John Calvin Commentary Hosea 1:7

"But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by Jehovah their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen." — Hosea 1:7 (ASV)

This verse sufficiently proves what I said yesterday: that the Prophet was specifically appointed to the kingdom of Israel. For he seems here to speak favourably of the Jews, who, we know, had yet been severely and deservedly reproved by their own teachers. For what does Isaiah say, after having spoken of the dreadful corruptions which then prevailed in the kingdom of Israel?

‘Come,’ he says, ‘into the house of Judah; they at least continue as yet pure. There,’ he says, ‘all the tables are full of vomiting; they are drunken; there reigns also the contempt of God and all impiety’ (Isaiah 28:8). We see then that the Jews were not a virtuous people, about whom the Prophet has spoken so honourably.

For though the external worship of God continued at Jerusalem, and the temple, at least under Uzziah and Jotham, was free from every superstition, and also under king Hezekiah, yet the morals of the people, we know, were very corrupt. Avarice, cruelty, and every kind of fraud reigned there, and also filthy lusts.

The conduct, then, of that people was no better than that of the Israelites. Why, then, does the Prophet dignify them with so great an honour as to exempt them from God’s vengeance? Because he had his eye on the people to whom he was appointed a Prophet.

He therefore makes a comparison. He does not interfere with the Jews, for he knew that they had faithful pastors who reproved their sins; instead, he continued among his own hearers. But this comparison served especially to touch the hearts of the people of Israel, for the Prophet, we know, made this reference particularly for this purpose: to condemn fictitious worship. He now sets the worship at Jerusalem in opposition to all those superstitions that Jeroboam first introduced, that Ahab increased, and that all their posterity followed. Hence he says, I will show favour to the house of Judah.

That we may better understand the mind of the Prophet, it may be well to repeat what we said yesterday: The kingdom of Judah was then miserably wasted. The kingdom of Israel had ten tribes, the kingdom of Judah only one and a half, and it was also diminished by many slaughters; indeed, the Israelites had plundered the temple of the Lord and had taken all the gold and silver they found there.

The Jews, then, had been reduced to a very low state; they hardly dared to mutter. But the Israelites, as our Prophet will later tell us, were like well-fed beasts. Since, then, they despised the Jews, who seemed despicable in the eyes of the world, the Prophet beats down this vain confidence and says, With mercy will I follow the house of Judah. He explains that ‘the house of Judah seems now to be almost nothing, for they are few in number, nor are they very strong, and wealth does not abound among them as it does among you; but my favour shall dwell with them, and I will take it away from you.’

It afterward follows, And I will save them by Jehovah their God. Salvation is here set in opposition to the destruction which the Prophet mentioned in the last verse. But Hosea shows that salvation does not depend in the least either on arms or on any of the intervening means, as they say, of this world, but has its foundation only on God’s favour.

I will save them, he says—why? Because my favour will I show them. This connection ought to be carefully noted. Where the Lord’s favour is, there is life. Thou art our God, then we shall never perish, as it is written in the first chapter of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 1). Hence the Prophet here connects salvation with God’s gratuitous favour, for we cannot continue safe except as long as God is propitious to us. He has, on the other hand, declared that it would be all over with the Israelites as soon as God would take away His favour from them.

But he says, By Jehovah their God. An antithesis is to be understood here between the false gods and Jehovah, who was the God of the house of Judah. It is the same as though the Prophet said, ‘You indeed profess the name of God, but you worship the devil and not God.’

‘For you have nothing to do with Jehovah, with the God who is the creator and maker of heaven and earth; for He dwells in His own temple. He pledged His faith to David when He commanded him to build a temple for Him on Mount Zion; He dwells there between the cherubim, as the Prophets invariably declare. But the true God has become exiled from you.’ Therefore, we see how he here condemns all the worship that the Israelites then so highly valued. Why did he do so? Because it was not acceptable to God.

And this passage deserves to be noticed, for we see how stupid men are in this respect. When once they are persuaded that they worship God, they are seized by some fascination of Satan so as to become delighted with all their own delusions, as we see to be the case today with the Papists, who are not only insane, but doubly frantic.

If anyone reproves them and says that they do not worship the true God, they are instantly on fire—‘What! Does not God accept our worship?’ But the Prophet here shows by one word that Jehovah is not in any place, except where He is rightly worshipped according to the rule of His word.

I will save them, he says—How? By Jehovah their God; and God Himself speaks. He might have said, ‘I will save them by Myself;’ but it was not without reason that He used this circuitous mode of speaking; it was to show the Israelites that they had no reason to think that God would be propitious to them.

How so? Because God had chosen a habitation for Himself on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem. A fuller declaration afterward follows, I will save them neither by the bow, nor by the sword, nor by war, nor by horses, nor by horsemen. But this clause, by God’s favour, I will explain tomorrow.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as we were lost from our beginning, when You were pleased to extend Your hand to us and to restore us to salvation for the sake of Your Son; and that as we continue even daily to run headlong to our own ruin—O grant that we may not, by sinning so often, so provoke Your displeasure at length as to cause You to take away from us the mercy which You have until now exercised towards us, and through which You have adopted us. But by Your Spirit destroy the wickedness of our heart, and restore us to a sound mind, that we may ever cleave to You with a true and sincere heart; that being fortified by Your defense, we may continue safe even amidst all kinds of danger, until at length You gather us into that blessed rest, which has been prepared for us in heaven by our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

We have to explain first this clause, I will save the house of Judah neither by the bow, nor by the sword, nor by war, nor by horses, nor by horsemen. What the Prophet had touched upon before is here more clearly expressed: that God has no need of foreign aids, for He is content with His own power.

But Hosea continues his contrast. For the people of Israel, possessing much carnal power, thought themselves, as they say, beyond the reach of darts. The kingdom of Judah, however, was exposed to all dangers, as it was not powerful in forces and arms.

The Prophet exposes this folly to contempt and says that safety depends on God alone, that men trust in their own valour in vain, and that there is no reason why the needy and destitute should despair of their safety, as God alone is abundantly sufficient to preserve the faithful.

The meaning then is that, although the destitute condition of the kingdom of Judah was an object of contempt to everyone, this would be no obstacle to its preservation through God’s favour, even if it obtained no aid from men.

And let us learn from this passage that our preservation by the Lord does not mean He never employs any natural means. Furthermore, when He has no recourse to them, He is abundantly sufficient to ensure our safety. Therefore, we ought to ascribe our safety to the Lord in such a way as not to think that anything comes to us through ourselves, or through angels, or through men.