John Calvin Commentary Hosea 4:15

"Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear, As Jehovah liveth." — Hosea 4:15 (ASV)

The Prophet here complains that Judah also was infected with superstitions, though the Lord had until now wonderfully kept them from pollutions of this kind. He compares Israel with Judah, as though he said, “It is no wonder that Israel plays the wanton; they had for a long time shaken off the yoke; their apostasy is well known: but it is not to be endured, that Judah also should begin to fall away into the same abominations.” We now perceive then the object of the comparison.

From the time that Jeroboam led away the ten tribes, the worship of God, we know, was corrupted; for the Israelites were forbidden to ascend to Jerusalem and to offer sacrifices there to God according to the law. Altars were at the same time built, which were nothing but perversions of divine worship.

This state of things had now continued for many years. The Prophet therefore says that Israel was like a filthy harlot, devoid of all shame; nor was this surprising, for they had cast away the fear of God. But that Judah also should forsake God’s pure worship as well as Israel—this the Prophet deplores: If then you Israel play the wanton, let not Judah at least offend.

First, we see here how difficult it is for those who come into contact with pollutions and defilements to remain unstained. This is the case with anyone living among Papists; they can hardly keep themselves wholly devoted to the Lord, for proximity, as we find, brings contagion. The Israelites were separated from the Jews, and yet we see that the Jews were corrupted by their diseases and vices.

Indeed, there is nothing we are so disposed to do as to forsake true religion, since there is naturally in us a perverse lust for mixing it with some false and ungodly forms of worship; and everyone in this respect is a teacher to himself. What then is likely to happen when Satan, on the other hand, incites us? Let all then who are neighbors to idolaters beware, lest they contract any of their defilements.

We further see that the guilt of those who have been rightly taught is not to be diminished when they associate with the blind and the unbelieving. Though the Israelites boasted of the name of God, they were then alienated from pure doctrine and had long been sunk in the darkness of errors. There was no religion among them; indeed, they had hardly a single pure spark of divine light.

The Prophet now brings this charge against the Jews: that they did not differ from the Israelites, and yet God had until that time carried before them the torch of light, for He did not allow sound doctrine to be extinguished in Jerusalem, nor throughout the whole of Judea. The Jews, by not benefiting from this singular kindness of God, were doubly guilty. This is the reason why the Prophet now says, Though Israel has become wanton, yet let not Judah offend.

Come you not to Gilgal, he says, and ascend not into Beth-aven. Here again he points out the superstitions by which the Israelites had corrupted the pure worship of God; they had built altars for themselves in Bethel and Gilgal, where they pretended to worship God.

Gilgal, we know, was a celebrated place. After passing through the Jordan, they built a pillar there as a memorial of that miracle, and the people no doubt always remembered such a remarkable instance of divine favor. The place itself retained its fame and honorable distinction among the people.

This in itself deserved no blame. But as men commonly pervert every good thing by abuse, so Jeroboam, or one of his successors, built a temple in Gilgal, for the minds of almost all were already possessed with some reverence for the place. Had there been no distinction belonging to the place, he could not have so easily enticed the minds of the people. But as a notion already prevailed among them that the place was holy on account of the miraculous crossing of the people, Jeroboam found it easier to introduce his perverted worship there; for when one imagines that the place itself pleases God, he is already captivated by his own deceptions. The same also must be said of Bethel: its name was given to it, we know, by the holy patriarch Jacob, because God appeared to him there.

‘Terrible,’ he said, ‘is this place; it is the gate of heaven,’
(Genesis 28:17).

He therefore called it Bethel, which means the house of God. Since Jacob sacrificed there to God, posterity thought this still allowable: for hypocrites do not weigh what God commands, but seize only upon the examples of the Fathers, and follow as their rule whatever they hear to have been done by the Fathers.

As foolish men, then, are content with bare examples and do not pay attention to what God requires, so the Prophet distinctly denounces here both places, Bethel and Gilgal. “Come not,” he says, “to Gilgal, and ascend not into Beth-aven.” But we must observe the change of name made by the Prophet, for he does not call the place by its honorable name, Bethel, but calls it the house of iniquity.

It is indeed true that God revealed Himself there to His servant Jacob, but He did not intend the place to be permanently fixed for Himself; He did not intend that there should be a perpetual altar there. The vision was only for a time. Had the people been confirmed in their faith whenever the name of the place was heard, it would have been a commendable thing. But they departed from the true faith, for they despised the sure command of God, preferred what had been done by an individual, and were indeed influenced by a foolish zeal. It is no wonder then that the Prophet turns praise into blame and does not allow the place to be, as formerly, the House of God, but the house of iniquity. We now see the Prophet’s real meaning.

I return to the reproof he gives to the Jews: he condemns them for leaving the legitimate altar and running to profane places, and coveting those strange modes of worship which had been invented by the will or fancy of men. “What have you to do,” he says, “with Gilgal or Bethel?”

Has God not appointed a sanctuary for you at Jerusalem? Why do you not worship there, where He Himself invites you?” Thus, we see that a comparison is to be understood here between Gilgal and Bethel on the one hand, and the temple, built by God’s command on Mount Zion, in Jerusalem, on the other.

Moreover, this reproof applies to many in our day. So to those who wisely consider the state of things in our age, the Papists appear to be like the Israelites; for their apostasy is notorious enough: there is nothing sound among them; the whole of their religion is rotten; everything is depraved.

But as the Lord has chosen us especially for Himself, we must beware, lest they draw us to themselves, and entangle us: for, as we have said, we must always fear contagion; since nothing is more easy than to become infected with their vices, since our nature is always inclined to vices.

We are further reminded how foolish and frivolous is the excuse of those who, being satisfied with the examples of the Fathers, disregard the word of God, and think themselves released from every command, when they follow the holy Fathers. Jacob was indeed, among others, worthy of imitation; and yet we learn from this place, that the pretext that his posterity made for worshipping God in Bethel was of no avail.

Let us then know that we cannot be certain of being right, except when we obey the Lord’s command, and attempt nothing according to men’s fancy, but follow only what He commands. It must also be observed, that a fault is not diminished when things, now perverted, have proceeded from a good and approved origin.

As for instance the Papists, when their superstitions are condemned, always set up this shield, “O! this has arisen from a good source.” But what sort of thing is it? If indeed we judge of it by what it is now, we clearly see it to be an impious abomination, which they excuse by the plea that it had a good and holy beginning.

Thus in baptism we see how various and how many depravations they have mixed together. Baptism has indeed its origin in the institution of Christ: but no permission has been given to men to deface it by so many additions. The origin then of baptism affords the Papists no excuse, but on the contrary doubles their sin; for they have, by a profane audacity, contaminated what the Son of God has appointed.

But there is in their mass a much greater abomination: for the mass, as we know, is in no way the same as the holy supper of our Lord. There are at least some things remaining in baptism; but the mass is not at all like Christ’s holy supper: and yet the Papists boast that the mass is the supper.

Granted, it may have crept in, and that through the cunning of Satan, and also through the wickedness or depravity of men: but whatever may have been its beginning, it does not erase the extreme infamy that belongs to the mass: for, as it is well known, they abolish by it the only true sacrifice of Christ; they ascribe to their own devices the expiation which was made by the death of the Son of God.

And here we have not only to contend with the Papists, but also with those wicked triflers who proudly call themselves Nicodemians. For these individuals indeed deny that they come to the mass because they have any regard for the Papist fabrication; rather, they say that a commemoration of Christ’s supper and of His death is presented there.

Since Bethel was formerly turned into Beth-aven, what else is the mass today? Let us then always take heed that whatever the Lord has instituted may remain in its own purity and not degenerate; otherwise, we shall be guilty, as has been said, of the impious audacity of those who have changed the truth into a lie. We now understand the design of what the Prophet teaches and to what purposes it may be applied.

He at last adds, And swear not, Jehovah liveth. The Prophet seems here to condemn what was in itself right: for to swear is to profess religion, and to testify our profession of it; particularly when men swear honestly. But as this formula, which the Prophet mentions, was faultless, why did God forbid to swear by His name, and even in a holy manner? Because He would reign alone, and He could not bear to be connected with idols; for

“What concord,” says Paul, “has Christ with Belial? How can light agree with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:15).

So God would allow no concord with idols. This is expressed more fully by another Prophet, Zephaniah, when he says,

‘I will destroy those who swear by the living God,
and swear by their king,’ (Zephaniah 1:5).

God indeed expressly commands the faithful to swear by His name alone in Deuteronomy 6 and in other places: and further, when the true profession of religion is referred to, this formula is laid down,

‘They shall swear, The Lord liveth,’ (Jeremiah 4:2).

But when men associated the name of God with their own perverted devices, it was by no means to be endured. The Prophet then now condemns this perfidy: Swear not, Jehovah liveth. As if he said, “How dare these men take God’s name when they abandon themselves to idols? For God allows His name only to His own people.”

The faithful indeed take God’s name in oaths, as it were, by His permission. Unless the Lord had granted this right, it would have certainly been a sacrilege. But we borrow God’s name by His permission, and it is right to do so when we keep faith with Him, when we continue in His service. But when we worship false gods, then we have nothing to do with Him, and He takes away the privilege which He has given us. Then He says, ‘You shall not henceforth blend the name of the only true God with idols.’ For this He cannot endure, as He also declares in Ezekiel,

‘Go you, serve your idols; I reject all your worship,’
(Ezekiel 20:39).

The Lord was thus grievously offended, even when sacrifices were offered to Him. Why was this so? Because it was a kind of pollution, when the Jews professed to worship Him, and then went after their ungodly superstitions. We now, therefore, perceive the meaning of this verse.