Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Hosea
Book: Hosea
Chapter: 6
Overview:
An exhortation to
Repentance.
(1-3) Israel's instability and
Breach of the
Covenant.
(4-11)
1-3 Those who have gone from
God By consent, and in a body,
drawing one another to
Sin, should,
By consent and in a body,
return to him, which will be for his
Glory, and their good. It
will be of great use for support under
Afflictions, and to
encourage our
Repentance, to keep up good thoughts of
God, and
of his purposes and designs concerning us. Deliverance out of
trouble should be to them as
Life from the dead.
God will revive
them: the
Assurance of this should engage them to return to him.
But this seems to have a further reference to the resurrection
of
Jesus Christ. Let us admire the
Wisdom and
Goodness of God,
that when the
Prophet foretold the deliverance of the
Church out
of her troubles, he should point out our
Salvation By Christ;
and now these words are fulfilled in the
Resurrection of Christ,
it confirms our
Faith, that this is He that should come and we
are to look for
No other. Here is a precious blessing promised;
this is
Life eternal, to know
God. The returns of the favour of
God are secured to us as firmly as the return of the morning
after a dark night. He shall come to us as the latter and former
Rain unto the
Earth, which refreshes it, and makes it fruitful.
The
Grace of
God in
Christ is both the latter and the former
Rain; and
By it the good work of our
Fruit-bearing is begun and
carried
On. And as the
Redeemer was raised from the
Grave,
So
will He revive the hearts and hopes of all that trust in him.
The feeblest glimpse of
Hope in his
Word, is a sure
Earnest of
increasing
Light and comfort, which shall be attended with
purifying, comforting
Grace that makes fruitful.
4-11 Sometimes
Israel and
Judah seemed disposed to repent under
their sufferings, but their
Goodness vanished like the empty
morning
Cloud, and the early
Dew, and they were as vile as ever.
Therefore the
Lord sent awful messages
By the prophets. The
Word
of
God will be the
Death either of the
Sin or of the sinner.
God
desired
Mercy rather than
Sacrifice, and that knowledge of him
which produces holy fear and
Love. This exposes the folly of
those who trust in outward observances, to make up for their
want of
Love to
God and
Man. As
Adam broke the
Covenant of
God
in
Paradise,
So Israel had broken his national
Covenant,
notwithstanding all the favours they received.
Judah also was
ripe for Divine judgments. May the
Lord Put his fear into our
hearts, and set up his kingdom within us, and never leave us to
ourselves, nor suffer us to be overcome
By Temptation.