Exposition of Hosea 6, Exposition · Verse 1
HOSEA. 6. VER. 1.
1. Come let vsus returne to the Lord: for hee hath ſpoyled, and he will heale vsus: he hath wounded vsus, and he will binde vsus vp.
THe Lord our God,Exod. 34.6. Ier. 31.20. as he is gracious and mercifull, flow to anger, and aboundant in goodneſſe and truth, and therefore not eaſily drawne to puniſh, and to take vengeance vponupon hard hearted and impenitent ſinners: So, when hee puniſheth, and afflicteth any man or woman, as a moſt gracious God and louing Father, he aimes at their good, and ſeekes the ſaluation of their ſoules; that being tamed, and truely humbled for their ſinnes, they might turne vntounto him by true and vnfained repentance, that ſo he might hauehave mercy vponupon them, in pardoning their ſinnes, and ſauing their ſoules: And as this is manifeſt in the whole booke of God; ſo it is very apparent out of this place: when as the Lord had threatned the people of the Iewes with preſent deſtruction, by and by he beginnes to exhort them to true repentance, ſhewing this to be the onelyonly way, both to auoid the anger of God, and to ſaue their owne ſoules.
This 6. Chapter contains two generall and principall parts.Parts of the Chapter. In the firſt is ſet downe, the godly practiſes of true repentance, and the fruits thereof, in the perſon of the beleeuing Iewes, from the firſt verſe to the end of the third; the which we muſt carefully imbrace and follow. In the ſecond is ſet down, the counterfeit repentance of Hypocrites, from the fourth verſe to the end of the Chapter, which was neither ſound nor ſincere, nor yet durable and laſting; whereof wee muſt take heed, and labour to auoyde all hypocriſie in the ſeruice of God, who, as hee is a ſpirite; ſo he loues truth in the inward affections, And will bee ſerued in ſpirit and truth.
Pſal. 51.6.The three firſt verſes, containe a moſt holy and chriſtian perſwaſion of the beleeuing Iewes,Text diuided. to turne vntounto the Lord from all their ſinnes, eſpecially from that vile and horrible ſinne of Idolatry. And in the ſame we are to conſider three things.
Firſt, the motion and godly perſwaſion which the children of God make one to another; Come let vsus returne, &c.
Secondly, the reaſons and arguments which they vſe to enforce their godly exhortation to perſwade each other to turne vntounto the Lord; and they bee two eſpecially: The firſt, drawn from the iuſtice of God in theſe two words; Hee hath spoyled, hee hath wounded. The other, drawne from the mercy of God in theſe words; Hee will heale vsus, hee will bind vsus vp. And becauſe this argument taken from the mercy of God, is a reaſon of all reaſons, and ſuch an argument as Paul makes choyſe of aboue all others, ſaying; I beſeech you brethren by the mercies of God, that yee giuegive vp your bodies, Rom. 12.5.&c. As if he ſhould ſay; If the manifold mercies of God, both for ſoule and body; if the bloudſhed of Ieſus Chriſt will not moue a man to turne vntounto God, he is in a wofull caſe. I ſay, becauſe this argument is of ſpeciall force to moue hard-hearted ſinners to turne vntounto God. The people of God in this place vrge it further, and amplifie this argument by two other circumſtances. Firſt, The ſhortnes of the time, After two dayes hee will reuiue vsus, and the third day hee will rayſe vsus vp, If wee draw neere vntounto him by true and vnfained repentance. The other circumſtance is taken from the greatneſſe of Gods mercy, Hee will reuiue vsus, Hee will rayſe vsus vp: anſwerable to the two former words: He hath ſpoyled vsus, he hath wounded vsus: So here the mercy of God exceedes his iuſtice: for it is not ſayde, that hee had kilde vsus, or caſt vsus away, but onelyonly ſpoyled vsus, and wounded vsus with a blow, or ſtripe, or twaine: But his mercy is aboue all his workes: for though he had vtterly killed vsus, yet he will reuiue vsus; Nay, hee will rayſe vsus vp, though wee had layne not foure dayes, but foure hundred dayes in the graue of ſinne; yet his mercifull right hand can and will rayſe vsus vp againe.
The third ſpeciall thing in theſe verſes, is the fruits of repentance, and of true conuerſion: If we doe truly repent, and draw neere vntounto God by Conuerſion: The firſt fruit of our Repentance is this; That as wee draw neere vntounto God by true and vnfained Repentance; ſo he will draw neere vntounto vsus, and Wee ſhall liue in his ſight; that is, in his fauour, and in the light of his countenance: Nay, wee that are truely conuerted, ſhall liue and behaue our ſelues as euer in Gods preſence, and before his bleſſed face.
The ſecond fruit of our true Conuerſion and ſincere Repentance is,Ioh. 17.3. That wee ſhall hauehave knowledge. The Lord will in mercy poure into our hearts, the true ſauing knowledge of himſelfe, euen the knowledge of the whole Trinity, Father, Sonne, and holy Ghoſt: Nay, wee ſhall not onelyonly hauehave this heauenly knowledge poured into our hearts by the Spirite of Ieſus Chriſt; but as a man in a dropſie, the more hee drinkes, the more he thirſts, and deſires drinke: ſo Wee ſhall indeuour our ſelues to know the Lord: That is, wee ſhall hunger and thirſt after this heauenly knowledge, as the food of our ſoules, and neuer to be glutted with it, but labour to abound more and more in it.
The third fruit of our Conuerſion, is in the third verſe; That as wee doe by true and vnfained repentance draw neare vntounto our God: So will he be moſt ready to helpe and to comfort vsus. The Lords comming foorth, is prepared as the morning: True it is, that the ſenſe and feeling of Gods mercy, is oftentimes extinguiſhed in the hearts of his children, as the comfortable light and beames of the Sunne vnderunder a thicke cloud, or when it is gone vnderunder the earth: So, as oftentimes wee thinke that God forgets vsus, and hides himſelfe from vsus: But his comming to helpe vsus is Prepared, and therefore moſt certaine: and he ſhall come as the Morning, moſt comfortably vntounto vsus. Euen as the bright beames and cleare countenance and face of the Sunne, after a windy, tempeſtuous, ſtormy, and boyſterous night, is very comfortable: So the bright beames of Gods mercies, breaking foorth, and ſhining vponupon our hearts after a darke and cloudy night of affliction, it is moſt comfortable to glad and reioyce the diſtreſſed Soule of a poore ſinner.
Nay, in the ſecond ſimilitude hee ſhewes, that the comming of the Lord, ſhall bee not onelyonly ioyfull and very comfortable, but moſt effectuall to a wounded Soule that lyes languiſhing vnderunder the heate of Gods wrath; that as helpe long looked for, and in time of greateſt danger, is of al other moſt welcome: ſo, when the Lord ſhall come with helpe and deliuerance, after great danger, and long expected, this is moſt ſet by, and moſt eſteemed: And therefore the Prophet ſayeth; The Lord will come as the raine, euen as the latter raine vntounto the earth. Now, as moderate raine is welcome at all times, ſo eſpecially in the heate of ſummer, after a great and a long drought, when the earth is ſcorched with the heate of the Sunne, and begins to capper and gape for want of moiſture: ſo then a gracious raine, a ſweet ſhower is moſt welcome; then it doth moſt good, not onelyonly to cheriſh the thirſtie and ſcorched earth, but alſo to ripen the fruites of the field, and to bring them to perfection: Euen ſo, when a poore Soule doth pant and breath vnderunder the burthen of his ſinnes, and is ſcorched with the burning heate of affliction: then if the Lord in merciemercy ſend a gracious ſtorme and comfortable raine into our thirſty ſoules, and ſend a heauenly ſhower of his bleſſed mercy; Nay, if he diſtill but one little droppe of his mercy in the burning heate of affliction, this is moſt welcome, this is moſt comfortable to aſſwage, and to comfort the heate of a ſinner, ſcorched and tormented for feare of the burning anger and wrath of God againſt ſinne.