h Numb. xxii. 22 — 33. ' Mic. vi. 9.
god's dealings with penitents.
Hos. ii. 14, 15. Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her : and I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope.
WHOEVER is at all conversant with the holy Scriptures, must know, that they are, in many parts, highly figurative. If we examine many of our Lord's expressions, and indeed some whole discourses, we shall see, that they were unintelligible to those who interpreted them only according to their literal mean- ing ; because they were intended to be understood in in a mystical and spiritual sense : hence our Lord
took occasion to inform them, that the words which he spake unto them were " spirit and life." This is yet still more observable in the prophetic writings, which almost always must be taken in a mystical, as well as literal sense ; and indeed in many places, as Bishop Lowth has well observed, the spiritual mean- ing is more true, and more immediately intended, than the literal. This, I apprehend, is the case in the passage before us. God has been declaring, what he would do in order to reclaim the ten tribes from their idolatries ; that he would " hedge up their way with thorns, and make a wall, so that they should not be able to find their former ways," i. e. (as it is more fully set forth in the ninth and following verses) that he would deprive them of all their national blessings, and deliver them into the hand of their Assyrian enemies : then, in my text, he adds, " Therefore (it should rather be translated, ' never- theless'} I will allure her," and so on. He had, in ver. 7, mentioned, that in consequence of the obstruc- tions which he would put in their way, they should be brought to see their sin and folly, and to say, " I will return unto my first husband :" and now he pro- ceeds to declare, how he would deal with them, when they should be brought to that frame of mind ; that he would allure her, and give her the Valley of Achor for a door of hope." Now this has never been literally accomplished : for, if we except about twelve thousand Israelites, who accompanied the tribes of Judah and Benjamin in their return from the Baby- lonish captivity, none of the ten tribes have ever yet returned to their native country. We must there- fore look for a spiritual sense to this passage : and here we have the authority of an inspired writer to interpret it, as relating to the conversion of the Gen- tile world, and the deliverance of God's chosen people from a state of bondage to sin and Satan. St. Paul, in Rom. ix. 25, speaking expressly on the call of the Gentiles, quotes the last verse of this chapter in Hosea, and declares that this prophecy then received its completion. We may therefore without hesitation
1143.] god's dealings with penitents. 7
consider the passage as declaring the manner in which God deals with his penitent and contrite people, when once the Church, or any individual in it, is so wrought upon by temporal calamities or spiritual convictions, as to say, " I will go and return unto my first, my rightful husband." God says, as in my text, " I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably to her ; and I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope." In declaring from hence how God will deal with his returning people, we may observe, that he will encourage them,
I. With present comforts —
[The readiness of God to receive sinners is not discovered in any thing more than in his mode of dealing with them in their return to him: if there be only " some good in them," he is sure to notice it with some testimony of his approbation : in proportion as they advance towards him, he makes greater advances towards a reconciliation with them: and when he sees that they begin in earnest to seek his face, he will cause them to abound in consolations. " He will allure them :" we must not suppose that God will really deceive any one ; but yet there is a sense wherein he may be said to " allure" men : he will conceal from the view of penitents such things as might alarm and terrify them : he will feed them, while they are yet babes, with milk ; and will withhold the stronger meat, which they are not yet able to digest. There are many things which he will say to them at a future period ; but from which he diverts their attention at present, as from things which they cannot receive : and thus he leads them gently, as their strength will bear. He now also in a peculiar manner reveals himself to the soul, and fills it with heavenly delight. The sinner coming first to a sense of God's favour, is borne up, as it were, on eagles' wings : he seems to be breathing a purer air ; I had almost said, to be living in a new world. His sen- sations are so entirely changed, that one may, almost without an hyperbole, call him " a new creature :" from being dead as to all spiritual things, he begins to enjoy a spiritual life : from being in total darkness, he is " brought forth into marvellous light:" from dreading God's displeasure, he feels " his love shed abroad in his heart." Now therefore he supposes he never can lose the savour of these things : "Am 1 a dog," thinks he, that I should ever more offend this gracious Being, who has thus freely forgiven all my trespasses ? Alas ! little