John Calvin Commentary Hosea 14:9

"Who is wise, that he may understand these things? prudent, that he may know them? for the ways of Jehovah are right, and the just shall walk in them; but transgressors shall fall therein." — Hosea 14:9 (ASV)

The Prophet, I have no doubt, very often emphasized what he says here, and frequently recalled it, for we know that he had a constant struggle with extreme obstinacy. It was not only for one day that he found the people hard and perverse, but through the whole course of his preaching.

Since the Israelites continued either openly to despise the Prophet’s teaching, or at least to regard as fables what they heard from his mouth, or to scold him, and even to threaten him when he treated them with severity, and when the Prophet saw that the wickedness of the people was incorrigible, he, being armed with confidence, no doubt went out very often among them and said, “You think that you will be unpunished while you mock what I teach; you will surely find at last that the ways of the Lord are right.”

And I have already reminded you that the Prophets, after having addressed the people at length and with many words, finally condensed what they had taught into main points. For it is not probable that since Hosea had so long served as a teacher, he had spoken only these few things, which could have been covered in three hours.

This is absurd. But when he had diligently attended to the duty assigned to him, he afterwards, as I have said, compiled these few chapters so that the remembrance of his teaching might be perpetuated. What he was then often compelled to repeat, he now sets forth at the end of his book, so that it might be, as it were, a complete sealing of his teaching.

Who is wise, he says, and he will understand these things? Who is intelligent, and he will know them? This questioning style is expressive, for Hosea was amazed at the small number of those who submitted to God's teaching. The Israelites, no doubt, claimed great wisdom for themselves, as ungodly men are accustomed to do.

For they consider themselves especially clever then, when they laugh at anything resembling piety, when they treat God’s name with scorn, and indulge themselves, as we see today, in their own impiety. And this diabolical rage takes hold of many, because they think that they would be very simple and stupid if they were to embrace anything the Scripture contains.

“Oh! What is faith but foolish credulity?” This is the thought that comes to their minds. There are also filthy dogs who do not hesitate to vomit forth such a reproach as this: “Only believe! But what is this your believing, but willfully to give up all judgment and all choice, and to allow yourself to be like mute cattle driven here and there? If then you are wise, believe nothing.” Thus godless men speak; and therefore, as I have said, they pride themselves on their own cleverness when they can shake off every fear of God and all regard for divine truth. There were many such, we may easily believe, in the time of the Prophet.

Since the whole land was filled with dreadful contempt of God, and yet men commonly thought themselves wise, indeed, imagined in their deep thoughts, as Isaiah says, that they could deceive God, he now asks, Who is wise, and he will understand? It is as if he said, “I indeed see that if I believe you, you are all wise; for, imitating the giants, you dare to rise up against God, and you think yourselves ingenious when you elude every truth, when you proudly tread religion underfoot; in this way you are all wise. But at the same time, if there is any grain of wisdom in you, you must surely acknowledge me to be sent by God, and that what I declare is not the invention of men, but the word of the living God.” We now see then what force there is in this question, when the Prophet says, Who is wise, and he will understand these things? Who is intelligent, and he will know them?

We at the same time see that the Prophet here condemns all the wisdom of men and, as it were, thunders from heaven against the pride of those who thus presumptuously mock God; for however much they imagined themselves to be preeminent, he implies that they were both blind and stupid and mad.

Who then is wise? he says. But at the same time, he shows that the true wisdom of men is to obey God and to embrace his word; as it is said in another place, that wisdom and the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God (Proverbs 1:7). Whoever then wishes to be truly wise, must begin with the fear of God and with reverence for his word; for where there is no religion, men cannot certainly understand anything rightly.

Let us suppose men endowed not only with great clarity of mind but also with the knowledge of all the sciences; let them be philosophers, let them be physicians, let them be lawyers, let them lack nothing, except that they have no true knowledge of eternal life. Would it not be better for them to be mere cattle than to be wise in this way, to exercise their minds for a short time on fading things, and to know that all their highly valued treasure will perish with their life?

Surely, to be wise in this way is far more wretched than if men were entirely lacking understanding. Justly then does the Prophet imply here that those were not only foolish but also mad, and wholly destitute of all understanding, who did not regard celestial truth, and were deaf to the Prophets, and did not discern when God spoke, nor understood the power of his word.

All then who are not wise in this way, the Prophet justly says, are utterly void of all prudence and judgment. He therefore repeats the same thing, Who is wise, and he will understand these things? Who is intelligent, and he will know them? That is to say, “If anyone excels others, he ought surely to show his wisdom in this particular, and if anyone is endowed with common understanding, he ought to know what this doctrine means, in which the image and glory of God shine forth brightly. All then who know and understand nothing in this respect are no doubt altogether foolish.”

He afterwards adds, For right are the ways of Jehovah. He asserts this truth in opposition to the profane rashness of men, who haughtily reject God and dare to despise his word. Right, he says, are the ways of the Lord: and by saying that they are right, he no doubt alludes to the abominable blasphemies which the ungodly resort to when they wish to make the word of God not only odious and contemptible but also absurd, so as not to deserve any respect.

Thus we see today that godless men not only in words reject both the Law and the Prophets but also search out pretexts, so that they may appear to be doing right in destroying all faith in the oracles of God. For instance, they seek out every sort of contradiction in Scripture, everything not well received, everything different from common opinion—all these absurdities, as they call them, they collect, and then they draw this conclusion: that all those are fools who submit to any religion, since the word of God, as they say, contains so many absurd things.

This raving madness no doubt then prevailed in the world: and the Prophet, by saying that right are the ways of Jehovah, means that however much the ungodly may clamor, or murmur, or taunt, nothing is done by the Lord except what is right and free from every blame and defect.

However much, then, the ungodly may vomit forth slanders against the word of God, it is the same as if they threw dust into the air to darken the light of the sun; they accomplish just as much, he seems to say, by their audacity. For perfect rectitude will always be found in the ways of the Lord; his word will always be found free from every stain or defect.

He then adds, And the just shall walk in them, but in them shall the ungodly stumble. By saying that the just shall walk in them, he confirms the last sentence by experience, for the just really find the ways of the Lord to be right. We also ought to be equipped with this assurance if we are to boldly repel all the impious calumnies which are usually heaped up by profane men against the word of God.

For if we do not know what it is to walk in the ways of the Lord, we will surely, as soon as anything is alleged against them, be left in doubt or be completely unsettled. We see that many, not deeply rooted in the word of God, instantly quail as soon as anything is said against it, because they do not know what it is to walk in the ways of the Lord. But those who walk in the Lord’s ways courageously fight against all the temptations of the world; they persevere in the contest so that they may attain celestial life. They feel assured that though now miserable for a time, they will yet be blessed, for they have embraced the grace of God in Christ. They are also sustained by their own conscience, so that they can look down on all the reproaches and slanders of the world and proceed in their course.

Those then who walk thus in the ways of the Lord are unconquerable. Indeed, if the whole world were to oppose them, and if the ungodly with their profane words were to infect the whole atmosphere, the godly would still pursue their course until they reached the end. All the ways of Jehovah are therefore right, the just shall walk in them; but in them shall the ungodly stumble, or fall; for כשל, cashel, means both, but I prefer translating it as “stumble,” as it seems more suitable to the design of the Prophet.

The just then find a plain and even way in the word of the Lord, and nothing stands in their path to obstruct their course; by daily advances they attain that to which the Lord calls them, even their celestial inheritance. The just will thus walk in the Lord’s ways because the Lord will lead them, as it were, by his hand; faith will be to them like a hundred eyes, and also like wings. Hope, at the same time, sustains them, for they are armed with promises and encouragements. They also have stimulants whenever the Lord earnestly exhorts them; they have, besides, in his threatenings, such terrors as keep them awake.

Thus the faithful then find the best ways in the word of the Lord, and they follow them. But what of the ungodly? They imagine all doubts, even the least, to be mountains. For as soon as they meet with anything intricate or obscure, they are confounded and say, “I would gladly seek to know the Holy Scriptures, but I meet with so many difficulties.” Therefore, when a doubt is suggested, they regard it as a mountain; indeed, they purposely pretend doubts so that they may have some excuse when they wish to evade the truth and turn aside so that they may not follow the Lord.

The ungodly, then, stumble in the ways of Jehovah. But this ought to be read contrastingly: “Though the ungodly stumble, yet the just shall always walk in the ways of Jehovah.” This means that there is no reason why the ungodly should stop or hinder us by their continual stumbling, and by exclaiming that the word of God is full of things that cause offense; for we will find in it an even way, if only we ascribe to God this glory: that he is just, and that his ways are right. This is the meaning of the sentence.