and stripped of her earthly blessings, she wOQ]d bethink herself of the God from whom she hnd departed. It tnkrs much discipline, oftentimes, to bring us into the state of mincl in which we are willing to listen to God. Pride needs to be humbled; self-will needs to be broken; the heart .built up in self-righteousness needs to be convinc~rl of sin. To this end God employs trials, hardships, crosses, bereavements, sorrows of various kinds. Ha trains us by the wilderness. II. DIVIN;E ALLUREMENT. (Ver. 15.) \Ve are led here to study the opera.tioc1< of Divine love under the character of allurement. "I will allure her." Allurement is the art of reaching the heart by soft iµf!uences. It is not compulsion. It is not conviction by argument. It is a persuasive, drawing influence exerted on the aficctiocs and will. It is gentle, not violent; it is mjld, not passionate, It cocquera by the might of love. Some persons. have more of this power of attraction, of fascination, than others. It is a gift-an, influence, emanating from the personality. It cannot be communicated. 'l'he Divine Spirit is the great Allurer, His dealings with a so.ul are a secret between that soul and himself.· God allures: 1. By solitude. "I will ,bring her into the wilder- ness." He takes the soul apart by itself. He isolates it, as he did Israel when he spoke with her at J;i.rst (Exod. xix. 3-5). We cannot hear God'.s voice amidst the busy hum of earth. Our own,ege stands much in need of more solitary communion. 2. By word, "I will spea~ comfortably unto her." The words of God are found in Scripture. How well fitted the Biblci with its gracious, tender, comforting, reassuring utterances, is for this purpose- of all_qremect, we, all know. It is shaped and adapted in every way to draw the soul to God. 3. By gift, "I will g.\ve her her vineyards from thence." The typical blessiJ1gs shadow out the higher. 0,od_attests his love to us by gift as well as by word.. He has given his Son (John iii.16).. He gives himself. He gives all spiritual blessings (Eph. i,, 3). He gives eternity. Christ is "the unspe.akable Gift" (2 Cor. ix. 15).· . "All things are yours" (1 Cor. iii. 21). 4. By chastiwment. "And tlie valley of Achor for.a door of hope." The valley of Achor lay at the entrance of Canaan. It :was, there .that God "troubled" Israel for the sin of Achan (Josh. vii.). That sin barred the 11ntrance to the land, and only when it was judged and removed could Israel proceed. . The meaning is. that,. so often as sin bars· the way to the possession of the ,inheritance, and ,bticg~ down chastisement, so often will grace, working through judg- ment on the ·sin, bring good out of evil, and new hope ou,t of the experience of sorrow (2 Co~. vii. 9-11).1, Israel, after the sin had -been put away, received a pledge of the DiviD,e •presence: with them for future victories. " In this relation the Lord here promises that the _place of sanctified trial 11hall not only be a region of endurance, but a door of hope." U:ro,uble becomes a means of spiritual profiting. 5. God's allurement begetsfoy. "She shall sing there, as in the days of her youth," etc. God puts a new song in the mouths of his people (Ps. xl, 1, 2). It.is, as in the triumph at the Red .Sea, a song (1) of deliverance; (2) of victory. "The song of Moses and the .Lamb" (ReY. xv.). The joy is the.greater after the sorrow (Rev. vii. 9-17). Ill. HoLmR ESPOUSALS. (Vers. 16, 17.) Won by the Divine allurements, Israel ratifies a new marriage covenant. with Jehovah; The new union is very different from the older one. It is a union marked : 1. By earnest affection. "Thou shalt call me Ishi "-" my E:usb'and .." 2. By purified feeling. " And sbalt no more call me Baali" -" my Baal," Israel'.s feelings towards Jehovah would be purged of all idolatrous -associations. 3. By •sincere abhorrence of fhe past. "I will take away the names of Baalim out of her Jnouth.'1 :So does the sinner shudder at the very thought of the things which formetly pleased him. They are hateful to him. He would couut it a shame even to speal~ of those things in secret (Eph. v. 12). 4. By jealous care for the future. "They shall no more be remembered by their came." Israel would guard, iu her future relations wi.th Jehovah, against the iutrusion of even the thought of her former paramours,-J. 0.
, :Vers. 18-23.-The new betrothal. Jehovah, on bis part, signs, as it were, a new marriage contract with Isr;iel. '!'he relation will this time be an euduricg one, Ho will grant to lsruel security and peace, Ho will restore her blessings. He will dower her with fresh gifts. !:le will iucrel\Se her fruitfolness. The promi1r.s may be legiti- , luf\tely ex tended to all the Israel of faith. . I. Sl!;cUnlT¥ ANP l'EAc:e: lN Tl!E NEW BEuATIOX, (Ver. 18,) 1. 'H1e DC\'\" cc'1·cnnct 84 THE BOOK OF. HOSEA. [en. 11. 1-23.