mercy to them. The Lord is holding out His arms to them, beseeching them to come back home. He loves receiving back prodigals who have strayed. Hope and comfort follow genuine humiliation and repentance. Thus, acknowledging our guilt is the way to restoration (5:15). Further, this is not only true at conversionbut is true in sanctification in our daily walk with Jesus. As disciples of Christ, our ongoing acknowledging of our sins and guilt, to God and to one another, is the way to our restoration. What are our idols? In what ways do we grieve the Lord by running after other lovers? In what ways have we made ourselves a friend of the world (James 4:4)? Or, what are the good things God has given us that we pervert into objects of worship? Ministers ought to follow the pattern the Lord has given in using both severe warnings and tender promises to woo His people to repentance. We are called as ministers, like Hosea before us, to both preach repentance and promise pardon; to expose the depth and deadliness of sin's disease, and to invite all who will to be freely and fully healed in Christ.

APPENDIX: A brief index of proper nouns in Hosea

Admah: A king mentioned in the war of the kings, recorded in Genesis 14:8 Aven: See Beth-aven. Baal-peor: The located marked by the immorality of Israel as recorded in Numbers 25:1-5. Beth-aven: Another name for Bethel, the city in Canaan that in the beginning was marked by the worship of the patriarchs (12:4), but under king Jeroboam I it became marked as one of the two cities (also Dan) where his detestable golden calves stood. Ephraim: A son of Joseph and half tribe of Israel, but in Hosea (and many other places in Scripture) used as a name for the 10 tribes of Israel in the north as a whole. Gibeah: Recalls the abominable events that occurred at one time in this city of Israel, in Judges 19. Zeboiim: A king mentioned in the war of the kings, recorded in Genesis 14:8

Reflections on Hosea
Chapter 1 Summary: God can easily preserve his ministers in the very worst of times, and make them steadily to serve him either in honor or dishonor. And it becomes them to use very diversified methods in order to convince hardened sinners, and warn them to flee from the wrath which is to come. God will reward men according to their deeds when his work with them is finished. And there is no warding off the strokes of his judgment. They who depart from him weaken and bring certain ruin on themselves. If God's mercy be once taken from men, they are irrecoverably miserable. And they who in works deny God may expect to be disowned by him at last. But our salvation is solely owing to his loving grace. And if we cleave to God in a day of defection, he will save us in a day of trouble. Thrice happy are they who, adopted into his family, have Jesus for their spiritual head, and go up from this world to their heavenly rest. Happy are the apostolic and coming periods, and especially that of the last judgment, in which multitudes of Jews and Gentiles shall follow after him as the head of his redeemed church. Chapter 2 Summary: Our relation to God, and dependence on him, exceedingly aggravate our rebellion against him; and yet God will renew his grant of that relation. O how loath he is to give up his professing people! They who love him ought therefore with great earnestness to expostulate with backsliding brethren, in order to convince them of their sin, warn them of their danger, and persuade them to repent of, and reform from, their sins; and not only to put away the grosser acts, but even the most inward and beloved abominations. If men abuse God's temporal favors in the service of idols, or accept them as received from such, it is but just that he should deprive them of them; and that he should mar the fields and flocks of those who have profaned his ordinances. But how tender are his mercies! Where sin and its punishments had abounded, grace much more abounds. God allures those by his gospel grace who justly deserve his everlasting destruction. And distress and fear, as well as foretastes of his kindness, promote spiritual gladness and detestation of idols. And, O, thrice blessed is it to have Jehovah our reviver and comforter, our cleanser from all idols, our protector from every enemy, our gracious, faithful, and everlasting husband, our enricher, our God, and our all! In view of this, let my soul, hedged in by his providence, and all allured by his kindness, cast out her idols, and claim Jehovah as my own; that, in Christ, I may have his grace, mercy, and peace multiplied unto me! Adoring the grace which first chose, espoused, and drew my heart, let me, in communion with his people, cordially and solemnly take him to be my God forever, and my guide even unto death. Chapter 3 Summary: It is very difficult to instruct or reclaim hardened professors. Precept must be upon precept, and sign upon sign. And the kindness of God seems long lost upon obstinate sinners. Sharply he must afflict them, even while he waits to be gracious; and long and disgraceful distress must teach them to value his kind returns. But happy are those afflictions which restrain us from using sinful means of relief, or which restrain us from following after idols. And thrice happy is it when both favors and frowns effectually draw us to Jesus Christ and his service. It is only in him that we can find Jehovah as ours, or taste of his heart-constraining goodness. Chapter 4 Summary: Alas, what unhappy discord sin sows between God and men! But they who have lost the true knowledge of God, generally proceed from evil to worse. And profane ministers and magistrates are ordinarily ringleaders in guilt, and will rejoice in the wickedness of those under their charge, if it but add to their gain. But it is just that God should withdraw his mercies from such as abuse them, and heap upon obstinate transgressors one plague after anotherthat rebels against the light of his word should perish in their ignorancethat ignorant and scandalous ministers should be exposed to peculiar misery and shamethat what is unlawfully gained should be blasted with a curse, and that with which we have dishonored God should be turned to our shameand that sharers in sin should be sharers in punishment! Men will go to the most dreadful lengths in sin when abandoned to their own hearts' lusts; every one will then keep another in countenance, and their dreadful crimes will at last be made a distinguished branch of their punishment. And when apostasy is general, there is great need to guard against the most distant compliance with it. It is hard to forbear the devil's service if we walk on his ground, or lose a proper reverence for God. And dreadful is the danger of complying with that which so quickly hurries men into sudden, unavoidable, and everlasting ruin.

John Brown's

Chapter 5 Summary: No station can protect men from God's judgment, and no secrecy can conceal sin from his notice. But as they who allure men to sin are plagues to all around them, they may expect redoubled judgments. And none are more subtle and barbarous oppressors and persecutors than apostates, who sin against much light and love. They who treacherously revolt from God, and educate their children in idolatry, may expect to have themselves, and all they have, quickly destroyed. And nothing more certainly presages destruction than pride and impudence in sinning. If men will not be humbled for their sins, they must perish in them. If men will make this world their portion, they may expect to have it rendered a means of their ruin. The destruction of one sinful nation should, but seldom does, make all their neighbors repent of their wickedness. God's threatenings become serious and awful in their fulfillment; and it forebodes ill when wicked laws are readily obeyed; when judgments are discerned, but not their cause; and when, under lesser judgments, men are not reformed, but flee to human aids. All means of relief prove fruitless except God bless them; and to trust to them but draws on heavier judgments. It is only in fellowship with God that men can be truly happy; and it is only in the way of acknowledging our offenses, and of earnest prayer, than we can expect the returns of his favor. Chapter 6 Summary: All troubles ought to be viewed as coming from God, and should awaken us to faith and repentance. There is no plague in this world which the infinite mercy of God in Christ cannot cure. His providence, which distresses, can relieve; and his Spirit, who convinces, can comfort us. Let us therefore always maintain faith in a risen Redeemer, and in the infinite power and kindness of God. Our deliverance and comforts are most likely to surprise us when our case is at the darkest. But God little regards that religion which comes by fits and starts. And often much hardened are the hearts of gospel hearers when they do not practice what they hear. God indeed repeatedly warns before he destroys; but his words will certainly issue either in the death of men's sins, or in their own. Want of true morality can never be balanced by forms of religion; it but provokes Jehovah to attempt it. To what treachery, perjury, idolatry, murder, and everything horrid, professors, and especially careless clergymen, will abandon themselves! And how unanimous are mankind in their rebellion against God! No wonder then that he makes their plagues dreadful! And sovereign is the mercy when he connects deserved judgments with gracious deliverances. Chapter 7 Summary: Alas, how men oppose Jehovah's kindness to themselves, and obstinately dare to discredit the threatenings of God. But his ruinous judgments will at last convince them that he remembers their works. Palaces and courts are in general nests of abominations. And infernal influence and lustful fire furiously hurry sinners into whoredom and wickedness, while, with surprising care and contrivance, they wait for opportunities of gratifying their desires. And awful is their case who in trouble restrain prayer before God. Unnecessary connection with the wicked is very ensnaring and ruinous to religion and liberty; and God often makes such companions the instruments of punishing us. While stupidity under lesser judgments presages greater ones, application to heathens for help hastens them forward. Either pride, or they who indulge it, must be infallibly ruined. And nothing can be more provoking to God than to see those whom he has kindly warned, returning him hatred for his love. No wonder he detests the prayers of such as seek nothing but carnal enjoyments to gratify their lusts. And if even the greatest deal deceitfully with God, or outrageously with men, they themselves shall be rendered miserable and contemptible. Chapter 8 Summary: Ministers had need to be extremely bold and earnest in warning sinners. Men's own sins are their destroyers. God never casts off any till they cast off him. They who break his covenant of friendship expose themselves to the devouring rage of all around. Nor will any profession of relation to or knowledge of God avail those who in works deny him. The idolizing of creatures makes way for the destruction of both them and ourselves; and however gradually God's judgments may come, they will fall irresistibly at last. None are more despicable than professed Christians who have degenerated into profaneness. And the helps that men court instead of God will but prove the means of their ruin. If the great doctrines and laws of his Word be disregarded, no sacrifices, however costly, no forms of religion, can avail, but to aggravate our guilt or hasten our ruin. And neither temples nor fortifications can protect in the day of his wrath. Chapter 9 Summary: It is absurd to rejoice when sin reigns in us, guilt burdens our consciences, and

God's wrath hangs over our heads. If we idolize our created enjoyments, or bestow them upon the service of the devil, it is but just that God should deprive us of them. It is but just that apostates from God's service should be expelled from his land; that they who despise his ordinances should be deprived of them. And if sin turn populous countries into desolations, the sinful inhabitants may expect destruction, flee where they will. The appointed season of God's judgments will bring to light and punish their abominations. Nor have any a more awful influence in ripening nations for ruin than villanous clergymen. If sinners will imitate their fathers in wickedness, they may expect to draw on themselves the most fearful destruction. If they separate themselves to wickedness, God will separate them to punishment. If they follow their lusts, God will withdraw his protection, and usher in a flood of calamities. If they educate their children in sin, God will destroy them in wrath. The crosses which children often occasion more than counterbalance the comfort of them. And no misery is greater than to be deserted, hated, and rejected by God. But thrice happy are they, in the worst of times, who have God for their God and their ALL.

Chapter 10 Summary: A selfish spirit defrauds God of his due honors. Nothing can be more criminal than to multiply our sins as God increases his favors; and nothing more just than for God to deprive us of that which we employ in the service of Satan. No inward treachery or dissimulation escapes his notice; highly he detests all deceit in oaths, covenants, and vows, and all injustice in civil dealings or judgments. If we make creatures our idols it but hastens their destruction. And if God's grace destroy not the love of sin in us, his providence will destroy the fuel of sinful lusts around us. It is kind in God to chastise men that he may not destroy them. He often punishes with hardships those who have indulged themselves in luxurious pleasures. And men's rewards or punishments are framed answerably to their virtue or vice. But, alas, what barbarous work, what dreadful and unexpected calamities, hath sin introduced! Chapter 11 Summary: Great is the kindness of God in preserving, supporting, and directing us in childhood. But how much greater his kindness in bringing his Son into and through our Egyptian world, and in delivering our souls from our worse than Egyptian bondage to Satan and our lusts, drawing us to himself, and making us heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ! Awfully criminal and ruinous it is to condemn his counsels or offers, and to persist obstinately in idolatry or ingratitude. But O how unbounded is his tender compassion! How slow is he to wrath! How averse to abandon or destroy his professed people! It is impossible then that he will ever abandon a saint! And when he speaks powerfully in his word and providence, with the most solemn awe ought we to turn from our evil ways, and follow him as our God and Guide. Thrice happy millennium, when both Jews and Gentiles shall, from all the ends of the earth, be converted to Christ! And happy are they who, admist general apostasy, remain faithful to God and his people! Chapter 12 Summary: Alas! What a cheat many put up their own souls, and what vexation and misery they prepare for themselves, who make creatures their confidence! God often sharply corrects those who are right in the main, that he may draw and keep them still nearer to himself; and great and lasting is that honor which is obtained by intimacy with him; and glorious the victories which saints obtain by their prayers and tears. Thrice happy are they who have august memorials of God inscribed on their heart, and who can improve his declared relation to them as an effectual spur to a genuine repentance. But alarming is the situation, when neither the kindness of God, nor the example of pious progenitors, animate us to a holy conversation; and awful is it to consider that, in mercantile dealings, men should be so rarely honest in God's sight. Most men think all is well if they grow rich and retain a fair character before the world. But infinite is the mercy of God; for his grace abounds where sin had abounded! Strict is the account which God keep s of all the mercies that he bestows on us, and of our improvement of them. And all our education and advancements are his free gifts. But if we employ our grandeur and wealth to his dishonor, it is but just that he should strip us of them, and punish our shameful transgressions with shameful punishments. Chapter 13 Summary: Humility, especially towards God, is the infallible road to honor and happiness; but forsaking God, and following idols, the certain path to death and destruction. When men have once set off in a course of sin, they generally wax worse and worse. And as holiness is the honor and stability of persons and societies, sin is the shame, and will be the ruin, of any people. No solid or lasting comfort is anywhere to be found but in God himself; and his help, in the time of need, is doubly kind and useful,

and never to be forgotten. But, alas! His mercies are often fearfully abused, to the terrible and irresistible ruin of the impenitent! Obstinacy in sin is the grossest self-murder; but in Jehovah our God, our Savior, our King, the very worst may find abundant relief. And sad would be our case if he were not better to us than we are to ourselves. Unprofitable is everything that we get without his blessing. And exact is the account he keeps of our sins against the time of his judgments. With great care he chastens his people that they may not be destroyed. And sinners do but foolishly rush forward into dreadful and everlasting ruin by delaying their repentance. But O how astonishing is the freedom and fulness of salvation! May our hearts forever glow with gratitude, and our lips forever utter praise, to that kind Redeemer who so loved us, and gave himself to death and the grave for us!

Chapter 14 Summary: Awfully ruinous is sin; and very necessary a gospel repentance for it; and nothing more effectually leads to this than a firm faith in God's gospel grant of himself to us as our God. Great is the condescension that God should instruct us what to pray for, and how to pray, as well as readily grant our requests. And happy and delightful is it to deal with a God of infinite mercy and goodness; for all his promises are answerable to the necessities and prayers of those whom he instructs. Marvelous is the change made on persons and societies by his all-powerful grace, and kind the notice which he takes of his people's penitential resolutions! He is the gracious fountain and root of all blessings and spiritual influences to them. And there is great need therefore seriously to consider his oracles and providences, and what different use is made thereof. To the humble inquirer they are the savor of life unto lifebut of death unto death to every impenitent transgressor. Condensed Final Summary: To Hosea the Spirit seems, in a peculiar manner, to have assigned the subject of national sin and national repentance; with those sharp rebukes that smite the one, and those gracious promises that encourage the other. The prophet lived in a day when all public principle was sunk in idolatry, and its sure companion, licentiousness (1:2; 3:1); yet, during their downward course, the nation had been steadily advancing in agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and riches, as is evident from chapter 2; 5:8; 9:12. Yet this prosperity, so far from leading the nation to God as its author, became the incentive to that idolatry (13:2), and that dissolution of morals, which the prophet was commissioned to denounce under the name of adultery (2:2), the complicated crime of lewdness and of perjury; while, in addition to this general indictment, the destructive sins of profane swearing, lying, stealing, and murder are successively alleged against them (4:2; 7:1). Nor is any rank exempt from the national guilt. The princes, the prophets, the priests, are all included under one common charge, and threatened with one common judgment (5:1,10). Yet, in the midst of all these delinquents, is the prophet commissioned to preach repentance, and to promise pardon. And in this announcement and promise he exhibits the true character of God, who is ever long suffering, slow to wrath, and plenteous in mercy; while he exemplifies the only way in which a sinful man or sinful nation can ever be brought to repentancethe simple and faithful deliverance of the gospel of the grace of God, the word of reconciliation. The reformation of national manners has been attempted by mere moral instruction; but the philosophers of Greece and Rome utterly failed. It has been attempted by the satire of poetstheir strains have been equally unsuccessful. It has been attempted by coercive laws, and by every form of severe and mitigated punishment; and if, by such means, public crime has for a little been restrained, it has only been effectual in producing a temporary calm, and preparing for the more terrible outburst of popular and ruinous commotion. It has been attempted in Christian lands by preaching all the precepts of a holy law, and all the terrors of approaching judgment, and the remedy has no doubt often afrighted the patient, but uniformly aggravated the disease; because it merely discovered the taint of the constitution and the depth of the guilt (Rom.3:20; 8:3, 6-8). The preaching of the gospel in repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, has alone been ever effective in producing real and effective reformation of public principles and morals. . .Simply the faithful preaching of that gospel of grace which Hosea addressed to the Jews, in which they are invited to return unto the Lord, while the Lord promises to heal their backslidings, and love them freely, (14:1,4).