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Verse 4. For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live.
5. For seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and passe not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.
Followeth the Lords scope in all this threatning, which is to invite them to repentance, unto which they are
so frequently exhorted, and pressed and directed, in this part of the chapter. In these verses they are, 1. Com∣manded and exhorted to seek him. 2. They are en∣couraged so to do, by a promise of life, whereby we are to understand not onely a spiritual life of grace here and glory hereafter, but also that they should be delivered from trouble (at least not be totally consumed by it) and enjoy outward prosperity and felicity, in place of the cala∣mities which their sin drew on. 3. They are directed how to seek him rightly, to wit, that they should seek him in his own appointed way, and not follow their idola∣trous courses. And to this a reason is sub-joined, that the places where their idols were entertained and worshipped, were to be consumed by the wrath of God; and therefore it was their folly to follow them. From v. 4. learn, 1. The Lords scope, when he threatens most severely, is to drive his people to repentance, that they may be fit for mercy; Therefore this exhortation comes in with the particle for (or since it is so, this is the thing I drive at) seek me. Unlesse we fasten upon this, we will either but despise threatnings, so long as we can, or become heart∣lesse when are sensible of them. 2. As to enjoy God will be the chiefe desire and aime of penitents, and not to be freed from trouble onely: So however secure sinners glory much of their enjoying of God; yet when trouble is blessed to set them on worke, they will finde their mi∣stake, and see that he is departed. In both these respects are they directed to seek God as their chiefe desire, and him whom they had lost in their security. 3. Albeit sensible souls finde the Lord absent from them, through their own default; Yet that should not deterre them from seeking and pursuing after him again; for, to such is the command, seek ye me. To be made sensible of a distance, and of absence, is a greater token for good, then that it should be crushed by such discouragements. 4. Albeit also such as finde a distance, and are seeking to make it up, may possibly, for their further exercise, not seem to come speed at first; yet that should not weaken their hands: nor will they be accounted lesse penitent, or be further from acceptance, that they are but pursu∣ers, and not enjoyers; for, approven repentance here is not to finde God, but to seek God, and these get the pro∣mise.
Seek ye me, and ye shall live. 5. Albeit Satan lay many impediments in a penitents way; Sometime by assaulting him with fits of security; sometime representing God so unto him, as he dare not approach; sometime suggesting that there is no hope for him; and sometime discouraging him, that his former endeavours seme to have been in vain: Yet this may resolve the doubts of most des∣perate sinners, that even they are commanded to come to God: and that by him, whose power may terrifie, and whose sufficiency may encourage, and at whose command we may let down the net; Therefore is the exhortation thus pressed, Thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, (as bad as they are) seek ye me. See Isa. 45.19. 6. A penitent seeker of God would not onely minde the command of God, but would eye the encouragement also, and joine the Gospel with the Law, to quicken him in his duty; There∣fore is there an encouagement sub-joined, seek ye me, and ye shall live. 7. As all they who do not seek God, are but dead even while they seem to live in pleasure, 1. Tim. 5.6. So to seek God is the undoubted way to attain a spiritual life, and to get a sentence and principle of eter∣nal life, and to live comfortably in his favour: Yea it is the ready way to obtain outward prosperity, in so far as is for their good, and to have their lot, whatever it be, made comfortable: for, this promise, ye shall live, albeit it hold not out such temporal favours to every penitent, as it doth to Israel; yet it holds out so much as is contained in the doctrine to every penitent. From v. 5. learn, 1. The right and acceptable way of seeking God is an old controversie in the Church, and a controversie which God onely by his word must resolve and determine: Therefore doth he adde this direction how to seek him. 2. The following of idoles and their service, and the worshipping of God in and by them, will prove but a poor shift in trouble; and is a service which he will not accept, nor approve of as right seeking of him: Therefore, where∣as they might be ready (if they did any thing) upon such an invitation, to run to the worship of the calves; The Lord expressly prohibites them, if they would approve themselves as seekers of him: But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal; and passe not into Beersheha. These places have been often spoken of in Hosea; onely Beersheba is here
first named in these Prophets; which it seemes they also frequented for idolatrous worship, because Abraham and Isaac had dwelt often there, Gen. 21.31. and 26.23. and not onely they, but Jacob also had worshipped God there, Gen. 21.33, and 26.23, 24, 25. and 46. 1. It was after∣ward a City on the very south border of the promised land, as Dan was on the north, Judg. 20.1. 1. Sam. 3.20. and did belong to to the Tribe of Judah, Josh. 15.20, 28. And therefore it is a question how Israel came to erect their idolatry there. It may be it was because that City fell afterward in Simeons lot, Josh. 19.1, 2. who revolted with the rest from the house of David. Though after the captivity of the ten Tribes, we finde it in the possession of Judah, and polluted with their idolatry, 2. Kings 23.8. 3. Idols will be so far from helping these who worship them and trust in them, that God will discover the vanity of them, by making them causes of ruine to all places where they are entertained; for, so much is held out in this reason disswading them from these courses, for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought; Where in the Original there is an allusion to the names of these places, that as Gilgal had its name from rolling, Josh. 5.9. so it should roll into captivity: And Bethel should prove vanity, or Aven, as it was in effect by reason of idola∣try, whence it is called Bethaven, Hos. 4.15.