The Prophet ends with the same double reference which prevails throughout, when he once more declares the annihilation of the monarchy, which, rather than a particular person, is meant by ‘the king.’  ’In the morning’ is enigmatical.  It may mean ‘prematurely,’ or ‘suddenly,’ or ‘in a time of apparent prosperity,’ or, more probably, the Prophet stands in vision in that future day of the Lord, and points to ’the king’ as the first victim.  The force of the prophecy does not depend on the meaning of this detail.  The teaching of the whole is the certainty that suffering dogs sin, but yet does so by no iron, impersonal law, but according to the will of God, who will rain righteousness even on the sinner, being penitent, and will endow with righteousness from above every lowly soul that seeks for it.

DESTRUCTION AND HELP

     ’O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in Me is thine
     help.’—­HOSEA xiii. 9 (A.V.).

     ’It is thy destruction, O Israel, that thou art against Me, against
     thy Help’ (R.V.).

These words are obscure by reason of their brevity.  Literally they might be rendered, ’Thy destruction for, in, or against Me; in, or against thy Help.’  Obviously, some words must be supplied to bring out any sense.  Our Authorised Version has chosen the supplement ‘is,’ which fails to observe the second occurrence with ‘thy Help’ of the preposition, and is somewhat lax in rendering the ‘for’ of the second clause by the neutral ‘but.’  It is probably better to read, as the Revised Version, with most modern interpreters, ‘Thou art against Me, against thy Help,’ and to find in the second clause the explanation, or analysis, of the destruction announced in the first.  So we have here the wail of the parental love of God over the ruin which Israel has brought on itself, and that parental love is setting forth Israel’s true condition, in the hope that they may discern it.  Thus, even the rebuke holds enclosed a promise and a hope.  Since God is their help, to depart from Him has been ruin, and the return to Him will be life.  Hosea, or rather the Spirit that spake through Hosea, blended wonderful tenderness with unflinching decision in rebuke, and unwavering certainty in foretelling evil with unfaltering hope in the promise of possible blessing.  His words are set in the same key as the still more wonderfully tender ones that Jesus uttered as He looked across the valley from Olivet to the gleaming city on the other side, and wailed, ’O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!  Therefore your house is left unto you desolate.’

We may note here

I. The loving discovery of ruin.