V. 1. SAY YE UNTO YOUR BRETHREN, AMMI ("My people"); AND TO YOUR SISTERS, RUHAMAH ("having obtained mercy"). The original names of the children were thus changed to indicate their changed relationship toward God and their Savior. No matter how far a person has fallen away from the truth of God's Wor... [ Continue Reading ]
Plead with your mother, the members of Israel, as the children of an adulterous wife, being addressed, PLEAD; FOR SHE IS NOT MY WIFE, she was no longer Jehovah's bride, NEITHER AM I HER HUSBAND, for He had been obliged to reject her on account of her adultery; LET HER THEREFORE PUT AWAY HER WHOREDOM... [ Continue Reading ]
lest I strip her naked, as a punishment for her shameless exposure of herself in the practice of her spiritual wantonness, AND SET HER AS IN THE DAY THAT SHE WAS BORN, Cf Exodus 16:4, when she was without covering, AND MAKE HER AS A WILDERNESS AND SET HER LIKE A DRY LAND, altogether desert in every... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will not have mercy upon her children, all the members of the nation being included in His punishment; FOR THEY BE THE CHILDREN OF WHOREDOMS, all of them being guilty of the same shameless idolatry.... [ Continue Reading ]
For their mother hath played the harlot, the whole nation, as the various prophets show, being guilty of the same idolatrous behavior; SHE THAT CONCEIVED THEM HATH DONE SHAMEFULLY, openly committing her shameless acts, making no attempt to hide her bold practices; FOR SHE SAID, I WILL GO AFTER MY LO... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, setting insurmountable obstacles to keep Israel away from the heathen nations with their allurements and temptations, AND MAKE A WALL THAT SHE SHALL NOT FIND HER PATHS, namely, to the temples and altars of the idols. The Lord undoubtedly refers... [ Continue Reading ]
And she shall follow after her lovers, determined, at first, to cling to the false gods whom she had accepted, BUT SHE SHALL NOT OVERTAKE THEM; AND SHE SHALL SEEK THEM, BUT SHALL NOT FIND THEM, for she would be reduced to such straits as would show her how vain was her hope in these idols and their... [ Continue Reading ]
For she did not know, she did not realize at that time, THAT I GAVE HER CORN AND WINE AND OIL AND MULTIPLIED HER SILVER AND GOLD, giving her all these temporal blessings in rich measure, WHICH THEY PREPARED FOR BAAL, using it for his cult and worship, in open idolatry. Many a person serves a false g... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore will I return and take away My corn in the time thereof, namely, at the very time of the harvest, when men would expect a full supply, AND MY WINE IN THE SEASON THEREOF AND WILL RECOVER MY WOOL AND MY FLAX, all these being gifts of His bounty, and therefore rightly belonging to Him, GIVEN... [ Continue Reading ]
And now will I discover her lewdness, uncover her nakedness and shame to her disgrace, IN THE SIGHT OF HER LOVERS, Cf Ezekiel 16:37, AND NONE SHALL DELIVER HER OUT OF MINE HAND. Cf Jeremiah 13:26; Nahum 3:5. While the nations round about were looking on, partly in helpless idleness and partly in mal... [ Continue Reading ]
I will also cause all her mirth to cease, the hypocritical evidence of a joy which was no longer real among the people, HER FEAST-DAYS, especially the three highest festivals, Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles, HER NEW MOONS, AND HER SABBATHS, AND ALL HER SOLEMN FEASTS, whatever days... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, representative of the wealth of the country in farm products. WHEREOF SHE HATH SAID, THESE ARE MY REWARDS THAT MY LOVERS HAVE GIVEN ME, thus blasphemously taking the honor from the Lord; AND I WILL MAKE THEM, the fine orchards and vineyards, A FOREST,... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, punishing her for devoting the great festival days of the Jewish church-year to the service of heathen idols, WHEREIN SHE BURNED INCENSE TO THEM, AND SHE DECKED HERSELF WITH HER EARRINGS AND HER JEWELS, decorating herself for the purpose of making an imp... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore, behold, I will allure her, deliberately leading the idolatrous Israel astray and visiting His punishment upon her, but with a wonderful object in mind, AND BRING HER INTO THE WILDERNESS, where there was nothing to detract her attention any more, AND SPEAK COMFORTABLY UNTO HER, in a friend... [ Continue Reading ]
The Renewal of the Lord's Marriage Contract... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will give her her vineyards from thence, the very wilderness again blossoming as the rose, that is, the Gospel-teaching once more bringing forth glorious fruits, AND THE VALLEY OF ACHOR, southwest of Jericho, here used only in a figurative way, FOR A DOOR OF HOPE, so that the crime of Achan wo... [ Continue Reading ]
And it shall be at that day, at the time of this wonderful deliverance of the Messianic period, SAITH THE LORD, THAT THOU SHALT CALL ME ISHI, that is, "My Husband,". AND SHALT CALL ME NO MORE BAALI, in the form of idolatry by which Israel had transferred the worship of the one true God to the Phoeni... [ Continue Reading ]
For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, so that the people would no longer mention them in prayer, AND THEY SHALL NO MORE BE REMEMBERED BY THEIR NAME, so that idolatry would completely be forgotten in the midst of the Lord's people.... [ Continue Reading ]
And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven and with the creeping things of the ground, with all those things which might prove harmful and dangerous to them, under the picture of ravenous beasts, birds of prey, and poisonous reptiles, AN... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will betroth thee, so the Lord says to His bride, the Church of the New Testament, UNTO ME FOREVER; YEA, I WILL BETROTH THEE UNTO ME IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, namely, that earned by Christ when He cleansed His Church from all unrighteousness through the blood of His cross, AND IN JUDGMENT, by which He... [ Continue Reading ]
I will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness, with a pledge of the eternal duration of the covenant on His side; AND THOU SHALT KNOW THE LORD, the saving knowledge of Jehovah being imparted through this Gospel-message.... [ Continue Reading ]
And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, His ears, as it were, being attuned to the slightest stirring on the part of those who know Him as their Savior, I WILL HEAR THE HEAVENS, who here appear as interceding in behalf of the believers, AND THEY SHALL HEAR THE EARTH, whic... [ Continue Reading ]
and the earth shall hear the corn and the wine and the oil, so that its blessings would once more richly be given; AND THEY SHALL HEAR JEZREEL, the people of the true Israel, of the Church of God, becoming partakers of the rich blessings of the Lord in the Messianic era.... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will sow her unto Me in the earth, planting His Church anew by the operation of His divine grace; AND I WILL HAVE MERCY UPON HER THAT HAD NOT OBTAINED MERCY, the congregation of Israel; AND I WILL SAY TO THEM WHICH WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, men and women from every part of the world, chosen by the L... [ Continue Reading ]