John Calvin Commentary Hosea 13:12-13

"The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is laid up in store. The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for it is time he should not tarry in the place of the breaking forth of children." — Hosea 13:12-13 (ASV)

He says, first, that sealed is the iniquity of Ephraim, and that hidden is his sin; by which words he means that hypocrites flatter themselves in vain while God suspends His vengeance; for though He may connive for a time, He does not sleep; nor should it be believed that He is blind, but He seals up the sins of men and keeps them enclosed until the proper time for revealing them comes. This is the main point, but the Prophet has expressed something more. For as Jeremiah says,

‘The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron,
with the point of a diamond,’ (Jeremiah 17:1);

so now Hosea also says that the iniquity of Ephraim was sealed up. For writings may perish when they are spread abroad, but what is laid up and put under a seal always remains. What Hosea means now, then, is that the people flattered themselves in vain while a truce was granted to them; for the Lord kept their sins under His seal; as though He said, “God does not forget your iniquity. Since He, however, spares you only for a time, it would be far better to suffer immediate punishment, for then the memory of your sin would pass away. But He now carefully keeps all your iniquities, as it were, under seal, and your sins are laid up in store.”

We now see that what the Prophet means in this verse is that the Israelites had made such advances in their sins that now no pardon or remission could be hoped for. “God then will never be propitious to you, for your sin is sealed up.” And this sentence applies to all those who disguise themselves before God when He does not severely treat them but, on the contrary, kindly sustains and bears with them. Since, then, they thus disappointed His forbearance, it was necessary that this should befall them: that He should seal up their iniquities and keep their sins enclosed.

He afterwards says that the sorrows of one in travail would come on this proud and rebellious people. He pursues the same subject but under another figure, for by 'the sorrows of one in travail' he points out the sudden destruction that befalls careless men. And this way of speaking is common in Scripture.

There will come then the sorrows of one in travail on these men; that is, “As they promise themselves continual peace, and are now awakened by any threatenings, and as they proudly despise both My hand and My word, a sudden destruction will crush them.” So much for the beginning of the verse: There shall come on them the sorrows of one in travail.

He then adds, He is an unwise son; that is, he is altogether foolish. Here God reprobates the extreme madness of the people of Israel, as though He had said, “If any particle of sound understanding remained in this people, they would at least perceive the judgment that is impending, and there would then be some hope of a remedy; but this people are now wholly infatuated.”

And this proves their folly, for they ought not, he says, to stay in the breaking forth of children. This clause, however, some interpreters explain this way: “The time will come; they will not stay in the breaking forth of children.” But rather the contrary is meant by the words, for the Prophet means that when the time of birth came, the people would stop in the breaking forth—which they would not do if they were endowed with a right and sound mind.

It must be noticed that the Prophet alludes to the time of birth, for he had said before that the sorrows of one in travail would come on the people of Israel; he now declares that these sorrows are those of the son. Though a woman is in labor and in great danger in giving birth, she is yet freed in a moment, and as Christ says, joy and gladness arise from that sorrow (John 16:21). But the Prophet says that this bringing forth would be very different, for it would be an abortion, and the child would be retained to putrefy in the womb.

If a woman in the very act of birth restrains effort and shrinks in her strength, she destroys the child and herself at the same time, for she cannot bring forth without exertion. Since, then, the safety of the woman depends on the exertion made, the Prophet now says that the contrary would be the case with the people of Israel.

They are, he says, like a woman in travail, but they are at the same time blinded with folly, for they retain the child in the womb and make no effort; so this childbirth must at last be fatal to them. Why? Because they make no effort to bring forth the child.

The Prophet, by these figurative representations, no doubt alludes to the obstinate hardness of the people, for when they ought to have bewailed and humbled themselves under the mighty hand of God, we know how perversely they hardened themselves against all punishment.

Since, then, this people thus, as it were, champed the bridle and at the same time hardened their hearts—partly by their fierce temper, partly by stupidity, partly by desperation—it was no wonder that the Prophet said that they were an unwise and insane people, for they stayed at the breaking forth of children; that is, they made no effort to obtain the wished-for end to their evils.

For when the Lord afflicts us, and we bring forth, this bringing forth is our deliverance. Now, how can there be deliverance unless we hate ourselves for our sins, unless we raise up our minds to God, and thus open a passage for God’s grace? But when we pertinaciously oppose God through our fierceness and stupidity, it is the same as if one closed up every avenue.

We now see, then, how appropriate this metaphor used by the Prophet is when he says that the people were mad; for when the time of bringing forth came, they stayed in the breaking forth—that is, at the opening of the womb, for this is what the Prophet means by the word.

Since then they stayed in the very opening, and restrained, as it were, every effort, and ceased from all striving, they must have perished.

We now see what the obstinacy of men produces when they harden themselves, when they thus contract, as it were, their heart and mind and all their faculties within narrow limits.

For when a woman who is in travail restrains all efforts, she willfully seeks death for herself; so those do the same who harden themselves against all punishments, especially when the time of birth has come. And to this the term 'breaking forth' refers, for when the Lord strikes us not only once but continues to lay many stripes on us, so that we must either repent or perish forever, it is the ripened time for bringing forth.

For God then leads us to an extremity, and nothing remains for us but to humble ourselves under His mighty hand or to perish. The Prophet then calls that condition 'the breaking forth,' in which obstinate men continue who will not obey God.

It is necessary to join with these verses the two that follow; this I will do tomorrow.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as You have given us Your only begotten Son to rule us, and have by Your good pleasure consecrated Him a King over us, that we may be perpetually safe and secure under His hand against all the attempts of the devil and of the whole world—O grant, that we may allow ourselves to be ruled by His authority, and so conduct ourselves that He may ever continue to watch for our safety. And as You have committed us to Him, that He may be the guardian of our salvation, so also do not let us turn aside or fall, but preserve us ever in His service, until we are at length gathered into that blessed and everlasting kingdom, which has been procured for us by the blood of Your only Son. Amen.