John Calvin Commentary Hosea 2:7

"And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now." — Hosea 2:7 (ASV)

God now shows what takes place when He chastens hardened and rebellious people with heavy punishment. In the first clause, He shows that perversity will cling so completely to their hearts that they will not immediately return to a sound mind. She will follow her lovers, he says, and seek them. Here the Prophet tells us that even if the Israelites were chastened by frequent punishments, they would still continue in their obstinacy.

Thus it appears how stiff-necked they were, and how uncircumcised in heart they were; and the Prophets, as well as Moses, represented them as such. And thus we learn that if they had only been moderately corrected, it would not have been enough for their reform.

Their obstinacy was indeed amazing, for God had divorced them and then led them into great distress; and yet they went on in their course, as though they were utterly foolish and devoid of all feeling. Is it not an astounding madness when people persist so obstinately, even when God's hand is so strongly against them? Such, however, is the obstinacy of the Israelites as it is represented.

The meaning, then, is that when they were subdued, God would not immediately soften their hearts. So, though God bruised them, He did not yet reform them, for their hardness was so great that they could not be immediately turned to a teachable state of mind; but, on the contrary, they followed their lovers.

The word follow expresses that mad zeal which possesses idolaters; for, as we see, they are like frantic men. Since, then, the superstitious know no bounds or moderation, but a mad zeal at times seizes them, the Prophet says, She will follow her lovers and shall not overtake them.

What does this latter clause mean? It means that God will frustrate the hope of the ungodly, so that they may know that they worship false gods in vain and eagerly follow absurd superstitions. They will seek them, he says, and shall not find them. He always speaks of the people in the character of a shameless and unfaithful wife.

Thus we see what the Prophet intended to do: to vindicate God from all blame, so that people might not raise an outcry, as though He dealt unkindly with them. He shows that God, even when so severe, produces hardly any effect; for the ungodly in their perversity struggle against His scourges, and do not allow themselves to be brought immediately into proper order.

But in the second clause the Prophet adds that some benefit would eventually arise; that although idolaters abused God’s goodness and even hardened themselves against His rods, yet this would not always be the case, for the Lord would grant a better outcome. Hence it follows, She will then say, I will go and return to my former husband.

Here the Prophet shows more clearly a hope of pardon, since he speaks of the people’s repentance; for people, we know, do not repent without benefit, as God is always ready to receive them when they return to Him in genuine sorrow. Thus, the Prophet here openly speaks of the repentance of the people, so that the Israelites might therefore know that corrections, which people naturally always dislike, would be profitable to them.

We wish that God would always favor us, and that we should be nourished kindly and tenderly in His bosom. But in the meantime, He cannot draw us to Himself, by whatever means He may try to do so; and this is why chastisements are bitter to us, and our flesh immediately murmurs.

When the Lord raises His finger, before He strikes us, we instantly groan and become angry, and even roar against Him. In short, people can never be brought willingly to offer themselves to be chastened by God.

Therefore, the Prophet now shows that God's severity is profitable to us, for it eventually drives us to repentance. In a word, he commends God's favor in His very severity, so that we may know that He furthers our salvation, even when He seems to treat us most unkindly. She will then say, I will go and return to my former husband.

But we must observe that when people really repent, they do so through the special influence of the Spirit; for they would otherwise always remain in that perversity of which we have spoken. If God were to continually chasten perverse people for a hundred years, they would still not change their disposition; and that common saying is true: “The wicked are sooner broken than reformed.”

But when people, after many admonitions, begin to be wise, this change comes through the Spirit of God. We may also learn from this passage what true repentance is: it is when someone who has sinned not only confesses to be guilty and admits to be worthy of punishment, but is also displeased with himself, and then with sincere desire turns to God.

Many, we see, are quite ready and disposed to confess their sins, and yet continue in the same course. But the Prophet shows here that true repentance is something very different: I will go and return, he says. Repentance then consists (as they say) in the act itself; that is, repentance produces a reforming change in a person, so that they reconcile themselves to God, whom they had forsaken.

I will then go and return to my former husband. Why? Because better was it with me then than now. The Prophet again confirms what I recently said—that the faithful are not made wise unless they are well chastened; for the Prophet is not speaking here of the reprobate, but of the remnant seed.

The people of Israel were to be exterminated, but the Prophet now declares that there would be some remaining who would at last receive benefit from God’s chastisements. Since, then, we must understand the Prophet as speaking of the elect, we may from this readily conclude that chastisements are necessary for us, for we grow sluggish in our vices as long as God spares us.

Unless, then, it appears that God is really displeased with us, it will never enter our minds that we ought to repent.