The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 72

degradation in Egypt, and tracrs the moral effects upon thorn of the wildorness-life which transformed a horde of ~laves into a nation; binding each man to his fellow, and :1 ll to G~. To the prophet, as_ a moral teacher, the wilderness appears tho place for thu cure of idolatry, for the reception of tho Law, for the appointment of Divine worship, nnd for the gathering of national and moral strength. Glancing from the wilderness ncross the Jordan, he sees, next, the disaster at Ai which ensued on sin, and notes tho way in which, in th~ valley of Achor, tho iniquity was purged, so that the peoplo were rea?y for new victories and the possess~on of the land of promise. After recalling these rnc1dents,. Hosea says to the Israel of his own day, "These experiences shall be repeated rn all their essential features. You shall be taken from the E"ypt of idolatry youeha.11 he led into the wilderness of exilo, you ~hall pass through the v~lley of trouble 'and there your sin being discovered and removed, you shall go on to a nobler future an'd have th~ fulfilment of the promises." But with this figure is blended another, which pervades the first three chapters, in which Israel is represented as a disloyal wife, whose husband loves her still, and seeks by the gentlest means to draw her again to himself. God's condescension and wisdom are shown in these attempts to set forth Divine responsi- bilities and privileges by analogies drawn from human relationships. The human is fianctifieJ, and the Divine is made natural by such a method. Here God is represented as the Husband of the Church, bearing with her waywardness and sin, taking upon himself her sorrows and cares, purging her from all evil, that at last she may appear radiant in the sheen of her white robes, and crowned with light in his presence. (Text.) I. CONSIDER THE El,"TICEMENT OF SIN LEADING TO ESTRANGEMENT which is set before us in the earlier part of this chapter. The ideal condition of Israel, and therefore of every soul, is that of one betrothed to the Lord, yearning for his society, mourning his absence, cheered by his smile, and waiting for the marriage. Nothing satisfies the soul but God. In the imperfection of our friends, in the mistakes we make about each other, in the spurning of our love, in the loss of dear ones by removal or death, we are disquieted by the ordinance of God, so that, like Augustine, we may say, "Cor nostrum inquietum est, donec in te requiescat." As Israel said, "I will go after my lovers," so one says, "I will go after pleasure;" and another, "I will go after wealth," as if the highest good conld be fonnd there. And this sin is aggravated, because (as ver. 8 implies) all that is used or enjoyed in this vain pursuit is given to us by the God we forget ; as the prodigal wasted in the far country what his father had given to him. In order to bring us to thought and penitence, wandering from God is made difficult to us, and often the words have been fulfilled, "I will hedge up thy way with thorns." He thwarts our plans and disappoints our hopes. The idolized friend proves false, the adored child is tom from our embrace, the hoarded wealth is swept away. The fruit has its bitter kernel, and the rose its thorn. Nor is it only in what is outward that we recognize a hedge planted by God to tum us back from evil. When one is about to sin, he is checked by the thought of dishonour to his father's name, or by the reproaches uf conscience, or by the memories of old teaching, or by the tears of a mother. He can say, as Augustine did in the review of his sinful lire, "I escaped not thy scourges, for what mortal can? For thou wert even with me mercifully rigorous, and besprinkling with most bitter alloy all my unlawful pleasures, that I might seek pleasures without alloy. But where to find such I could not discover save in thee, 0 Lord, who teachest by sorrow, and wountlest us to heal, and killest us lest we die from thee." II. LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF LOVE CALLING TO THE WILDERNESS. .. Therefore I will allure her." It is the last inference we should expect. Sin and forgetfulness are not inducements to mercy. If trouble is the obvious result of extreme wickedness which is 6till unrepented, the father would say of the child, the husband of the wife, "It is right she should suffer, and till she returns she cannot expect blessing from me." Bo long as lawful authority is set at defiance, human law knows no mercy. God does not deal with us, however, as we deal with others. He did not cast Israel off at once, nor did ho summon her to his feet by the thunders of Sinai or the terrors of hell, but says, " I will allure her;" speaking gently as Christ did by his Word and life, so that the sin- stained felt that, though no other mercy could be had, it might be found at the feet of the Friend of sinners. "I will draw her into the wilderness," the place of silence and of solitude. 'l'he Divine voice is seldom heard amidst a multitude. God severs the individual from his fellow• when he would give him a message for himself or for others. CII, It. 1-28.] TtlE BOOK OF HOSEA. 69