Hosea 10:12

Saw to yourselves in righteousness,.... Not the seed of grace, which bad men have not, and cannot saw it; and which good men need not, it being sown in them already, and remaining; rather the seed of

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

Sow to yourselves in righteousness: the prophet continueth his care of their welfare, by exhorting them yet at last to repent, which, as learned interpreters observe, the prophet doth here in the same elliptic speech which is used before these imperatives, and is to be made up thus, The Lord hath said by his prophets, Sow, &c.; this same duty hath been pressed on them formerly, and is again commended to them; sow in righteousness, in universal righteousness, towards God in piety, towards man in equity, and herein see that ye sow plentifully, that is, exercise yourselves in these works. Reap in mercy: this is referred both to the Divine mercy, and so amounteth to a promise, and to the mercy we should show to man, and so is direction for another part of duty; both may well have place here. Break up your fallow ground; your hearts, O ye Ephraimites, have been and still are, as ground overrun with weeds, which need be ploughed and broken up, that good seed may be sowed in them, that you may bring forth fruit in holy life, from a holy heart, and obtain mercy of God. It is time to seek the Lord; it is full time, if you consider it aright; or, it is yet time, you may seek and find he is not quite gone, still he calls you, therefore hearken, and follow seasonable advice, seek ye the Lord whilst he may be found. Till he come; seek with patience and faith until he doth, as certainly he will, come; for this passage is a virtual or implicit promise that God will come to them if they seek him, i.e. he will bless, favour, and love them; in these he will appear to them, which is his coming to them. Rain righteousness; plentifully pour out the fruits of his own goodness and mercy which he hath promised, and, having promised, it is a righteous thing they should be given according to promise; thus the mercies of God to us are his righteousness to us. Upon you, who repent and obey his counsel by his prophets.

Hosea 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for [it is] time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.Ver. 12. Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy] Righteousness is a sure seed, a precious grain, which those that sow (and every action of our life is a sowing) shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, and bring their sheaves with them, Psalms 126:6. Only they must not look to sow and reap all in one day; as one saith of the Hyperborean people far north, that they sow shortly after the sunrising with them, and reap before the sunset; that is, because the whole half year is one continual day with them. The Church is God’ s husbandry, Heresbach. de re Rust. 1 Corinthians 3:9; the seed is the Word of God, Luke 8:11. Ministers are God’ s husbandmen, harvestmen, Matthew 9:37-38; the plough, Luke 9:62, plough staff, Luke 13:8, axe, Matthew 3:10, are the law’ s threatenings; the fruit causing rain are the promises of the Gospel, Isaiah 55:10-11; faith, that works by love, are the fruits; the last day, the harvest, Matthew 13:39; Matthew 13:41. Then at utmost, those that sow bountifully (or, in blessings, Eπευλογιας, as the Greek hath it) shall reap bountifully, 2 Corinthians 9:6. He that soweth seemeth to cast away his seed; but if he sow in locis irriguis upon fat and fertile places, he knows he shall receive his own with usury. In some parts of Egypt, where the river Nile overfloweth, they do but throw in their seed, and they have four rich harvests in less than four months. Oh sow bountifully the seeds of piety and charity into God’ s blessed bosom; and then be sure to reap plentiful mercy, in thy greatest necessity; reap in the month of mercy. (as the original here hath it), that is, according to the measure of Divine mercy, proportionably to the infiniteness of God’ s mercy. Now the Scripture hath three notable words to express the fulness of God’ s mercy in Christ to those that sow in righteousness: Ephesians 2:7, the abundant riches of his grace, that are cast in over and above; Romans 5:20, the grace of God hath been more than exceeding; there is a second υπερ: 1 Timothy 1:14, the grace of God was exceeding abundant. It had an abundance before: yea, but here is a super abundance; here is good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over shall God give into men’ s bosoms: like as when a poor man asked Mr Fox for an alms, he (finding him religious) gave him his horse; or as Alexander gave one (that craved some small courtesy of him) a whole city. And when the poor man said, it was too much for him to receive; yea, but not for me to give, said he, Non quaero quid te accipere deceat, sed quid me dare (Sen. de Benef.). So God giveth liberally and like himself, James 1:5.

(12) In their despair come some characteristic gleams of hope on the desolation; the eternal law which makes reaping a consequence of sowing will still apply. The mercy of God will be the harvest of a sowing to the Spirit. (Comp. Galatians 6:8; Romans 8:7-13; and Micah 6:8.) The very soil of the soul is fallow and unbroken. Break it up, seek Jehovah, and He will come as never before. This momentary rift in the storm-cloud shows the light behind it.

Verse 12. Sow to yourselves in righteousness] Let the seed you sow be of the best kind, and in just measure. Reap in mercy] By the blessing of God on this ploughing, sowing, and harrowing, you may expect a good crop in harvest. Break up your fallow ground] Do not be satisfied with a slight furrow; let the land that was fallowed (slightly ploughed) be broken up again with a deep furrow. For it is time to seek the Lord] This should be immediately done: the season is passing; and if you do not get the seed in the ground, the early rain will be past, and your fields will be unfruitful. Rain righteousness upon you.] God will give you the early rain in due time, and in proper measure. Here are the metaphors, and the application cannot be difficult. Here are ploughing, fallowing, sowing, harrowing, watering, reaping, threshing, and feeding on the produce of well-directed labour. All may be applied to the human heart, and the work of God upon it. Correction, contrition, conversion, receiving the grace of Christ, bringing forth fruit, &c.

12. If only a moral miracle could take place, Israel’s calamities might yet be averted. Nor is it entirely inconceivable, for miracles, so Hosea thinks, can be wrought by an earnest resolution. Hence Hosea’s final appeal. Sow to yourselves, &c.] Rather, Sow to yourselves according to righteousness, and ye shall reap in proportion to love; that is, Let your conduct be governed by a regard to righteousness, and it shall be recompensed in accordance with the divine love (or perhaps, see on Hosea 4:1, in accordance with the love ye have shown to one another, ‘righteousness’ being only another aspect of ‘love’ or benevolence). Break up your fallow ground] Husbandmen in the East are indolent, and sometimes ‘sow among thorns’ (Jeremiah 4:3). The Israelites are warned against committing this fault in their spiritual husbandry. Evil habits must be broken off, and a new character formed, or it will be impossible to sow the seed of righteousness. for it is time, &c.] There is still time to seek Jehovah, till he listen to your prayer, and rain his righteous gift of salvation upon you. For the figure of righteousness coming down from the sky, comp. Isaiah 45:8; Psalms 85:11. ‘Righteousness’ bears the meaning ‘salvation’ which it virtually has so often in the second part of Isaiah, ‘righteousness’ being the divine principle of action, ‘salvation’ the same divine principle in action.

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy - Literally, “in the proportion of mercy,” not in proportion to what you have sown, nor what justice would give, but beyond all deserts, “in the proportion of mercy;” i.

12. Momentarily the tone of the prophet changes to one of exhortation. If Israel would only turn and seek Jehovah the judgment might yet be averted. For such turning the prophet pleads.