An Exposition of Hosea 4-7, Biblical commentary 1 · Chapter 4 · Verse 3
Verſe 3.
Therefore ſhall the Land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein ſhall languiſh, with the beaſts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, yea the fiſhes of the ſea alſo ſhall be taken away.
4. Yet let no man ſtrive; nor reprove another; for this people are as they that ſtrive with the Prieſts.
5. Therefore ſhalt thou fall in the day, and the Prophet alſo ſhall fall with thee in the night, and I will deſtroy thy mother.
6. My pe…ple are deſtroyed for lack of knowledg; becauſe thou haſt reje…t…d kn…wledg, I will alſo reject thee, that thou ſhalt be no Prieſt to me: ſeeing thou haſt forgot the Law of thy God, I will alſo forget thy Children.
YOU have heard that God in this Chapter commenceth a ſuit againſt the ten Tribes. He putteth in his Action, and he declareth, and then judgeth. The Articles of his Declaration or Charge againſt them we had ſome of them the laſt day. Hereupon Judgement is paſt, upon this Declaration, Therefore ſhall the land mourn.
The Land.] How can the Land be ſaid to mourn? As when the Land is fruitful it is ſaid to laugh and ſing. Meadowes that are green and fruitful laugh: And it is the Scripture phraſe, Pſal. 65.13. The valleyes are covered with corn, they ſhout for joy, they alſo ſing. So when a land is deſolate and God bringeth famine, then it is ſaid to mourn. Jer. 12.4.Jer. 12.4. How long ſhall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither for the wickedneſs of them that dwell therein? The beaſts are conſumed and the birds, becauſe they ſaid, Explained.he ſhall not ſee our laſt end: I warrant you as long as his eyes are in his head he ſhall never ſee that fulfilled that he ſpeaks of, therefore ſhall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither. And likewiſe when a place is left diſolate of people that were the beauty of it before, then it is ſaid to mou…, Iſa. 3.26. Her gates ſhall lament and mourn: Lament. 1.4. The waies to Zion mourn, becauſe n…ne come to her ſolemn feaſts. As now in time of Plague, the ſtreets of your City may be ſaid to mourn becauſe they are deſolate, they look in a deſolate way when the graſs grows between the ſtones; her gates ſ…all lament and m…urn. The end of thi… expreſſion here is to upbraid the hardn…ſs of the hearts of the ten Tr…bes. As if God ſhould ſay, Notwithſtanding al their d…eadful ſins that ſhould break their hearts and make them howl and cry out, yet they will not mourn, therefore their Land ſhall mourn. When God will upbraid men for ſtopping their ears and refuſing to hear, and th… they were not obedient, he cals to the Heavens, Iſa. 1.2. H…r, O He…ens, and give ear, O E…rth: to upbraid the deafnes of men that will not hear: And Jer. 2.12. Be aſtoniſhed O ye Heavens: Becauſe men will not fear, therefore for their upbraiding God calls to the Heavens to be aſtoniſhed; ſo becauſe mens hearts are hard, therefore God calls to the Land to mourn, yea ſaies, it ſhall mourn: The ugly gaſtly face of your ſin (that is the meaning) ſhal appear in the miſerable deſolation of your Country. There is an ugly face of ſin, and it were well if you ſaw it as it is in your own hearts, the guilt that you have brought upon your own ſpirits? but ſeeing you wil not apprehend that ugly face of ſin in your own hearts, you ſhall ſee the ſad face of it in all things of the land. God will have ſin appear vile and ugly unto us one way or other. The Lord this day is making our Land to mourn becauſe we have not mourned, becauſe we do not mourn. Many Countries know what this expreſſion meaneth, their Country mourns, their Land mourns. The very ſight of the dreadful effects of ſin upon many parts in England is that which would break any mans heart: As it hath been formerly in Germany, Travellers that have travelled there and have ſeen Towns and places of great riches and traffick, now to be over-grown with nettles it breaks their hearts, they ſee the Land to mourn: And it beginneth to be ſo amongſt us in many places of England, in York-ſhire, and ſo in the Weſt. Oh that we all could mourn in the bitternes of our ſpirits, that our land might no further mourn, that our Cities might not mourn. But wee muſt not give liberty to our ſelves in pathetical or affectionate waie, but keep our ſelves as neer as we can to an Explicatory courſe.
And every one ſhall languiſh.] That follows. The word tranſlated languiſh here, ſignifieth the withering of a flower, or the withering of hearbs and trees; And ſo it is in Nahum, 1.4. The flower of Labanon languiſheth; it is the ſame word with this here, Every one ſhall languiſh. and the ſignification of the word doth hint us this uſeful Note, That all the glory and the pomp of the men of the world it is but as a flower, Obſ.and even as ſoon as a flower withereth ſo ſoon doth it paſs away.
Again, Times of affliction they take down the jollity and bravery of mens ſpirits, and make them fade, wither, and pine away.
The word it is tranſlated by ſome, infirmabitu, they ſhall be made weak. When wicked men are in proſperity their hearts are ſtout and ſtrong to ſin, they can ſtand out againſt God and againſt all threats, but when the hand of God is upon them then their ſpirits are poor, they are weak, they are preſently down. Oh the difference between the jolly, brave, ſtout ſpirits of wicked men in their proſperity againſt God, and their poor, weak, withered, dejected ſpirits in the time of their adverſity, In Pſ. 39.11. When with rebukes thou corrects man for iniquity thou makeſt his beauty c…nſume away like a moth, ſurely every man is vanity, Selah.
And a notable expreſſion we have of the withering, the languiſhing of the ſpirits of wicked men in the time of their adverſity, that whereas now in their proſperity their tongues are their own and they muſt ſpeak and will ſpeak, who is the Lord? &c. they are loud then in their Oaths and blaſphemies, but mark now in their adverſity how they are, Eſa. 21.4. Thou ſ…alt be brought d…wn and ſhalt ſpeak out of the ground, and thy ſpeech ſ…ll be …w out of the duſt, and thy ſpeech ſhall whiſper out of the duſt This is the fruit of the languiſhing of their ſpirits in the time of their trouble. As many a riotous and boiſterous g…llant that would ſo mouth it when he wa… in proſperity, yet ſet God but lay his hand upon him in ſickneſs and his conſcience then accuſing of him, he whiſpers and ſpeaks low out of the duſt. It follows,
With the beaſts of the field, and with the fowls of Heaven, yea the fiſhes of the Sea ſhall be taken away.
Hierome here allegorizeth it, and would not take it litterally, but to be the expreſſions of ſeveral ſorts of men ſutable to this. But we muſt not ſtand to that, but rather take the words at they are literally. Only for the reading of them a word or two firſt.
With the beaſts of the field] In the Hebrew [Be] which is tranſlated with, is as much ſometime as, for, in that tongue, for the beaſts of the field; ſo it is in the 5. chapter and the 5; verſ. Iſrael and Ephraim ſhall fall in their iniquity, or,foreign for their iniquity, there it is Be too. So that if we ſhould tranſlate it ſo, for the beaſts of the field, then we might have this Note;Obſer. Here we may ſee the poor condition that we are in, that when but the beaſts of the field and the fowls of the air are deſtroied, our comforts are gone quickly. The comforts of natural men depend upon poor things, upon the beaſts of the field, the fiſhes of the Sea, the fowls of the air, if Gods hand be but upon them, they languiſh for them; Now the cups are taken from their mouths and their full diſhes from their tables, now they languiſh. It is otherwiſe with a gracious heart, according to that in Habak. 3.17. Although the figtree ſhall not bloſſome, neither ſhall fruit be in the vines, the labour of the Olive ſhall ſail, and the fields ſhall yeild no meat, the flock ſhall be cut off from the fold, and there ſhall be no herd in the ſtalls; yet I will rejoyce in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my ſalvation. A gracious … doth not languiſh becauſe the beaſts of the field and th… … of the air are taken away: let them be taken away yet he can rejoyce in God, his ſpirit will be kept up.
Another word in the re…ding is to be obſerved, [they ſhall be taken away.] The word in the Hebrew is, they ſhall be gathered, foreignfor it is obſervable both in fowls and in fiſhes when they perceive any thing noxious unto them or that they are in any danger, they gather themſelves together: And that is the reaſon that fiſhes at ſome time of the yeer are in ſuch ſholes as they are; they going from one place to another, finding one place noxious and hurtful and perceiving ſome danger, they gather together: And ſo it is obſerved in countries where there are fowls, that in the winter time they go to ſome other place. I have heard many in Holland ſay of the Storks that in one week they all of them go away together, they gather them…elves in the ſpace of a week or there abouts and go away from that countrey, gathering firſt al together and ſo fetching their …ight: from thence I take the word here, they ſhall be gathered together, that is, there ſhall be ſuch times of danger, and there ſhall be ſuch infection in the air, and in the very waters of the Sea, that the fiſhes and fowls ſhall perceive it and ſo ſhall be gathered together, as they uſe to be gathered (when they perceive any ſuch thing) to go away;Text opened. and being ſo gathered together they ſhall be deſtroyed. It is good for men in times of danger to gather together and to joyn one with another and not be ſcattered one here and another there, as the creatures many times uſe to do in the time of their danger. This only for the reading of the words.
The ſcope of the holy Ghoſt here in the threatning the taking away the beaſts and the fowls and the fiſhes, it is this, To ſhew the ſeverity of Gods wrath againſt the ten Tribes, that as a King doth not only execute a Traytor but pull down his houſe and burn all that i… in it, ſo the great wrath of God ſhall be upon theſe ten Tribes, that he ſhall not only deſtroy them but for their ſakes he ſhall bring even deſtruction upon the creatures. And this ſeems to be a threatning of greater wrath tha… … let out when he deſtroyed the world: In deſtroying the ol… world the w…ath of God was not ſo great as that here threatned againſt theſe ten Tribes, for then the fiſhes of the Sea we do not reade of any hurt unto them; but here the beaſts of the field the fowls of the air & the fiſhes of the Sea ſhall be taken away. It referreth unto ſome fearful plague, wherein not only the air but the waters are peſtilential and the cattel and the fiſh die. So it hath been in other Countries, even in England, in the time of Edward the third, our Chronicles report of ſuch a peſtilential quality that was in the air and water that birds and fiſhes were found with botches upon them,A ſtrange plague in London. And then there were in one Church-yard in one yeers ſpace (I think it was about the Charter houſe) fifty thouſand buried of peſtilential diſeaſes. Such advantage hath God us at and can let out his wrath by ſuch waies as theſe, and ſuch plagues are very fearful fruits of Gods wrath upon a Countrey. What cauſe have we to bleſs God that he hath delivered us from the infection of the air! If God ſhould have but brought a plague upon London the laſt year, Oh it would have been a plague indeed, we had been in a ſad condition; it would have been the heavieſt plague that ever was upon any Kingdom in the world, if we had had but ſuch a plague that ſhould have cauſed men to have fled and the Parliament not have ſet and even by that ſhould have been diſſolved, and ſo all the Kingdom would have been in a lamentable eſtate at this day. Bleſs God for that.
And the fiſh of the Sea.] I remember upon this text a Jeſuite that wrote but very lately; Cornelius a Lapide, hath a moſt audacious lye, ſaith he, ſince Scotland and Ireland hath departed from the Catholick faith (that is from Popery) Gods judgments are out againſt them, and whereas they were wont to be ſuch plentiful countries for fiſh, God hath curſ'd their very waters, and now their trade of fiſhing is nothing like to what it was wont to be. Upon this text he obſerveth ſuch a judgment to be upon thoſe Kingdoms, he obſerveth it not of England at all, for he was one that wrote lately, and he had it ſeems ſome hope that England was coming to them again. But through Gods mercy both Ireland and Scotland and England have found it otherwiſe in this regard.
But for Obſervations from hence, thus.
Firſt, The good or evil of the creature dependeth on man; Obſerv.beauſe it was made for man, man i… puniſhed or bleſſed even by the creature, and the creature comes to feel good or evil according as mans behavior is towards God. Let then mercy & pity toward the creature be an argument to keep us from ſin. If you have not cruel hearts towards the creature keep from ſin, for you do not only undo your ſelves but undo the world, undo the creatu…e by your ſin. And when at any time we ſee the hand of God out againſt any creature, let us reflect upon our own hearts, and ſay, My ſin is the cauſe that this creature feels that evil that it doth, and ſay as Judah ſaid unto Tamar, She is more righteous than I. So do you ſay of the creature, Indeed Gods h…nd is out againſt it, but the creature is more righteous than I.
Obſ. 2 Sec…ndly, God when he is in a way of wrath can cauſe his wrath to r…ch to thoſe things that ſeem to be moſt remote from him; As the fiſhes in the Sea ſeem to be moſt remote, therefore this is na… …re, yea and the fiſh in the Se… alſo: As if he had ſaid, my …th ſhall burn, burn fiercely, and ſhal reach not only to your ſelves and houſes and Cities and your Land and Cattel, but to the very fiſh in the Sea. God can let out hi… wrath as far as he pleaſeth.
Obſ. 3 Thirdly, No creature can help man in the time of Gods wrath; Why? for every creature ſuffers as well as man doth. How vain then are the hearts of men who comfort themſelves in hope of the enjoyment of comfort from this or that creature in the day of God wrath; If you cry unto the mountains and hils and ſay, help us, they will give an Eccho, help us, for they had need of help as wel as you, their Eccho will be, help us too, for the wrath of God is upon the creature in the day of his wrath, therfore the creature cannot help in the day of wrath.