The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 21

Jn,, lincsF of the royal house of Judah; in other words, the ARsyrian and the .Saviour. 'J his contl'l\llt is couched in t.he followinf!: poetic 111,nguage: "'l'he Lord of hosts sh11,II lop t.he bough with terror [i.e. terrific force]: and the high ones of stature Ah11,ll bo hewn down, and the b11,ughty shall lie low; and he shall cut down the thickets of tho forest wit.b iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one. And there shall coma forth a shoot out of the stem of Jesse, and a Bl'anch sh11,ll grow out of his root6." The sa.me prophet, in eh. xxix., pictures the formidable military operations of tho Assyrian, togeth~r wi~h the suddenness of the disappearance and completeness of tho <lestruct10!1 of bis mighty host. _Of the former he speaks in the first p11rson, as the Assyrian was only the rod of his anger for the purpose of chastisement, and says, "I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege a"ainst thee with a mount, nnd "·ill raise forts against thee;" while of the sudden disa~ter that would overwhelm t.hem he addR, "And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel [Lion of God], even all that fight ag&inst her, and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision;" a little before he bad said, "The multitude of the terrible ones shall be a.~ chaff that tsseth away: yea, it shnll be at an instant suddenly." In the following chapter (xx.x. , naming him by name, be intimates that he had been a rod of chastisement in,t)le ord's hand, and when that purpose had been served, the rod itself.,would 'be brokeirby tbe voice of the Almighty: "And through the voice of the Lord· shall the Assyrian be broken down that smote with a rod "-the latter was chastisement and discipline, the former destruction. Several of the psalms also contain allusions to the events of Hezekiah's reign connected with this great deliverance -th~ forty-fourth to Rabshakeh's blasphemy in the words, "The shame of my face liath covered me, for the voice of him that reproacbeth and blasphemetb_;" the seventy- tl1ird, a psalm of Asaph, to Sennacherib's destruction," How are lhey bron_ght into desolation, as in a moment! . . . As a dream when one awaketh; so, 9 Lord, wh11n tlwu awakest, thou dost despise their image." In like manner tne wh~le. of the seventy-sixth applies. The third verse enumerates the peculiar weapons of the Assyrian, and affirms their destruction: " There brake he the arrows of the bow, shield and sword and battle; " the :fifth and sixth depict that sleep of death that overtook th.em • so calmly, so noiselessly, and so awfully: "They slept their sleep, and none of the men of might found their hands. . . . Both chariot and horse fell into a deep sleep; " the eighth verse adds the solemn awe in which all at last was hushed: "The ear'th feared, and was still." The ninety-first psalm, which mentions the .terror by night and the pestilence walking in darkness, and thousands perishing, may, whatever was the actual occasion of its composition, apply to the destruction of the Assyrian army at the eventful time when Judah was so miraculously saved. Ill. THE NAXE OF THE THIRD DENOTES DEPLORABLE DEGRADATION. Before this third and last stage is reached there is a respite-some time intervenes. 1. Speaking after the manner of men, we may say with reverence that God seems to repent of his resolution to cast off his people; he shows reluctance to renounce them at once .and· for ever. Hence the delay. ~ ia this very book he questions with himself: "How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as .Ad.mah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together." He pauses before proceeding to extremities. 2. Once they were the people of God, a chosen generation, a royal priest.hood, an holy nation, a peculiar people ; now they have lost that high pqsition-they are degraded, aud that degradation IDUJ,t ere long issue in destruction. God, addressing them directly and, as it were, face to face, tells them plainly," Ye are not my people, and I will not be your God." The word" God" is here supplied, and the original expression is peculiarly tender. It is literally, "I will not be youn-your Father and Friend, or your Husband and Head, or your Sovereign and Saviour, or your Patron and Protector." "I will not be to you," as the words still more literally taken mean, "I will not be to you what I once was what I long continued to be in spite of your numberless provocations, what I would still' be but for your gross unfaithfulness, what you need no longer expect me to be in consequence of your base ingratitude. The bond is broken. I have no interest in you nor you in me; I have no honour from you, nor shall ye have benefit by me. You have withheld from me the observance that was due to me and the obedience which I claimed; I shall withdraw all my mercies and loving-kindnesses from you. ~o more CU, I. 1-11.] 'l'HE BOOK OF HOSEA. i.;