My people are determined to turn from me. Though they call to the Most High, he certainly won’t exalt them.
Parallel Translations
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My people are determined to turn from me. Though they call to the Most High, he certainly won’t exalt them.
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And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.
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And My people are in suspense about returning to Me; and though they call them upwards, none at all will lift himself up.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Hosea 11:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 8:5 Why then have the people of Jerusalem fallen back by a perpetual backsliding? They cling to deceit. They refuse to return.
- Amos 5:4-6 For Yahweh says to the house of Israel: “Seek me, and you will live; but don’t seek Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and don’t pass to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nothing. Seek Yahweh, and you will live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be no one to quench it in Bethel.
- Amos 5:14-15 Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be with you, as you say. Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the courts. It may be that Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”
- Psalms 78:57-58 but turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were twisted like a deceitful bow. For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their engraved images.
- Psalms 81:11 But my people didn’t listen to my voice. Israel desired none of me.
- Proverbs 14:14 The unfaithful will be repaid for his own ways; likewise a good man will be rewarded for his ways.
- Jeremiah 3:6-8 Moreover, Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and has played the prostitute there. I said after she had done all these things, ‘She will return to me;’ but she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. I saw when, for this very cause, that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet treacherous Judah, her sister, had no fear; but she also went and played the prostitute.
- Jeremiah 3:11 Yahweh said to me, “Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
- Hosea 7:16 They return, but not to the Most High. They are like a faulty bow. Their princes will fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue. This will be their derision in the land of Egypt.
- Hosea 11:2 They called to them, so they went from them. They sacrificed to the Baals, and burned incense to engraved images.
- Hosea 14:4 “I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from him.
- 2 Chronicles 30:1-11 Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to Yahweh’s house at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to Yahweh, the God of Israel. For the king had taken counsel with his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem to keep the Passover in the second month. For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient number, and the people had not gathered themselves together to Jerusalem. The thing was right in the eyes of the king and of all the assembly. So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover to Yahweh, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, for they had not kept it in great numbers in the way it is written. So the couriers went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, “You children of Israel, turn again to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may return to the remnant of you that have escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria. Don’t be like your fathers and like your brothers, who trespassed against Yahweh, the God of their fathers, so that he gave them up to desolation, as you see. Now don’t be stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to Yahweh, and enter into his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever, and serve Yahweh your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you. For if you turn again to Yahweh, your brothers and your children will find compassion before those who led them captive, and will come again into this land, because Yahweh your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.” So the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even to Zebulun, but people ridiculed them and mocked them. Nevertheless some men of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 14:7 Though our iniquities testify against us, work for your name’s sake, Yahweh; for our rebellions are many. We have sinned against you.
- Hosea 4:16 For Israel has behaved extremely stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Then how will Yahweh feed them like a lamb in a meadow.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain This verse is variously rendered. Some explain the word…
This verse is variously rendered. Some explain the word תלואים, teluaim, as signifying “perplexed;” as though the Prophet had said, that the people would suffer a just punishment through being anxious and looking around them, and yet finding no comfort; for this would be the reward of their defection or apostasy. Hence he says, My people are in suspense; that is, there is no wonder that the Israelites are now tormented with great anxiety, and find no end to their evils; for they who have rebelled against the Lord are worthy of being thus bound fast by him. It is the fruit of their defection that they are now so full of sorrow, and also of despair. This is one exposition. Others say that God here complains of the wickedness of the people, as of those who deliberated whether they ought to repent. They then take suspense for doubt, My people are in suspense; that is, they debate on the subject as on a doubtful matter, when I exhort them to repent, and they cannot at once decide what to do, but alternate between divers opinions, and now incline to one thing and then to another; as if truly the subject itself made it necessary for them to deliberate. Doubtless what is right is in no way hid from them: but as they are unwilling, they seek for themselves, by evasions, some excuses for doubting; for the Prophets cry to them, and no one extols them. This is the second exposition.
It must at the same time be observed, that the word משובת, meshubat, is variously taken; for the first render it, “turning away,” and the “jod” that is affixed must then be expounded passively, and must mean their turning away from God, because the Israelites had fallen away from him; as in Isaiah chapter 56 he calls that the house of his prayer in which the people were wont to pray. Then the turning away from God, according to them, is to be taken passively, because the people were alienated from him. Others render it, “conversion.” But the Hebrew doctors will have this word to be ever taken in a bad sense, and affirm that there is no place where it signifies any thing but rebellion or apostasy. Since it is so, I am inclined to consider it to be turning away; and thus the second sense, that the people deliberated whether they ought to hear the admonitions of the Prophets, will not stand.
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The Prophet also seems to me to mean what is different from what I have referred to in the first place, as the opinion of those who say, My people are in suspense; that is, they anxiously torment themselves on account of their defection, because I punish them for their apostasy; through which it has happened, that, forsaking me, they have wandered after their own inventions. But I take the passage otherwise, as I have already said, My people are fastened; that is, my people have not only once departed from me, but they are, as it were, fastened in their defection. He says, that they were fastened, not that they were sorrowful and endured great tortures, and found their affairs perplexed; but that they were fastened, because they remained obstinate; as when one says, that a man is fastened to a thing, when he cannot be moved. This being fastened, is indeed nothing else but the obstinacy of the people. They were then fastened to defection.
He afterwards adds, To him on high they call them; none at all rises up What an indefinite sentence signifies we stated yesterday. The Prophet means that instruction had been given the people, and that many witnesses or preachers had been sent by the Lord, but that all this had been wholly useless. Hence he says, They call them to him on high, no one raises up himself. Some indeed consider the word, God, to be understood; and this is the commonly received opinion; but in my judgement they are mistaken; for the Prophet, speaking of the Israelites, doubtless means that they remained in the same state, and were not moved by any instruction to make any progress, or to show any sign of repentance. Hence, no one rises up. He uses the singular number, and puts down the particle יחד, ichad, as though he said, “There is no one, from the first to the last, who is touched with grief, for they continue obstinate in their wickedness.” And when he says, No one raises up himself, he seems to allude to the word, fastened. They are then fastened to their defection; and when the Prophets cry and diligently exhort them to repent, they do not rise up; that is, they do not aspire to God; and this indeed they neglect with one consent, as if they all alike blindly united in one and the same wickedness.
In this verse then the Prophet brings again to view the sins of the people, that it might more fully appear that God threatened them so dreadfully not without a cause; for they who were so perversely rebellious against God were worthy of the most grievous punishment. This is the sum of the whole. Let us now proceed —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain To wit, the Prophets.
To wit, the Prophets.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Hos 11:7 And my people are bent to backsliding…
Hos 11:7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt [him].
Ver. 7. My people are bent to backsliding from me] They have a principle of apostasy in them, as those Galatians had of whom the apostle, "I marvel that you are so soon removed unto another gospel," Gal 1:6, and as those old apostates in the wilderness, who, as soon as Moses’ back was turned almost, cried out to Aaron, Make us golden gods. This people was before accused to be acted by a spirit of fornication, a certain violent impetus, a strong inclination to whoredom, and to be apt to backslide with a perpetual backsliding: all their recidivations and revolts were but a fruit of the bent of their spirits, which were false and unsettled; not resolved whether yet to turn to God, though they were beset with so many mischiefs; they hanged in suspense, and rather inclined to the negative than else. Suspensi sunt, so Calvin, Pareus, and others read this text. My people are in suspense, or in a mamering whether to turn to me or not; they hang in doubt, as the same word is rendered, Deu 28:66. God liketh not that his people should stand doubtful as sceptics, and adhere to nothing certainly; to be in religion as idle beggars are in their way, ready to go which way soever the staff falleth; but that they should strive to a full assurance in what they believe, Luk 1:4, to be fully persuaded, as Luk 1:1, and to a firm purpose of heart in what they should practise, Act 11:23. Irresolution against sin or for God can hardly consist with the power of godliness: be not off and on with him, halt not, hang not in doubt what to do, but follow God fully as Caleb did; come off freely as David, who had chosen God’s precepts when he was solicited to have done otherwise, Psa 119:173. And again, "I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me," Psa 119:30. I have weighed them, and am resolved to keep them, I am come to a full determination. Mr Diodati senseth the words thus, They desire and expect that I should turn in favour to them and relieve them; whereas they should turn to me by repentance, which they will not do: and herein he followeth Arias Montanus. Thus those stiffnecked Jews in Jeremiah expected that God should still deal with them (however they dealt with him) according to all his wondrous works, Jer 21:2, presuming and promising themselves impunity; and thus Judas also had the face to ask, Mat 26:25, as the rest did, "Is it I?" as resting upon Christ’s accustomed gentleness, and that he would conceal him still, as he had done certain days before.
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Though they called them to the most High] They, that is, the prophets, as Hos 11:2, called them with great importunity, upon every opportunity, to the most High, to God (in opposition to those dii minutuli, petty deities, whom they doted on. See Hos 7:16), to come up to him, to have high and honourable conceptions of him, not casting him in a base mould, as those miscreants did, Psa 50:21, but saying as David, and with a David-like spirit, "Thou, Lord, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods"; and therehence inferring, "Ye that love the Lord, hate evil," Psa 97:9-10. "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be upright," Gen 17:1. "The God of glory appeared to Abraham," Act 7:2, he so conceived of God; and hence his unchangeable resolutions for God.
None at all would exalt him] Heb. together he exalted not, scarce a he, a single man, that would do it, that would lift up his head to listen to such good counsel (so some sense it), or that would exalt and extol the most High; who, though he be high above all praise, as Neh 9:5, and cannot be praised according to his excellent greatness; yet is he pleased to account himself exalted and magnified by us, when, considering the infinite distance and disproportion that is between him and us, we lay ourselves low at his feet for mercy, we set him up in our hearts for our sole sovereign, we esteem him as the people did David, more worth than ten thousand, 2Sa 18:3, we give him room in our souls, and with highest apprehensions, most vigorous affections, and utmost endeavours we bestow ourselves upon him, as the only worthy. Now this is done but of a very few, and well done but of fewer yet; so drossy and drowsy are men’s spirits, and so little is the Lord lifted up by the sons of men. See the prophet Isaiah’s complaint, Isa 64:7.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain My people; yet God owneth them for his, he…
My people; yet God owneth them for his, he had not cast them quite off; or since they call themselves his, he is willing to encourage them by owning all in them that looks toward him.
Are bent to backsliding from me; or continue in suspense, doubtful and unresolved what to do, or rather inclined most to an aversion from me: though the Lord’s prophets have persuaded them earnestly to return by repentance, yet they continue unresolved what is best to be done, whether to adhere to their idol gods, to make sure of Egyptian aids, or-to turn to God, and east off the other; this they most dislike, and continue as it were tacked and fastened to their rebellion, as the French version.
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Though they, the prophets, called them to the Most High; invited, exhorted, and encouraged them with many fair promises to give glory to God by returning.
None at all; not one of many, scarce any one in those great numbers in Israel, would hearken and obey. Would exalt him; God in his holiness, justice, goodness, and truth, all which a repenting people do magnify, but these will not. They retain their idols, depend on Egypt, and put all on that cast, and will neither believe nor try God’s goodness.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And my people are bent to backsliding from me,....…
And my people are bent to backsliding from me,.... There is a propensity in thorn to it, through prevailing corruption in them; they are inclined unto it, the bias of their minds is that way; they are bent upon it, and pertinaciously abide in it; nor will they be reclaimed from it, by all the means and methods made use of, even though they had been, and professed themselves to be the people of God. Some understand this, not of their backsliding and aversion from God; but either of his return to them, or of their return to him, rendering the words, "and my people are in suspense" (a); like a man that hangs in the air, as Aben Ezra, neither ascends nor descends; that is, they are in doubt of what should be done to thorn, or they themselves should do: either "about my return" (b); that is, to them; whether after all they may expect that God would be kind and merciful to them, so Abarbinel: or "about return to me" (c); whether they should or not, inclining rather not to return. So the Targum,
"my people divide (or hesitate) to return to my law;''
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with which Jarchi agrees, paraphrasing it,
"when the prophets instruct them to return unto me, they are in suspense whether to return or not;''
but Aben Ezra and Kimchi observe the word is always used in a bad sense, of aversion or backsliding, and that the word is in another form when used for repentance or returning;
though they called them to the most High; that is, the prophets of the Lord called them to turn from their idols, and return to the most high God, the true and the living God, from whom they had backslidden, and to his true worship, they had neglected and forsaken:
none at all would exalt him; the most high God, and give him the praise and glory due to his name; but, on the other hand, extolled their idols, and ascribed all their good things to them: or "none would exalt them" (d) the prophets of the Lord that called them; would not give that honour to them that was due to their office, or pay any regard to them, or to their admonitions and advice, but depreciated them, and reproached and persecuted them: or "none at all would lift up": that is, their head, as Aben Ezra, toward the heaven, and to God in it, to whom they were called; but kept looking on the earth, and to earthly things, particularly to their idols; and did not lift up or erect their ears, to hearken to what was said to them, but were deaf to all counsel and reproof. The Targum is,
"they walked not in an erect stature.''
Agreeably to which the former clause may be rendered, as by some, "and they called them to things above"; but none would look upwards; See Gill on Hos 7:16.
(a) "suspensi haerent", Junius & Tremellius; "suspensi", Montanus, Schmidt. (b) "ad reditum meum", V. L. (c) "Circa redire ad me", Castalio. (d) "eos non exaltabit", Schmidt.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain They - The prophets. None at all - Scarce…
They - The prophets. None at all - Scarce any one would hearken and obey.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 7. Though they called them to the Most…
Verse 7. Though they called them to the Most High] Newcome is better: "And though they call on him together because of the yoke, he will not raise it. He shall receive no refreshment." See the metaphor, Ho 11:4.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Hos 11:7. My people are bent to backsliding from…
Hos 11:7. My people are bent to backsliding from me — Many versions render this clause, Nevertheless, my people are in suspense (or hesitate) about returning to me; though they called them to the Most High — Though my prophets, and other pious persons, invited and exhorted them to return to my worship and service; none at all would exalt him — Scarce any would hearken and obey. The word him not being in the Hebrew, some versions read, None would raise himself up, or advance; that is, come forward to obey and serve me.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And My people are bent to backsliding from Me…
And My people are bent to backsliding from Me - Literally, “are hung to it!” as we say, “a man’s whole being “hangs” on a thing.” A thing “hung to” or “on” another, sways to and fro within certain limits, but its relation to that on which it is hung, remains immovable. Its power of motion is restrained within those limits. So Israel, so the sinner, however he veer to and fro in the details and circumstances of his sin, is fixed and immovable in his adherence to his sin itself. Whatever else Israel did, on one thing his whole being, as a nation, depended, on “backsliding” or aversion from God. The political existence of Israel, as a separate kingdom, depended on his worship of the calves, “the sin wherewith” Jeroboam “made Israel to sin.” This was the ground of their “refusing to return” Hos 11:5, that, through habitual sin, they were no longer in their own power: they were fixed in evil.
Though they called them to the most High - Literally, “called him.” As one man, the prophets called Israel; as one man, Israel refused to return; “none at all would exalt” Him, literally, “together he exalteth Him not.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Off, for a long time; and indeed Israel never…
Off, for a long time; and indeed Israel never recovered its former state, after the captivity. (Haydock) --- Then they became more docile. Hebrew is very ambiguous. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain bent to backsliding--Not only do they backslide, and that…
bent to backsliding--Not only do they backslide, and that too from ME, their "chief good," but they are bent upon it. Though they (the prophets) called them (the Israelites) to the Most High (from their idols), "none would exalt (that is, extol or honor) Him." To exalt God, they must cease to be "bent on backsliding," and must lift themselves upwards.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 7. And my people, &c.] This verse gives the…
7. And my people, &c.] This verse gives the ground of the judgment; ‘and’ = ‘for’, ‘in fact.’ The reference to ‘backsliding’ (lit. turning, or turning about) should be taken in connexion with Hos_14:4.
though they called, &c.] Rather, and if they are called (lit., if they, viz. the prophets, call him) upwards, not one striveth to rise. There is a complete moral apathy. A phraseological point of contact with Hos_7:16.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (7) No imagery is used, as of unfaithful wife,…
(7) No imagery is used, as of unfaithful wife, recalcitrant heifer, or furnace-piling baker, but homely literal commonplace. The people were called by sufficient means to the highest worship, but they were bent on the lowest.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And my people are bent to backsliding from me.…
And my people are bent to backsliding from me. This first clause of the verse is very expressive, every word almost having an emphasis of its own. With all their sinfulness and shortcomings, Israel was still the people of God my people; they were guilty of the sin of backsliding, and of backsliding from God, the best of benefactors and their chief good. Nor was it occasionally and after long intervals of time that they backslided; it was their habit, their tendency. They were suspended on, or rather fastened on, backsliding. Though they called them to the Most High, none at all would exalt him; margin, together they exalted him not. This second clause signifies either
(1) that the prophets called Israel from their idols to the Host High, yet none exalted him (literally, "together they did not or would not exalt him") by abandoning their idols and abstaining from backsliding; or,
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(2) "though they call him (Israel) upwards, yet not one of them all will lift himself up," that is, they together one and all refused or neglected to lift themselves upward towards God or goodness. The word syaWlt is equivalent to the same as from alt, equivalent to hlt, so that it signifies, according to Keil,
(1) "suspended," "hung up, hanging fast upon," "impaled on;" Hengstenberg,
(2) "swaying about from inconstancy," and "in danger of falling away;" but Pusey seems to combine both in the original sense of the word, and explains it as follows: "Literally, hung to it! as we say, "a man"s whole being hangs on a thing." A thing hung to or on another sways to and fro within certain limits, but its relation to that on which it is hung remains immovable, Its power of motion is restrained within these limits. So Israel, so the sinner, however he veer to and fro in the details and circumstances of his sin, is fixed and immovable in Iris adherence to his sin itself." Though Rashi and the Targum of Jonathan make hbw as synonymous with Tbw thus: "When the prophets teach them to return to me, they are in suspense whether to return or not to return; with difficulty do they return to me, they are, however, distinguished as turning away from and turning to God aversion frets anal conversion to him; while the suffix yAi is objective, that is, "My people are hung to apostatizing from me." The phrase lAla, is variously interpreted, by some as
(1) "upwards," the prophets being the subject; thus Rashi: "To the matter that is above him (Israel) the prophets call him unitedly; but my people do not lift themselves up nor desire to do it." Corruption was so deeply seated in Israel, that the idle mass gave no response to the voice of the prophets urging them upwards.
(2) Aben Ezra and Kimchi both take l as an adjective, and synonymous with wla, the Most High. Kimchi explains as follows: "He says, My people oscillate between distress and freedom; sometimes distress comes upon them, and again they are in the condition of freedom, and this takes place for their backsliding from me, as if he said, because of the backsliding and rebellion which they practice against me... The prophets call them constantly to return to God most high." So Aben Ezra: "The interpretation is, the callers call him to the Most High, and they are the prophets of God; but they all in one way raise not the head.
(3) Jerome takes it for lO, a yoke, and renders accordingly: "But a yoke shall be imposed on them together, that is not taken away." The verb signifies,
(1) according to Gesenius and many others, "to celebrate with praises," or "extol." It is rather
(2) "to lift one"s self up," "rise upwards;" nor is it necessary with this sense to supply wOvaOry, his head, with Grotius, nor yet to understand it written for or in the sense of with Joseph Kimchi. Similarly the Syriac: "They call him to God, but they think together, conspire, and do not raise themselves." The word dty is "all together," and therefore aldjy is "no one." The LXX translate
(3) the second clause as follows: "But God shall be angry with his precious things, and shall not at all exalt him," having probably read rhyi wyrqy lAlaw
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain My people are bent to backsliding from Me.
Hos_11:7
My people are bent to backsliding from Me.
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Religious declension
How singular is the moral condition of a believer bent on backsliding. It is not a mere vacillation between God and mammon, holiness and sin, but a steady leaning, an earnest leaning toward the latter.
I. Who are they who are bent on backsliding?
1. The first mark is a neglect of secret and family prayer. The neglect of one kind of prayer usually follows neglect of the other kind.
2. Habitual neglect of the Bible. Whoever walks closely with God takes delight in His Word. It is a bad sign when the Scriptures are read only from a conviction of duty.
3. Backwardness or reluctance in efforts to do good. Does a civil, political, or pecuniary enterprise awaken an energy and zeal which you never evince for the Saviours cause? If so, what does it indicate?
4. The undervaluing of religious ordinances. Lightly to esteem the house of God, its praises, prayers, instructions, hallowed associations, indicates a backsliding heart. Other marks of a backsliding believer are,--censoriousness; high regard for gaiety and fashion; preference for vain amusements and frivolous company.
II. The guilt which this moral condition involves.
1. Every such professor is acting the part of a hypocrite. We may not charge him with wilful hypocrisy, we may with practical hypocrisy.
2. Their influence goes to depress the standard of piety which the Saviour has fixed, to adulterate that system of truth and duty which He has given as the hope of the Word. Christianity is a holy religion. What we charge upon every Christian professor whose heart is bent on backsliding, is the guilt of adulterating this holy religion, and depressing, so far as his influence goes, its Divine standard of duty. What is it we are doing when we put a base alloy into the gold of heaven? Inter mingling principles of selfishness with those of a heaven-born beneficence. Of course, no Christian could intend to perpetrate so audacious a crime. The inten tion to work such mischief is not charged upon any one. Yet all this mischief is involved in the course pursued by every backslider.
3. The backslider retards the progress of Christianity in the world. He cuts the sinews of its strength; he takes off its chariot wheels.
4. While bent to backsliding you cannot be depended on in religion. You are not reliable persons. You prove recreant to duty. Christianity may well exclaim in reference to many of its professed votaries, Deliver me from my friends.
III. The consequences of continuing in this guilty course. There are two rods in the hand of God for offenders, the rod of discipline and the rod of retribution. The former is to correct, with a view to reclaim the offender. The latter is to punish the incorrigible, with a view to vindicate and maintain His outraged authority. With the rod of discipline come oftentimes desolation, rebuke, discomfort, darkness and barren ness in spiritual experience.
1. The first appliances which God will use are disciplinary. The first consequence to be apprehended by a backslider--whether an individual or a Church, is outward rebuke.
2. Another consequence is the discomfort of the forsaken soul: its restless condition, the possibly deep gloom which may settle like night upon it. It must be unhappy when comforts are with drawn, with a grieved departing Saviour, the sweet influences of His grace, as well as the joyful assurance of blessedness hereafter.
3. The last consequence relates to the future world. It takes hold of retribution. Unless you repent and do your first works, you must perish. There is no talismanic charm about the name of Christian, or about a profession of religion which can rescue the hopeless back slider. He must lie down, like other sinners, under the wrath of God. And connected with this consequence to yourselves are melancholy consequences to the unconverted in your families, and in the community. How seldom a sinner repenteth while the Church is far from God! (E. Strong.)
In suspense
Two explanations of this sentence are given.
1. The word teluaim signifies perplexed. The people would suffer a just punishment through being anxious and looking around them, and yet finding no comfort; for this would be the reward of their defection or apostasy.
2. God here complains of the wickedness of the people, as of those who deliberated whether they ought to repent. They then take suspense for doubt. My people are in suspense. They debate on the subject as on a doubtful matter, when I exhort them to repent, and they cannot at once decide what to do, but alternate between divers opinions, and now incline to one thing and then to another; as if the subject itself made it necessary for them to deliberate. (John Calvin.)
Backsliding Israel
I. A certain course described. My people are bent to backsliding from Me.
1. What this fact proves. The doctrine of human depravity.
2. What it involves.
(1) Folly the most extreme.
(2) Ingratitude the most base.
(3) Treachery the most enormous.
II. A certain feeling indicated. How shall I give thee up?
1. Its nature. It was a feeling of perplexity.
2. Its causes. His back sliding children deserved to be punished; hut He waiteth to be gracious, and is ready to forgive.
III. A certain resolution formed. I will not execute the fierceness of Mine anger. This should--
1. Excite our astonishment.
2. Kindle our gratitude.
3. Subdue our opposition.
4. Dissipate our fears. (Author of Foosteps of Jesus.)
Backslider
In the west of Scotland when you travel, sometimes when the furnaces are all in full blast, furnace after furnace flings its reflection on the sky. You see the molten metal flowing into the mould. As you look from the carriage windows you see dusky figures flitting about, all activity; but when the furnaces are damped down for a strike or for dull trade, what a misery it is to go through these manufacturing districts and behold idleness. The flames have been damped out, the men are not working, but lounging about at street corners; women and bairns, sad at heart; wheels still; hammers ceased hammering. It is the same way, maybe, with your soul. You have damped out the furnace of Christian activity. God knows it. Why, when you were a young man, you had dozens of furnaces in full blast for God. You gave tracts, you spoke to your fellows, you took a class in the Sabbath school, you gave of your money, you prayed and agonised; and all is shut up, and you know it. Youre asleep; you do nothing for God now. (John Robertson.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Hos_11:7. Bent] Lit. hung suspended on backsliding, “impaled or…
CRITICAL NOTES.
Hos_11:7. Bent] Lit. hung suspended on backsliding, “impaled or fastened upon apostasy as upon a stake, so that it cannot get loose” [Keil]. None] Lit. together they exalted not, they were all bent downwards, and did not rise, lift themselves upwards to exalt and love God.
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Hos_11:8. Ad. and Zeb.] Two cities destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah (Deu_29:23). Turned] Heb. upon me (1Sa_25:36; Jer_8:18). Repentings] My strong compassions are excited, glow with love and heat. Joseph’s bowels (were hot), did yearn (Gen_43:30; Luk_24:32; 1Ki_3:26). In all three places the same word found.
Hos_11:9. Execute] As fierce conquerors often do; after destroying cities, he will abate his anger and show mercy. For I am God] I do not change my purpose like man (1Sa_15:29; Num_23:19; Mal_3:6). The holy, the pure and perfect one, and known to be such in the midst of thee.
BENT ON BACKSLIDING.—Hos_11:7
In all men there is a tendency to sin. The principle of evil is within us. But sad must it be for the Christian Church, for those who profess to own God, to refuse allegiance to him, and dethrone him in their hearts. How grieving to God for his own chosen people to backslide from him, and to be bent, given up entirely, to this fixed course of aversion from God.
I. They were constant in backsliding. Prophets and teachers continually “called them,” but they did not forsake their ways. God calls men by his word and by his servants, but they turn away from him. They may halt betimes, veer round in a circle of duties, but their continual thoughts and daily life are departure from God.
II. They were unanimous in backsliding. “None at all would exalt him,” all together they apostatized. They refused as one man to return. Evil majorities and idolatrous customs influence in the wrong direction. The lower learn from the higher classes, and the country’s creed becomes the prevalent practice. When all ranks patronize evils, they are established by general consent. Those who corrupt the faith or taint the morals of the community may commit an injury or spread a disease which will ruin generations to come.
III. They were obstinate in backsliding. “They would not.” They were obstinate as an ox, which refused to be driven out of the wrong into the right path. When the will is bent in sin, the current of life follows, overturning all obstacles and defying all counsels. “Ever weaker” the will “grows through acted crime,” until men get stubborn and insensible, unable and unwilling to repent. “Ye will not come.” Well might Edward VI. pray, “Order my living, so that I may do that which thou requirest of me, and give me grace that I may know it, and have will and power to do it.”
IV. They were fixed in backsliding. By continual practice it had become a settled habit. Their whole life was centred and fastened in this course. They were fixed and immoveable in adherence to their sins. The sinner may habituate himself to evil until he is impaled on it, unable to resist and overcome it. It may so absolutely possess a man that he cannot break its dominion, nor free himself from its power. The condition of men is the consequence of life, and the cords of sin the result of evil habits. “His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.”
DIVINE JUSTICE AND DIVINE MERCY IN APPARENT CONFLICT FOR THE SINNER.—Hos_11:8-9
This passage is one of the most mysterious and interesting in the Bible. There actually seems a struggle between one attribute and another. Justice and mercy are in conflict; righteousness and peace kiss each other for the good of the sinner. God is represented after the manner of men, as kindling in compassion, yearning to bless, while anxious to show justice; and at length, though punishing in measure, determining to mitigate the sentence. “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?”
I. Justice is deserved. They deserved to be treated like Admah and the other cities of the plain.
1. They had forgotten God. Favoured with sensible manifestations and unspeakable privileges, they ignored his presence and disregarded his works. The memory of God’s mercies is soon effaced, written in water, not on marble, and one generation after another needs renewal of the blessings. “Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number.”
2. They had ill requited God. They repaid with the mouth, not with the heart. There was no depth in their penitence, nor firmness in their conduct, “for their heart was not right with him.” They changed from reverence to apostasy, from fair profession to base ingratitude. The favours of men touch us, but the love of God kindles no fire upon the altar within. Love free, abundant, and precious is the only friendship for which men make no returns. This seems a miracle, a monster of stupidity, if we argued against experience. “Annihilate not the mercies of God by the oblivion of ingratitude.”
II. Mercy prompts to save. Mercy exists with justice in the purpose, and one attribute does not destroy another in the work of God.
1. God is merciful. If God were just, and dealt with us after our sins, mercy would be unknown. Justice might sweep the earth, or rear its monuments of vengeance.
When we slip a little
Out of the way of virtue, are we lost?
Is there no medicine called sweet mercy?
Yes, God is more compassionate than a tender father. “My heart is turned within me,” with deep compassion. Give up? No, how can I do that? I delight in mercy. “My repentings are kindled together,” I have punished enough. “Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord.”
2. God’s mercy shall be seen. “I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger.” Mercy prevails over the rigour of justice. God will not “destroy Ephraim,” as soldiers that return a second time to pillage a city they have wasted. God’s mercy is seen—(a) In Christ, who came not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. (b) In Christian experience, in the forgiveness of sin, the bestowment of grace, and the gift of glory. Mercy now in proclaimed to all. God is just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth. “For I will not contend for ever with my people, neither will I be always wroth: for the human spirit would fail, be crushed before me” (Isa_57:16).
III. God determines to exercise mercy and not justice. “I will not execute,” &c. The reasons for this choice are given.
1. God is unchangeable in his covenant mercy. “For I am God, and not man.” Man is fitful and swayed by human passion. “Man punishes, to destroy; God smites, to amend,” says Jerome. Men are angry, vindictive, and cruel one to another; implacable, unmerciful (Rom_1:31); but God is compassionate and forgiving. Men are mutable, the truest friends are uncertain; but God is not man. “I am Jehovah, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”
2. God is revealed among men to be a God of mercy. “The Holy One in the midst of thee.” Hence his procedure does not contradict his known character. God is holy and just, true and faithful, and that might be considered a reason for rejecting a rebellious people. But how can this happen? How can justice be reconciled with mercy, and the providence proclaim the love of God? The difficulty is solved in Jesus Christ. In him. God is “faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” His holiness is the defence of his people, and an argument for a consecrated life. In a corrupt Church and a degenerate age let us “give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Mercy interposeth her four several “hows” (in the original only two, but the other two necessarily understood, and by interpreters fitly supplied) for such pathetical interrogations as the like are not to be found in the whole book of God, and not to be answered by any but God himself; as he doth to each particular in the following words: “My heart is turned within me,” that is the first answer; the second, “My repentings are kindled together;” the third, “I will not execute the fierceness of my wrath;” the fourth, “I will not return to destroy Ephraim.” And why? First, “I am God and not man;” secondly, the “Holy One in the midst of thee” [Trapp].
God’s mercy—
1. Springs from himself. “Repentings kindled together.”
2. Contrasted with men’s conduct. “I am God and not man.”
3. Overcoming God’s justice. “I will not execute.”
4. Supplying man’s need. “Greater is the mercy of God than the misery of all men,” says Augustine.
I am God, &c. God unchangeable.
1. An encouragement to the penitent.
2. A warning to the sinner. As God is in mercy, so in power. Let all be thankful that while man’s pity is soon exhausted God’s pity is great, and displayed to those who carefully seek it with tears.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 11
Hos_11:7. Backsliding. It is not one of the least miseries of a backsliding state, that every state of departure from God disposes the soul to a greater degree of alienation. As it is said of a sheep, that having once wandered from the fold, it never thinks of returning, but “wanders on still more and more astray;” so it may be affirmed of the wanderer, that in most cases his backslidings are multiplied, until frequent disappointments and direct extremities force him to retrace his steps, or the strong hand of the Good Shepherd brings him back.
Hos_11:8-9. The perfections of God afford a refuge for the sinner. God is just. Nothing that he does can be unjust, arbitrary, or hard. But naked justice affords no comfort. It may fix the sword to keep the gate of Eden, send the surging sea over Sodom, Gomorrah, and Zeboim, and smite the shepherd and not the sheep with the sword, but it exacts full and perfect obedience to the law, and punishment for every sin. Where, then, can we look? Justice no longer appals when satisfied in Christ. It is the love, the mercy of God, which is our citadel. And God will never cease to be merciful to his Church. He is perpetually and gloriously displaying his mercy to men. To destroy them would frustrate the Divine plan and rob them of hope and consolation. The Eternal One is ever the same. No centuries, no sidereal cycles, measure him whose name is I am that I am. Our lives vanish every moment; not so with God. His mercy is everlasting—his mercy endureth for ever [J. W. Alexander].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.