The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 66

becomr thcm~clves penitent, to reason with the nation at large about it~ sin. Tho children arc t.~ 8hare in the mother's punishment; and it is l'ight that they should expostnla!.e with her: reg:irding he: manifold. idolatry. 2. Rest,•aining providences. (Vers. 6, , .) God w1ll eflect a forcible separation between Iorael and. her idols. The seventy years' captivity of Judah would be u it were a "hedge" of "thorns." The perpetual exile of Ephraim would be a solid wall interposed between the northern tribes and their" Baalim." Such methods of restraint God had often employed heretofore. The &ok of J udgcs tells us of no fewer than six thorn-fences which God planted in succession, to break off the seductive alliances formed from time to l.ime with the idolatrous Canaa.nites. The long drought during Ahab's reign was a wall thrown up between him and his Baal-worship. But none of these obstructions had been perma- nently effectual. Only the Assyrian and Babylonish captivities were so. By their long exile the Jews were a.t length for ever weaned from all gross idolatry. They could not forget thnt their false gods had given them no aid against the thundering advance of the Assyrian, or during the last agonies of Samaria and Jerusalem. 3. R,est?-aining _ql"ace. (Ver. "i.) It is here predicted that the distresses of the protracted exile shall induce repentance, and awaken a longing desire to return to ·Jehovah. By-the moral discipline of so1To,v he will operate upon the hearts of his erring people, and sweetly draw them back to himself. As the "mighty famine" became the means of convincing the prodigal that he had wandered from hiil true well-being in leaving his father's house (Luke x:v. 14-19); so Israel, in her days of sad adversity, shall resolve to return to the home of her Divine Husband, to whom she has for so long been unfaithful. '!'his glorious consummation is still future. We think of it as belonging to" the last things." But it shall most surely be accomplished. There will be a national conversion of tLo Jews to the Christian faith. Israel shall " go a.nd return to her fir~t Husband;" "for the Lord delighteth-in her, and her land shall be married" (Isa. I.xii. 4). LESSO.KS. 1. The exceeding sinfulness of sin. It· is whoredom and adultery. How it debases and bruti.fies man's noble nature! It also blinds the mind to the true source of blessing ( ver. 5). And what an agony it must be. to the puro and loving heart .oi God! 2. The unprofitableness of a sinful, life. Even from the sinner's point pf view, such a life never pays. What expenditure of time a.nd toil, of health and substance, a career of vice entails! How precarious, too, are all merely temporal blessings, and how· utterly unsatisfying to those who choose them as their soul's portion I 3. The goodness. of God in the restraints which he imposes upon the sinner. He has many" hedges" and "walls "-public opinion, conscience, temporal loss, personal sickness, fam~y bereavement, etc. These become inestimable blessings to a man when they hinder him in a course of sin, a.nd constrain him, not only to confess his folly·(ver. 7), b11t:to turn from it to the Lord.-C. J. Vers. ~13.-Prosperity abused and blighted. In this second strophe of the chapter Jehovah continues to expatiate upon Israel's in~ratitude and infidelity, and warns her_ with solemn iteration of the punishment awaiting her. These verses speak of- L PRoSPEPJTY PLENTll'ULLY BESTOWED. (Vers. 8, 9.) Tho time of Jeroboa~ II., to which this part of the prophecy refers, was to Israel one of unexampled national wealth. The kingdom seemed as rich and powerful at that period as it had been even in the davs of Solomon. The ten northern cantons, we must remember, included the fairest ar;d most fertile districts of Palestine. They possessed "the glory of Lebanon, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon," the fruitful meadows of Bashan, and tho green pasture-lands of Gilead. So Ephraim was rich in "corn and wine and oil," _in " wool :.nd fu..x," in "silver and gold." But has Dot God bestowed V/istly greater gifts upon our own country? 'l'he climate of our island is damp, and its soil only moder~te!y fertile; :ret how much wealth there is amongst us! God has exalted Great Bntam w heaven. The English nation iB colonizing .the world. And for what purpose ,does tbe Lord confer temporal prosperity? It is with th~ same deHign_ for which .he l~nds us spiritual blessings-tkt we may learn to know bun, and love !mu, and _serv13 hrn!. IL PROSPERITY SHilIBFULLY ABUSED. Israel's prosperity was only ID material things. Although imposing, it was external and hollow. It was not the wealth of well-being; for: 1. 7'lie Giver waR igrwred. (Ver. 8.) "She did not know," means that she wati not willing to know. Her material prosperity begat pride, and pride Oil, II, 1-23.) '!'HE BOOK OE' HOSEA. 63