John Trapp on Hosea 11:9

Verſe 9. I will not execute the fierceneſſe of mine anger,] Heb. the heat of it Gods bowels kindled, and whatſoever might cauſe repentance came together, and lay glowing as it were at his heart: and this cooled and even quenched the heat of his wrath, (as the Sun-beams when they ſhine full upon the fire) ſo that now hee reſolves not to execute the height of his heat, the extremity of his fury, for then the ſpirit ſhould fail before him. Ephraim is Gods dear ſonne, his pleaſant child: whom when he hears bemoaning himſelf, as Jer. 31.18, 19, 20. he ſoon repents him of the evil, ans cries, —Satis hoc, pro crimine magno Paulum ſupplicij lenem ſun[illegible: 2 letters]ſiſſe parente[illegible: 2 letters].

I will not return to deſtroy Ephraim,] I will not undo him twice over, or utterly ruine him: as thoſe that have laid their enemy for dead, returne to ſee whether he be dead out-right: or as ſouldiers that have once pillaged a city, return after a while to take all that little that was left before, and to ſet the reſt on fire. God will not deal ſo hardly with Ephraim, though he might do it. Reprobates indeed ſhall have an evil, an onely evil, Ezek. 7.5. without mixture of mercy; they muſt expect one plague upon another, as it fared with Pharaoh, till God had daſhed the very breath out of his body, &c. But for his elect people, Hath he ſmitten them, as he ſmot thoſe that ſmot them? No, but in meaſure, in the branches onely: hee ſtayeth his rough wind, &c. Eſay 27.7, 8. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Hero. And as Craeſus his dumb ſonne burſt out into Kill not King Craeſus. So when enemies are ready to devour the Church, or Satan to ſwallow Gods child up in deſpair, his bowels work; he can hold no longer, but cries, Save my child, ſave my Church, &c. Why ſhould the ſpirit fail before me, and the ſouls which I have made? I have ſeen his wayes, and (though bad enough) I will heal him, I will lead him alſo, and reſtore comforts unto him, and to his mourners. Eſay 57.16. 17, 18.

For I am God, and not man,] yea ſuch a God, as the like is not, for pardoning iniquity, and paſſing by the tranſgreſſion of the remnant of his heritage, Mic. 7.18. 'Tis naturall to him, Exod. 34.6. 'tis uſuall, Neh. 9.17. there he is called a God of pardons, as Eſay 55.7. he is ſaid to multiply pardons. He hath commanded men to forgive an offending but repenting brother, ſeventy times ſeven times in a day, Mat. 18.22. What then will himſelf do? For he is God Almighty, and not man. Man is an angry vindictive, cruell creature: one man is a Wolf, yea a Devil to another: unſociable, implacable, unmercifull, as thoſe were Rom. 1.31. Beware of men, ſaith our Saviour to his diſciples, Matt. 10.17. abſurd and wicked men, 1 Theſſ. 3.2. barbarous, and bruitiſh, skilfull to deſtroy, Ezek. 21.31. Yea beware of good men, when enraged. What ſtrange deaths did David (ſoon after his foul fall, and not fully recovered) put the poor Ammonites to, 2 Sam. 12.31. Further, men as they are unmercifull, ſo they are unmindfull of their promiſes. But God is not a man that he ſhould lie, Num. 23.18. What he hath ſpoke with his mouth, he will make good with his hand. The eternity of Iſrael will not lie, (as men will, Rom. 3.4.) nor repent, (as men do, whatever he may ſeem to do; ſee the note on the former verſe) for he is not a man that he ſhould repent, 1 Sam. 15.29. Men are mutable: the trueſt friend is [non-Latin text not transcribed], and eaſily changeable creature, as the Heathen complained; all in changeable colours, as Tertullian ſaith of the Peacock; as often changed as moved. Not ſo Almighty God. I am Jehovah, I change not, Mal. 3.6. See the Note there, and remember ſtill to retain high thoughts of God: not meaſuring him by our modell; as to think him to be as mercifull as we are, as powerfull as our underſtanding can reach, &c. See Eſay 55.8, 9. and beg ſupernaturall grace: without which it is impoſſible for a finite creature to beleeve the infinite Attributes of Almighty God.

the holy One in the middeſt of thee,] Though Iſrael had deeply revolted, ſet up golden gods, and done wickedly as they could, ſo that there was no viſible Church amongſt them, yet God was the holy One in the middeſt of them: Seven thouſand he had reſerved that Eliah knew not of, 1 King. 19.18. and a Church there was in Iſrael, when at worſt. Like as there was in medio Papatu, in the darkeſt midnight of damned popery: and at this very day, there are ſaid to be thouſands of profeſt Proteſtants,Spec. Eur. even in Italy it ſelf: and in Sivil, a chief city of Spain, there are thought to be no fewer then twenty thouſand.

and I will not enter into the city.] I will not invade the city as an enemy, to waſt all with fire and ſword, as once at Sodom. For why, there are holy ones in the middeſt of thee (ſo Rivet expoundeth it by an enallage of the number) a conſiderable company of righteous people, for whoſe ſake I will ſpare thee, Jer. 5.1.