righloous. They live for the world anrl lr> the world, and they have their reward. Their ground becomes fruitrul, their trade prosperous, their profession remunerative. II. As AS0IIIDING THEIR PROSPERITY TO WRONG CAUSES. "These are my rewardR that my lovers have given me." Israel ascribed its prosperity to its idols, here caller! its "lovers." The wicked ascribe their success sometimes to fortune, sometimes to chance, sometimes to their own industry, and sometimes to their rogueries. They don't trace it to tbo truo Source, the great God. III. As DEVOTING THEIR PROSPERITY TO WRONG OBJECTS. " And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them," etc. " Baalim" is the plural number, by which some suppose inferior gods are meant. Israel is here accused of burning incense to these deii minores. Wicked men devote their wealth, not to the improvement of their minds or to the true progress of mankind, but to their own selfish and superstitious ends. God is recognized in the use no more than in the pursuit of their wealth. "She went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the Lord." IV. As DEPRIVED OF TREIB PROSPERITY BY TllE GREAT GoD. "I will make them a forest, and the beast-s of the field shall eat them. And I will visit upon her the days of Baa.Jim." The threatening is, that God will not only destroy all their prosperity, "the vines and fig trees," but punish them for their idolatry. "I will visit upon her the days of Baalim." CoNOLUSION. " The tinsel glare upon a sinner is too apt to offend the weak eyes of a saint. Alas! why should be envy him a Jittle light who is to be shrouded in ever- lasting darkness? Why should we throw bludgeons at boughs which are only laden with poisonous fruits? "-D. 'r. Vers. 14, 15.-Soul-restoration. "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her vine- yards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope : and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt." These words refer to the restoration of Israel to friendship and fellowship with Got!. "The desert," says Delitzsch, "into which the Lord will lead his people cannot be any other than the desert of Arabia, through which the road from Egypt to Canaan passes. Leading into this desert is not a punishment, but a redemption out of bondage. The people are not to remain in the desert, but to be enticed and led through it to Canaan, the land of vineyards. The description is typical throughout. What took place in the olden time is to be repeated, in all that is essential, in the time to come. Egypt, the Arabian desert, and Canaan a.re types. Egypt is a type of the land of the captivity in which Israel had been oppressed in its fathers by the heathen power of the world." The verses may be used to illustrate the subject of soul-restoration, and they suggest two facts. I. THAT THE STAGES m SOUL-RESTORATION ARE GRADUAL. The reference through- out here is to the emancipation of the Jews from the Egyptian bondage, their Divine guidance in the wilderness, and their entrance into the promised land. And all this is here employed to illustrate spiritual restoration. We may remark, therefore: 1. That the first step to soul-resforation is from bondage to liberty. "I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness." Into the wilderness from where? From Egyptian bomlage. Iu E~ypt the IsraeliteR were slaves, in the wilderness they were free. All souls nre in moral Egypt, and the first step to their restoration is their e:i:odus into the moral Arabia. 2. The next step is from despondency to hope. The valley of Achor, which was situated to the north ofGilgal, is mentioned by the prophet with I\ manifest reference to Josh. vii. Through the sin of Acha.n Israel bad incurred the displeasure of the Almighty, a.nd its army against Ai was defeated. But through the prayers of Joshua and tho elders, the Divine favour was a.gain obtained, and Israel became triumphant, and the valley of Achor, where there was great trouble, rt\diatet! with "hope." The victory of Ai threw all Canaan into their hands (Josh. vii, 8), and Achor, once the scene of great trouble, became to them " a door of hope." It was, indeed, the first place of which they took roseession in Canaan; it was the entrance into the promised land. In spiritual restora- tion the soul passes from trouble into hope; in the "deep valley of affliction it finds a door of hope." Joseph in his prison, David in his persecutions, Saul in bis manifold trials,-all found" a door of hope." Through much tribulatien we enter into kingdoms. 78 TIIE DOOR OF HOSEA. Lon. IT. 1-23,
:J, The next step is from sterility tofruitful11ess. "I will give her her vineynrds from thence." The wilderness was a barren desert, but Canaan was II. land of vineyards; it a~oundcd with fruit. In spiritual restoration the soul passes frorn the sterile Into tho fruitful; it leaves the desert for a paradise. 4. The next step is from sadness to ea:ul- tation. "She shall sing there, M in the days of her youth." The reference here agaiu is to the song which the Israelites sang after they had crossed the Red Sea (Exod, xv. 1). The song of the redeemed soul at last will be the song of Mo~es and the.Lamb (Re\', X\', 3). Such are the stages through which the soul in its restoration passes-from thraldorn to liberty, despondency to hope, barrenness to fruitfulness, ·sadness to exultation. II. THAT THE AGEKCY IN SOUL-RESTORATION IS DIVINE. \Vho is it that effects this restoration? God. "I will allure her," etc.; "I will give her her vineyards," etc. No one but God can restore souls. Mark how he does it. 1. JJ[orally. "I will allure her." I I is not by force or violence, not by menace or might, but by the ent\cements of the moral beauty of his character and t.he charms of his love. . God· restores souls by manifesting all his tenderness, his goodness, his perfections to. them through Christ. The power of the gospel is the power of allurement. If souls ate to come out .of their Egypt into the wilderness, God must allure them. 2. Lovingly.'; "Speak comfortably unto her." He declares he has 110 pleasure in the death of a sinner; He assures of his readiness to pardon and to bless. He says, "Come now, and let us reason together," .etc. 3. Generously. "I will give her her vineyards from thence." He who gave Canaan to the Jews gives heaven to restored souls. • •• CoNCLusrnis:. Brother, knowest thou aught of this soul-restoration? Have the allurements of Divine love drawn thee out of Egypt? In the midst of thy deep troubles hast thou found a "door of hope"? Is the wilderness within thee beginning to blossom a., the rose, and do the fruitful vines refresh thee with their clusters? - Has the song of Moses and the Lamb inspired thy heart and tuned thy voice? If so, "sing praises unto our God, sing praises."-D. T.