Ver. 11.-" Great MaJ,l be the day of Jezreel." . Jezreel means "sown of God,''. or "God's sowing" (eh. it 22, 23). These wo~ds. empody .a r\ch Messianic promise which has already been partially fulfilled, but the complete realizatipn of which is yet in the future. The import of this oracl_e_ was not exhausted by the return from Babylon; we may reasonably apply it still to every " high day" in the history of the Church. Some of these" days of Jezreel" are as follows:- .. .. . I. Tm: DAY OF THE lNCABNATIO;N. On tba~:<4y Je~sChrist was sown.in the earth, "the Seed of the woman." He fell into the spil of. otir hum11nity, that he might make it bring forth and bud, and fill the face of the woi;ld 'jVith fruit. The manifestation of God in the flesh has cut history in twain. Behind the Incarnation lies a moral wilder- ness; before it stretches the summ& and harvest of:the world.. , . II. THE DAY OF THE PASS;ION. 'l'h~ the "c;orn o! wheat fell into t]i.e ground and died," that it might "bring forth much ,fruit." An~ has npt the Lord's. death been fruitful indeed? It poasesses healing virtue for every sin-wounded soul. It is the spring of all right thinking and of all noble living among men. Jesus "with his pierced hand has lifted empires off their hinges, has turned the stream of centuries out of its chanuel, and still governs the a_ges" (J.P. Richter). III. 'l'RE DAY OF THE RESURRECTION. Christ is '.' the First-begotten of the dead," and" the Firstfruits of them that slept." Because he lives, his people shall live also. His resurrection both secures and illustrates the quickenipg qf the souls and bodies o~· the saints. The weekly return of the Lord's day commemorates the great truth that His resurrectiou has brought with it the new creation of the world. . IV. THE DAY OF PENTECOST. That was the birthday of the New Testament Church. The events which took place on it presaged an illustrious career for the cause of the Redeemer. On that day the Holy Spirit descended in t,hc fulness of his eaving power; and the gospel seed which was then sown yielded an iiµ}llediate and copious harvest, typical, too, of its destiny ultimately to cover the earth (Acts ii. 9-11). V. THE DAY oF SALVATION. This day has already las~d for eighteen centuries. Wo are living in the streaming noontide of it. "Now is the accepted timii" (2 Cor. vi. 2), 'l'lie day of grace embraces every occasion regarding which it may be so.id, "Behold, 11 sower weut forth to sow." And, as the result of all, "a ·seed tiMII serve him." "He 11hall see his seed." cm. 1. 1-11.) 'l'IIE IlOOK OF HOSl<.:A. 2.;
VI. Tm: DAY OF REVIVAi.. Sometimes the Church loses its spiritual freshness. It. bocomcB parched and b11rren nnd desolate. But Gorl pours out upon it the plentiful min of his Spirit; and soon conversions are multiplied, and the whole Church smiles ng,dn with the verdure or piety nnd righteousness, like a spiritual valley of Jezrecl. "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty," etc. (Isa. xliv. 3, 4). VII. 'l'nE DAY OF MISSIONARY TRIUMPH. It is the special function of the Church to bring the heathen nations to the knowledge of the truth. This work God will bless. "'!'hey that sow in tears shall reap in joy." The fruit of the "handful of corn" "shall shake like Lebanon." The spiritual wilderness "shall blossom abundantly;" and in our times we see the fields" white already to harvest." VIII. THE DAY OF MILLENNIAL GLORY. The Church is to enjoy a lengthened period of prosperity in the latter days before Christ's second coming. While the millennium lasts, "the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in," and the Jews shall be reingrafted into their own olive tree. Over all the world "Not-my-people" shall become" My people," and" Not-beloved" shall become" Beloved." The whole earth sba.J] be God- sown, and shall "yield her increase." IX. THE DAY OF THE NEW 0REATION. At the" great and notable day of the Lord" the Church will be conducted, through the final baptism of fire, to " the restitution of all things." There are to be "a new heaven and a new earth," adapted to the resur- rection-bodies of the saints, and fitted for the habitation of the glorified Church. What a great day that shall be, when Paradise shall be restored, and the garden-city of the New Jerusalem shall come down out of heaven from God 1 "There falls not hail, or rain, or e.ny snow, Nor ever wind blows loudly ; but it lies Deep-meadowed, be.ppy, fair with orchard-lawns, And bowery hollows crowned with summer sea." (Tennyson.) CoNOLUSION. This grand picture is only still beginning to be realized. But th• wor1, is God's, and so we are coufident that no part of it shall fail. "Jezreel" is " God's sowing." The seed is his. •He is also the Sower. He will bless the springing thereof. He will fill the face of the world with fruit, and at last gather the wheat into bis garner.-C. J. • Vers. 4, 5.-Divine retriaution. The political anarchy and social degradation of the kingdom of Israel during the time of Hosea arose from causes too deep to be reached by the panaceas of politicians, or by the nostrums of political economists. Wilful and persistent disobedience to Divine Law was the secret source of these dis- orders, which called for a radical change in the hearts of the people. This, however, it seemed hopeless to expect from the nation at large. It was given over to its impeni- tence and hardness of heart. Hence, while there are words of promise for individual penitents, which break upon our ears like· songs in the storm, there are none for the nation. Over it was creeping the darkness of a night which would have no dawn, the dreariness of a winter which would never be followed by a spring. The intensity of feeling with which a patriot like Hosea would utter such denunciations accounts in some degree for his obscurity, his sentences sounding sometimes as though broken by sobs. The degraded condition of those he addressed, demanding as it did a style of teaching which would compel attention, necessitated the bold sketches and glaring colours which abound in his prophecy. From the passage before us we learn the following lessons:- I. THAT A LITERAL 0BEDIEN0E TO A DIVINE COMMAND MAY ULTIMATELY BRDrO PUNISHMENT INSTEAD OF REWARD. "I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of J ehu." 'l'he reference is to one of the greatest tragedies in history, recorded in 2 Kings ix. and x. Jehu destroyed the guilty house of Ahab, and the powerful hierarchy of Baal and Astarte, in obedience to God's command. \,Vhy, then, was th;,. blood to be avenged upon his house? Because, as Calvin puts it, "the massacre wa~ a crime so far as Jehu was concerned, but with God it was a righteous vengeance." In other words, an act which is commanded by God may be so done as to become a crime to the man who does it. Let us take Jehu as an example of this. l. Je',, THE BOOK OF HOSEA. (on. t. 1-11.