Sin Disturbing Human Relations
A. Maclaren, D. D. Hosea 10:4 They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springs up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.… The sin of Israel is now contemplated in its effects on human relations. Before, it was regarded in relation to God. But men who are wrong with Him cannot be right with one another. Morality is rooted in religion, and, if we lie to God, we shall not be true to our brother. Hence, passing over all other sins for the present, Hosea fixes upon one, the prevalence of which strikes at the very foundation of society. What can be done with a community in which lying has become a national characteristic, and that even in formal agreements? Honeycombed with falsehood, it is only fit for burning. Sin is bound by an iron link to penalty. "Therefore," says Hosea, God's judgment springs up, like a bitter plant (the precise name of which is unknown) in the furrows, where the farmer did not know that its seeds lay. They little dreamed what they were sowing when they scattered abroad their lives, but this is the fruit of that. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap"; and whatever other crop we may hope to gather from our sins, we shall gather that bitter one, which we did not expect. The inevitable connection of sin and judgment, the bitterness of its results, the unexpectedness of them, are all here, and to be laid to heart by us. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field. WEB: They make promises, swearing falsely in making covenants. Therefore judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.