Gospel of Matthew Chapter 5 Vs. 47

 Love Your Enemies

Matthew 5:47 “And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more [than others]? do not even the publicans so?”

if ye salute... He was saying, that is the way the world acts; giving to receive in return. Give with no hope of return, not just money, but of yourselves, also. Forget about self.

Do not even... Thus was the noble "royal law according to the Scripture" destroyed by the petty quibbling use of the word "neighbor." Our Lord fulfilled it by giving to the word neighbor its proper meaning, its widest extent, including even those who have wronged us in thought or word or deed, "I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."

Loving only those who love you and greeting only your brothers is no more than the tax collectors and pagans do - a cutting remark for Pharisees!

Book of Hosea Chapter 4 Vs. 15

 The Lord Accuses Israel

Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth. Hos. 4:15

let not Judah... Israel of the northern kingdom was past turning back to God, so He advised Judah to take a lesson from this and not offend Him or go past repentance and the place of surrender to Him. History records that Judah did not learn her lesson though; 133 years after the fall of Samaria she also was destroyed (2Kgs. 17-25).

and come not... Judah was commanded not to go up to Gilgal where Jeroboam had erected an idolatrous temple, and where they had rejected Jehovah as King many years before. The idea was that they must not go after idols and reject Him. Gilgal, Between Jordan and Jericho in the area of Samaria, this was once a holy place to God (Jos. 5:10-15; 1Sam. 10:8; 15:21), afterwards desecrated by idol worship (9:15; 12:11; Amos 4:4; 5:5).

neither go ye... Judah was also told not to go up to Beth-aven. This word, meaning house of naught, was substituted for Beth-el, house of God, in the place where Jeroboam set up the worship of a golden calf (1Kgs. 12:28-33; 13:1; Amos 3:14). Beth-aven, Judah was to stay away from Israel’s centers of false worship, including Beth-aven (“house of wickedness/deceit”). This was a deliberate substitution for the name Bethel (“house of God”), once sacred to God (Gen. 28:17, 19), but made by Jeroboam a place to worship calves (1Kgs. 12:28-33; 13:1; Jer. 48:13; Amos 3:14; 7:13).

Israel got into this type of sin long before Judah did. In fact, Israel went into Assyrian captivity more than a hundred years before Judah was taken captive by Babylon. Jeroboam had set up a calf to worship in Beth-haven. Gilgal had become a place of worship of false gods. God did not want them mingling with those of Judah, for fear Judah would pick up their idolatry.

Judah was now warned to avoid the sins of her sister Israel. This need not mean that the people of Judah were in the habit of visiting northern cultic sites, such as Gilgal (cf. Hos. 9:15) and Beth Aven. Mays explains, “The exhortation… is simply bitter condemnation of their cult… for the ears of those who did worship in them” (Hosea, p. 77). The threefold warning (Do not go… do not go… do not swear) is a rhetorical device designed to accentuate Israel’s guilt. To associate oneself with Israel’s false, hypocritical worship would be contaminating. Even Bethel (lit., “house of God”), the site of Jacob’s dream (Gen. 28:10-19), had become “Beth Aven” (lit., “house of wickedness”; cf. Hos. 10:5; Amos 5:5) because of the religious practices conducted there (1Kgs. 12:28-30; 2Kgs. 10:29; 23:15; Amos 4:4). In the midst of this idolatrous, immoral worship the Israelite's even had the audacity to employ the Lord’s name in oaths. The Law commanded Israel to swear by the Lord’s name (Deut. 6:13; 10:20). However, to make a semblance of devotion to the Lord while serving other gods was the grossest hypocrisy.

Gospel of Matthew Chapter 5 Vs. 46

 Love Your Enemies

Matthew 5:46 “For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?”

For if ye... The world loves its own. To be different from the world, we must love the unlovely. Questions 5-8. Next, Mat. 6:25.

even the publicans... Tax-gatherers. Used 17 times. They were despised by the Jews, so any reference to being less than this class was the lowest thing that could be said of anyone religious. They were classed with sinners (Mat. 9:10-11; 11:19; 21:31-32). Many repented and were baptized (Luke 3:12; 7:29). One of them—Matthew—became an apostle (Luke 5:27-29; 19:1-10).

Tax collectors who were disloyal Israelite's hired by the Romans to tax other Jews for personal profit. They became symbols for the worst kind of people. (9:10-11; 11:19; 18:17; 21:31; Mark 2:14-16; Luke 5:30; 7:25, 29, 34; 18:11-13), Matthew had been one of them.

Such love demonstrates that they are God’s sons (cf. Mat.5:16). Loving only those who love you and greeting only your brothers is no more than the tax collectors and pagans do - a cutting remark for Pharisees!

Book of Hosea Chapter 4 Vs. 14

 The Lord Accuses Israel

I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall. Hos. 4:14

I will not... This means that God will leave such sinners to follow their own corruption until the time when He will judge them in the next life. "I will not punish your daughters" (that is, punish them in particular more than you).

for themselves are... For you all commit adultery; and the men "are separated with whores." All of you may live as you want to in this life, but there is a judgment day coming for everyone.

your daughters when... Your daughters who become temple women (those consecrated to the unclean worship of heathen idols, by which the most foul corruptions in sex were considered holy duty). Your women commit whoredom and your men are "separated with whores".

and they sacrifice... To idols with harlots; therefore, the whole nation will fall.

Although all who sin will be judged, God forbade punishing the adulteresses alone and leaving the men who patronized them to go free. The heaviest punishment would not be on the women who sin, but the fathers and husbands who set such a bad example by their engagement with prostitutes.

therefore the people... Doth not understand”: (compare 4:6).

Sin feeds upon itself. God was the husband of Israel in the spirit. They, who worshiped false gods, committed spiritual adultery against God. That sin was so terrible that physical adultery paled in comparison. It had been the law to stone to death someone caught in the act of physical adultery. But why punish that individually, when the majority of the nation was guilty of spiritual adultery?

However, these women would not be singled out for divine punishment because the men frequented the shrines as well (Hos. 4:14). In response to such an obvious failure to grasp and apply the most basic principles of covenant life, the Lord cried out, A people without understanding (cf. Hos. 4:11) will come to ruin!

Gospel of Matthew Chapter 5 Vs. 45

 Love Your Enemies

Matthew 5:45 “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”

children of your... Jesus loved everyone in spite of their sins. He said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” If we are truly His followers, we can do no less. We should pattern our lives after His. We should be unselfish, kind, gentle, long-suffering, and giving.

maketh his sun... But we have to love enemies and resemble God’s sun and rain, Mat. 5:45.

Jesus concluded this section by saying, Be perfect therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. His message demonstrated God’s righteous standard, for God Himself truly is the “standard” of righteousness. If these individuals are to be righteous, they must be as God is, “perfect,” that is, mature (teleioi) or holy.

Book of Hosea Chapter 4 Vs. 13

 The Lord Accuses Israel

They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery. Hos. 4:13

They sacrifice upon... Bereft of righteous teaching and understanding, they sacrificed to idols. Hilltops and groves of trees were favorite places for idolatrous worship (Deut. 12:2; Jer. 2:20; Eze. 6:13), including religious prostitution.

This is a description of the various types of false worship that went on in the country.

and your spouses... Spouse—one’s husband or wife. God caused their wives to be unfaithful to them, as they had been to Him.

The Canaanite shrines, which Moses had commanded Israel to destroy (cf. Deut.12:2-3), were located on hills and/or under shady trees (oak, poplar, and terebinth) throughout the Northern Kingdom (cf. 2Kgs. 17:10-11). Here many young women (daughters) of Israel took part in sexual rites with male cult prostitutes (cf. Deut. 23:17-18; 1Kgs. 14:24).

But if the soul of man refuses God's help and grace, when he obstinately and persistently sins, a time arrives when God gives him up to reap as he has sown.

The Canaanite shrines, which Moses had commanded Israel to destroy (cf. Deut. 12:2-3), were located on hills and/or under shady trees (oak, poplar, and terebinth) throughout the Northern Kingdom (cf. 2Kgs. 17:10-11). Here many young women (daughters) of Israel took part in sexual rites with male cult prostitutes (cf. Deut. 23:17-18; 1Kgs. 14:24).

Gospel of Matthew Chapter 5 Vs. 44

 Love Your Enemies

Verses 43-44: The law of love, sometimes called Law of Christ, summarizes the ethical principle of the Sermon on the Mount. Love they neighbor summarizes the entire second table of the law (Lev. 19:18-34). But the unscriptural addition hate thine enemy was a popular concept in Jesus’ day.

The admonition Love your enemies is one of the greatest statements Jesus made. The love enjoined in this passage is love that originates from God Himself. Man is not commanded to attempt to love his enemy on the basis of mere human affection but rather on the basis of a love that comes from God. The quality of love commanded here is expressed by giving.

Bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that persecute you. Loving an enemy involves doing good toward that enemy in order to win him over to Christ.

Matthew 5:44 “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”

But I say... Four commands in Mat. 5:44

1. Love your enemies.

2. Bless them that curse you.

3. Do good to those that hate you.

4. Pray for your persecutors.

These are four of over 1,050 commands in the New Testament to be obeyed by Christians. The universal impression in Christendom that there are 10 commandments to obey is far from the truth.

thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. Two commands—loving enemy:

1. Bring back your enemy’s stock if you find it going astray (Exo. 23:4).

2. Help his ass if you see it lying under a burden (Exo. 23:5).

Love to one’s neighbor appears in many passages in the Old Testament. Israelite's were not to pervert justice by being influenced by the crowd or even by favoritism to the poor. The words enemy’s (Exo. 23:4) and someone who hates you (Exo. 23:5) probably mean a legal adversary; an Israelite was to be kind even to the animals of someone with whom he had a legal disagreement.