The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 39

Auel tho foam of his gasping lay whit.e on tho tor! And colcl M the spray of the rock-beating snrf. • "And there lay the rider distorted Md pale, With the clew on his htow and the rust on bis mall• And the tents were all silent, the banners alone, • The lances unlifted, the trumpet nnblown." Looking at the words in their spiritual application, they suggest two remarks in relation to man's deliverance. 1. It.is '!/ mercy. "I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God." The deliverance of man from the guilt, the power, and consequence of sin is entirely of God's mercy-free, sovereign boundless mercy. 2. It is by moral mea™. "Will not save them by bow, nor by sword: nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen." No material force can deliver the soul from its spiritual difficulties and perils. Moral means alone can effect the object. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saitb the Lord." CoNCLUSION. Use mercy rightly while you have it. Its grand design is to produce reformation of character and mcetness for the high service and lofty fellowship with the great God, here and yonder, now and for ever.-D. T. Vera. 10, 11.-The destiny of the race. "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the. sa.nd of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the Ii vin~ God. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint them- selves one head, and they shall come up out of tho land: for great shall he the day of Jezreel." Biblical critics of all schools use the natural Israel as the emblem of the spiritual. Paul does so, and therefore it is just and right. We shall take Israel for mankind, and use the text to illustrate the destiny of the race. I. The race is destined to an INDEFINITE IllCREASE in the number of good men. "The number of the children of Israel shall be as the sa.nd of the sea, which cannot be numbered or measured." The good, the spiritual Israel, have been comparatively few in all ages, though perhaps there is a larger number now tba.n in any preceding period. But the time will come when they shall be innumerable. What mean such passages as these ?-" He shall have dominion from sea to sea, from the river to the end of the earth." Again, "All kings shall fall down before him." ~crain, "The kingdoms of this world a.re become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ." Numerous as the sand on the sea-shore! A Jewish rabbi regards the good as the sand, not only in relation to number, but to usefulness. As the sand keeps the sea from breaking in and drowning the world, so the saints keep the world from being drowned by the waves of eternal retribution. This is true. .Were it not for the good the world would not stand long. But it is to represent numbe1·, not protection, that the figure is employed. Who can count the sand which is upon the shore? Do you say that to all appearances such an increa.se is impossible? When God promised to Abraham that his seed should be as the stars of heaven and the sand upon thf shore, what could seem more improbable tha.n the fulfilment? It was twenty years after the promise that be had a.ny child, and tha.t only chilJ. he was commanded to destroy, and though Isuac was preserved, he had no offspring until twenty years after his marria~e. How improbable the fulfilment of such a promise; but nevertheless it was fulfilled. How numerous the descendants of Abraham became! Do not jud)!;e from appearance. Trust God's Word; it will come to pass. There is a glorious future for the world. II. 'l'he race is destined to a 'l'RANSCENDENT PRIVILEGE. "And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.n 1. They are destined to a general conversion to God. From not being his people they a.re to become his people. The places of the earth now populated with the enemies of God will one day be crowded with his friends; places where idolatry, superstiLion, worldliness, and in6delity prevail shall in the bright future be consecrated to Heaven. 2. They are destined to a general adoption into the family of God. "Ye are the sons of the living God.''. 'l'bey sha.11 be endowed and anima.tcd with the true Spirit, the spirit  THE BOOK OF HOSEA, [en. I, 1-11,