The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 20

1iynasty of Jeh11 became extinct; while fifty years l\fterwarde the very kingdom over which that dynasty had ruled ceased altogether to exist. In the interval that elap~ed between the extinction of the dynasty of Jehu and the total cessation of the kingdom of Israel a crushing defeat had been sustained iu the valley of Jezreel, when the militar,Y strength of Ierael waa completely broken. Whether this was the battle of Detharbel, in which Shalmanezer was victorious, or some other reverse sustained in the invasion by 'figlo.th-pileser, to the success of which the inscriptions of that monarch testify, we have not perhaps sufficient means of ascertaining. This was the beginning of the end, and a premonition of what was near at hand. The sins of princes anrl people had gone on accumulating till at length the day of vengeance came. As wilh nation~, so with individuals- "Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience he stands waiting, with exactneBB grinds he all." 3, Tlui unexpected often happens. Nothing could have appeared more unlikely in th~ reign of Jeroboam II. than the destruction of his kingdom within such a comparatively short space. He had proved himself a man of prowess and of power; he ha.d extended the boundaries of his kingdom outwardly, and had consolidated its resources inwardly. He had restored the northern boundary of Israel to what it wa.s in the days of Solomon ; he had extended his kingdom southward by the sea of the plain, a.nd to the valley of willows (Isa. xv. 7) between Moab a.nd Edom; he ha.d recovered what had been lost by the victories of Hazael; he had recaptured Damascus. Ile was, in fact, "the greatest of a.11 the kings of Samaria.. As if with a. forecast of his future glory, he was named after the founder of the kingdom-Jeroboam II." Yet then, while King Jeroboam was at the zenith of his fame, a.nd the kingdom at the height of its pros- perity, the word of the Lord went forth against it. God, who seeth not as man seeth, directed th.e eye of his servant the prophet to sin unrepeated of a.nd unforsa.ken-that internal moral weakness and rottenness which no amount of material prosperity or power could either rectify or remove. JI. THE NAME OF THE SECOND CHILD IMPORTS EXTREME DESOLATENESS OF CON"DITIO~. Israel is pictured as Lo-ruhamah, a.nd thus represented as a woman, worthless; for she is one of the children of whoredom, weak, an easy prey to the spoiler, a victim of injury and insult, unpitied a.nd unprotected, impenitent and unpardoned. Applied nationally, the conquered people are uncompassionated, a.nd waiting to be carried into captivity. Applied personally, how dreadful is the state of that individual who, by a long course of iuiquity, has sinned away the da.y of mercy, a.nd against whom God has shut up the bowels of his compassion! 1. To Israel a.s a nation, so to each of us God ha.s showed great and manifold mercies; let us beware of abw;ing our mercies, and thereby forfeiting them. If we forsake our own mercies for lying vanities, as, alas! so many do, we may expect that those mercies will forsake us, being withdrawn in the providence of God. How sad the condition of those who a.re in affliction, and yet can have no reasonable assurance of the mercy of God; who are afflicted, and yet cannot plead the Divine pity, or hope for Divine sympathy and succour! Sadder still is the case of those whom death surprises in the condition indicated as not having obtained mercy I God, it is true, is infinite in compassion, and hi~ mercy everlasting to them that fear him; but to the impenitent a.nd unbelieving there is a limit to his mercy somewhere; while to such nations and individuals alike the time may come when he will sa.y, "I will have n11 more mercy upon them, no more pity, and no more pardon." 2. An aggravation of their misery is the natural consequence of the contrast with Judah in ver. 7. Our blessed Lord very touchingly applies a. similar contrast when he says, "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, a.nd Isaac, a.nd Jacob, and 1!.ll the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out." The Revised Version, whl<lh has "cast forth without," makes it yet strono-er and more strik'no-. 0 3. The salvation of Judah at this time was their deliver- ance from Sennacherib. To this great event of Jewish history we find frequent reference elsowhere. 'l'hus Isaiah, at the close of eh. x. and the commencemont of eh. xi,, has a very striking contrast between the crash of mi~hty cedars and the springing up of a young shoot from a withered stump-the downtall o~ the great con- queror with his meu of might, and the uprising of a. righteous Sav10ur out of the  14 THE BOuK OF HOSEA. [01', I, 1-11.