The
prophet's entreaty to return to Jehovah: His readiness to
meet His people
Chapter 6 calls forth a
touching address from the prophet, in which he entreats
the people to return to Jehovah. Faith has always this
resource, because it sees the hand of God, its God, in
the chastisement, and can appeal to the mercy of a
well-known God. In verse 4 the Spirit expresses the
lovingkindness of God towards His rebellious children,
and His readiness to meet the smallest movement in their
heart towards good. Therefore had God sent unto them the
testimony of the prophets—an extraordinary means, as
we have seen, for maintaining in grace the relationship
of the people with God, and that morally and in reality.
In the heart and mind of God it was not a question of
outward forms; the moral relationship with God had
failed. He had raised up prophets, as a means of
relationship with Himself, to bring back the hearts of
the people. But, as Adam [1] did in the garden of Eden, they had broken
the covenant on which the enjoyment of the blessings God
had heaped upon them depended. They had acted
treacherously towards Him. Jehovah their God was ready to
raise them up from their ruin; but if He came in, His
presence brought to light that iniquity which formed a
moral barrier to this restoration. Thereupon the heart of
the prophet overflows anew in lamentation over their
iniquity. The prophecy of Hosea is important in this
respect, that it furnishes us with the moral picture of
the people whom God has judged, the condition of this
people which made the judgment inevitable. There is
nothing more affecting than this mixture, on God's part,
of reproaches, of lovingkindness, of appeal, of reference
to happier moments. But all was in vain. He must needs
judge, and have recourse to His sovereign grace, which
would bring Israel back to repentance and to Him.
They encouraged the king
and the princes in their wickedness. Already the fruit of
Israel's iniquity was seen in the weakness of the people;
strangers also devoured them; yet, for all this they did
not return to Jehovah. If at times, under the sense of
their misery, they howled upon their beds, they did not
cry unto God. What a picture of man under the effect of
sin, who will not turn to the Lord!
[1] It should be read, "But they,
like Adam, have transgressed the covenant." Adam, in
Hebrew, is a proper name and a generic name; but the
latter generally with the article, The Adam, as
in Genesis 1: 27. It is to this passage Paul refers in
Romans 5: 14.
Hosea 6 Bible Commentary
John Darby’s Synopsis
The prophet's entreaty to return to Jehovah: His readiness to meet His people
Chapter 6 calls forth a touching address from the prophet, in which he entreats the people to return to Jehovah. Faith has always this resource, because it sees the hand of God, its God, in the chastisement, and can appeal to the mercy of a well-known God. In verse 4 the Spirit expresses the lovingkindness of God towards His rebellious children, and His readiness to meet the smallest movement in their heart towards good. Therefore had God sent unto them the testimony of the prophets—an extraordinary means, as we have seen, for maintaining in grace the relationship of the people with God, and that morally and in reality. In the heart and mind of God it was not a question of outward forms; the moral relationship with God had failed. He had raised up prophets, as a means of relationship with Himself, to bring back the hearts of the people. But, as Adam [1] did in the garden of Eden, they had broken the covenant on which the enjoyment of the blessings God had heaped upon them depended. They had acted treacherously towards Him. Jehovah their God was ready to raise them up from their ruin; but if He came in, His presence brought to light that iniquity which formed a moral barrier to this restoration. Thereupon the heart of the prophet overflows anew in lamentation over their iniquity. The prophecy of Hosea is important in this respect, that it furnishes us with the moral picture of the people whom God has judged, the condition of this people which made the judgment inevitable. There is nothing more affecting than this mixture, on God's part, of reproaches, of lovingkindness, of appeal, of reference to happier moments. But all was in vain. He must needs judge, and have recourse to His sovereign grace, which would bring Israel back to repentance and to Him.
They encouraged the king and the princes in their wickedness. Already the fruit of Israel's iniquity was seen in the weakness of the people; strangers also devoured them; yet, for all this they did not return to Jehovah. If at times, under the sense of their misery, they howled upon their beds, they did not cry unto God. What a picture of man under the effect of sin, who will not turn to the Lord!
[1] It should be read, "But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant." Adam, in Hebrew, is a proper name and a generic name; but the latter generally with the article, The Adam, as in Genesis 1: 27. It is to this passage Paul refers in Romans 5: 14.