John Trapp on Hosea 9:17

Verſ. 17. My God wil caſt them away,] My God, not their God, for they are caſt-awayes and Apoſtates: ſee the like, 1 Iohn. 5.17. and learn to ſtick to God the cloſer, when others ſtart from him; & to ſecure our own intereſt in a general defection, by ſiding with God, and ſubſcribing as here the prophet doth, to his perfect righteouſneſſe in the rejection and deſtruction of reprobates.

Wil caſt them away] with diſdain and deteſtation, as vile and execrable. He will do it, ſaith the prophet here, not without a great deal of grief, as finding that God was fully reſolved, and would not alter. The eternity of Iſrael will not he, nor repent;1 Sam. 15. for he is not a man, that he ſhould repent, ſaith Samuel to Saul, that caſtaway and it is very dreadful: as indeed it is for any wicked men to have ſuch as have intereſt in God, to declare againſt them; ſith the ſecret of the Lord is with them that fear him, Pſal. 25.14. and their ſentence is not to be ſlighted. Gods meſſengers eſpecially, out of their acquaintance with their maſters proceedings, can foreſee and foretel a puniſhment.

Becauſe they did not hearken unto him,] Haec not abilis eſt ſententia, This is a notable ſentence, ſaith Luther upon the text; and worthy to be written upon all our walls and windows. Death came into the world by the ear, ſo muſt life: for it is, Hear and your ſoules ſhal live; and they that will not hear the inſtruction of life, are doomed to deſtruction, as were Eli's ſonnes, 1 Sam. 2.25. and Amaziah, 2 Chro. 25.16. A heavy ear is a ſingular judgement, Eſay. 6.10. an uncircumciled ear a forerunner of ruine, Jer. 6.10, 11. O pray God to pull off that filthy foreskin and to give us an hearing ear, (that way to wiſedom) an underſtanding heart, ſuch as Solomon begged, 1 King 3.9. Pray, that he would bore our ears, as Pſal. 40.6. and make the bore big enough, that we may not onely hear, but hearken; liſten as for life, hear and give ear, be not proud, for the Lord hath ſpoken it, Jer. 13.15. when God hath ſpoken once, let us bear it twice, as David did, Pſal. 62.11. he preacht over the Sermon again to himſelf at home. We muſt do with the words directions, as we do with oyl to a ſtiffe joynt; rub and chafe them on our hearts by deep and frequent meditation and prayer: leſt elſe we hear with theſe in the text.

Becauſe they did not hearken unto him, they ſhal be wanderers among the nations,]Gen. 4.12. Heb. Nodedim: Cains curſe ſhall befall them. A fugitive and a vagabond ſhal I be upon the earth, but could not wander ſo wide as to miſſe of hell; nor flie ſo far as from his own evil conſcience. Lo, this is the caſe of theſe wandering Jewes, a diſjected and deſpiſed nation exiled out of the world by a common conſent of all people, till God turn again their captivity as the ſtreams in the ſouth, till he gather the out-caſts of Iſrael.