“I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from him.
Parallel Translations
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“I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from him.
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I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
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(14-5) I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for Mine anger is turned away from him.
Cross-references (23)
Passages linked to Hosea 14:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 57:18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him. I will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners.
- Jeremiah 3:22 Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backsliding. “Behold, we have come to you; for you are Yahweh our God.
- Isaiah 12:1 In that day you will say, “I will give thanks to you, Yahweh; for though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you comfort me.
- Ephesians 2:4-9 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus; for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.
- Zephaniah 3:17 Yahweh, your God, is among you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will calm you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.
- Hosea 6:1 “Come! Let’s return to Yahweh; for he has torn us to pieces, and he will heal us; he has injured us, and he will bind up our wounds.
- Exodus 15:26 He said, “If you will diligently listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you, which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am Yahweh who heals you.”
- Psalms 78:38 But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn’t destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, and didn’t stir up all his wrath.
- Jeremiah 5:6 Therefore a lion out of the forest will kill them. A wolf of the evenings will destroy them. A leopard will watch against their cities. Everyone who goes out there will be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many and their backsliding has increased.
- Jeremiah 8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then isn’t the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
- 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.
- Jeremiah 17:14 Heal me, O Yahweh, and I will be healed. Save me, and I will be saved; for you are my praise.
- Jeremiah 33:6 ‘Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them; and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth.
- 2 Corinthians 5:19-21 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation. We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
- Titus 3:4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared,
- Numbers 25:4 Yahweh said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up to Yahweh before the sun, that the fierce anger of Yahweh may turn away from Israel.”
- Numbers 25:11 “Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I didn’t consume the children of Israel in my jealousy.
- Deuteronomy 7:7-8 Yahweh didn’t set his love on you nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all peoples; but because Yahweh loves you, and because he desires to keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, Yahweh has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
- Hosea 11:7 My people are determined to turn from me. Though they call to the Most High, he certainly won’t exalt them.
- Matthew 9:12-13 When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. But you go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
- Romans 3:24 being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;
- Ephesians 1:6 to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved,
- 2 Timothy 1:9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before times eternal,
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain God here confirms what we have observed respecting his…
God here confirms what we have observed respecting his gratuitous reconciliation, nor is the repetition useless; for as men are disposed to entertain vain and false hopes, so nothing is more difficult than to preserve them in dependence on the one God, and to pacify their minds, so that they disturb not nor fret themselves, as experience teaches us all. For when we embrace the promises of free pardon, our flesh ever leads us to distrust, and we become harassed by various fancies. “What! can you or dare you promise with certainty to yourself that God will be propitious to you, when you know that for many reasons he is justly angry with you?” Since, then, we are so inclined to harbour distrust, the Prophet again confirms the truth which we have before noticed, which is, that God is ready to be reconciled, and that he desires nothing more than to receive and embrace his people.
Hence he says, I will heal their defections The way of healing is by a gratuitous pardon. For though God, by regenerating us by his Spirit, heals our rebellion, that is, subdues us unto obedience, and removes from us our corruptions, which stimulate us to sin; yet in this place the Prophet no doubt declares in the person of God, that the Israelites would be saved from their defections, so that they might not come against them in judgement, nor be imputed to them. Let us know then that God is in two respects a physician while he is healing our sins: he cleanses us by his Spirit, and he abolishes and buries all our offences. But it is of the second kind of healing that the Prophet now speaks, when he says, I will heal their turnings away: and he employs a strong term, for he might have said, “your faults or errors” but he says, “your defections from God;” as though he said, “Though they have so grievously sinned, that by their crimes they have deserved hundred deaths, yet I will heal them from these their atrocious sins, and I will love them freely.”
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The word נדבה, nudebe, may be explained either freely or bountifully. I will then love them bountifully, that is, with an abounding and not a common love; or I will love them freely, that is gratuitously. But they who render the words “I will love them of mine own accord,” that is, not by constraint, pervert the sense of the Prophet; for how frigid is the expression, that God is not forced to love us; and what meaning can hence be elicited? But the Lord is said to love us freely, because he finds in us no cause of love, for we are unworthy of being regarded or viewed with any favour; but he shows himself liberal and beneficent in this very act of manifesting his love to the unworthy.
We then perceive that the real meaning of the Prophet is this, that though the Israelites had in various ways provoked the wrath of God, and as it were designedly wished to perish, and to have him to be angry with them; yet the Lord promises to be propitious to them. In what way? Even in this, for he will give proof of his bounty, when he will thus gratuitously embrace them. We now see how God becomes a Father to us, and regards us as his children, even when he abolishes our sins, and also when he freely admits us to the enjoyment of his love. And this truth ought to be carefully observed; for the world ever imagines that they come to God, and bring something by which they can turn or incline him to love them. Nothing can be more inimical to our salvation than this vain fancy.
Let us then learn from this passage, that God cannot be otherwise a Father to us than by becoming our physician and by healing our transgressions. But the order also is remarkable, for God puts love after healing. Why? Because, as he is just, it must be that he regards us with hatred as long as he imputes sins. It is then the beginning of love, when he cleanses us from our vices, and wipes away our spots. When therefore it is asked, how God loves men, the answer is, that he begins to love them by a gratuitous pardon; for while God imputes sins, it must be that men are hated by him. He then commences to love us, when he heals our diseases.
It is not without reason that he adds, that the fury of God is turned away from Israel. For the Prophet intended to add this as a seal to confirm what he taught; for men ever dispute with themselves when they hear that God is propitious to them. “How is this, that he heals thine infirmities? for hitherto thou hast found him to be angry with thee, and how art thou now persuaded that his wrath is pacified?” Hence the Prophet seals his testimony respecting God’s love, when he says, that his wrath has now ceased. Turned away then is my fury “Though hitherto I have by many proofs, manifested to thee my wrath, yet I now come to thee as one changed. Judge me not then by past time, for I am now pacified to thee, and my fury is from thee turned away It follows —
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 We will leave off all vain confidence and pride.
We will leave off all vain confidence and pride.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Hos 14:4 I will heal their backsliding, I will…
Hos 14:4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
Ver. 4. I will heal their backslidings] Relapses, we know, are dangerous, and apostasy little less than incurable, 2Pe 2:20-21 Heb 6:6. Bishop Latimer, in a sermon before King Edward VI, tells of one notorious backslider that repented; but beware of this sin, saith he, for I have known no more but one that did so. To fall forward is nothing so dangerous as to fall backward, with old Eli. Hence Paul so thundereth against the Galatians, and Peter against apostatizing libertines, 2Pe 2:22; but if Jehovah the physician (as he is called, Exo 15:26) undertake the cure, and say, I will heal their backslidings, what can hinder? Christ, in the Gospel, cured the most desperate diseases; such as all the physicians in the country might have cast their caps at, Mat 4:23-24; Mat 8:16. Omnipotenti medico nullus insanabilis occurrit morbus (Isidor.). He refused none that came to him, Mat 12:15, no, not his enemies, as Malchus. Will he then reject his Ephraim, a child, bemoaning himself, though not a pleasant child, a towardly son, Jer 31:18; Jer 31:20, a backslider indeed, but such a one, as crieth now, that God bindeth him, Job 36:13. No sooner doth God cry, "Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings, I will love you freely"; but Ephraim, melted with such a love, replieth, "Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God," Jer 3:22. O most happy compliance! See the like Zec 13:9. {See Trapp on "Zec 13:9"} "They shall return even to the Lord" (from whom they had deeply revolted), "and he shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them," Isa 19:22. They had begged of him to take away all iniquity, Hos 14:2; and he here (in answer) promiseth to heal their backslidings, that compound of all iniquities, that falling sickness, that often hales hell at the heels of it, Heb 10:38.
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I will love them freely] Ephraim might remember, and Satan would be sure to suggest, that the prophet had said before, "Ephraim is smitten or wounded, My God will cast them away, or hate them, Mine anger is kindled against them," Hos 8:5; Hos 9:16-17. Here, therefore, upon their repentance, all this is graciously taken off in one breath, and Satan silenced. Be it that they are backslidden and sore wounded by their fall; I will heal their backslidings, and make their broken bones to rejoice. Be it that there is nothing at all in them that is laudable, or loveworthy, yet I will love them freely, ex mero motu, of mine own free, absolute, and independent grace and favour, out of pure and unexcited love, without any the least respect to their merit, which in nothing better than hell. Be it that they have bitterly provoked me to anger, and (as angry people use to do) I have both threatened them and punished them; yet now mine anger is turned away from them; I am fully reconciled unto them in Christ, will clear up my countenance toward them, and remove mine heavy judgments from them. God’s favour is no empty favour. It is like the winter sun, that casts a goodly countenance when it shineth, but gives little heat or comfort. If he love a man freely, and out of the good pleasure of his will, εν δυδοκια, cum spontaneitate (as he doth all his, Eph 2:8, making them accepted in the beloved, Eph 1:6), such a man may promise himself all the blessings of this and a better life. Excellent is that of Bernard; He that sent his Son for thee, poured his Spirit into thee, promised to clear up his countenance upon thee, what can he deny thee? Qui misit unigenitum, immisit spiritum, promisit vultum, quid tandem tibi negaturus est? He that inviteth thee to feed upon the fatted calf, will not only take away all iniquity, but give good. That was the second petition they preferred, and they have it answered in the next verse, ad cardinem desiderii; God not only grants their prayer, but fulfils their counsel, Psa 20:4.
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 I will heal: it is a usual metaphor in…
I will heal: it is a usual metaphor in Scripture; sin is our disease. God is the Physician who healeth us, Psa 103:3; Jer 3:22; and he doth it through Christ, in whom this promise is made to returning backsliders. This promise God maketh by his prophet, to encourage them to hearken to his advice of repenting.
Backslidings; aversions, voluntary and wilful turning away from God; well expressed here, and called rebellions by some other interpreters. These voluntary, continued, and obstinate aversions, or backslidings, are instances of greatest sins and sinners; yet God promiseth to heal these old putrefying sores, that we might be assured that he will heal all other lesser wounds: he will fully heal by pardoning and purifying.
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I will love them; though before he hated, could take no pleasure in them, now he will show that his mind and heart are towards them to accept them, and do them good.
Freely; without their desert, and without bounds of time, or measure, or kind. All kinds of mercies the fruit of his love, infinite mercy in grace and glory, eternal mercies, his love will afford to them. This is liberal love indeed, this promised here.
For mine anger is turned away from him; I am reconciled to them, my displeasure is turned away.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain We have here an answer of peace to the…
We have here an answer of peace to the prayers of returning Israel. They seek God's face, and they shall not seek in vain. God will be sure to meet those in a way of mercy who return to him in a way of duty. If we speak to God in good prayers, God will speak to us in good promises, as he answered the angel with good words and comfortable words, Zac 1:13. If we take with us the foregoing words in our coming to God, we may take home with us these following words for our faith to feast upon; and see how these answer those.
I. Do they dread and deprecate God's displeasure, and therefore return to him? He assures them that, upon their submission, his anger is turned away from them. This is laid as the ground of all the other favours here promised. I will do so and so, for my anger is turned away, and thereby a door is opened for all good to flow to them, Isa 12:1. Note, Though God is justly and greatly angry with sinners, yet he is not implacable in his anger; it may be turned away; it shall be turned away, from those that turn away from their iniquity. God will be reconciled to those that are reconciled to him and to his whole will.
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II. Do they pray for the taking away of iniquity? He assures them that he will heal their backslidings; so he promised, Jer 3:22. Note, Though backslidings from God are the dangerous diseases and wounds of the soul, yet they are not incurable, for God has graciously promised that if backsliding sinners will apply to him as their physician, and comply with his methods, he will heal their backslidings. He will heal the guilt of their backslidings by pardoning mercy and their bent to backslide by renewing grace. Their iniquity shall not be their ruin.
III. Do they pray that God will receive them graciously? In answer to that, behold, it is promised, I will love them freely. God had hated them while they went on sin (Hos 9:15); but now that they return and repent he loves them, not only ceases to be angry with them, but takes complacency in them and designs their good. He loves them freely, with an absolute entire love (so some), so that there are no remains of his former displeasure, with a liberal bountiful love (so others); he will be open-handed in his love to them, and will think nothing too much to bestow upon them or to do for them. Or with a cheerful willing love; he will love them without reluctancy or renitency. He will not say in the day of thy repentance, How shall I receive thee again? as he said in the day of thy apostasy, How shall I give thee up? Or with an unmerited preventing love. Whom God loves he loves freely, not because they deserve it, but of his own good pleasure. He loves because he will love, Deut, Hos 7:7, Hos 7:8.
IV. Do they pray that God will give good, will make them good? In answer to that, behold, it is promised, I will be as the dew unto Israel, Hos 14:5. Observe,
1. What shall be the favour God will bestow upon them. It is the blessing of their father Jacob, God give thee the dew of heaven, Gen 27:28. Nay, what they need God will not only give them, but he will himself be that to them, all that which they need: I will be as the dew unto Israel. This ensures spiritual blessings in heavenly things; and it follows upon the healing of their backslidings, for pardoning mercy is always accompanied with renewing grace. Note, To Israelites indeed God himself will be as the dew. He will instruct them; his doctrine shall drop upon them as the dew, Deu 32:2. They shall know more and more of him, for he will come to them as the rain, Hos 6:3. He will refresh them with his comforts, so that their souls shall be as a watered garden, Isa 58:11. He will be to true penitents as the dew to Israel when they were in the wilderness, dew that had manna in it, Exo 16:14; Num 11:9. The graces of the Spirit are the hidden manna, hidden in the dew; God will give them bread from heaven, as he did to Israel in the dew in abundance, Joh 1:16.
2. What shall be the fruit of that favour which shall be produced in them. The grace thus freely bestowed on them shall not be in vain. Those souls, those Israelites, to whom God is as the dew, on whom his grace distils,
(1.) Shall be growing. The bad being by the grace of God made good, they shall by the same grace be made better; for grace, wherever it is true, is growing. [1.] They shall grow upwards, and be more flourishing, shall grow as the lily, or (as some read it) shall blossom as the rose. The growth of the lily, as that of all bulbous roots, is very quick and speedy. The root of the lily seems lost in the ground all winter, but, when it is refreshed with the dews of the spring, it starts up in a little time; so the grace of God improves young converts sometimes very fast. The lily, when it has come to its height, is a lovely flower (Mat 6:29), so grace is the comeliness of the soul, Eze 16:14. it is the beauty of holiness that is produced by the dew of the morning, Psa 110:3. [2.] They shall grow downwards, and be more firm. The lily indeed grows fast, and grows fine, but it soon fades and is easily plucked up; and therefore it is here promised to Israel that with the flower of the lily he shall have the root of the cedar: He shall cast forth his roots as Lebanon, as the trees of Lebanon, which, having taken deep root, cannot be plucked up, Amo 9:15. Note, Spiritual growth consists most in the growth of the root, which is out of sight. The more we depend upon Christ and draw sap and virtue from him, the more we act in religion from a principle and the more steadfast and resolved we are in it, the more we cast forth our roots. [3.] They shall grow round about (Hos 14:6): His branches shall spread on all sides. And (Hos 14:7) he shall grow as the vine, whose branches extend furthest of any tree. Joseph was to be a fruitful bough, Gen 49:22. When many are added to the church from without, when a hopeful generation rises up, then Israel's branches spread. When particular believers abound in good works, and increase in the knowledge of God and in every good gift, then their branches may be said to spread. The inward man is renewed day by day.
(2.) They shall be graceful and acceptable both to God and man. Grace is the amiable thing, and makes those that have it truly amiable. They are here compared to such trees as are pleasant, [1.] To the sight: His beauty shall be as the olive-tree, which is always green. The Lord called thy name a green olive-tree, Jer 11:16. Ordinances are the beauty of the church, and in them it is, and shall be, ever green. Holiness is the beauty of a soul; when those that believe with the heart make profession with the mouth, and justify and adorn that profession with an agreeable conversation, then their beauty is as the olive-tree, Psa 52:8. It is a promise to the trees of righteousness that their leaf shall not wither. [2.] To the smell: His smell shall be as Lebanon (Hos 14:6) and his scent as the wine of Lebanon, Hos 14:7. This was the praise of their father Jacob, The smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed, Gen 27:27. The church is compared to a garden of spices (Sol 4:12, Sol 4:14), which all her garments smell of. True believers are acceptable to God and approved of men. God smells a sweet savour from their spiritual sacrifices (Gen 8:21), and they are accepted of the multitude of the brethren. Grace is the perfume of the soul, the perfume of the name, makes it like a precious ointment, Ecc 7:1. The memorial thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon (so the margin reads it), not only their reviving comforts now, but their surviving honours when they are gone, shall be as the wine of Lebanon, that has a delicate flavour. Flourishing churches have their faith spoken of throughout the world (Rom 1:8) and leave their name to be remembered (Psa 45:17); and the memory of flourishing saints is blessed, and shall be so, as theirs who by faith obtained a good report.
(3.) They shall be fruitful and useful. The church is compared here to the vine and the olive, which brings forth useful fruits, to the honour of God and man. Nay, the very shadow of the church shall be agreeable (Hos 14:7): Those that dwell under his shadow shall return - under God's shadow (so some), under the shadow of the Messias, so the Chaldee. Believers dwell under God's shadow (Psa 91:1), and there they are and may be safe and easy. But it is rather under the shadow of Israel, under the shadow of the church. Note, God's promises pertain to those, and those only, that dwell under the church's shadow, that attend on God's ordinances and adhere to his people, not those that flee to that shadow only for shelter in a hot gleam, but those that dwell under it. Psa 27:4. We may apply it to particular believers; when a man is effectually brought home to God all that dwell under his shadow - children, servants, subjects, friends. This day has salvation come to this house. Those that dwell under the shadow of the church shall return; their drooping spirits shall return, and they shall be refreshed and comforted. He restores my soul, Psa 23:3. They shall revive as the corn, which, when it is sown, dies first, and then revives, and brings forth much fruit, Joh 12:24. It is promised that God's people shall be blessings to the world, as corn and wine are. And a very great and valuable mercy it is to be serviceable to our generation. Comfort and honour attend it.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain I will heal their backslidings,.... This and what follows…
I will heal their backslidings,.... This and what follows is the Lord's answer to the above prayer; and this clause particularly is an answer to that petition, "take away all iniquity", Hos 14:2; sins are diseases, natural and hereditary, nauseous and loathsome, mortal, and incurable but by the grace of God, and blood of Christ; backslidings are relapses, which are dangerous things; Christ is the only Physician, who heals all the diseases of sin, and these relapses also; he will do it, he has promised it, and never turns away any that apply to him for it; and which he does by a fresh application of his blood, whereby he takes away sin, heals the conscience wounded with it, and restores peace and comfort; which is a great encouragement to take words, and return unto him; see Hos 6:1;
I will love them freely; this is in answer to that petition, "receive us, graciously"; or "receive good", or rather "give good", Hos 14:2; not that the love of God or Christ begins when sinners repent and turn to him, or he applies his pardoning grace, since his love is from everlasting; but that in so doing he manifests his love, and will continue in it, nor shall anything separate from it: and this love, as it is freely set upon the objects of it, without any merits of theirs, or any motives in them, but flows from the free sovereign will and pleasure of God in Christ; so it is as freely manifested, and continues upon the same bottom, and is displayed in a most liberal and profuse donation of blessings of grace to them: this love is free in its original, and is liberal and bountiful in the effects of it; and makes the objects of it a free, willing, and bountiful people too:
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for mine anger is turned away from him: from Israel, which, under former dispensations of Providence, seemed to be towards him, at least when under his frowns, resentment, and displeasure, as is the case of that people at this day; but when they shall return to the Lord, and he shall manifest and apply his pardoning grace to them, his anger will appear no more, and they shall be in a very happy and comfortable condition, as Israel or the church declares, Isa 12:1; which refers to the same times as these words do; see Rom 11:26; and compare Psa 85:2; where a manifestation of pardoning grace is called the Lord's turning himself from the fierceness of his anger; and especially this suits with Gospel times, satisfaction being made for sin by the sacrifice of Christ.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. I will heal their backsliding] Here is…
Verse 4. I will heal their backsliding] Here is the answer of God to these prayers and resolutions. See its parts: -
1. Ye have backslidden and fallen, and are grievously and mortally wounded by that fall; but I, who am the Author of life, and who redeem from death, will heal all these wounds and spiritual diseases.
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2. I will love them freely - נדבה nedabah, after a liberal, princely manner. I will love them so as to do them incessant good. It shall not be a love of affection merely, but shall be a beneficial love. A love that not only feels delight in itself, but fills them with delight who are its objects, by making them unutterably and supremely happy.
3. For mine anger is turned away from him - Because he has turned back to me. Thus God and man become friends.
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 14:4. I will heal their backsliding — I…
Hos 14:4. I will heal their backsliding — I will deliver them from a backsliding heart and way, and remove those judgments they have brought upon themselves thereby. The Lord says, I will heal, &c., a usual metaphor in Scripture, because sin is our disease, and God is the physician who healeth us, Psa 103:3; Jer 3:22; and he doth it through Christ, in whom this promise is made to returning backsliders. God makes this promise to the Israelites by his prophet, to encourage them to hearken to his advice, given in the preceding verses. I will love them freely — That is, of my own mere grace, and favour, and liberality. Bishop Horsley renders this verse, I will restore their conversion; (that is, as he understands it, their converted race, taking conversion as a collective noun for converts; like captivity for the captives; and dispersion for the dispersed;) I will love them gratuitously; for mine anger is departed from me. In these words, God promises, he says, to restore the converted nation [of the Israelites] to his favour, and a situation of prosperity and splendour. On the word gratuitously he quotes the following passage from Luther’s commentary on this chapter: “Are good works then nothing? you will say. Is there no place at all for them in the doctrine of repentance? I answer, that hitherto the discourse hath been about remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. These are entirely gratuitous, and not of our merit, but simply of the inexhaustible goodness and compassion of God. Therefore, when we speak of the remission of sins, it is right to be silent about our own works; which, because they are done without the Holy Spirit, although with regard to civil society they may not be bad, yet cannot be called good, and ought not, because of the unclean heart from which they proceed. But when through faith we have received remission of sins, and, together with that, the gift of the Holy Ghost, forthwith from the heart, as from a pure fountain, come forth works also good, and well-pleasing to God. For although, by reason of the remains of original sin, the obedience even of the saints is not perfectly pure, yet, on account of faith in Christ, it is pleasing and acceptable to God.”
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 I will heal their backsliding - God, in answer,…
I will heal their backsliding - God, in answer, promises to “heal” that wound of their souls, from where every other evil came, their fickleness and unsteadfastness. Hitherto, this had been the characteristic of Israel. “Within a while they forgat His works, and would not abide His counsels” Psa 106:13. “They forgat what He had done. Their heart was not whole with Him; neither continued they steadfast in His covenant. They turned back and tempted God. They kept not His testimonies, but turned back and fell way like their forefathers, starting aside like a broken bow” Psa 78:12, Psa 78:37, Psa 78:42, Psa 78:57-58. Steadfastness to the end is the special gift of the Gospel. “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it” Mat 28:20; Mat 16:18. And to individuals, “Jesus, having loved His own, loved them unto the end” Joh 13:1. In healing that disease of unsteadfastness, God healed all besides. This He did to all, wheresoever or howsoever dispersed, who received the Gospel; this He doth still; and this He will do completely in the end, when “all Israel shall be saved.”
I will love them freely - that is, as the word means, “impelled” thereto by Himself alone, and so, (as used of God) moved by His own Essential Bountifulness, the exceedling greatness of His Goodness, largely, bountifully. God “loves” us “freely” in loving us against our deserts, because He “is love;” He “loves” us “freely” in that He freely became Man, and, having become Man freely shed His Blood for the remission of our sins, freely forgave our sins; He “loves” us “freely,” in “giving us grace, according to the good pleasure of His will” Eph 1:5, to become pleasing to Him, and causing all good in us; He “loves” us “freely,” in rewarding infinitely the good which we have from “Him.” : “More manifestly here speaketh the Person of the Saviour Himself, promising His own Coming to the salvation of penitents, with sweetly sounding promise, with sweetness full of grace.”
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For Mine anger is turned away from him - As He says, “In My wrath I smote thee; but in My favor have I had mercy on thee” Isa 60:10. He doth not withhold only, or suspend His anger, but He taketh it away wholly. So the Psalmist saith, “Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of Thy people; Thou hast covered all their sin; Thou hast taken away all Thy wrath; Thou hast turned from the fierceness of Thine anger” Psa 85:2-3.
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 Gods. The Assyrians, instead of protecting, oppress us; while…
Gods. The Assyrians, instead of protecting, oppress us; while Egypt, famous for horses, sits unconcerned. (Calmet) --- But the source of all our evils are the idols, which we will follow no more. --- In thee: adheres to the true faith in practice. (Haydock) --- Israel was like an orphan during the captivity, Lamentations i. 1. (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 God's gracious reply to their self-condemning prayer.
God's gracious reply to their self-condemning prayer.
backsliding--apostasy: not merely occasional backslidings. God can heal the most desperate sinfulness [CALVIN].
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freely--with a gratuitous, unmerited, and abundant love (Eze 16:60-63). So as to the spiritual Israel (Joh 15:16; Rom 3:24; Rom 5:8; Jo1 4:10).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4-8. The sentiments expressed in Hos_14:1-3, are essentially different…
4-8. The sentiments expressed in Hos_14:1-3, are essentially different from those expressed in Hos_6:1-3. The latter were superficial; to them Jehovah could give no favorable response; the prayer in Hos_14:2-3, gives evidence of Israel’s sincerity; to it he responds with the promise of gracious redemption. The response is not addressed directly to Israel, but to the prophet; the former is referred to in the third person.
Heal — The people’s condition is likened to a disease which requires the presence of a physician (Hos_6:1).
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Backsliding — In Hos_6:1, the people express the hope that Jehovah will heal, not their sin, but the damage caused by sin. Some commentators see in Hos_14:4 a, a reference to this expectation that Jehovah will restore their prosperity. That Jehovah will heal all “the damage which their backsliding has brought upon them” is undoubtedly true (5-7), but Jehovah will do something more; he will remove the cause of the calamity — the spirit of apostasy which is responsible for the present hopeless condition (Hos_11:7; compare Jer_31:31-33).
Freely — Spontaneously. They need not purchase his love as they purchased the favor of Assyria and Egypt.
Mine anger is turned away — The change of attitude on the part of Israel has made it possible for Jehovah to manifest himself again in love and mercy (Hos_12:14). 4b belongs really to Hos_14:5, and not to 4a. The two clauses in 4a form a complete parallelism, similarly 4b and 5a form a parallelism. Because Jehovah’s anger is turned away he will be as dew unto Israel. The disease healed, the ruins of the past removed, a life of prosperity and peace may begin; to it Jehovah will give his blessing.
Dew — “The dews of Syrian nights are excessive; on many mornings it looks as if there had been a heavy rain.” This dew is of great importance in Palestine, since it is the only slackening of the drought which the country feels from May till October. In view of this fact it is only natural that dew should become a symbol of that which is refreshing, quickening, and invigorating (Psa_133:3). Jehovah will put new energy and life into Israel (compare Mic_5:7). The figure of dew is used in Hos_6:4, with an entirely different meaning.
The following verses (5-7) describe under various figures the splendor of the temporal and spiritual prosperity of the regenerated people.
Grow as the lily — R.V., “blossom.” The figure suggests beauty (Son_2:1-2; Mat_6:28-29) and stateliness; perhaps also rapidity of multiplication. Pliny states that the lily is unsurpassed in its fecundity, one single root often producing fifty bulbs.
Cast forth — That they may strike far and deep.
His roots as Lebanon — Mountains are represented as having roots (Job_28:9); therefore the comparison may be with Lebanon itself, or the prophet may think of the cedars of Lebanon. In either case it is a figure of stability.
His branches — Better, his saplings (compare Isa_53:2, “tender plant”); the shoots that spring up from the roots around the parent stem.
Shall spread — Israel is not to be a single tree, but a whole garden.
As the olive tree — The olive tree ranks high for its beauty. It is an evergreen, and its leaves have a beautiful appearance; the “arrangement of colors makes an olive tree at a little distance appear as if covered with a filmy veil of silver gauze, which gives a soft dreamy sheen to the landscape (Jer_11:16).” The additional thought of serviceableness may be implied (see on Joe_1:10).
His smell as Lebanon — Lebanon is rendered fragrant by its cedars and aromatic shrubs (Son_4:11). A figure of the delight with which God and man will look upon Israel.
The interpretation of Hos_14:7 is uncertain. Most modern commentators consider the text corrupt and attempt emendations. The English translations do not reproduce the Hebrew correctly. If the translation is changed, fairly good sense may be had from the present text; render: “They that dwell under his shadow shall again bring to life corn; they shall blossom as the vine.” The mixed figures in the two clauses — namely, the representation of one and the same person, on the one hand, as cultivating corn, on the other hand, as flourishing like a vine — are thought by some to constitute a serious objection to the correctness of the Hebrew text, but this is not conclusive; even Isaiah is at times inconsistent in his use of figures (Isa_5:24).
His shadow — The shadow of Israel.
They that dwell — The individual Israelites. The nation is pictured as a tree under whose shadow its members dwell. In a similar manner the mother, Israel, is distinguished from the children, the individual Israelites (Hos_2:2).
Revive — Better, bring to life — a picture of abundant fertility and prosperity (Hos_10:1; Psa_128:3).
The scent thereof — Of the vine, Israel. Literally, his memorial, or, renown.
The wine of Lebanon — Even Pliny speaks of the excellence of this wine; and more recent travelers praise it very highly (Eze_27:18). G.A. Smith and others do not consider Hos_14:7 a continuation of Jehovah’s promises in Hos_14:5-6, but an utterance of the prophet. The former reads, following in part the LXX., “They (Israel) shall return and dwell in his (Jehovah’s) shadow; they shall live well watered as a garden; till they flourish like a vine, and be fragrant like the wine of Lebanon.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) Heal . . . Love.—If the foregoing be…
(4) Heal . . . Love.—If the foregoing be the offering of penitent lips, then the majestic reply of Jehovah is full of superlative grace.
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 Vers. 4-7. I will heal their backsliding, I will…
Vers. 4-7. I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. The penitential prayer put in the mouth of the people receives in this verse a gracious response; words of contrite confession are echoed back in accents of compassion and consolation. When thus penitent and prayerful they returned to the Lord, he promises them favor as well as forgiveness, so as to heal the moral malady under which they had long labored, remedy the evil effects of their apostasy, and withhold the stripes he was going to inflict. Meshubhatham means
(1) their turning away from God and all included therein defection, rebellion, idolatry, and other sins. The disease would be healed, and its consequences averted.
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(2) Some, however, understand the word, in a good sense, to mean "conversion " or "the converted," the abstract being put for the concrete; the blessing is thus promised them when they turned or returned to God. Thus the Syriac version.
(3) The LXX again, connecting meshubhah with yashav, to sit or dwell, render it by katoikian , that is," I will heal their dwelling." There is little doubt that (1) is the correct translation, and it is generally accepted as such. They are next assured of God"s love, and that spontaneously (hbdn, the preposition le understood) with ready willinghood and unfeignedly. God"s love is
(a) free, anticipating its objects, not waiting to be merited or purchased, without money and without price; it is
(b) also purest and most sincere affection, altogether unlike that feigned affection sometimes found among men, who profess much love while their heart goeth after their covetousness, or after some other and different object from that pretended. Then follows an assurance that there is no barrier to the exercise and no obstacle to the outgoing of God"s love; the turning away of God"s anger from Israel is the ground of such assurance. Some copies read mimmeni, my anger is turned away from me, instead of mimmena; this, however, is erroneous, though the sense is not much affected by it. The error may have arisen from a misunderstanding of Jer_2:35. Rashi explains the verse correctly: "After they have thus spoken before me: I will heal them of their apostasy, and love them of my own free will; although they themselves are not worthy of love, yet will I love them freely, for mine anger has turned away from them." Aben Ezra says. "Backsliding is in the soul what disease is in the body, therefore he uses the word "heal." But God proceeds to perform what he has promised; he does not confine his goodness to words, he exhibits it in works, as the following verses show." I will be as the dew unto Israel. "The Jussive assumes different shades of meaning, varying with the situation or authority of the speaker.... Sometimes, from the circumstances of the case, the command becomes a permission: Hos_14:6, "I will be as the dew to Israel: let him flourish, and strike forth his roots as Lebanon (Driver). In lands where there is little rain, the dew, falling copiously, fertilizes the earth, refreshes the languid plants, revives the face of nature, and makes all things grow. Thus the dew becomes the source of fruitfulness. So God, by his Spirit"s grace, is the Source of Israel"s spiritual fruitfulness. He shall grow (margin, blossom) as the lily. This comparison suggests many qualities, any one of which may characterize, or all of which may combine in, the spiritual growth thus pictured. There is the purity of the lily, the beauty of the lily, the fecundity of the lily, the perfume of the lily, the rapidity of its growth, the stately slightness of its stem. We may combine the rapidity of its growth; its fecundity, with regard to which Pliny informs us that a single root produces fifty bulbs; its beauty, to which our Lord refers in contrast with the glory of Solomon. But its root is weak, and he, on that account perhaps, subjoins: And cast forth (margin, strike) his roots as Lebanon. Whether it mean that the roots are as the trees of Lebanon or the mountain of Lebanon itself, the thought expressed by this comparison is stability. "As the trees of Lebanon," says Jerome, "which strike their roots as far down into the depths as they lift their heads up into the air, so that they can be shaken by no storm, but by their stable massiveness maintain their position." His branches shall spread; margin, go; rather, go on. This feature in the representation denotes enlargement or expansion. The tender branches (suckers) spreading out in all directions very aptly set forth the multiplication of Israel or their growth and increase numerically. But branches straggling, crooked, and ill-shaped would rather be a blemish than a beauty. It is, therefore, added: His beauty shall be as the olive tree. The olive has been called the crown of the fruit trees of Palestine, but besides, its fruitage so plentiful and useful, the splendor of its green, and the enduring freshness of its foliage, make it a vivid picture of that beauty of holiness or spiritual graces which it is here employed to represent. There is still an additional element of interest pertaining to this goodly tree, namely, And his smell as Lebanon. This signifies the fragrance of this beautiful tree of righteousness. The smell of Lebanon is referred to in Son_4:11, "And the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon." What with its cedars, and spices, and fruit, and flowers, and aromatic shrubs, and fragrant vines, Lebanon must perfume the air with the most delightful odors. Thus acceptable to God and pleasing to man shall Israel become. The commentators quote with commendation Rosenm explanation of the individual features of this inimitable picture: "The rooting indicates stability; the spreading of the branches, propagation and the multitude of inhabitants; the splendor of the olive, beauty and glory, and that constant and lasting; the fragrance, hilarity and loveliness." The simile changes into the metaphor; Israel, from being likened to a tree, becomes the tree. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow (margin, blossom) as the vine: the scent (rather, renown) thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. There is some difficulty and consequent diversity of rendering and explanation in connection with this verse. If the tree be Israel in its collective or national capacity, the dwellers under its shadow are the members of the nation, separate]y and severally, flourishing under the widespread branches of this umbrageous tree.
(1) The word yashubhu is explained:
(a) return, i.e. betake themselves to his shadow, which is incongruous, for how could they be said to return to their own shadow or dwell securely under it?
(b) return to their native land, so the Chaldee, this is somewhat better;
(c) return to the worship of Jehovah, said of Israelites who had abandoned it, not properly of Gentiles turning to that worship;
(d) Rosenm comparing Jud_1:15:19 and 1Sa_30:12, explains it in the sense of coming to themselves, reviving.
(2) Keil constructs yashubhu adverbially by a common idiom with yechayyu, and
(a) translates "shalt give life to come again," that is, "Those who sit beneath the shade of Israel, the tree that is bursting into leaf, will revive corn, cause it to return to life, or produce it for nourishment, satiety, and strengthening." Similarly the Vulgate, "sustain life by corn." This, however, must appear tame after the splendid promises that went before.
(b) Vivify; i.e. produce seed like corn, and rejoice in a numerous offspring as from a seed of corn many proceed; according to this, "seed" (rz) must be supplied, and caph of comparison. The added clause agrees with this, for the flourishing of the vine also symbolizes prolific persons. (comp. Psa_128:3) Further, the vine does not always flourish, yet, not like the corn which after harvest ceases and is no more seen, its root remains, and next year grows green and yields its fruit anew. The fame of the wine of Lebanon is celebrated for its taste and fragrance. Kimchi cites Asaph, a physician, as writing that the wine of Lebanon, of Hermon, of Carmel, of the mountains of Israel and Jerusalem and Caphior, surpass all others in flavor, taste, and for medicinal purposes.
Vers. 4-7. These verses describe the happy result of Israel"s penitence and the merciful response to Israel"s prayer.
1. The pardon sought is secured, and that for the greatest sin that of backsliding, and so for all minor trespasses. The acceptance prayed for is presently and plentifully vouchsafed. The dark storm-cloud of God"s wrath is dispersed and dispelled forever.
2. We next learn the fullness of God"s forgiving love and his superabundant mercy to them that trust in him. By the most pleasing figures we are taught what God promises to be to his people; what they themselves become; and what a blessing they prove to others.
I PICTORIAL CHARACTER OF DIVINE TEACHING. We find great variety as well as great beauty in the lessons of the Bible. There is great variety, for all nature, animate and inanimate, is laid under contribution to supply fit illustrations of Divine things; there is great beauty, for the loveliest objects above us, around us, and beneath us are employed for this purpose. In the passage before us there is a cluster of lovely natural objects employed in this manner to set forth spiritual truths with all the reality of nature and all the vividness of life. Here we read of the dew, the deep-rooted and everlasting hill, the lily, the tall tree with umbrageous foliage, the olive ever green, and Lebanon ever fragrant. We read also of the springing corn, the blooming vine, and wine of aromatic odor. These, it must be acknowledged, are beautiful figures, and the facts which they are intended to convey are equally blessed. But what enhances the beauty and the blessedness is the circumstance that the persons to whom these facts and figures have reference are those very persons who had erred and strayed from the Lord their God even Israel who had fallen by their iniquity, Israel who had sadly backslidden, Israel who had grievously provoked the just anger of the Almighty; but Israel repenting and returning, praying and pleading, giving up their false refuges and casting aside their false gods. Oh how cheering and encouraging that God welcomes his erring children to return! Like the father in the parable, he runs to meet the prodigal, he casts the arms of his love around him; he receives the penitent to his fond embrace, laying aside the wrath that had been provoked; he bestows the love that had been undeserved; he forgives the sins that had been committed; he foregoes the punishment that had been incurred; and, physician-like, he heals the backslidings great and manifold.
II SCRIPTURAL APPLICATIONS OF THE DEW. Figurative applications of dew are frequent in Scripture. Sometimes it signifies temporal benefits, as when Isaac blessed his son Jacob, saying, God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine." Sometimes it denotes spiritual blessings, as in the case of Israel, of whom we read," His heavens shall drop down dew. Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the Shield of thy help, and who is the Sword of thy excellency!" Sometimes it implies the reviving power and refreshing nature of the Divine Word, as when Moses the man of God, before he went up to the top of Pisgah and closed his eyes in death, addressed the people in that lovely song in which he says," My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew." Solomon compares the king"s favor to "dew upon the grass." The psalmist compares brotherly love and union and peace to dew. As Hermon"s dew, the dew that doth On Zion hills descend; For there the blessing God commands Life that shall never end.
He also speaks of the children of God who have been born of the Spirit born from above as dew, because Divine light shines in upon them the Divine image is reflected in them, and, like the morning dewdrops, they deck and ornament the wide field of humanity; thus: "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth." In like manner the Prophet Micah, speaking of the conversion of the Jews, and of the benefit which they shall in that day confer upon the rest of the world, and of their blessing to the peoples among whom they have been long scattered, says, "The remnant of Israel shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord." So also Isaiah, in a beautiful and highly poetic passage in which he refers to the resurrection of the dead, says, "Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs." Here God, speaking of himself, says, "I will be as the dew unto Israel.
III PROPERTIES OF THE DEW AS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THIS PROMISE. The first and perhaps most obvious property of the dew is its refreshing quality.
1. This refreshing property is experienced most in the summer months, and especially during a season of drought, like that with which the land of Israel was visited, when, for three years and a half, there was neither rain nor dew. At such a time the ground is dry and parched; vegetation languishes; gardens and meadows and corn-lands are scorched; fields of grain, blades of grass, and leaves of trees wither; fruits and flowers droop. The showers of the sky have been withheld; rain-clouds, it may be, have gathered and darkened and promised much; but they have passed over without the long-hoped-for and much-required rain. Oh, how refreshing at such a juncture is the dew when it comes down copiously on the bosom of the thirsty earth! There it lies like a shower of gems upon the ground, shimmering in the morning sunrise; it covers the surface with pearly beauty. As Morn, her rosy steps in th" Eastern clime Advancing, sows the earth with Orient pearl.
But those dewdrops are as refreshing as they are beautiful: they water to some extent the fields; they invigorate the languishing herbs; they refresh every green thing; they revive the plants and shrubs, the grasses, herbs, and flowers, and lift up their drooping heads; they gladden all nature. The transition from the soil to the soul is easy and not unnatural. What the dew is to the soil, grace is to the soul. In the natural world, where all erewhile was parched and scorched, dry and hard, waste and withered, consequently bleak and bare and barren, abundant dews, largely supplying in Eastern lauds the place of rain, descend; soon new life springs up and revives the half-withered plants and exhausted herbage, new loveliness appears in the leaves of trees and flower-petals. Just so when the grace of God is vouchsafed to the soul, and when the Spirit of God communicates it in rich abundance, new life is imparted to the soul, new energies are awakened, new spiritual vigor manifests itself, and new holy sympathies are developed. Sometimes, too, after the first bestowal of grace and impartation of life, believers may droop and their graces languish; the winds of the wilderness may blow upon us, the drought of the desert may scorch or wither us; in other words, the world, with its trials and temptations, Satan and his snares, sin and its enticements, the flesh and its lusts, all tend to dry up the spiritual affections of the soul, exhaust its energies, and check the heavenly flow of its feelings. Again a fresh communication of the dew of Divine grace is granted, and spiritual greenness springs up afresh and spreads throughout the soul, a renewal of spiritual life ensues, so that we live no longer to self and sin, but to him who died for us; no longer to the world, but are crucified to it; no longer to the flesh to serve it in the lusts thereof.
2. Dew has a fertilizing and fructifying property. Hence the dew is indispensable to germination and growth. Without it the husbandman would labor in vain and spend his strength for naught. He might industriously break up the fallow ground and carefully scatter the seed, but without the moisture of rain or dew the seed sown would neither bud nor grow; so in spiritual husbandry, men may plough and sow, but without the dew of Divine grace there will be no increase. How different when the dew of God"s grace is abundantly bestowed l Then hard hearts are softened, stubborn wills renewed, invitations of the gospel accepted, the warnings of the Divine Word touch the conscience, its instructions impress the heart, awakenings take place in Churches, revivals occur throughout the land. Nay, more, the weakest means become effectual, the simplest instrumentalities powerful; while in individual life the weak Christian is strengthened, the weary is refreshed, the fainting revived, the unlovely spiritually beautified, and the spiritual fruitfulness or virtues of all developed or revived.
3. God"s wise economy of the dew. There is not a single drop of dew formed by the rude hand of chance or made in vain. Neither is there a shrub, or herb, or leaf, or flower, or blade of grass that does not collect as much dew as is needed or its peculiar wants. Grass-lauds and cultivated soils radiate very freely by night the heat which they absorb by day; consequently they cool down speedily and condense plentifully into dew the vapor of the air as it passes over them. Gravel, rocks, barren lands, on the contrary, radiate very slowly and very little heat, so that very little dew forms upon them. Thus there are places where little or no dew falls and which no dew refreshes. There is the barren rock no dew refreshes it; there are the gravel walk and the sandy desert little or no dew is formed, collected, or needed thereon; there is the stone-paved street no dew is needed to moisten it. Exactly so there are hearts so hardened by unbelief that no dew of grace either settles on them or softens them. The seed of Divine truth may be scattered on them from sabbath to sabbath, but it makes no impression on them, and takes no root in them; it lies, it may be, for a little on the surface, then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown thereon. It is not for want of willingness in God to bestow the dew of his grace, or for want of sufficiency in Divine grace, that such is the case; but because the heart has been so hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, the conscience so seared by iniquity, and the whole man so alienated from the life of God, that there is no disposition to receive or profit by the heavenly boon.
IV EFFECTS PRODUCED BY THE DEW OF GOD"S GRACE. The first effect is growth as of the lily.
1. The growth of the lily is rapid as it is beautiful. Here we may consider it as an emblem of beauty. Thus our Lord says, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That oven Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." In a passage in Ezekiel God says to his people, "Thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God." The comeliness to which the prophet refers is the comeliness of the soul. There is nothing so beautiful as holiness; there is no ornament like piety. The earth is beautiful when God adorns it with the bounties of his providence; when he replenishes it with fruit and flower, with grass for the cattle and herb for the service of man; when he carpets its surface with living green, clothing the fields with verdure, and covering the hills with corn. There is beauty in the over-canopying sky, in the bright orbs that sparkle like gems in the firmament. There is beauty in the widespread world of waters, and in the waves that dimple ocean"s cheek. There is beauty twinkling in every star above us, sparkling in the dewdrops at our feet, and shining in every shimmer of noonday splendor. All these testify how beautiful this world once was, and how beautiful it would still be but for sin. There is beauty in the human face divine: there is beauty in the face of fair woman, and beauty of a rougher east in the countenance of man, and beauty, playful, cheerful beauty, in the pretty countenance of childhood. But all the varied beauties of a lovely world are not to be compared with the beauty of holiness. It is a beauty that reflects God"s own image, and by which we resemble Christ. Come, then, O house of Jacob, come, To worship at his shrine; And, walking in the light of God, With holy beauties shine.
There may be beauty in the adorning of the person, in the plaiting of the hair, the wearing of gold, and the putting on of apparel; but the true beauty is the hidden man of the heart in that which is not corruptible, even the beauty of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
1. The next characteristic of this growth is stability. The growth of the lily may be fair or fast, but it soon fades; it may be easily plucked up, and so another figure is added to show the firmness of the believer. He is firmly rooted as well as spiritually fair. Some colors are very beautiful and very showy, but they are not fast colors; they soon fade, they soon lose their vividness. Some plants are very beautiful in their bloom, but weak in their root and soon uptorn. Not so the Christian. He casts forth his roots as Lebanon either as the mountain itself, one of earth"s deep foundations; or as the forest trees, those cedars of God, deeply rooted therein. Thus, with the flower of the lily, the believer has the root of the mountain or of the cedar tree, over which the winds of heaven have swept for centuries. He is fair as the one and firm as the other, for Christ dwells in his heart by faith; he is rooted and grounded in love; he is rooted in Christ and established in the faith, abounding therein with thanksgiving. He is, moreover, "steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord," forasmuch as he knows that his labor is not in vain in the Lord. Besides, as the root of trees draws up nourishment from the ground, so the Christian derives nourishment and strength from Christ; while the union is so close and so constant that nothing can separate him from Christ, nothing can wrench him from that rock in which he is rooted, nothing can detach him from the foundation on which he rests.
2. The next characteristic is expansiveness, as expressed by the words, "His branches shall spread." While his roots spread far and sink deeply into the soil, his branches spread. The application of this promise is to Israel literally, and so to the Church in general, as well as to the individual Christian. The Church of God is destined to grow to a great extent, and to spread her branches widely on every side, sending out "her boughs into the sea, and her branches unto the river," and ultimately to fill the whole earth. The Christian"s growth likewise is expansive. He grows inwardly in the graces of the Spirit, outwardly in good works, upward in heavenly mindedness, and downward in humility. He adds to his faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity. These things are in him and abound, and thus is neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of God and in the doing of the Divine will. Whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy, he thinks on and practices these things. His profiting appears to all, and his holy demeanor is so manifested that he promotes the growth of grace in others, and consequently the progress of the gospel in the world. He resembles the shining light, which continues to spread more widely and to shine more brightly until the perfect day.
3. The next element of this growth is permanence of beauty and abundance of fruit. In addition to the beauty or glory of the lily, the stability of the cedar rooted in Lebanon, or of Lebanon itself, the expansiveness of numerous and magnificent branches, we have also the abiding beauty and rich fruitage of the olive. The beauty of the lily is frail and its glory lading; but the greenness of the olive is perpetual; and as abundance of branches and plenty of leaves may make a show for a time, and suggest the idea of a sort of empty ostentatiousness, the prophet gives a fresh touch to his picture by adding the greenery of the olive, which is lasting, and the fruitfulness of the olive, which is so profitable and for many purposes serviceable enlightenment, nourishment, and embellishment. Thus the psalmist says, "I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever." So also in Jer_11:8 God calls his people a green olive tree, fair and of goodly fruit; such too is the individual believer planted in the garden of the Lord, watered by the dew of heaven, his leaf is ever fresh and his fruit ever seasonable. Even in the winter of adversity the leaf of the righteous is green; in the winter of age they still bear fruit; in the wintry storms of the world their beauty remains like that of the olive tree, ever green, ever fresh, and ever flourishing. The beauty of an evergreen is enhanced, like most other things, by contrast; it appears most when other shrubs and trees are stripped and bared by the wintry blast; it is seen to most advantage when deadness and desolation reign around. In like manner, when the storms of" life, when the decrepitude of age, when the languor of decay, has stripped the mere worldly professor of the leaves of a merely assumed and temporary profession, a profession without reality, then true Christians stand out in striking contrast. Those that within the house of God Are planted by his grace, They shall grow up and flourish all In our God"s holy place: And in old age, when others fade, They fruit still forth shall bring: They shall be fat and full of sap. And aye be flourishing.
4. By the smell of Lebanon is set forth the fragrance of holiness. There is nothing so pleasing to God as holiness proceeding from faith in Christ and love to God. The believers" efforts in the cause of God have a rich perfume; their zeal and devotedness are like ointment poured forth; their spiritual sacrifices send forth the savor of a sweet smell. Thus the children of God are trees of righteousness, God"s own planting, precious in his sight, pleasant and pleasing to God, and to all who love God and are like God. God compares his Church to a garden of spices: "A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphor, with spikenard, spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices.
5. The people or Church of God become a blessing to others, Not only are they blessed themselves, but are made a blessing to others; they benefit all around. Like the pebble dropped into a pool and sending out wavelets to the furthest shore, so the people of God communicate benefits that, may reach to the utmost bound of earth and to the very end of time. Such as are converted through their influence, repenting of sin and returning to God, will join themselves to God"s people and rest under the shadow of God"s Church shall be spiritually fruitful, reviving like the corn, of which a grain when it dies in the earth brings forth many more; and prolific as the vine, which, when pruned, produces many clusters, and each cluster many grapes; while their persons and their services are fragrant and even medicinal spiritually, as the scent of the far-famed wine of Lebanon physically. So with the Church of the old dispensation; so with that of the new; so with God"s Church still.
Vers. 4, 5. Return to God: its immediate effects.
So soon as Israel shall return to Jehovah and offer the foregoing words of self-condemning supplication (vers. 2, 3), they shall receive a glad welcome from him "who delighteth in mercy," and who will not "keep his anger for ever." The first clauses of this answer of blessing remind us that there are three results of religious revival which begin to be experienced at once. These are "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ," in the form of healing; "the love of God," in the gift of positive and full salvation; "and the communion of the Holy Ghost," as manifested in the enjoyment of Divine influence. The answer corresponds to the prayer of the penitents, only that the blessings promised are even larger and richer than those which have been asked.
I SPIRITUAL HEALING. "I will heal their backsliding" (ver. 4); or rather, "their falling away; their apostasy." The Lord will remove the injuries which his people"s apostasy has brought upon them, and will cure them of the malignant disease itself. This blessing of healing includes
(1) the forgiveness of sin;
(2) deliverance from its pollution;
(3) the cure of the tendency to backslide; and
(4) removal of the chastisements and sorrows which past guilt has entailed.
How does God heal all these wounds? He does so by the application of the blood of Christ. That blood is the one unfailing salve for the sinner"s conscience and heart, and it procures also his redemption from all future evil. All men, Jew and Gentile alike, who accept the gospel message, receive such healing in our time; and in "the latter days" this gracious promise shall be completely fulfilled in the national conversion of Israel, as well as in the "coming in" of "the fullness of the Gentiles.
II FULL SALVATION. "I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him" (ver. 4). Jehovah"s wrath being gone, and his people"s apostasy healed, his generous love is now free to go forth without restraint. He finds in his people themselves, it is true, no cause why he should love them. In himself the backsliding sinner is repulsive and unlovely; and the only acceptable gift which he can bring when he returns is merely feelings and words" (ver. 2). But, as a mother"s love for her child is not based upon the child"s character, or upon the return which he makes for her goodness, so also love is instinctive and natural to the Divine heart. He loves freely," or spontaneously, just because he himself "is love." The Lord heals his people"s backslidings by discovering anew to their souls the greatness of his tender mercy towards them. His wonderful love leads him first to be the soul"s Physician, and then to become its Husband. His free favor bestows upon the healed one the health of holiness, and continues to be the springing well-head of the believer"s salvation.
III DIVINE INFLUENCE. "I will be as the dew unto Israel" (ver. 5). This promise announces the reversal of the curse of barrenness recorded in Hos_13:15. We think of Jehovah as being "the dew" in connection with the gracious operations of his Spirit. He rewards the prayer and the life of penitence, and evinces his free love to his people, by the gift of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. There are many points of analogy between the descent of the dew and the work of the Spirit. The Divine dew, like the natural, is:
1. Mysterious and heavenly. It has its source high above us The falling of the dew is independent of man"s skill and power; (Mic_5:7 Job_38:28) much less are the workings of grace the result of any human process. (Joh_3:3-8)
2. Gentle and silent. No one sees or hears the dew falling, and experience alone has taught man that it is really an important force of nature. Similarly the grace of the Spirit "cometh not with observation". (Luk_17:20) It works on in secrecy, and becomes visible only in its beneficent results upon character and life.
3. Abundant. In Palestine the dew is so copious as to compensate to some extent for the absence of rain. The Divine dew, in like manner, is often seen to be most abundant, especially in a time of religious revival. The work of the Spirit may influence for much good an entire Church, or even a whole nation, so as to enrich its life as a Christian community.
4. Penetrative. The dew pierces the soil, and insinuates itself into the fibers of every herb and plant; so the Holy Ghost, using the Divine Word, "pierces even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit", (Heb_4:12) and searches through the whole nature of man, to purify and bless it.
5. Given daily. "The grace of God, like the dew, is not given once for all, but is day by day waited for, and day by day renewed. Yet doth it not pass away, like the fitful goodness of God"s former people, (Hos_6:4) but turns into the growth and spiritual substance of those on whom it descends" (Pusey).
6. Refreshing and fertilizing. The dew produces verdure and fruitfulness. So the constant presence of the Holy Spirit within the soul and in the Church is essential to spiritual freshness and usefulness. The clauses that follow (vers. 5-8) show that this is the main point of the emblem as employed here, and trace with exceeding beauty of poetic diction the results of the Lord"s gracious activity when he comes "as the dewy He shall so come in "the last days blessed be his Name! Israel," i.e. to his ancient people; and not to them only, but to the whole Israel of God, of every nation, who follow spiritually in the footsteps of Abraham.
LESSONS.
1. Apostasy is a malignant soul-malady, which, if not arrested by the great Healer, will lead to final perdition. If we would be preserved from it, we must avoid habits of backsliding.
2. What a ground of hope to the penitent, and of comfort to the believer, is the "freeness" or spontaneity of the Divine love!
3. The absolute dependence of the individual and the Church upon the work of the Holy Spirit. C.J.
Gracious assurances.
As the father was forward to meet and to welcome the returning prodigal, so our heavenly Father is ever anxious and ready to console and to restore the wandering sinner who repents, confesses, and deplores his transgressions, and casts himself upon Divine compassion. The assurances of this verse must have been comforting to Israel; they have been comforting to multitudes who have sought in the Word of God some consolation for their burdened and penitent spirits.
I DIVINE ANGER IS AVERTED.
1. The displeasure of God with sin and with the sinner is a fact in the moral government of the universe which it would be folly to overlook. God is angry, i.e. with the wicked, every day.
2. Yet God delights not in wrath, but in mercy. Hence the provision in the gospel of redemption from the curse of the Law. It is not by any interposition from without; it is by the exercise of his own wisdom and clemency, that the great Judge of all lays aside his anger. The penitent and believing sinner is the object of the compassion of a God of righteousness and love.
II HUMAN DEFECTION AND DISOBEDIENCE ARE OVERLOOKED AND FORGIVEN. "Backsliding" is an expression which implies that privileges and blessings have in the past been enjoyed, but then misused. Such was the case with Israel; the sin was the greater because it was sin against light and knowledge, against favor and forbearance. The grace of God is sufficient not as in the olden times, to deal with cases of defection and apostasy. These are regarded as malignant spiritual diseases; but they are not beyond the healing power of the great Physician. The virtue of the Savior"s blood, the efficacy of the Spirit"s purifying energy, are sufficient even for a case apparently so hard and hopeless as this supposed. None need despair who "truly repents, and unfeignedly believes Christ"s holy gospel.
III THE LOVE OF GOD ENRICHES HEARTS LONG AND PAINFULLY ESTRANGED. The promise here uttered is beyond our highest expectations. Forbearance and forgiveness do not, among men, necessarily imply the bestowal of friendship, of love. But God"s ways are not our ways. He is not satisfied simply to annul a sentence of condemnation, to remit a merited penalty. He reveals the tenderness of a fatherly heart rejoicing over the restoration of those long alienated. He completes the work of recovery by manifesting his love towards those whom he pardons and accepts. The freedom and generosity of this Divine love are specially mentioned; and may well awaken the wonder and admiration of the ransomed and. restored.
APPLICATION. What gratitude, affection, and devotion are due from pardoned and accepted sinners towards him who is not satisfied merely to heal, but who condescends to love! T.
Vers. 4-8. God"s response to the penitent.
Israel"s repentance will be followed by the turning away of God"s anger, and by superabundant blessings. Figures are heaped on each other, and one figure is employed to fill in another, to set forth the fullness with which this blessing will descend. The prophecy, hitherto so dark and troubled, ends in heavenly peace.
I BACKSLIDING HEALED. (Ver. 4) No time is lost in answering Israel"s prayer. Forgiveness follows close upon return. So David also found it: "I said, I will confess my transgression unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin". (Psa_32:5) The penitent need not fear being kept long waiting at the door of mercy. (cf. Luk_15:20-24) God:
1. Turns away his anger. "For mine anger is turned away from him." Terrible to him who realizes it is the thought of lying under the Divine anger. Infinite things are to be hoped for from God"s love. Infinite things are to be dreaded from his wrath. We dread the anger of fellow-men. Much more should we dread to be the objects of the anger of the Omnipotent. "Fear not them which kill the body," Christ says, "but are not able to kill the soul," etc. (Mat_10:28) Just, however, because God"s anger is so terrible, is it a blessed thing to know, as every pardoned sinner may, that this anger is turned away. "O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me". (Isa_12:1) If God s anger is turned away from us, there is nothing else we need fear. And under the gospel it is turned away from every one who believes in Christ.
2. Restores his love. "I will love them freely." The love is free as being
(1) spontaneous,
(2) unbought,
(3) unlimited in measure.
God loves the redeemed with the same love which he bears to his Son. He rejoices in his love towards them. As it is the nature of the sun to shine, so it is the nature of God to love. Judgment is his strange work, but love is the proper exercise of his being. The gospel is the manifestation of love. Salvation is the triumph of love. God rejoices more over one lost sheep brought back to him than over the ninety and nine that went not astray. He sheds his love abroad in his people"s heart. (Rom_5:5)
3. Heals their backsliding. "I will heal their backsliding." He heals the wounds made by sin, (cf. Hos_6:1) both the spiritual wounds, and the wounds resulting from temporal chastisements. He revokes the curse. He restores prosperity. He gives compensations for past sorrow. Often, when wounds are healed, the scar remains. Even the sinner, though repentant, is not in this life relieved from all the consequences of his transgressions. He has to suffer both in soul and body for past indulgence in vice. But when God heals Israel, no scar remains. And all scars will be removed in eternity.
II THE DEW TO ISRAEL. (Ver. 5) God will be as the dew to Israel.
1. He himself will be as the dew. It is not merely his blessing which he gives; it is himself. He comes in his Spirit. He came first in the Son; and, now that Christ has ascended, he comes in the Holy Ghost.
2. The dew is copious. It was so in the East even more than it is with us. It lay thick and soaking on the herbage. Every tree, every twig, every leaflet, every blade of grass, every flower, received its abundant portion. Thus is it with grace. The Spirit will be poured out in the latter days yet more plentifully.
3. The dew is a source of manifold blessing.
1. It refreshes;
2. it revives;
3. it promotes growth;
4. it beautifies;
5. it increases fragrance.
So God"s Spirit is a reviving, refreshing, fructifying, beautifying, and sanctifying power in the soul. It gladdens, comforts, enriches, gives sweetness and fragrance to the character.
4. This dew is not, like Israels goodness, evanescent. It does not pass away. (cf. Hos_6:4) It is not merely a thing of the dawn. Or, rather, it is ever morning with the soul to which this dew is given. It flourishes in perpetual youth.
III LIFE AND FRUIT. (Vers. 5-7) These figures from the vegetable world are used to fill out the different aspects of the prosperity which God would bestow on Israel. All are emblems of life, and fitly symbolize the life of grace. The features represented are:
1. Lily-like purity and beauty. "He shall grow as the lily." The lily is white, pure, delicate, fragile. It symbolizes innocence, purity, spiritual beauty. Grace bestows a rare sweetness and refinement. Nothing is more fair than a pure soul.
2. Cedar-like strength. "His roots as Lebanon." The lily, though graceful, has a weak root. But God would have his people "rooted and grounded" in faith and love not easily shaken or removed. (1Co_15:58 Eph_3:17 Col_1:23) The cedar is an emblem, not merely of strength, but of stateliness (majesty), immovability, uprightness.
3. Spreading magnificence. "His branches shall spread." Depth of root leads to wide-spreading branches. The life of grace has breadth and expansiveness as well as depth and growth upwards.
4. Olive-like freshness. "His beauty shall be as the olive tree." "Like a green olive tree in the house of God". (Psa_52:8; cf. Psa_92:14) Fresh, unfading, evergreen, fruit-bearing.
5. Widely diffused fragrance. "His smell as Lebanon" Character has its aroma. Cf. what Christ says of Mary of Bethany; (Mat_26:13) what Paul says of Epaphroditus. (Php_4:18) The renown of good deeds flows forth like spices.
6. Fruitfulness. "They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine; the scent "glory thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon." Corn and wine are symbols of the highest material blessings of plenty, comfort, nourishment, invigoration, joy. The soul possessed by grace is at once fed with bread of heaven, and becomes itself a fruit-producer. In holy deeds, in useful service, in efforts for the advancement of the kingdom of God, in the cherishing of noble and God-like affections, it yields both corn and wine.
IV EPHRAIM AND GOD. (Ver. 8)
1. God"s goodness confirms Ephraim in his renunciation of idols. "Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols?" This time the goodness is not abused. It does not make Ephraim haughty. It does not lead him to forget God. He no longer attributes his prosperity to Baal. Taught by experience, he loves God more the more God bestows on him.
2. Ephraim"s renewed vows are observed by God. "I have heard him, and observed him." God takes notice of every stage of our advance in grace. He takes pleasure in our progress, m our renewed vows, in our deepening consecration.
3. Ephraim, as the result of his renewed vows, becomes yet more fruitful. "I am like a green fir cypress tree. From me is thy fruit found." The first words are (as we understand them) Ephraim"s; the last words are God"s. The cypress is an evergreen, but it does net bear fruit. God, however, will give fruit to Ephraim as well as unfadingness.
(1) Ephraim derives his fruit from God. His fruit is spiritual. It is only as he abides in God that he is able to bring forth fruit at all.
(2) Ephraim "finds" his fruit in God. Fruitfulness is maintained by active fellowship, by constant trust, waiting, watchfulness, and prayer. "Abide in me," Christ says. (Joh_15:4) "Without me," he adds, "ye can do nothing" (ver. 5). J.O.
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 I will heal their backsliding.
Hos_14:4
I will heal their backsliding.
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The awful stale of backsliders
In the history of the Israelites there is no feature more striking than their frequent rebellions and backslidings. It is amazing to think that a nation which had witnessed such signal interposition of the Divine power in their behalf could be found backsliding to such a degree. Oh, the unfathomable depths of Divine compassion! God has mercy to heal the backslidings of His people.
I. The case of the backslider. It is the most awful to be found within the pale of the professing Christian Church. There is a wide difference between his case and that of the unawakened and unconverted sinner. For a man to become an apostate; to relapse into deliberate sin; with all his light, knowledge, and advantages, to sin openly and wilfully,--what ingratitude is implied in this, what treachery and baseness! The most awful condition on this side hell is that of him whose once awakened conscience is now seared as with a hot iron; whose once melted heart is turned into worse than its original flintiness; whose once enlightened mind is given over to judicial blindness. Yet even such a case is not beyond the reach of Divine compassion. To human eyes it is indeed incurable. It is a cancer which spreads its fibres through the entire system, the disease which mocks at human cures. But God says, I will heal their backsliding.
II. The means God employs in healing the backslider. He is not limited in the selection or use of means; but He acts, generally speaking, by bringing the backslider into the wilderness of affliction, and by turning the idol which seduced him away from his God, into his scourge. It may be the idol of sensual pleasure, of fame, or of gold. By and by he will awaken to a full sense of his danger and misery. His God forsaken, his Saviour betrayed, his hopes of heaven blasted! He let go the substance to grasp at the shadow. The idol which led him from God has become his curse. As he journeys on in this wilderness, in despair and wretchedness, thinking he has turned his back for ever on happiness and peace, then it is that a new and unexpected prospect bursts upon his sight! An unthought of opening presents itself. Through the long vista he catches a glimpse of a bright and glorious expanse. God gives him his vineyards from these. The valley of Achor becomes a door of hope. God brings the backslider to himself by another route than he ever thought of. Let us remember, for our own warning and heart-searching, that there may be many a backslider in heart, where there is no open and manifest defection from the ways of godliness. (Denis Kelly, B. A.)
The Lords healing
Their alienation was not only offensive to God, it was also hurtful to themselves. It had brought spiritual malady upon them. Jehovah assumes the function of healer, and He expects what He promises. The God whom they had offended does not suffer them to perish, nor spurn them away as loathsome; but He revives and quickens them. The gangrene disappears, and they return to soundness and health, with the assured prospect of coming at length to the fulness of the stature of perfect men. (John Eadie, D. D. , LL. D.)
Blacksliding healed
In this verse is set down an answer to that prayer, repentance, and reformation which the Church made. Where God doth give a spirit of prayer, He will answer. God answers exactly unto all that is prayed for, beginning first with the ground of all comfort, the forgiveness of sins. Backsliding is an aggravation of sin. Sins rank thus--
1. Sins of ignorance.
2. Sins of infirmity.
3. Sins against knowledge.
4. Sins against the Holy Ghost.
In that Gods promise is I will heal, observe that sin is a wound and a disease. Sin, as disease, arises either from ourselves, as we have a seminary of them in our own hearts; or from the infection and contagion of others; or from Satan, who hath society with our spirits. In regard to its effects, sin is like a disease. Diseases neglected breed death; they become incurable. This is the end of sin, either to end in a good despair, or in a fruitless, barren despair. How may we know that we are sick of this sickness and disease of sin? If the soul be inflamed with revenge and anger, that soul is certainly diseased: the temper of the soul is according to the passions thereof. If a man cannot relish good diet, then we count him a sick man; so when a man cannot relish holy discourse, nor the ordinances of God. A man may know there is a deadly sickness upon the soul, when he is senseless of his wounds; and senseless of that which passeth from them. A man is desperately soul-sick when oaths, lies, and deceitful speeches pass from him, and yet he is senseless of them. Let us know and consider, that no man who lives in sins unrepented of and uncured is to be envied, be he never so great. Let there be no dallying with sin. God is the great physician of the soul. Healing implies taking away--
1. The guilt of sin, which is the venom of it, by justification.
2. The rage of sin, which is the spreading of it, by sanctification.
3. The removing of the judgment upon our estate.
Sense of pardon only comes after sight, sense, weariness, and confession of sin. Let us remember this, lest we deceive our souls. (R. Sibbes, D. D.)
Backsliding
This word imports a departing or a turning away again from God. It is quite contrary, in the formal nature of it, to faith and repentance, and implies that which the apostle calls a repenting of repentance. For a man, having approved of Gods ways, and entered into covenant with Him, after this to go from his word, and fling up his bargain, and start aside like a deceitful bow; of all other dispositions of the soul, this is one of the worst; to deal with our sins as Israel did with their servants, dismiss them and then take them again (Jer_34:10-11). It is the sad fruit of an evil and unbelieving heart. Yet God says, I will heal their backslidings. To understand this aright, we are to know that there is a twofold apostasy.
1. An apostasy arising out of impotency of affection and prevalency of lust, drawing the heart to look toward the old pleasures thereof again: it is a recidivation or relapse into a former sinful condition out of forgetfulness and falseness of heart, for want of the fear of God to balance the conscience and to fix and unite the heart to Him. Though exceedingly dangerous, yet God is sometimes pleased to forgive and to heal this disease.
2. An apostasy which is proud and malicious, when, after they have tasted the good Word of God, men set themselves to hate, oppose, and persecute godliness, to do despite unto the Spirit of grace, to fling off the holy strictness of Christs yoke. Observe
(1) We should beware of backsliding, above all other sins.
(2) We should not be so terrified by any sin, which our soul mourns and labours under, and our heart turns from, as thereby to be withheld from going to the Physician for pardon and healing. (Jeremiah Burroughs.)
I will love them freely.
Gods promise of forgiveness
We observe Gods acknowledgment or consideration of all the three points embraced in the supplication of the truly penitent. God healeth in four different ways, and each mode embraces all the others.
1. By a gracious pardon.
2. By a spiritual and effectual reformation, by enabling, us to walk in newness of life, by making us holy, even as He is holy.
3. By removing judgments which sin brought upon the sufferer, whether nationally or individually.
4. By comforting. This mode of restoring health to the soul is one of Christs principal works. The Lord is very minute and distinct in marking every article in the penitents prayer. Ephraim not only besought mercy to have all his iniquity taken away, but also that He who took away all sin, should, at the same time, receive good gifts in his behalf. Jehovah, accordingly, does not only promise, I will heal their backsliding, but proceeds to say moreover, I will love them freely. This is the fundamental principle of Gospel truth. Ephraim gave a reason for his entire dependence, henceforth and for ever, upon the Lord, which was, For in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy. We can do nothing on our part to obtain the mercy vouchsafed unto us; for God said, I will love them freely. It is out of mans power to deserve Gods love. Another consideration must be borne in mind, not to incur Gods wrath again. (Moses Margoliouth, B. A.)
The free grace of God
Here the heart of our Heavenly Father is opened to us in the declarations of His free, royal, and incomprehensible mercy. This as far surpasses our sins and sinfulness as His self-existent Godhead does our creature capacities.
1. The Lords free grace in healing the backsliding of His people.
2. The manner in which this is made known to them.
3. The way and means by which they receive the inward sense and benefit thereof. (Samuel Eyles Pierce.)
Loving freely
St. Austin says, Those that are to petition great persons, they will obtain some who are skilful to frame their petitions; lest by their unskilfulness they provoke anger, instead of carrying away the benefit desired. So it is here with Gods people, being to deal with the great God, and not being able to frame their own petitions. God answers them graciously with the same mercies which He had suggested them to ask. His answer is full, I will love them freely. This He does because--
1. It is His name and nature to be gracious.
2. No creature can deserve anything at Gods hands.
God did not then begin to love them, when He said, I will love them freely, but to discover that love which He carried unto them from all eternity. Whatsoever is in God (manifested in time) is eternal and everlasting in Him, without beginning or ending; for whatsoever is in God, is God. His love, discovered in time, must needs be from all eternity. This free love and favour of God is the cause of all other mercies and free favours, whereby He discovereth His love unto us.
1. It is the cause of election.
2. Of vocation.
3. Of forgiveness of sins.
4. Of the grace of love.
5. Of justification, sanctification, etc.
6. Of eternal life.
If we would have God to manifest His free love to us, let us strive to be obedient to His commandments, and stir up our hearts by all means to love Him, who hath so freely loved us. The reason for the discovery of this love is thus given. For Mine anger is turned away from him. There is anger in God against sin: because there is an antipathy between Him and sin. Gods anger is the special thing in afflictions. Judgments are called Gods anger. God will turn away His anger upon repentance. It is His nature to do so. Learn to observe Gods truth in the performance of His gracious promises. (R. Sibbes, D. D.)
Loving freely
The word means, impelled thereto by himself alone, and so (as used of God), moved by His own essential bountifulness, the exceeding greatness of His goodness. God loves us freely in loving us against our deserts, because He is love. He loves us freely, in that He became man, and having become man freely shed His blood for the remission of our sins, freely forgave our sins. He loves us freely, in giving us grace, according to the good pleasure of His will, to become pleasing to Him, and causing all good in us; He loves us freely in rewarding infinitely the cod which we have from Him. More manifestly here speaketh the person of tee Saviour Himself, promising His own coming to the salvation of penitents, with sweetly sounding promise, with sweetness full of grace. (E. B. Pusey, D. D.)
The promises of God for the comfort and encouragement of the penitent
I. I will heal their backslidings. Sin is the malady, of the soul. Here is the assurance that it shall not be fatal. Healing denotes recovery from the disease. The condemnation shall be removed, and the dominion of sin subdued.
II. I will love them freely. Which implies conferring upon them everything good and desirable.
III. I will be as the dew. God will visit the souls of His penitent people with His refreshing grace and sanctifying Spirit. In consequence they shall flourish and increase in know ledge and goodness, adorning their religious profession, and appearing before the world in the beauty of holiness.
1. Dew refreshes the face of nature.
2. Dew makes the ground fruitful.
The soul shall become as a fair and fragrant garden, as a comely and flourishing plantation.
IV. He shall grow as the lily, etc. All the excellences of the vegetable world are here collected to express the effects produced by the dew of Gods grace on the penitents soul; beauty, fragrancy, vigour (or strength), and fertility. The salutary influence of Gods blessings should reach surrounding nations. (S. Knight, M. A.)
Privileges of the pardoned soul
Were it not then the wisest course to begin with making our peace, and then we may soon lead a happy life? It is said, he that gets out of debt grows rich; most sure it is, that the pardoned soul cannot be poor; for as soon as the peace is concluded, a free trade is opened between God, and the soul. If once pardoned, we may then sail to any port that lies in God s dominions, and be welcome; where all the promises stand open with their treasure, and say: Here, poor soul, take full lading in of all precious things, even as much as thy faith can bear and carry away. (J. Spencer.)
Love for the unlovely
The greatest sins do most and best set off the freeness and the riches of Gods grace; there is nothing that makes heaven and earth to ring and sound out His praise so much as the fixing of His love upon those who are most unlovely and uncomely, the bestowing of Himself upon those who have given away themselves from Him. (Thomas Brooks.)
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_14:4.] Promise of mercy follows. First heal all injury…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Hos_14:4.] Promise of mercy follows. First heal all injury caused by apostasy. Freely] Gratuitously and with perfect spontaneity (Eze_16:60-63). “The word means impelled thereto by Himself alone, and so moved by His own essential bountifulness, the exceeding greatness of His goodness, largely, bountifully” [Puscy].
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HOMILETICS
HEALTH AND DIVINE FAVOUR.—Hos_14:4
In response to penitential return to God, he will heal the wounds of his people and bestow upon them the blessings of his grace.
I. We have health. “I will heal their backsliding.”
1. The disease. “Backsliding.” All sin is a disease; backsliding is the most dangerous. It endangers present holiness, joy, and usefulness, and imperils the future. It begins almost imperceptibly, first in the heart, then in the closet, and then in the Church. Private prayer loses its relish, spiritual enjoyments cease, and then the means of grace are neglected. As a sheep that wanders from the fold never seeks to return, so the backslider “wanders on still more and more astray,” till the Divine shepherd brings him back. “If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”
2. The cure. “I will heal.” Apostasy is no ordinary wound, but God can heal it. (a) By the pardon of sin. The blood of Christ cleanses from all sin. (b) By removing the effects of sin. Taking away its guilt, power, and dominion; destroying the bent, the tendency within us to go back. (c) By restoring to all good. God himself and lost comfort are regained. The cure is efficient. It is restoration to perfect soundness. The cure is certain. “I will heal.” God is a physician that never fails. Cases helpless and hopeless can be healed by him. Christ cured most desperate diseases, so backsliding children may be restored, “For I am the Lord that healeth thee.” II. We have Divine favour. “I will love them.”
1. Anger is turned away! “Mine anger is turned away from him.” God is displeased with sin, but his anger will be turned away from those who repent. This is a proof and an assurance of his love. The clouds with which a guilty conscience covers God shall disperse, and sunshine beam forth in brightness and beauty again.
2. Love is manifest. “I will love them.” (a) Love in its widest scope. “Them.” Who? Moralists and worldly respectable? No! but those who have despised his authority and trifled with former mercies. Backsliders from God. (b) Love in its gracious nature. “Freely.” Spontaneously and liberally, because he will love. Freely, without money and without price; freely, without inducement and without merit; freely, without reluctance and stint. (c) Love in its loftiest source. “I will love them.” God is love—pure, unchanging benignity, the fountain, the fulness of love. A word to the sinner—God loves thee. A direction to the penitent—believe and return to God. To the Christian—“love so amazing, so Divine, demands thy soul, thy life, thy all.”
GRACE ABOUNDING.—Hos_14:4
This sentence is a body of divinity in miniature. The sense hinges upon the word “freely.” Here is the glorious, the suitable, the Divine way by which love streams from heaven to earth. In the text we have two great doctrines. I will announce, establish, and apply the first.
I. The first great doctrine is this, that there is nothing in man to attract the love of God to him. We have to establish this doctrine. Our first argument is found in the origin of that love. Our second, that the whole plan of Divine goodness is entirely opposed to the old covenant of works. Thirdly, the substance of God’s love, clearly proves that it cannot be man’s goodness which makes God love him. Remember, further, the objects of God’s love, and we shall soon see that it could not be anything in them which constrains God to love them. We are informed in Scripture that the love of God and the fruit of the love of God are a gift. But what practical use of this doctrine? It offers comfort to those who do not feel fit to come to Christ. The text is a death-blow to all kinds of fitness and unworthiness. It invites backsliders to return. The text specially written for them.
II. Nothing in man can be an effectual bar to God’s love. If anything in man to bar God’s grace, then this would have been a hindrance to its coming to any of the human race, it would have prevented the salvation of those undoubtedly saved, it would mar the sovereignty of God, be a great slur upon the grace of God, and detract glory from the gospel. The love of God has provided means to meet the extremest case. They are twofold—the power of Christ and the power of the Spirit Spurgeon].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 14
Hos_14:4. “We would always look hopefully at a sinner under correction. For surely so long as the physician administers the medicine there is no ground for despondency” [Bridges]. “Consumption, when it once comes to be really consumption, is beyond all doubt utterly incurable by ordinary medicine; and though many remedies may assist the sufferer and prolong his life, yet, as a rule, consumption is the herald of death; and so backsliding is incurable by any human means, and would be the forerunner of total apostasy were it not for Divine grace” [Spurgeon].
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh is speaking.
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I will heal their turning away
Stopping the people from turning away from God is spoken of as if he were healing them. (See: Metaphor)
their turning away
The failure of the people to obey God is spoken of as if they had physically turned away from him. (See: Metaphor)
I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily
God is spoken of as if he were dew that brought needed moisture to plants, and Israel is spoken of as if it were one person, and as if he were a flower that could blossom. (See: Simile and Metaphor)
take root like a cedar in Lebanon
The picture of Israel in the form of a plant is continued here, but this time in the form of a tall cedar tree in Lebanon, which was known for such trees. (See: Simile)
His branches will spread out ... like the cedars in Lebanon
This passage continues the same image. (See: Simile)
translationWords
cure
turn
love
Israel
cedar
Lebanon
olive
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 14:4 Then I will heal you: Healing by God…
14:4 Then I will heal you: Healing by God is the only solution for the disease of sin. The Lord heals all our diseases, both physical and spiritual (Ps 103:3).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.