John Trapp on Hosea 5:4

Verſe 4. They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God] Or, their doings will not ſuffer them. That is, they are ſo habituated and hardened in ſinfull practices that they are not onely diſinabled to converſion but evil-affected thereunto: they ſtand a-croſſe to all good: to their ſinewes of iron, they have added browes of braſſe, Iſai. 48.4. to their ſin they adde rebellion, which is as bad as witch-craft, 1. Sam. 15.23. till at length they loſe all paſſive power alſo of being converted: and ſo are transformed, as it were, into ſo many devils: having by cuſtome contracted a neceſſitie of ſinning, they are become incurable: they neither will nor can return to their God: they will not frame their doings to it. The Vulgar hath it, their ſtudies, the Septuagint their counſels: Caſtalio, their endeavours, Pagnine their pains &c. The Originall is very elegant, and metricall Lo ijttenu magnallchem Laſhub el Elohehem. I ſcarce know a like text in all the Scripture, unleſſe it be that Lam. 5.16. Oi na lanu, chi chattanu. Woe to us that we have ſinned: which is ſo elegant alſo in the Originall, that Maſter Wheatly of Banbury (who uſed to be very plain in his Preaching, and not to name a Greek, Latine, or Hebrew word: Maſter Leigh nis Saints encouragement, &c. ep. dedic. quoted it once in the Hebrew, as witneſſe learned Maſter Leigh who lived ſome while under his Miniſtry. But to return to the text: whereas ſome might poſſibly conceive or reply, Ephraim is far gone indeed, but he may return. No, never, ſaith God: for he will not give his minde to it, or ſhew his good will: he is even ſet; and there is no removing of him; he hath made his concluſion, and is as good as ever he meaneth to be. They are ſo far from yielding themſelves unto the Lord, as 2 Chro. 30.8. that they ſtand in full oppoſition to him, yea ſend meſſages after him. We will not have this man to rule over us. The Jewes were an untoward generation, ſaith Peter Act. 2.40. they, by their obſtinate refuſall of the Goſpel, judged themſelves unworthy of everlaſting life, ſaith Paul Act. 13.46. there were unmalleable, unframeable, ſo knotty that they were fit for nothing but the fire, ſo naſtie, that they were fit for no place but the dunghill. And why?

the ſpirit of whoredoms is in the midſt of them] The devill is at Inne with them as that Martyr ſaid: he even ſits abrood upon them,Maſter Bradford. Eph. 2.2. hatching all manner of evil counſels and courſes, he worketh effectually in theſe children of diſobedience, as a ſmith doth in his forge, an artificer in his ſhop: he acts them and agitates them, making their ſouls and all the powers thereof nothing elſe but a ſhop of ſin, their bodies and all the parts thereof tooles of ſin, their lives and all their actions of both ſoul and body a trade of ſin, a web of wickedneſs ſpun out and made up by the hands of the devil and the fleſh, an evil ſpinner, and a worſe weaver. Hence they he rotting all their lives long in the graves of ſin, wrapt up in the winding ſheet of hardneſs, of heart (they will not frame their doing to turn to God) and blindneſs of mind (they have not known the Lord:) and as a carcaſe crawleth with wo[illegible: 1 letter]mes, ſo do theſe men ſwarm with thoſe noiſome luſts, that are able to poiſor[illegible: 3 letters] an honeſt heart. How can it be otherwiſe? the ſpirit of fornication is in the m[illegible: 2 letters]deſt of them, as a King in his Kingdom: yea hath filled their hearts from corner to corner, as he had done the hearts of Ananias and Sapphira? Act. [illegible: 1 letter]. That unclean ſpirit beſiegeth the pu[illegible: 1 letter]eſt hearts, and compaſſeth them about, ſeeking to devour them, 1 Pet. 5.8. but they keep him out, ſtedfaſt in the faith, or if he any way get in, they quickly caſt him out again: ſo that he cannot long reſt or rooſt, much leſſe raign there: for the Spirit of God keepeth them,1 Joh. 5.18 Caietan. and that evil one toucheth them not tactu qualitativo with a deadly touch; they regard not iniquity in their heart, there is no way of wickedneſſe found in them. Of the ſpirit of whoredomes ſee the Note on Chap. 4.11.

And they have not known the Lord] He knowes them well enough verſe 3. and they ſhall know it, Jer. 16.21. to their coſt: but they know not the Lord, ſc. ſavingly and effectually: for if they did, they could not be ſo vile and vitious, ſo looſe and licentious. A man is properly ſaid to know no more of Gods minde then he practiteth: like as of our Saviour it is ſaid, that he knew no ſin, that is,2 Cor. 5.21. he did none: with an intellectuall knowledge he knew it (how elſe could he reprove it) but not with a practical: and as it is ſaid of Elies two ſons, that they knew not God becauſe they obey'd him not. Lo ſuch was the ignorance of this people, aſſected and acquired; and this is peccatorum omnium fons et fomes, the mother of all miſchief and miſery; as hath been oft ſet forth in the Notes upon the former chapter.