HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-6:--!srael's ex_tr_emit_y. With repe3:ted defection a severer punishment is needed and mfhcted. M1dian Is not only a neighbour, but one who encircles Isrnel on south, south-east, and east. It was a name given to the great Arab tribes living east of the Red Sea, and south and east of Canaan. Unlike a comparatively civilised nation, they are not satisfied with receiving tribute ; they render husbandry and the arts of ?ivilised _life impossible by lawless raids, ceaseless devastation, and wonton destruction. It IS a new terror. Israel may be overwhelmed and stamped out if this curse of the wilderness be not restrained. I. ISRAEL'S ABANDONMENT OF JEHOVAH IS PUNISHED BY AN APPARENT ABANDON• MENT OF ISRAEL BY JEHOVAH. It seems a light punishment; really there could scarcely be a harder one. Let the sinner and the backslider consider what their con- dition would be were God just to treat iliem as they trP-athim. Even the mildest phase of such discipline could not be long bearable. Simply to be left to oneself-let alone - what tragic possibilities does that suggest I But when enemies of the most ruthless description overrun our land, and have us at their mercy, how much does abandonment mean! It is in such times we learn how much we owe to Divine inter- position hour by hour. The moral consciousness of Israel was consequently lowered. So of all in like cases. II. THE MANNER AND EXTENT OF THEIR DISCIPLINE ARE SUGGESTIVE OF THE HEIN• OUSKESS OF THEIR OFFENCE. Things bad come to such a pass that only a full experi• ence of the worst of their heathenish and idolatrous neighbours would avail. There is little or no love of God left ; let the consequences of their unbelief teach them a bitter hatred of evil; in time it will drive them back to the doctrine and practice of truth for very life. By and by they will learn to love it again. We have but to think of God's loving nature and infinite tenderness to see how desperate such 11 measure is. If forbearance failed, no other remedy would suffice but this. All unbelief is this potentially. It was a glimpse of the horror of a godless world. Ill. lT WAS A SALUTARY DISCIPLINE, BECAUSE IT LED THEM TO REPENTANCE AND PB.AYER. God had no pleasure in this long agony; but neither, on the other hand, would he shorten it until due cause appeared. The result justified the severity. Saints often regard their calamities amongst their greatest mercies, How roughly handled have been some of God's dearest ones I But the worst is not ours to bear, since Christ died. There is no calamity we cannot take to him. He will distil sweet• ness from wormwood itself, and give us help in time of sorest need. "Whom the Lord loveth be chasteneth, and scourgetb every son whom he receivetb." He may be nearer to us in the affliction than in the prosperity.-M.
Vere. 7, 8, 11, 34.-Divine mercy: its adaptation and sufficiency. The cry of Jistress is beard instantly by Jehovah, and the answer begins to come at once. But only as is best for the sinning nation. As there was discipline in the misery to which Israel was reduced, so there is still discipline in the succession and several instal- ments of the mercy of God. The aim is not merely nor so much to deliver from the material evil to which they were subject, but to root out the unbelief and develop the spiritual life and moral heroism of the people. I. THE IMMEDIACY OF Gov's MERCY. "It came to pass, when tlte children of Israel cried, . . . tl,at the Lord sent a propliet." There appears to be no iuterval .. God begins to readjust his relations with Israel at once. But the material boon 11:1 not on. v1. 1-10.J 'fHE BOOK OF JUDGES. 59
granted then. The sting must rankle until true repentance is forthcoming. Deliver- ance would have been a very questionable blessing under the circumstances. Free- dom and independence are responsibilities as well as birthrights. So God hears the cry of the sinner always. "Not what we wish, but what we want," that in the end what we wish may be rendered spiritually advisable and blessed. The measure of comfort here was that God was not silent, prayer was not unavailing. There is hope ,n the opening of mercy's door, even though it be in reproof. II. THE BUCOEBBIONS OF Goo's MERCY. First the cry of desperation and repentance, then the outward reproof, then the direction, encouragement, and training of a deliverer, then the recovery of national freedom, prosperity, and prestige. Flower- like. So God adapts his blessings to the moral and spiritual capacity of his people. The Divine view of our misery and its requirements is the reverse of the human ; we think of the material suffering, God of .the moral defect and sin. These mercies as they come in train are manifestly education, that the work of grace may be effectual. " Grace for grace" is a law of his kingdom. And the dignity of God is never Jost. III. MERCY IN ITS CULMINATION. God did not stop short of ultimate deliverance, although it was not achieved at once. So "he crowneth us with his loving-kind- ness and tender mercy." It is no mere secular and vulgar deliverance. It is national re-creation. The chivalry of Israel is called forth. It is even more a religious than a military triumph. So the salvation of the soul has its splendours and glories. It is absolute, complete, and magnificent, crowning the life of the faithful. "An abundant entrance will be ministered " into the kingdom of his Son. "We are more than conquerors" through hiw.-M.