Israel had broken covenant with God. In the rupture of this bond was ruptured also the bond which bound society together. Fearful wickedness was the result.
I. THE BOND BROKEN WITH GOD. (Ver. 7.)
1. The primal sin. "They, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant." Our first parents were placed under arrangements involving in them the essentials of a covenant. Through breach of this covenant came "death into our world, and all our woe."
2. Israel's sin. God made a covenant with Israel at Sinai. It was a covenant of Law, yet it had mercy in the heart of it. It required obedience, but it embraced provision for the removal of guilt. It asked from Israel only the pure will and the steadfast heart. It conveyed to them the highest privileges, and conferred on them the greatest blessings. Yet they shamefully broke it. They trampled their compact underfoot. They traversed in every direction the Law which God had given them.
3. Our own sin. God has a covenant made with us in the very constitution of our nature. There is that within us which binds us to God and to the practice of goodness. We find ourselves within the bond of this covenant. Its obligations be upon us. Yet we have broken it. We have gone astray. Sin is the breach of this covenant. In committing sin, we know that we, violating law, are guilty of unfaithfulness to God, and are doing violence to our own nature.
II. THE BOND BROKEN WITH MAN. (Vers. 8, 9.) The result of breach of covenant with God is seen in the open throwing off of all regard from ordinary moral obligations. The principle of love being dethroned - and love soon dies out in the soul that has cast out love to God - self-will, egoism, greed, evil principles of various kinds, usurp its place, and rule the conduct. These verses, accordingly, hold up a picture of utter lawlessness and disorder. Violence filled the cities; the very priests took part in highway robberies and murders. Society without God is like an arch from which the keystone is removed. It falls in ruins. It is like a system of planets without a central sun - unable to maintain its independence. It becomes a scene of confusion, a chaos.
III. INIQUITY MOST SHAMEFUL AMONG THOSE WHO HAVE KNOWN GOD. (Ver. 10.) This was the aggravation of Israel's sin. They had known God, yet were now in this deplorable and desperate condition. Their knowledge of God made their sin "an horrible thing" - "an abomination." Specially hateful to God were the impurities of their worship. He would punish them with special severity on account of their special relation to him (cf. Amos 3:2). Judgment shall begin at the house of God (1 Peter 4:17).
IV. A SIDE-WORD TO JUDAH. (Ver. 11.) In the judgments that were about to fall - having, however, for their object, not Israel's destruction, but her salvation; the turning of her captivity - Judah might be sure that she would not escape. God had set a harvest for her also. What applies to one sinner applies mutatis mutandis to another. - J.O.
But they, like men, have transgressed the covenant.
General defection is a cause and presage of a sweeping stroke.
1. The crime charged on them. Covenant breaking. This is a crime of a high nature; it strikes at the root of society among men, and therefore is scandalous and punishable though it be but a man's covenant. How much more atrocious is the crime where God is the one party! God took the Israelites into covenant with Himself when He brought them out of Egypt.
2. Whom they resembled in breach of covenant. They acted like men. They were vain, light, fickle, and inconsistent as men. It may however be read, "like Adam." And he broke his covenant. Doctrine. Our father Adam broke the covenant of works.
I. THE FATAL STEP BY WHICH THAT COVENANT WAS TRANSGRESSED AND BROKEN. It was the eating of the forbidden fruit. Consider the progress, the ingredients, and the aggravations of this act. As to the ingredients, notice the unbelief, pride, ingratitude, contempt of God, and the breaking of the whole law of God at once. As to the aggravations, notice that it was righteous Adam. The object by which he was enticed — a morsel of fruit. The smaller the thing was, the greater the sin. The nature of the thing. It was theft and sacrilege. The place where it was committed, and the time when it was committed.
II. HOW WAS THIS FATAL STEP BROUGHT ABOUT?
1. The instrument of the temptation was a serpent; a true and real serpent.
2. It was acted by the devil.
3. Satan set upon the woman first, she being the weaker vessel
4. He moveth a doubt concerning the command.
5. Then he falls on the threatening and contradicts it.
6. He proceeds as one that wished well to her and her husband, and pretends to show how they might both arrive at a high pitch of happiness speedily.
7. She being ensnared, he makes use of her to tempt her husband, and prevails. God left man to the freedom of his own will in this matter. He was not the cause of his fall. But why was not man set beyond the possibility of change? It is to he remembered that absolute immutability is the peculiar prerogative of God Himself, and every creature, in as far as it is a creature, is incapable of being so immutable. Man abused his own liberty, or freedom of will, and so broke the covenant.
III. HOW WAS THE COVENANT OF WORKS BROKEN BY THIS FATAL STEP?
1. The command was violated.
2. The right and title to the promised benefit by that covenant was undermined.
3. He fell under the penalty of the covenant, became liable to death in its utmost extent.(1) The soul of man died spiritually, losing the image of God and the favour of God.(2) The body of man became mortal, death working within it and without it.(3) Soul and body were subjected and bound over to eternal death in hell. Learn —
1. The nothingness of the creature when left to itself.
2. The hopelessness of salvation by works.
3. Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation.
4. Take heed of forgetting the covenant of your God.
5. Here is a demonstration of the absolute necessity of being united to the second Adam, who kept the second covenant, and thereby fulfilled the demands of the first covenant.
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People
Adam,
Haggai,
HoseaPlaces
Assyria,
Gilead,
ShechemTopics
Adam, Agreement, Broken, Covenant, Dealt, Faithlessly, Transgressed, Treacherously, UnfaithfulOutline
1. Exhortations to repent and hope in God.4. A lamentation over those who had sinned after conviction.5. Reproofs of obstinate sinners, and threats against them.Dictionary of Bible Themes
Hosea 6:7 1349 covenant, at Sinai
5081 Adam, life of
6155 fall, of Adam and Eve
6213 participation, in sin
8711 covenant breakers
Hosea 6:6-7
8840 unfaithfulness, to God
Library
Our Miseries, Messengers of Mercy
Three things I must do this morning; first, I must deal a blow, at the old Tempter, who has got the first hand at you; secondly, I will come to reason comfortably with you; and then, thirdly, I must lovingly persuade you, saying--"Come, let us return unto the Lord." I. First then, I must DEAL A BLOW AT THE OLD TEMPTER, WHO HAS GOT BEFORE ME AND HAS BEGUN TO DECEIVE YOU. I cannot tell what is the precise temptation that Satan has been using with you, but I think it is very likely to be one of four. …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 7: 1861Nature of Covenanting.
A covenant is a mutual voluntary compact between two parties on given terms or conditions. It may be made between superiors and inferiors, or between equals. The sentiment that a covenant can be made only between parties respectively independent of one another is inconsistent with the testimony of Scripture. Parties to covenants in a great variety of relative circumstances, are there introduced. There, covenant relations among men are represented as obtaining not merely between nation and nation, …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting
The Limitations of Earth's Great Week.
We are well aware that in broaching this point we shall probably evoke the criticism of honored brethren and be charged with "setting a date" for the Return of our Lord. Nevertheless, we feel constrained to set down our honest convictions, only asking our readers to examine in the light of Holy Writ what we now advance tentatively and not dogmatically. In ancient times it was commonly held by Jewish rabbis before our Lord's first advent, and by many of the most eminent of the church fathers afterwards, …
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return
The Synagogue at Nazareth - Synagogue-Worship and Arrangements.
The stay in Cana, though we have no means of determining its length, was probably of only short duration. Perhaps the Sabbath of the same week already found Jesus in the Synagogue of Nazareth. We will not seek irreverently to lift the veil of sacred silence, which here, as elsewhere, the Gospel-narratives have laid over the Sanctuary of His inner Life. That silence is itself theopneustic, of Divine breathing and inspiration; it is more eloquent than any eloquence, a guarantee of the truthfulness …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah
St Gregory the Great (Ad 540-604)
PART I Gregory was born at Rome, of a noble and wealthy family, in the year 540. In his youth he engaged in public business, and he rose to be proctor of Rome, which was one of the chief offices under the government. In this office he was much beloved and respected by the people. But about the age of thirty-five, a great change took place in his life. He resolved to forsake the pursuit of worldly honours, and spent all his wealth in founding seven monasteries. He gave up his family house at Rome …
J. C. Roberston—Sketches of Church History, from AD 33 to the Reformation
Letter xv (Circa A. D. 1129) to Alvisus, Abbot of Anchin
To Alvisus, Abbot of Anchin He praises the fatherly gentleness of Alvisus towards Godwin. He excuses himself, and asks pardon for having admitted him. To Alvisus, Abbot of Anchin. [18] 1. May God render to you the same mercy which you have shown towards your holy son Godwin. I know that at the news of his death you showed yourself unmindful of old complaints, and remembering only your friendship for him, behaved with kindness, not resentment, and putting aside the character of judge, showed yourself …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux
Prayer.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PRAYER. WHAT is prayer? A sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Spirit, for such things as God hath promised. The best prayers have often more groans than words. Alas, how few there be in the world whose heart and mouth in prayer shall go together. Dost thou, when thou askest for the Spirit, or faith, or love to God, to holiness, to saints, to the word, and the like, ask for them with love to them, …
John Bunyan—The Riches of Bunyan
The Coming Revival
"Wilt Thou not revive us again: that Thy people may rejoice in Thee?"--PS. lxxxv. 6. "O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years."--HAB. iii. 2. "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou wilt revive me: Thy right hand shall save me."--PS. cxxxviii. 7. "I dwell with him that is of a humble and contrite heart, to revive the heart of the contrite ones."--ISA. lvii. 15. "Come, and let us return to the Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal us. He will revive us."--HOS. vi. 1, 2. The Coming …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession
The Strait Gate. Warned against Herod.
(Peræa.) ^C Luke XIII. 22-35. ^c 22 And he went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and journeying on unto Jerusalem. [This verse probably refers back to verse 10, and indicates that Jesus resumed his journey after the brief rest on the Sabbath day when he healed the woman with the curvature of the spine.] 23 And one said unto him, Lord, are they few that are saved? [It is likely that this question was asked by a Jew, and that the two parables illustrating the smallness of the …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel
The Work of Jesus Christ as an Advocate,
CLEARLY EXPLAINED, AND LARGELY IMPROVED, FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL BELIEVERS. 1 John 2:1--"And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." By JOHN BUNYAN, Author of "The Pilgrim's Progress." London: Printed for Dorman Newman, at the King's Arms, in the Poultry, 1689. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. This is one of the most interesting of Bunyan's treatises, to edit which required the Bible at my right hand, and a law dictionary on my left. It was very frequently republished; …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3
Jesus Defends Disciples who Pluck Grain on the Sabbath.
(Probably While on the Way from Jerusalem to Galilee.) ^A Matt. XII. 1-8; ^B Mark II. 23-28; ^C Luke VI. 1-5. ^b 23 And ^c 1 Now it came to pass ^a 1 At that season ^b that he ^a Jesus went { ^b was going} on the { ^c a} ^b sabbath day through the grainfields; ^a and his disciples were hungry and began ^b as they went, to pluck the ears. ^a and to eat, ^c and his disciples plucked the ears, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. [This lesson fits in chronological order with the last, if the Bethesda …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel
Backsliding.
"I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely: for Mine anger is turned away."--Hosea xiv. 4. There are two kinds of backsliders. Some have never been converted: they have gone through the form of joining a Christian community and claim to be backsliders; but they never have, if I may use the expression, "slid forward." They may talk of backsliding; but they have never really been born again. They need to be treated differently from real back-sliders--those who have been born of the incorruptible …
Dwight L. Moody—The Way to God and How to Find It
Divine Calls.
"And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel; Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for Thy servant heareth."--1 Samuel iii. 10. In the narrative of which these words form part, we have a remarkable instance of a Divine call, and the manner in which it is our duty to meet it. Samuel was from a child brought to the house of the Lord; and in due time he was called to a sacred office, and made a prophet. He was called, and he forthwith answered the call. God said, "Samuel, …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII
Of the Nature of Regeneration, and Particularly of the Change it Produces in Men's Apprehensions.
2 COR. v. 17. 2 COR. v. 17. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold all things are become new. THE knowledge of our true state in religion, is at once a matter of so great importance, and so great difficulty that, in order to obtain it, it is necessary we should have line upon line and precept upon precept. The plain discourse, which you before heard, was intended to lead you into it; and I question not but I then said enough to convince many, that they were …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration
Job's Faith and Expectation
I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand in the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. C hristianity, that is, the religion of which MESSIAH is the author and object, the foundation, life, and glory, though not altogether as old as creation, is nearly so. It is coeval [contemporary] with the first promise and intimation of mercy given to fallen man. When Adam, by transgression, had violated the order and law of …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2
Hosea
The book of Hosea divides naturally into two parts: i.-iii. and iv.-xiv., the former relatively clear and connected, the latter unusually disjointed and obscure. The difference is so unmistakable that i.-iii. have usually been assigned to the period before the death of Jeroboam II, and iv.-xiv. to the anarchic period which succeeded. Certainly Hosea's prophetic career began before the end of Jeroboam's reign, as he predicts the fall of the reigning dynasty, i. 4, which practically ended with Jeroboam's …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament
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