John Trapp on Hosea 4:3

Verſe 3. Therefore ſhall the land mourn,] Here the Lord proceeds to give ſentence; and it is dreadfull indeed. Lugebit terra, languebit incola, &c. You will not mourn, therefore your land ſhall: the ugly face of your ſin ſhall appear in the miſerable deſolation of your Countrey: There is no truth, mercy, or knowledge of God in your land: which even groans under your burden, the axeltree thereof being ready to break; therefore it ſhall be eaſed of you, by my ſore, and great, and ſtrong ſword, which ſhall ſoon make work amongſt you, and lay all waſt. And as Gods red horſe of warre is followed by the black horſe of famine, and that blace one, by the pale horſe of peſtilence, Rev. 6.4, 5, 8. ſo ſhall it be here. As by ſwearing, and lying,, &c. you have broke out, ſo ſhall my whole wrath break out upon you as mighty torrent. As blood hath touched blood, ſo puniſhment ſhall follow hard upon ſin: for theſe two are knit together with chains of Adamant, ſaith the Poet. if thou do evil, ſin lies at the door, ſaith God, Gen. 4.7. that is, ſupplicium imminet, idque proximum & praeſentiſſimum, ſaith Junius there: Evil ſhall hunt the wicked man to deſtroy him: his ſin ſhall find him out as a bloodhound, and haunt him as an hell-hag. Where iniquity breaks-faſt, calamity will be ſure to dine; to ſup where it dines, and to lodge where it ſups. No ſooner had man ſinned, but the earth was curſed for his ſake, Gen. 3.17, 18. It was never beautifull nor cheerfull ſince. At this day it lies bed-ridden, and looks to be burnt up ſhortly with her works, 2 Pet. 3.10. Here it is brought in as a mother in mourning, bewayling the loſſe of all her children, and refuſing to be comforted. And ſurely though the land be eaſed of a very heavy burden, as I have ſaid, when purged by Gods juſt judgements of her ungratefull and wicked inhabitants: yet becauſe ſhe lies under the dint of Divine diſpleaſure at ſuch a time, therefore is ſhee rightly ſaid to mourn in this caſe, and to be in a ſad diſconſolate condition, (See Jer. 12.4.) ſhe becomes a very Ahil, (that's the word here uſed, ſee Iudg. 11.33.) a Bochim, an Hadadrimmon, an Iri-ſland; and being deſolate ſhe mourneth unto thee: for ſhe ſeeth that her convulſions are like to end in a deadly conſumption.

And every one that dwelleth therein ſhall languiſh,] Heb. ſhall wither as a flower, Nahum 1.4. Or, ſhall be weakened. Thoſe that now ſtand upon their tiptoes, and face the very heavens, ſtouting it out with God, ſhall then be weak as water, withered as a flower, ſtrengthleſſe as a moth-eaten-cloth, Pſal. 39.11. low-ſpirited, and creſt-faln, as the king of Sodom, (erſt man good enough to look four kings in the face, but anon ſuppliant to Abraham, a forlorn forreiner, Gen. 14.21.) Manaſſeh that ſturdy rebell, in trouble baſely hides his head among the buſhes, 2 Chron. 33.11. Caligula in time of thunder ran under beds and benches. Affliction will tame, and take down the proudeſt ſpirits: they break in adverſity that bore their heads on high in proſperity: they ſpeak out of the ground, and whiſper out of the duſt,Eſay 21.4. that look to be brought into the duſt of death Pſal. 22.15. It is the peſtilence that here ſeemeth to be threatened (as before ſword and famine) and an universall peſtilence too; reaching not onely to men but to other creatures made for mans uſes, which ſhewes the greatneſſe of the wrath: like as when a King not onely executeth the traytour, but alſo pulleth down his houſe, confiſcateth his goods, and and diſinheriteth his children &c. But what have thoſe ſheep done? the beaſts, birds,Pareus. and fiſhes that they muſt ſuffer alſo? It is but reaſon they ſhould, ſith firſt they are part of mens enjoyments: ſecondly they are many times (though harmeleſſe in themſelves) yet inſtruments of mens ſin: and therefore well doth the Chaldee here paraphraſe Diminutionem patientur propter hominum peccata they ſhall ſuffer for mans ſin: who may therefore well ſay to them, as Judah did to Tamar, Thou art more rigteous then I.

with the beaſts of the field] which ſhall dye by the murrian.

and the foules of the ayre] which ſhall catch the contagion,Joſeph. and fall down dead: as thoſe birds do that attempt to fly over the dead ſea.

and the fiſhes of the ſea alſo ſhall be taken away] Colligentur, conficientur they ſhall be gathered together as ſeeking help one of another in a common danger: and yet they ſhall be deſtroyed,Engl. Chron. the very waters being peſtilentiall, as they were here in King Edward the thirds dayes; ſo that the very foules and fiſhes had botches upon them. This was a heavier judgement then that which befell the old world: for then the fiſhes periſhed not: though the Jew-doctours would perſwade us that theſe alſo died in the flood: for that the waters thereof were boyling hot.