I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.
God warned the idolatrous house of Israel that He Himself would strip away all her mirth and religious celebrations in judgment for spiritual adultery and perverted worship. The feast days, new moons, sabbaths and solemn feasts to cease are Israel's own local ceremonial festival observances, marked as hers in the plural to distinguish them from the weekly Sabbath spoken of in the singular as the Sabbath of the Lord. Their taking away was punishment for sin, disobedience and empty ritual, not because the Sabbath or feasts were bad in themselves. The observances ceased when Israel was scattered among the nations where they could not be kept, and as temporary shadows pointing to Christ they were blotted out at the cross with the law of Moses, which is the fulfillment seen in the sabbath days of Colossians 2:16. The verse does not predict the cessation of the Lord's weekly seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment, which was instituted at creation, belongs to the moral law written by God, and remains universal and perpetual.
Terms and Ownership
The mirth to cease is Israel's joy together with her feast days, new moons, sabbaths, and solemn feasts, which are annual ceremonial festival observances tied to feasts, offerings, and holy convocations. Those sabbaths include annual and septennial ceremonial rest days associated with the feasts, and the monthly observances connected with them. The prediction concerns those ceremonial observances connected with feasts and offerings, not the Lord's holy Sabbath, which remains perpetual.
The possessive her sabbaths marks them as Israel's own sabbaths, the feast days and other ceremonial rest days of the Jewish church. The plural form further distinguishes them from the weekly Sabbath, which is spoken of in the singular as the Sabbath of the Lord, My Sabbath, My Sabbaths, and My holy day. Those yearly sabbaths belonging to Israel's yearly religious system were local and limited to that dispensation.
The word Sabbaths can denote ceremonial days as well as the weekly Sabbath, since it stands here alongside feast days and new moons for appointed Jewish ceremonial convocations. The annual Sabbaths commemorated events connected with deliverance from Egypt, while the weekly Sabbath commemorated God's rest at creation. Leviticus 23 separates the weekly Sabbath, instituted at creation, from those feast convocations belonging to Moses' ordinances. The Revised Version renders feast-days as feasts and solemn feasts as solemn assemblies.
Historical and Prophetic Setting
The warning is spoken to the ten tribes, the kingdom of the house of Israel. They had turned away from God to Baal worship, to heathen gods and to idols, taking Baal worship for His worship. They had perverted true worship and corrupted the Lord's feasts and holy days. Because the Maker, the Lord of hosts, the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth is husband to His people and is married to them, all such backsliding, transgression of His holy law, conformity to the world, idolatry and departure from God, and all attempt to mix heaven with earth, righteousness with sin, and good with evil is adultery, spiritual adultery of the most dangerous character.
Hosea, whose name means salvation, was the last of the great prophets of the kingdom of Israel, writing about 750 B.C. The verse stands in his prophecy of certain desolation and coming captivity, set against the nation's gross iniquity. That prophecy predicts complete overthrow and warns against wicked alliances. It is full of hopeful remonstrance, tender expostulation, and earnest entreaty, with prophecy of the future.
God Himself declares that He will cause all her mirth to cease, ending her joy together with her feast days, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts. These are her sabbaths, belonging to Israel, and her religious celebrations. The people were children of whoredoms and unfaithful to God, so they were not fit to have these blessings, and God would strip her naked in judgment and take them away.
Reason for Cessation
God would cause all of Israel's mirth and religious celebrations to cease as judgment for turning from Him to idols and heathen gods. The ten tribes had taken Baal worship for His worship, perverted His feasts and holy days, committed spiritual whoredom, and proved unfaithful and unfit to retain such blessings, so their feast days, new moons, sabbaths, and solemn assemblies would be taken away and the corrupted worship would cease in complete overthrow. This stripping naked in judgment was punishment for sin, disobedience, unfaithfulness, and mockery of worship, not because the Sabbath or the feasts themselves were at fault.
Feasts, offerings, and solemn assemblies could be brought to an end when worship became empty ritual with no value apart from the spiritual truth they were meant to teach, and when left without that lesson they were vain and unacceptable to God. Religious observances not required by God belong to false or self-chosen worship, as Isaiah 1:10-15 and Isaiah 66:1-4 show, and some duties once enjoined by God have thus been abrogated. The taking away does not mean those things were to be replaced by another and better law, and it does not teach that God takes from the sinner what He gave before sin in order to give something better, for that would make sin a gain.
Fulfillment of Cessation
The mirth, feast days, new moons, sabbaths and solemn feasts would cease when Israel was taken into exile, sold as slaves and scattered among the nations where they could not keep them. The prediction was partly fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem about two centuries later, ending the festivals there. The annual sabbaths ended in captivity when Jerusalem was destroyed and the people were carried away, the festivals and annual sabbaths were later restored at Jerusalem, and then they ceased finally with Jerusalem's destruction by the Romans. Their observance was tied to the feasts held in the land and ended when the typical system was abolished, while the Lord's weekly Sabbath was not part of that system and did not cease with them.
As temporary shadows and types pointing forward to Christ's sacrifice and work of redemption, the ceremonial sabbaths, feast days, new moons and solemn feasts ceased at the cross. Then the ordinances, the law of Moses and the typical system were blotted out and nailed to the cross, ending their significance with the coming of the great Sacrifice. The sabbaths to cease are called her sabbaths, meaning Israel's annual and septennial ceremonial sabbaths and feast sabbaths associated with the feasts, distinct from the Sabbath of the fourth commandment called the Sabbath of the Lord. They had their force only from the law of ordinances regulating sacrifices and offerings, while the creation Sabbath remains perpetual, so their abolition shows that some duties once enjoined were later abrogated. The Lord prophesied that He would cause those ceremonial sabbaths to cease.
That predicted cessation is fulfilled in the sabbath days of Colossians 2:16. Her sabbaths are associated with her feast days, her new moons and her solemn feasts, and with meats, drinks, new moons and the sabbath days which are a shadow of things to come under the law contained in ordinances. That sacrificial and ceremonial law was against us and was figuratively nailed to the cross, and when it was nailed there those sabbaths were abolished. God calls the sabbaths of the Jewish church her sabbaths in the plural with the possessive, while He speaks of His own Sabbath in the singular as the Sabbath, the Sabbath of the Lord, My Sabbath and My holy day, and the former were to cease while the latter belonging to the Decalogue remains in full force and endures in the new earth.
Weekly Sabbath Preserved
Hosea 2:11 does not predict the cessation of the Lord's weekly seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment. The feast days, new moons, sabbaths, and solemn feasts named there are Israel's own observances belonging to the Jewish church and its ceremonial system, and the prophecy concerns those ceremonial observances connected with feasts and offerings, not the Lord's holy Sabbath which remains perpetual. The possessive "her sabbaths" marks yearly sabbaths tied to annual feasts, while the seventh day is consistently called the Sabbath of the Lord, My Sabbath, and God's holy day. The prediction stands in connection with the prophesied end of the kingdom of the house of Israel, and its "their sabbaths" are distinguished from the seventh-day Sabbath called the Sabbath of the Lord.
Those yearly sabbaths were local and limited to that dispensation, temporary and contingent attachments belonging to Israel's yearly religious system rather than to the seventh-day Sabbath. They had their force only from the law of ceremonies regulating sacrifices and offerings, the law of ordinances written by Moses, unlike the seventh-day Sabbath which remains in force. The sabbaths to cease are her sabbaths commanded in the law Moses wrote, distinct from the seventh-day Sabbath commanded in the law God wrote and called the Sabbath of the Lord thy God and My holy day. As shadows limited in Christ they ceased when Christ nailed them to the cross, while the perpetual Sabbath given at creation did not.
The weekly Sabbath is distinct in origin, law, and nature from those ceremonial rest days. It was instituted at creation before the fall and before the ceremonial law, belonging to the moral law and Decalogue written by God, whereas the feast days, new moons, and annual festival sabbaths were ceremonial shadows of things to come. It is God's Sabbath and the creation Sabbath, a memorial of the Creator rather than a shadow pointing forward, universal and perpetual, and it remains in force and endures in the new earth as a sign for those who are God's people by faith. The annual sabbaths belonging to Israel's feasts ended when Christ nailed the ordinances to the cross, while the creation Sabbath remains perpetual.
God Himself caused those shadow sabbaths with their feast days and new moons to cease at the cross, and that divinely caused cessation is distinct from the attempted change of God's law by the little horn.
Scripture Links and Application
The wicked could be judicially deprived of ceremonial observances, and the threatened ending of mirth, feast days, new moons, sabbaths and solemn feasts concerns those ceremonial sabbaths and feast days distinct from the Lord's Sabbath. That deprivation stands as the counterpart to exclusion of a person now from the Lord's Supper.
The listing of sabbaths alongside Israel's feast days and new moons shows that the word sabbaths can denote ceremonial observances as well as the weekly seventh-day Sabbath. It therefore does not establish that every New Testament use of sabbaths means only the weekly Sabbath.
The prophecy names the ceremonial sabbaths of the Jews among the appointed feasts whose cessation is predicted, and unlike Psalm 118 it expressly identifies the institution whose cessation it concerns.
God warned the idolatrous house of Israel that He Himself would strip away all her mirth and religious celebrations in judgment for spiritual adultery and perverted worship. The feast days, new moons, sabbaths and solemn feasts to cease are Israel's own local ceremonial festival observances, marked as hers in the plural to distinguish them from the weekly Sabbath spoken of in the singular as the Sabbath of the Lord. Their taking away was punishment for sin, disobedience and empty ritual, not because the Sabbath or feasts were bad in themselves. The observances ceased when Israel was scattered among the nations where they could not be kept, and as temporary shadows pointing to Christ they were blotted out at the cross with the law of Moses, which is the fulfillment seen in the sabbath days of Colossians 2:16. The verse does not predict the cessation of the Lord's weekly seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment, which was instituted at creation, belongs to the moral law written by God, and remains universal and perpetual.
Terms and Ownership
The mirth to cease is Israel's joy together with her feast days, new moons, sabbaths, and solemn feasts, which are annual ceremonial festival observances tied to feasts, offerings, and holy convocations. Those sabbaths include annual and septennial ceremonial rest days associated with the feasts, and the monthly observances connected with them. The prediction concerns those ceremonial observances connected with feasts and offerings, not the Lord's holy Sabbath, which remains perpetual.
The possessive her sabbaths marks them as Israel's own sabbaths, the feast days and other ceremonial rest days of the Jewish church. The plural form further distinguishes them from the weekly Sabbath, which is spoken of in the singular as the Sabbath of the Lord, My Sabbath, My Sabbaths, and My holy day. Those yearly sabbaths belonging to Israel's yearly religious system were local and limited to that dispensation.
The word Sabbaths can denote ceremonial days as well as the weekly Sabbath, since it stands here alongside feast days and new moons for appointed Jewish ceremonial convocations. The annual Sabbaths commemorated events connected with deliverance from Egypt, while the weekly Sabbath commemorated God's rest at creation. Leviticus 23 separates the weekly Sabbath, instituted at creation, from those feast convocations belonging to Moses' ordinances. The Revised Version renders feast-days as feasts and solemn feasts as solemn assemblies.
Historical and Prophetic Setting
The warning is spoken to the ten tribes, the kingdom of the house of Israel. They had turned away from God to Baal worship, to heathen gods and to idols, taking Baal worship for His worship. They had perverted true worship and corrupted the Lord's feasts and holy days. Because the Maker, the Lord of hosts, the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth is husband to His people and is married to them, all such backsliding, transgression of His holy law, conformity to the world, idolatry and departure from God, and all attempt to mix heaven with earth, righteousness with sin, and good with evil is adultery, spiritual adultery of the most dangerous character.
Hosea, whose name means salvation, was the last of the great prophets of the kingdom of Israel, writing about 750 B.C. The verse stands in his prophecy of certain desolation and coming captivity, set against the nation's gross iniquity. That prophecy predicts complete overthrow and warns against wicked alliances. It is full of hopeful remonstrance, tender expostulation, and earnest entreaty, with prophecy of the future.
God Himself declares that He will cause all her mirth to cease, ending her joy together with her feast days, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts. These are her sabbaths, belonging to Israel, and her religious celebrations. The people were children of whoredoms and unfaithful to God, so they were not fit to have these blessings, and God would strip her naked in judgment and take them away.
Reason for Cessation
God would cause all of Israel's mirth and religious celebrations to cease as judgment for turning from Him to idols and heathen gods. The ten tribes had taken Baal worship for His worship, perverted His feasts and holy days, committed spiritual whoredom, and proved unfaithful and unfit to retain such blessings, so their feast days, new moons, sabbaths, and solemn assemblies would be taken away and the corrupted worship would cease in complete overthrow. This stripping naked in judgment was punishment for sin, disobedience, unfaithfulness, and mockery of worship, not because the Sabbath or the feasts themselves were at fault.
Feasts, offerings, and solemn assemblies could be brought to an end when worship became empty ritual with no value apart from the spiritual truth they were meant to teach, and when left without that lesson they were vain and unacceptable to God. Religious observances not required by God belong to false or self-chosen worship, as Isaiah 1:10-15 and Isaiah 66:1-4 show, and some duties once enjoined by God have thus been abrogated. The taking away does not mean those things were to be replaced by another and better law, and it does not teach that God takes from the sinner what He gave before sin in order to give something better, for that would make sin a gain.
Fulfillment of Cessation
The mirth, feast days, new moons, sabbaths and solemn feasts would cease when Israel was taken into exile, sold as slaves and scattered among the nations where they could not keep them. The prediction was partly fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem about two centuries later, ending the festivals there. The annual sabbaths ended in captivity when Jerusalem was destroyed and the people were carried away, the festivals and annual sabbaths were later restored at Jerusalem, and then they ceased finally with Jerusalem's destruction by the Romans. Their observance was tied to the feasts held in the land and ended when the typical system was abolished, while the Lord's weekly Sabbath was not part of that system and did not cease with them.
As temporary shadows and types pointing forward to Christ's sacrifice and work of redemption, the ceremonial sabbaths, feast days, new moons and solemn feasts ceased at the cross. Then the ordinances, the law of Moses and the typical system were blotted out and nailed to the cross, ending their significance with the coming of the great Sacrifice. The sabbaths to cease are called her sabbaths, meaning Israel's annual and septennial ceremonial sabbaths and feast sabbaths associated with the feasts, distinct from the Sabbath of the fourth commandment called the Sabbath of the Lord. They had their force only from the law of ordinances regulating sacrifices and offerings, while the creation Sabbath remains perpetual, so their abolition shows that some duties once enjoined were later abrogated. The Lord prophesied that He would cause those ceremonial sabbaths to cease.
That predicted cessation is fulfilled in the sabbath days of Colossians 2:16. Her sabbaths are associated with her feast days, her new moons and her solemn feasts, and with meats, drinks, new moons and the sabbath days which are a shadow of things to come under the law contained in ordinances. That sacrificial and ceremonial law was against us and was figuratively nailed to the cross, and when it was nailed there those sabbaths were abolished. God calls the sabbaths of the Jewish church her sabbaths in the plural with the possessive, while He speaks of His own Sabbath in the singular as the Sabbath, the Sabbath of the Lord, My Sabbath and My holy day, and the former were to cease while the latter belonging to the Decalogue remains in full force and endures in the new earth.
Weekly Sabbath Preserved
Hosea 2:11 does not predict the cessation of the Lord's weekly seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment. The feast days, new moons, sabbaths, and solemn feasts named there are Israel's own observances belonging to the Jewish church and its ceremonial system, and the prophecy concerns those ceremonial observances connected with feasts and offerings, not the Lord's holy Sabbath which remains perpetual. The possessive "her sabbaths" marks yearly sabbaths tied to annual feasts, while the seventh day is consistently called the Sabbath of the Lord, My Sabbath, and God's holy day. The prediction stands in connection with the prophesied end of the kingdom of the house of Israel, and its "their sabbaths" are distinguished from the seventh-day Sabbath called the Sabbath of the Lord.
Those yearly sabbaths were local and limited to that dispensation, temporary and contingent attachments belonging to Israel's yearly religious system rather than to the seventh-day Sabbath. They had their force only from the law of ceremonies regulating sacrifices and offerings, the law of ordinances written by Moses, unlike the seventh-day Sabbath which remains in force. The sabbaths to cease are her sabbaths commanded in the law Moses wrote, distinct from the seventh-day Sabbath commanded in the law God wrote and called the Sabbath of the Lord thy God and My holy day. As shadows limited in Christ they ceased when Christ nailed them to the cross, while the perpetual Sabbath given at creation did not.
The weekly Sabbath is distinct in origin, law, and nature from those ceremonial rest days. It was instituted at creation before the fall and before the ceremonial law, belonging to the moral law and Decalogue written by God, whereas the feast days, new moons, and annual festival sabbaths were ceremonial shadows of things to come. It is God's Sabbath and the creation Sabbath, a memorial of the Creator rather than a shadow pointing forward, universal and perpetual, and it remains in force and endures in the new earth as a sign for those who are God's people by faith. The annual sabbaths belonging to Israel's feasts ended when Christ nailed the ordinances to the cross, while the creation Sabbath remains perpetual.
God Himself caused those shadow sabbaths with their feast days and new moons to cease at the cross, and that divinely caused cessation is distinct from the attempted change of God's law by the little horn.
Scripture Links and Application
The wicked could be judicially deprived of ceremonial observances, and the threatened ending of mirth, feast days, new moons, sabbaths and solemn feasts concerns those ceremonial sabbaths and feast days distinct from the Lord's Sabbath. That deprivation stands as the counterpart to exclusion of a person now from the Lord's Supper.
The listing of sabbaths alongside Israel's feast days and new moons shows that the word sabbaths can denote ceremonial observances as well as the weekly seventh-day Sabbath. It therefore does not establish that every New Testament use of sabbaths means only the weekly Sabbath.
The prophecy names the ceremonial sabbaths of the Jews among the appointed feasts whose cessation is predicted, and unlike Psalm 118 it expressly identifies the institution whose cessation it concerns.