The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 29

~,:nned in his obtdimce became he wa.~ seeking hia own ends, and not God's. He slew the p1:inces of Ahab's house because they might rebel against himself; e.nd destroyed the priesthood ?f Daal and Astart.e because, as they owed their position to Jezebel, they would foment dissension, and use their influence against his usurpation. God does not seek such obedience as this. He t-caches us to pray, "Thy will bo done on earth as it is done i':1 heaven," though the answer to the prayer may destroy our own cherisb~d plans. '.1'he highest exemplification of this spirit we see in our Lord, who, being in an agony rn Gethsemane, prayed, "Father, not my will, but thiuo, be done." In later times the Pharisees sinned just as Jehu had done; and Christ, who read their hearts, declared that, alth011gh they obeyed the Law, they were condemned by God in their obedience, because they ~OUf!:ht n?t his _honour, but their own. Such sin is possible to you. If you do what 1s right 1n bustness merely because "honesty is the best policy," and tr:vle depends on a good reputation ; if you give to the poor for the sake of the popu- larity rou can win; if you abstain from a sinful indulgence because you can no longer afford 1t, or fear you may lose some prestige ;-you have in all these things "your reward;" you will gain what you seek, but nothing more. Yours is the sin of Jehu, who won tbe throne because he obeyed; but at last had this curse because he wrongly obeye_d. Seeing, then, that you have to do with him who decades unerringly about the motive of every act, put up tbe constant prayer, "Create in me a clean heart, 0 God, and renew a right spirit within me." 2. The sin of Jehu also appeared in this, that he loved and practised the very sins he had been called upon to punish in others. (2 Kings x. 31.) He refused to worship Ba.al and Astarte, not because they were idols, but because their worship was associated with the house of Ahab. But he did worship the calves (and so was equally idolatrous), because this cultus served his political ends, and seemed essential to the independent existence of the kingdom of Israel (see 1 Kings xii. 25-33). He hated the sinners, but be loved their sins; the very reverse of what was true of our King, who hated sin, but loved us and died for us "while we were yet sinners." Now, if we punish a person for wrong-doing, and yet do the wrong ourselves, we are not only inconsistent, but we prove that we are sinning against the light, and so aggravate our offence. Suppose, for example, that a parent rebukes his child for swearing, while he himself is guilty of that sin, though right in the actual reproof, he is wrong, as Jehu was, in its insincerity. Paul contemplates this in Rom. ii. 3, where he asks," Thinkest thou this, 0 man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgrnent of God?" Such were the two elements of sin in Jehu's outward obedience, which called for the threat, "I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu." 11 TB.AT DEPARTING FROM GoD IS THE BEGINNING OF ALL BIN. Calf-worship (a modification of Egyptian idolatry) was less hideous and degrading in its ritual than that which desecrated the groves of Astarte or the high places of Baal. But it paved the way for these grosser idolatries. Indeed, even in itself it was not so innocent as some declare it to have bee.n; for the calf did not represent Jehovah, but "nature," so this was the worship of the creature, 1111 opposed to that of the Creator. In less gross forms this idolatry appears in modern times. Many talk of " nature " till they forget God in hu; works, and are in spirit followers of shrewd, irreligious Jeroboam, who set up the calves at Dan e.nd Bethel, and so made Israel to sin. In that false worship were found the germs of other sins. Spiritual adultery was followed by carnal adultery. Faithlessness towards God led to unfaithfulness towards man. So men became entangled, as they ever do, in t.he meshes of sin, till they were "drowned in destruction and perdition." It is because we are fearful of the consequences of departure from God that we are anxious about many who are dea1 to us. They have contracted no notorious vices and are unstained in reputation; but they have no safeguard against the worst sins and woes, so long as it is true that " God is not in all their thuughts." They are as much exposed to danger as the sheep on the fields of Bethle- hem were before David, their shepherd, rich in his heroism and strength, slew both the lion and the bear. An estranged life is an endangered life. Jlf. THAT A TlllE OF OUTWARD PBOSPERI1'Y MAY BE A TIME OF APPROACHING DE8TliUCTION. "I will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel." Never had tl,e realm aecrncd more prosperous than when Hosea uttered this prophecy. It was during the reign of Jeroboam II., a brave and able man, who ha.d regainod all that on. 1. 1-11.J 'rHE BOOK OF HOSEA. 25