HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Yer. 1.-77ul prophet and his work. This subject may be appropriately introduced wit.h some remarks about the minor prophets. They are" minor," not bece.use their work was of l~ss conseq~ence than that of the four major prophets, but simply because the Scnptures which they wrote are shorter. The contents of the minor prophets ar~ very unfamiliar to many Christians. Possibly the pulpit is partly to blame for this. I. THE PERSON OF HosEA. 1. His name and descent. Our names are mere arbitrary labels affixed to us; but, among the Jews, names were often given in allusion to circumstances in character or destiny. "Hosea" means "salvation." To some readers this name may appear to stand in direct contrast to his. message, seeing that he denounced national ruin. Yet it wa.s appropriate, after all; for Hosea's ultimate pro- Jihetic word was the redeeming mercy of Jehovah. We know nothing of his father, Beeri ; or of his own life, except as reflected in bis book. He was a native and citizen :if the kingdom of the ten tribes (eh. i. 2; vii. 5). He loved his fatherland with the cieep love of a patriot; ana his life-message was to "Ephraim." He is the only prophet of that kill,!!dom who has contributed to the Bible a book which is really a prophecy. 2. His 7engthened ministry. Hosea must have been a young man when, during_ the powerful reign of Jeroboam II., he began his life-work; and he maintained his testi- mony throughout the turbulent period which ensued after the death of that prince, and indeed nearly to the time of the deportation of Israel into Assyria. He thus laboured bravely during more than two generations. He <lid not withdraw from his ministry after thirty or forty years' work, upon the plea of long service. Nor did he retire on the ground of his non-success, although it does not appear that he ever made a convert, or enjoyed the sympathy of even " a very small remnant" of his fellow-countrymen. II. His TIMES. Hosea lived in the eighth century before Christ, about the time when Rome was being built. He must have begun his labours some years before Isaiah in the southern kingdom. His times were characterized by : 1. Deep spiritll,(1,l apostasy. Indeed, his life extended over the darkest period of the whole history of l&Tael. God had, in great grace, espoused the Hebrew people to himself, and had called himself their Husband. But they had been miserably unfaithful to him. The kingdom of the ten tribes, especially, had "c-0mmitted great wboredom" (ver. 2). Its very existence as a separate kingdom was a course of adultery. Its political flirtations with Egypt and Assyria, when it ought to have relied wholly on Jehovah, were acts of adultery. The calf-worship at Jeroboa.m's two "chapels of ease" was adultery. The Baal-worship introduced by Jezebel, with its shameful rites, was adultery. The nation, in fact, had cast off all fear of God, and lost all knowledge of him. 2. Fearful, moral corruptwn. Wherever the foundations of religion are undermined, immorality becomes gross a[Jd rampant. Hosea contemplated almost with despair the universal secularity and violence and dissoluteness (or rather, dissolution) of 60Ciety in bis day. Riot and drunkenness prevailed ever.vwhere. Sensuality was observed as a sacrament in the temples of Baal and Ashtoreth. Rivers of blood flowed through the land (eh. iv.1-:-_3), 3. Hopeless political, O,'llarchy. After the death of Jeroboam II., the flames of revolut10u burst forth, and were never entirely quenched until the nation was suddenly carried into captivity. There was often confusion in the government, and sometimes ut_ter anarchy. Kings perished by the hand of the assassin, and factions strove one with another until they were mutually devoured. Soon came the final rush of ruin ; and Hosea must ha"e lived almost to see it. Ill. Hrs LIFE-WORK. Hosea is the Jeremiah of the northern kingdom, But his O.B, J, 1-11.) 'HIE BOOK OF HOSEA. 17
isolation was more complete, hie sorrow more tragic, and hie prophetic work more harr n 0