Osea 12:14 Commento

In this chapter we have, I. A high charge drawn up against both Israel and Judah for their sins, which were the ground of God's controversy with them (Hos 12:1, Hos 12:2). Particularly the sin of fraud and injustice, which Ephraim is charged with (Hos 12:7), and justifies himself in (Hos 12:8). And the sin of idolatry (Hos 12:11), by which God is provoked to contend with them (Hos 12:14). II. The aggravations of the sins they are charged with, taken from the honour God put upon their father Jacob (Hos 12:3-5), the advancement of them into a people from low and mean beginnings (Hos 12:12, Hos 12:13), and the provision he had made them of helps for their souls by the prophets he sent them (Hos 12:10). III. A call to the unconverted to turn to God (Hos 12:6). IV. An intimation of mercy that God had in store for them (Hos 12:9).

INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA 12 This chapter contains complaints and charges both against Israel and Judah, and threatens them with punishment in case they repent not, which they are exhorted to: and first Ephraim is charged with idolatry, vain confidence in, and alliances with, foreign nations, Hos 12:1; and then the Lord declares he has a controversy with Judah, and will punish the inhabitants of it for their sins, Hos 12:2; which are aggravated by their being the descendants of so great a man as Jacob, who got the advantage of his elder brother, had much power with God, and received favours from him, and they also, Hos 12:3; and therefore are exhorted to turn to God, wait on him, and do that which is right and good, Hos 12:6. Ephraim is again in his turn charged with fraudulent dealing in trade, and with oppression, and the love of it; and yet pretended he got riches by his own labour, without wronging any, Hos 12:7; nevertheless, the Lord promises them public ordinances of worship, and joy in them, and the ministry of his prophets, Hos 12:9; though for the present they were guilty of gross idolatry, Hos 12:11; which is aggravated by the raising of Jacob their progenitor from a low estate, and the wonderful preservation of him, and the bringing of them out of Egypt, Hos 12:12; and the chapter is closed with observing Ephraim's bitter provocation of God, for which his reproach should return unto him, and his blood be left upon him, Hos 12:14.

Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly,.... The Vulgate Latin version supplies it, me; that is, God, as Kimchi; or his Lord, as it may be supplied from the last clause of the verse; the sense is the same either way: it was God that Ephraim or the ten tribes provoked to stir up his wrath and vengeance against them; notwithstanding all the favours that they and their ancestors had received from him, they provoked him in a most bitter manner, to bitter anger, vehement wrath and fury: or, "with bitternesses" (n); with their sins, which are in their own nature bitter, displeasing to God; and in their effects bring bitterness and death on those that commit them; meaning particularly their idolatry, and all belonging to it; their idols, high places, altars, &c. The word here used is rendered "high heaps" (o), Jer 31:21; and is here by Kimchi interpreted of altars, with which, and their sacrifices on them, they provoked the Lord to anger: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him; the blood of innocent persons, prophets, and other good men shed by him; the sin of it shall be charged upon him, and he shall bear the punishment of it. So the Targum, "the fault of innocent blood which he shed shall return upon him:'' or "his own blood shall be poured out upon him" (p); in just retaliation for the blood of others shed by him, and for all the blood sired by him in idolatrous sacrifices, and other bloody sins; or his own blood being shed by the enemy shall remain upon him unrevenged; God will not punish those that shed it: and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him: that is, as he has reproached the prophets of the Lord for reproving him for his idolatry, and reproached fire Lord himself, by revolting from him, and neglecting his worship, and preferring the worship of idols to him; so, as a just recompence, he shall be delivered up into the hands of the enemy, and become a reproach, a taunt, and a proverb, in all places into which he shall be brought. God is called "his Lord", though he had rebelled against him, and shook off his yoke, and would not obey him; yet, whether he will or not, he is his Lord, and will show himself to be so by his sovereignty and authority over him, and by the judgments exercised on him. Some understand this of the Assyrian king, become his lord, by taking and carrying him captive, the instrument in God's hand of bringing him to reproach; but the former sense seems best. (n) "amaritudinibus", Pagninus, Vatablus, Piscator, Schmidt. (o) And is so understood by R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 64. 1. (p) , Sept. so Syr. & Ar. "ideo sanguis ejus super eum diffundetur, sive effundetur", Zanchius. Next: Hosea Chapter 13

"Ephraim has provoked me to anger with his bitter words; his blood will be on him, and his Lord will repay him for his contempt." Likewise Septuagint. Therefore when I had so helped Ephraim that I had led the naked, the exiled and the lonely to a rich and a masterful Lord, and had made him the parent of many sons, Ephraim deserted me, indeed provoked me to anger: and with his bitterness made bitter what was sweet. Whence his blood will come upon him, that is, he will be the cause of his own death, according to what David says to him who reported to him the death of Saul, and remembered that he had killed the king of Israel: "Your blood be upon your own head" (2 Kings 1:16). Not my opinion, but the blood of Saul (i.e. "Al" for Saul) will be spilled because of your blood. And what follows: "And the Lord will restore his reproach to him," is consistent with the meaning spoken by Nathan to David: "Because you have blasphemed the enemies of the Lord's name, because of this" (1 Kings 12), that is, because of this sin in which you killed Uriah, the blasphemy and reproach itself, by which the Lord was blasphemed, will be turned on your head. Always heretics provoke the merciful Lord to anger, and they who prefer the repentance of the sinner to death, force to punish the hardness of their own hearts, and their blood, with which they have shed both their own and that of many, will come upon their heads, and the reproaches with which they blasphemed the Lord, their Lord will restore to them, not because He is their Lord, but because He was once their Lord.

The prophet, in very pointed terms, describes the unprofitableness and destruction attending vicious courses; particularly such as Ephraim pursued, who forsook God, and courted the alliance of idolatrous princes, Hos 12:1. Judah is also reproved, Hos 12:2. He is reminded of the extraordinary favor of God to his father Jacob, in giving him the birthright; and exhorted, after his example, to wrestle with God (the Angel of the covenant, the same unchangeable Jehovah) for a blessing; and to love mercy and execute justice, Hos 12:3-4. Ephraim is accused of pursuing practices that are deceitful, although pretending to integrity, Hos 12:7, Hos 12:8. God then threatens to deprive this people of their possessions, Hos 12:9, as they had rejected every means of reformation, Hos 12:10, and given themselves up to gross impieties, Hos 12:11. And, as an aggravation of their guilt, they are reminded from what humble beginnings they had been raised, Hos 12:12, Hos 12:13. The Divine judgments about to fall upon Israel are declared to be the result of great provocation, Hos 12:14.

Therefore shall he leave his blood upon him - He will not remove his guilt. These are similar to our Lord's words, Joh 3:36; Joh 9:41 : "He that believeth not on the Son of God, shall not see life, for the wrath of God Abideth On Him" - shall not be removed by any remission, as he rejects the only way in which he can be saved. Because ye say, We see; therefore, Your Sin Remaineth, i.e., it still stands charged against you. Your miseries and destruction are of your own procuring; your perdition is of yourselves. God is as merciful as he is just.

REPROOF OF EPHRAIM AND JUDAH: THEIR FATHER JACOB OUGHT TO BE A PATTERN TO THEM. (Hos 12:1-14) This prophecy was delivered about the time of Israel's seeking the aid of the Egyptian king So, in violation of their covenant with Assyria (see Hos 12:1). He exhorts them to follow their father Jacob's persevering prayerfulness, which brought God's favor upon him. As God is unchangeable, He will show the same favor to Jacob's posterity as He did to Jacob, if, like him, they seek God. feedeth on wind-- (Pro 15:14; Isa 44:20). Followeth after vain objects, such as alliances with idolaters and their idols (compare Hos 8:7). east wind--the simoon, blowing from the desert east of Palestine, which not only does not benefit, but does injury. Israel follows not only things vain, but things pernicious (compare Job 15:2). increaseth lies--accumulates lie upon lie, that is, impostures wherewith they deceive themselves, forsaking the truth of God. desolation--violent oppressions practised by Israel [MAURER]. Acts which would prove the cause of Israel's own desolation [CALVIN]. covenant with . . . Assyrians-- (Hos 5:13; Hos 7:11). oil . . . into Egypt--as a present from Israel to secure Egypt's alliance (Isa 30:6; Isa 57:9; compare Kg2 17:4). Palestine was famed for oil (Eze 27:17).

provoked him--that is, God. leave his blood upon him--not take away the guilt and penalty of the innocent blood shed by Ephraim in general, and to Moloch in particular. his reproach shall his Lord return unto him--Ephraim's dishonor to God in worshipping idols, God will repay to him. That God is "his Lord" by right redemption and special revelation to Ephraim only aggravates his guilt, instead of giving him hope of escape. God does not give up His claim to them as His, however they set aside His dominion. Next: Hosea Chapter 13

3. Israel's Apostasy and God's Fidelity - Hosea 12-14 For the purpose of proving that the predicted destruction of the kingdom is just and inevitable, the prophet now shows, in this last division, first that Israel has not kept the ways of its father Jacob, but has fallen into the ungodly practice of Canaan (Hos 12:1-14); and secondly, that in spite of all the manifestations of love, and all the chastisements received from its God, it has continued its apostasy and idolatry, and therefore perfectly deserves the threatened judgment. Nevertheless the compassion of God will not permit it to be utterly destroyed, but will redeem it even from death and hell (ch. 13-14:1). To this there is appended, lastly, in Hos 14:2-9, a call to conversion, and a promise from God of the forgiveness and abundant blessing of those who turn to the Lord. With this the book closes (Hos 14:1-9 :10). Thus we find again, that the contents of this last division fall very evidently into three parts (Hos 12:13, Hos 12:14, and Hos 14:2 -10), each of which is still further divisible into two strophes. Israel's Degeneracy into Canaanitish Ways - Hos 12:1-14 (Eng. V. 11:12-12:14). The faithlessness of Israel and Judah's resistance to God bring righteous punishment upon the entire posterity of Jacob (11:12-12:2); whereas the example of their forefather ought to have led them to faithful attachment to their God (Hos 12:3-6). But Israel has become Canaan, and seeks its advantage in deception and injustice, without hearkening to its God or to the voice of its prophets, and will be punished for its idolatry (Hos 12:7-11). Whereas Jacob was obliged to flee, and to serve for a wife in Aram, Jehovah led Israel out of Egypt, and guarded it by prophets. Nevertheless this nation has excited His wrath, and will have to bear its guilt (vv.12-14). The two strophes of this chapter are 11:12-12:6 and 7-14.