Hosea 6:11

"Alas, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for thee, when I bring back the captivity of my people."

"Alas, O Judah ..." Thus we have another reference to Judah; and the knee-jerk response of many commentators is the allegation that, "This is an evident gloss, suggested to the later writer by Judah's sins which so resembled those here charged to Israel."[22] "A Judean editor applies the prophecy to his own time and situation."[23] "This is the contribution of a Judean editor who glosses the text."[24] Etc. etc. etc... In such a cacophony of scholarly prejudice against this verse, it is refreshing to find McKeating injecting a mild note of caution: "The final comment (Hosea 6:11) is often suspected of being a later addition to the text, but we cannot be certain that it is so. Hosea displays an interest in both halves of the nation, and is critical of both."[25] Indeed, indeed, how true this is! Not only is any certainty about some so-called editor being the source of Hosea 6:11, impossible to find, but the context of this entire prophecy demands that Hosea himself be considered the divine author of it. The words of God's covenant with Israel (both northern Israel and Judah) abound throughout Hosea, one such word occurring in this very verse, "my people." Keil noted concerning that word:

Ammi, my people, means the people of Jehovah; and it is not Israel alone of the ten tribes, but the whole covenant nation as a whole.[26]

To get rid of the many references to Judah in Hosea, including the one here, one would have to delete every reference to the covenant in the whole prophecy, after which practically nothing would remain.

Again we call attention to the fraudulent inconsistency of appeals so often made to consider Sacred Scripture the contribution of some nameless, unknown, unidentifiable, fictional, imaginary EDITOR! We reaffirm a conviction we have long held that the mythical "editor" of Biblical criticism is the Piltdown Man of the critical fraternity. The injection of such an allegd person into the works of Biblical commentaries is not scientific, nor scholarly, nor dependable, nor trustworthy; it is pure imagination! It is a notable fact that nobody ever gives the race, the age, the date, or the identification of this "editor." If any editor ever touched Hosea, why did he conceal his name? From thoughts of modesty? How ridiculous! Modesty is a virtue improperly associated with any "editor" who would inject his own words into the Sacred Scriptures and fraudulently pass them off as the authentic words of an inspired writer.

The passion for pseudonymity among Biblical scholars is a malignant and fatal disease; and as Robinson declared, "There is an appetite for it that grows by what it feeds upon";[27] and although he was speaking of pseudonymity as it is accepted among New Testament scholars, we are certain that it applies equally to Old Testament scholars. Asking, "What is the evidence to support it," he wrote: "The answer is nil."[28] Therefore, until such a time as the alleged interpolators and editors so frequently mentioned can be pinpointed as to time and place, and identified; the only scientific and faithful thing to do is to reject the very suggestion of such things as unproved and unprovable. As for the notion that pseudonymity was an acceptable literary convention, either in the church of Jesus Christ, or among the ancient Jews, it is simply not true.[29]

Regarding the alleged "interpolations" regarding Judah in Hosea, J.B. Hindley effectively refuted the popular ignorance regarding that, noting that:

"There are fourteen references to Judah in Hosea, ten of them unfavourable ... no 8th century prophet restricted himself to one kingdom. Each prophet occasionally cast a wistful glance at the sister kingdom; and it would cause surprise if this were not so ... Furthermore, the eschatological figure of the bride (Hosea 2) necessarily included Judah. It is unthinkable that God should preach such love only to part of his people."[30]

Thus, the conclusion is mandatory that the repeated references to Judah in this prophecy are valid writings of the prophet himself, there being absolutely no hard evidence of any kind to the contrary.

"Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for thee, when I bring back the captivity of my people ..." Regarding the meaning of this beautiful verse, Butler accurately and concisely stated it thus:

"Judah also will be judged and chastened by captivity ... This verse has nothing at all to say about when God will bring back the captivity of his people. The when has to be determined from other passages, which announce the exile of both Israel and Judah, and the eventual restoration of those who are converted to Jehovah (and it includes "all nations"). Thus we must conclude that the complete "bringing back the captivity" of God's covenant people finds its ultimate fulfillment in the establishment of Messiah's kingdom (the church of Pentecost) when all nations will "come up to Jerusalem." The captivities of both Israel and Judah was the START of God's plan of restoration. This is what is meant in this verse."[31]

The real captivity of God's people had nothing to do with their being carried off to Assyria and to Babylon, those episodes having been the result of their captivity to sin, the real captivity with which God was ever concerned. This is apparent from the noble words of Jesus Christ himself in Luke, "He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives" (Luke 4:18), a prophecy which Jesus gloriously fulfilled, without ever getting anybody out of jail! The great captivity is that of captivity in the service of the devil.

"The turning of captivity ..." or "bringing back the captivity" of God's people is a formula, for, "the restoration of the lost fortune, or the well-being of a whole people, or of a person." An example of this usage is found in Job 42:10: "And the Lord turned the captivity of Job." This was stated concerning, that patriarch, despite the fact of his never have been either in prison, or carried away captive to some other land. All such speculations as the restoration of Palestine to the Jews and various millennial theories have no connection whatever with this passage.

THE PROPHETS AND THE LAW OF MOSES

One frequently encounters comments in the study of the prophets which are based upon altogether inaccurate conceptions of the purpose of the prophets in their writings.

(1) They did not write to reveal new levels of ethics and morality to God's people, but they wrote their stern warnings to call the people back to the morality and ethics which they had forsaken. No prophet of God ever went beyond the Law of Moses in any manner whatever. "The prophets never attempted to improve upon the principles of the Theocracy, or to inculcate a morality that transcends that of the Decalogue."[32]

(2) The notion that the Jewish people, through their prophets, carried forward a development-process, gradually arriving at a conviction of what is right or wrong in the relationships between man and man, or man and God is totally false. They never "discovered" any of the sacred truths and requirements of true religion; on the other hand, all was revealed to them by God Himself. In particular, this is true of monotheism, along with everything else. Monotheism was not discovered by the Jews through a long development struggle; their ancestor Abraham paid tithes to Melchezedek, "Priest of God Most High."

(3) The teaching of the prophets is one with the teaching of the Pentateuch. In no instance did they go beyond the Decalogue in the tiniest particular. What they were doing in the re-statement of the great moral and ethical requirements of true religion was endeavoring to recall the people to the values which they had forsaken.

(4) The trouble with Israel throughout their history was apostasy from the truth; and the great burden of the prophets was "to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just" (Luke 1:17; Malachi 4:6, etc.)

(5) The "development" theory regarding the prophetic writings is actually a perverted application of the Theory of Evolution to the rise of God's true religion upon the earth; and it should be rejected out of hand. The Judaic-Christian faith is either revealed in its entirety, or it is merely a product of human patience, ingenuity, and discovery, and having no cosmic or eternal value whatever. What is said here of the prophets applies likewise to the holy apostles of Jesus. They did not go beyond what Jesus taught. Christ revealed the true will of God from heaven; and the apostles' function was merely that of remembering it and passing it on to the world.

In our studies of the prophets,, it will be well to keep these things continually in mind.