Hosea 10:12

Sow ... in righteousness. Literally, “for righteousness,” or “to righteousness”; Israel is to sow seed from which righteousness is to spring forth. The admonition here given again reflects the meaning of the name Jezreel (see on chs. 1:4; 2:23). Reap. The heifer (v. 11) illustrates the condition into which Israel had come because of sin; here the prophet pictures what the Lord desires Israel to be through the obedience of faith. Using figures drawn from agricultural life (vs. 12, 13), Hosea presents the call to repentance and to the reformation that true repentance brings. God assures His people that if they will conform their lives to His will, and treat their fellows justly, they shall receive their reward (see Ps. 19:11; Prov. 11:18), a reward far greater than the total of the good deeds they might do, just as the farmer who sows a bushel of wheat reaps from it many more bushels in the harvest (see Mark 10:28-30). Even though we may sow the seed of righteousness in tears, the comforting promise remains that we shall reap in joy (see Ps. 126:5, 6). Mercy. Heb. chesed (see Additional Note on Psalm 36). Break up. This is a divine plea for a reformation in life, for the rooting out of the weeds of sin, as the farmer runs his plow through the fallow, uncultivated field and breaks it up that the ground may be ready for the sowing of the seed. Israel is urged to purge out all apostasy in worship, all iniquity in living, and to return to the Lord with sincerity of heart. Too long had Ephraim’s land lain waste and wild in sin. This must now give way to divine cultivation for the rooting out of the weeds and roots of national, social, and individual evils. Spiritual renewal and radical religious reform are imperative. This strong plea indicates that the door of mercy was still open for possible repentance on the part of Israel. However, the sad fact remained that the nation as a whole was so hardened in sin that this plea would be in vain (see on ch. 4:17). Nevertheless, the straight messages of Hosea were not wholly in vain, for they probably helped many an individual soul to remain true in this time of crisis (see PK 292). Seek the Lord. Should they do so, God would again own them as His people (see on chs. 1:9; 2:23). Rain righteousness. See on Isa. 45:8.