John Calvin Commentary Hosea 5:9

"Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be." — Hosea 5:9 (ASV)

Here the Prophet asserts, plainly and without figurative language, that their punishment would not be slight or paternal. Instead, God would punish the Israelites as they deserved; He would reduce them to nothing. We know that God sometimes spares the ungodly even while He disciplines them. Signs of His wrath appear daily throughout the whole world. Yet, at the same time, these are moderate punishments that God inflicts on people, and He, in a way, invites them to repentance when He thus mercifully disciplines them for their sins.

But the Prophet says here that God would no longer act in this manner, for He would destroy and completely blot out the entire kingdom of Israel. They had already been warned many times, not only in words but also in deeds, and had often felt the wrath of God; yet they still persisted in their course.

And now, as God saw that they were entirely senseless, He says, Now, in the day of correction, Ephraim shall be for desolation. It is as if He said, “I will not correct Israel as I have done previously, for they have been disciplined in various ways before but have not repented. Therefore, I will now lay aside those paternal corrections which I have used until now, for I have applied such remedies in vain. From now on, I will correct Israel in such a way that they shall be entirely destroyed.” We now understand the Prophet’s meaning.

But this is a remarkable passage, for people are always slow and procrastinating; even when God pricks them, so to speak, with goads, they remain slothful in their sins. God adds corrections, one after the other; and when He sees people continuing, as it were, out of their minds, He then testifies that it is no time for rebuke, but that final destruction is near. Therefore, we see that every hope is here cut off from the Israelites, so that they might not think that they would be punished in the usual way for their sins. For as soon as the Lord would begin to rebuke them, He would destroy and blot out their names. Israel then shall be for desolation in the day of correction.

He then adds, Through the tribes of Israel I have made known the truth. Some regard this sentence as spoken by God and refer it to the first covenant that God made with the whole people. They consider the meaning to be this: “I do not now suddenly proceed to take vengeance on the Israelites, for I have fathered this people, nourished them, and raised them to maturity. Since this is the case, there is now no reason for them to complain that I am too hasty in taking vengeance.”

This is one interpretation. However, I am more inclined to the opinion of those who regard this as spoken by the Prophet. Yet, I do not entirely agree with their opinion, for they suppose that only the people's fault in being unteachable is emphasized when the Prophet says, I have made known the truth through the tribes of Israel.

They interpret it as if the Prophet had said, “This people is unworthy of God disciplining them in a paternal manner, for they have hardened themselves in their wickedness. Although they have been more than sufficiently taught their duty, they have still openly despised God. They have done this not through ignorance but through perversity. Since, then, the people of Israel have, so to speak, willfully blinded and maddened themselves, what now remains but for God to bring them to desolation?” This is how they interpret this passage.

But it seems to me that a solemn declaration is what fits this passage: I have made known the truth through the tribes of Israel. It is as if he said, “This is fixed and confirmed, what I now declare, and it shall certainly come to pass. Therefore, let no one seek any escape for himself, for God does not threaten now, as often before, for the purpose of recalling people to repentance, but declares what He will do.”

That this may be better understood, the manner of speaking commonly used by all the Prophets should be noted. They often threaten, and then give hope of pardon and promise salvation, so that they seem to show some kind of contradiction. For after having thundered against the people, they immediately begin to preach grace, offer salvation, and testify that God will be favorable.

At first glance, the Prophets seem inconsistent. But the solution is easy, for they threatened vengeance to people conditionally. Afterwards, when they saw some fruit from their warnings, they then proclaimed the mercy of God and began to be heralds of peace, to reconcile people to God and make an agreement between them.

Thus, our Prophet often threatened the Israelites; and if they had repented, the hope of salvation would not have been cut off from them. But after he found them to be so obstinate that they would not receive any instruction, he then said, I have announced the truth through the tribes of Israel. That is, God does not now say, “Unless you repent, you are lost.” Instead, He speaks definitively because He sees that the well-known teaching has been despised. This, then, is the truth. It is as if He said, “This is the final pronouncement, which shall be fixed and unchangeable.”

Jeremiah also speaks in the same manner. His book is full of various threats, and yet they are conditional threats. But after God had taken the matter into His own hands, He began to act in a different way.

He says, “I now no longer call you to repentance. I do not contend with you. I do not now present God as a judge so that you may flee to Him for mercy. All these things have come to an end. What remains now is the last command, to show that you are now past hope.”

This is the true and actual meaning of the Prophet here. Whoever considers the whole context will easily perceive that this was the Prophet’s intention.

The Prophet had said before, “Ephraim shall be for desolation in the day of correction,” that is, “The Lord will no longer rebuke Ephraim as He did previously, but will entirely destroy him.” Then he adds, I have promulgated or published the truth through the tribes of Israel. “Now,” he says, “know that vengeance will come shortly and that it is confirmed before God. Know also that I speak authoritatively, as if the hand of God were now outstretched before your eyes.”

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as we are already by nature children of wrath, and yet You have deigned to receive us into favor and have set before us a sacred pledge of Your favor in Your only-begotten Son; and as we have not yet ceased often to provoke Your wrath against us, and also to fall away by shameful treachery from the covenant You have made with us: O grant that, being at least touched by Your admonitions, we may not harden our hearts in wickedness, but be pliant and teachable. May we thus endeavor to return to favor with You, so that through the interceding sacrifice of Your Son, we may find You a favorable Father. Grant also that we may be for the future so wholly devoted to You, that those who follow and survive us may be confirmed in the worship of Your majesty and in true religion, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.