The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 152

Vers. 11-15.-TM Divine judgments. In this strophe the Lord denounces as uReless and foolish the policy which Israel had adopted of seeking to strengthen himself by alliances with Assyria. In doillg this the nation was only adding to its guilt, and precipitating its doom. L THE NATURE OF THE JUDGMENTS. We gather from the passage that these are of three orders, each being more severe than the preceding. 1. Slow consumption. (Ver. 12.) The "moth" and the "worm" (" rottenness ".should~be, as in the margin," a worm") suggest silent, stealthy, secret destrnction. So the kingdom of the ten tribes is as a garment eaten by a moth, while the kingdom of Judah is as a tree slowly destroyed by a worm. 'l'he worm makes way much more slowly than the moth does i and we find, accordingly, that the "moth" ate up Israel in two generations from the time of this prediction, while the" worm" did not accomplish its work in Judah until after the lapse of a century and a half. Now, God's judgments still, both upon nations and individuals, are often like the moth and the worm. Many an ungodly commonwealth has the heart eaten out of it by a process of imperceptible moral deterioration. And frequently a yoUDg man of reputable character, who has never gone a.stray into gross vice, yet degenerates in spiritual tone, and loses the finer fibres of his nature, just because he has not cultivated elevating tastes; and bas been content to cherish low ideals. 2. Sudden rni-n. (Ver. 14.) If God sometimes punishes slowly, he does so at other times swiftly. 'l'he two Hebrew kingdoms resisted his judgrnents, when, in his long- suffering, he came at first somewhat lightly as the "moth" and the "worm." So he is compelled to adopt measures more drama.tic and terrible. Jehovah will be to Ephraim as a strona full-grown" lion "-full-grown because the northern kingdom is very soon to fall; ;nd he will be to Judah "as a young lion," which must become mature before it will do its work of destruction. Both kingdoms, however-each in its turn-are to be overwhelmed with a sudden rush of ruin. "' I, even I,' the LioII of the tribe of J uda.h, will tear the nation and take it hence. I will no longer be its guardian; I will make it my prey." How many powerful Gentile states also have been suddenly destroyed! And how many ungodly men, who "spread themselves like a green bay tree," have been "cut down like the grass"! 3. Settled duertion. (Ver. 15.) The Divine judgment upon the sinner, in its superlative form, •consists in the withdrawal of the Divrne favour and prolection. When the two oaptivities took place respectively, .the Hebrew nation became as it were, God-forsaken. The Lord smote Ephraim and Judah, and tore them, and "r~turned to hie place," leaving them bruised, bleeding, and to all appearance dying. To be thus God-deserted is, to a moral and spiritual being, the acme of punieh.ment. When a soul becomes consciously God-forsaken, it begins to taste the pains of hell. • · •· . ll. THE CAUSE OF THE JUDGMENTB. They fell upon the Hebrew people on account of their idolatry, aggravated by the unbelief which they nhowed in resorting for aid W on. v. 1-16,l THE BOOK OF HOSEA, 151