The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 31

they wn0 cheered by the promise, "I will have mercy upon the house of Judo.h, 1md will ~ave them by the Lord their God." The earlier fullilm'ell.t of these words Is recorded in 2 Kings :Kix., where we read of the deliverance of Jerusalem, not by bravo defence, nor by bribes, nor by auxiliaties, but by the unseen pestilence which slew a hundr~ and eii!hty-five thonrn11d in the crowded camp of the Assyrians. Nor was the pr~m1se exhausted then, but was again fulfilled when the Jews of the Captivity, to their own amazement, were restored, not bi revolt or stratagem, but by tbe free off,:,r of the magnanimous Cyrus (Ezra i. 2, 3 . Our text, however, bas more tba.n a local and temporary interest. The p1-incip e of Divine deliverance, through other than human means, perpetually asserts itself in Old Testament history. It was the first le~son the Israelites were taught after leaving Egypt, when at the Red Sea Moses said, "Stand still, and see the salvation oi the Lord! He shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." And this lesson, emphasized in the wilderness, was repeated immediately Canaan was entered, when the walls of Jericho fell before the stren(7th0 of an army which lifted up no weapon against it. In elucidatin"0 this principle of Di'l'ine deliverance we observe-- I. THAT IT IS MAN'S NATURAL TENDEKCY TO TRY TO DO WITHOUT GOD, to trust the bow, and the chariots of human providing. The story or the prodigal is repeated con-. stantly. Every man says in effect, " Father, give me my portion; let me see howl can do for myself without thee." It is only by-and-by, when he finds that there are worse friends than the Father, and wearier places than the home, that, clothed in rags, with failing heart and many a tear, be says, "I will arise, and go to my Father." 1. Israel showed this tendency. They confided in their bravery a.nd patriotism and in the strength of Egypt, believing that unitedly they could construct a dam against which this great sea of Assyria., surging in so ominously, would break in vain. It was not an unreasonable expectation from the human point of view; for it seems still accepted as an axiom that "Providence is on the side of big battalions," and that the destinies of peoples are decided by their material resources. Hosea would bll rebuked as a prating preacher who was going beyond bis province, when be urged that righteousness and godliness were elements which demanded consideration; by the lowest subaltern and by the highest general his counsels would be laughed to scorn, though events showed that he was right. 2. Temptations to this were never stronger than now. In proportion as our powers develop, our liability to trust to them, and not to bini who gave them, increases. In our day physical sciences have grown, and the principles so educed have been swiftly and boldly applied to our necessities. We are pointed to evidences in every direction of the constancy of law and the absence of fortuity. Indeed, the religious fallacy of Judah bas been formulated• into the philosophy of Positivism, which recognizes nothing but that which the intellect can prove, and excludes everytbin~ spiritual and supernatural. It points out that in human distresses we should turn to science, not to God ; and that the study of poHtical economy and natural science may fairly supersede the preaching of righteousness as a :ineans of salvation to a people. We do not disparage Bcientific discoveries, but rather rejoice that they Are made so frequently and fearlessly. We only ask men to recognize that there is another sphere not discoverable by the intellect, which underlies and impi □ "'es upon the sphere of sensnous life, and that, while things seen it.re temporal, there ;re thing:s unseen which are eternal. Well may one of the characters in 'The New Republic' be represented as saying to such teachers, "Your mind is so_ occupied with subduing matter, that it is entirely.forgetful of subduing itself-a tbmg, trust me, that is far more important." But the disappointment of men's shrewdest antici- pations proves that the race is not always to the swift, nor the battl? _to the st~ong. "The shields of the earth" (the means of defence, temporal and spmtual) "belong to the Lord." JI. THAT THE DISCIPLINE OF T..IFE IS INTENDED TO ERADI0ATE TIIIS TENDEN0Y TO F0RGETFUL~"Ess OF Goo. God rarely disappoints expectations which are founded on a study of natural law; for to act in accordance with natural law is ti;, put ourselves in harmony with the Divine will, law being the expression of will. Yet there should be no idolatry of law, because it works in an orderly way. Law without God is a body without life, a· machine without motive power. 'l'o bring about a ·.b"lief iu this, "time and cnance happen to all;" in other words, things occur whioh are not Oil. t, 1-11.] THE BOOK OF HOSEA. 27