91 Do not rejoice , O Israel , with exultation like the nations ! For you have played the harlot , forsaking e your God . You have loved harlots' earnings on every threshing floor . 2 Threshing floor and wine press will not feed them, And the new wine will fail them. 3 They will not remain in the Lord'S land , But Ephraim will return to Egypt , And in Assyria they will eat unclean food. 4 They will not pour out drink offerings of wine to the Lord , Their sacrifices will not please Him. Their bread will be like mourners' bread ; All who eat of it will be defiled , For their bread will be for themselves alone; It will not enter the house of the Lord . 5 What will you do on the day of the appointed festival And on the day of the feast of the Lord ? 6 For behold , they will go because of destruction ; Egypt will gather them up, Memphis will bury them. Weeds will take over their treasures of silver ; Thorns will be in their tents .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Hosea 9:1-6
Commentary on Hosea 9:1-6
(Read Hosea 9:1-6)
Israel gave rewards to their idols, in the offerings presented to them. It is common for those who are niggardly in religion, to be prodigal upon their lusts. Those are reckoned as idolaters, who love a reward in the corn-floor better than a reward in the favour of God and in eternal life. They are full of the joy of harvest, and have no disposition to mourn for sin. When we make the world, and the things of it, our idol and our portion, it is just with God to show us our folly, and correct us. None may expect to dwell in the Lord's land, who will not be subject to the Lord's laws, or be influenced by his love. When we enjoy the means of grace, we ought to consider what we shall do, if they should be taken from us. While the pleasures of communion with God are out of the reach of change, the pleasant places purchased with silver, or in which men deposit silver, are liable to be laid in ruins. No famine is so dreadful as that of the soul.