know yon not." The priests, whose iluty WM! to teMh the people knowledge, had been 111rnhle or nnwill)ng to do ~o, and the pcop)e rc,m_aiut•d in i~orance; the people, who ~h0tild have received the Law from the priests hps, are represented as etrivina with nnd gainsaying, their spiritual instructors. The consequence was that they de;troyed ~h~ruse)v{'s, for the verb nidmu has here the pruper refiexiv? se~se of the Niphal; nor 1s 1t without knowledge, but because of the want of (mibb•li) the necessary know- ledge. The punishment, if it be not a re-echo, yet reminds us of 1 Sam. xv. 26, wherct Samuel says to Saul, "For thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee {rom being kins; over Israel." The wonst feature of the case. WBlj their gross and grievous ingratitude; for just in proportion as they increased in n)l.mbers !),Ud. in wealth they multiplied transgression; just a.s of old" when Jeshurun wa1i:'ed {11,t he kicked." Kimchi, indeed, in mentioning the exposition af those who. regi,,rc).,qd 1'the , increase as financial rather than numerical, says, "Some ,interpret 'accordiµg' l!!, theJ.r increase' as equirnlent to' as I increased them in wealth. and riches so they, sinned against me;' after the manner of' when Jeshurun waxed fat, he kicked.'" Theirincrease,, either in number or riches-and both we. think, are included-ministered to the sins of :in unthankful people, and afforded occasions of trespassing yet more and, more against God. Justly, then, did God turn to shame that which he had given Israel for the, Dl'l"ine g1ory, .but which Israel used for vain-glory. "He," says Pusey," not ~>nly gi~.e~. them shame instead of their glory; he makes the glory itself the means and· ~caijon: of their shame. Beauty becomes the occasion of degradation; pride is proverbially n,11~r. a fall; 'vaulting ambition overleaps itself and falls, on th' other side;' riches. and abundance of population tempt nations to wars which become their destruction, or they iu~ite other and stronger nations to prey upon them." Jehoash's .feproof of Amaziah and tbe result, a.s recorded in 2 Kings xiv. 9-14, furnishes a good illustration .of, ti)is su hjrct. ., . . III. GAIN TAKES THE PLACE OF GODLINESS. Whichever inte~pretation be ~dopted; the general sense here remains the sa.me. The priests pandered to the sins oftlie people, and, leEt they should lose their influence with them, they connived at and countenanced their sins when they should have sharply censured them. Or they encouraged sin that they might share the sin offerings presented in expiation. What was this iu either case but to live by and upon the sin of a people sinful and laden with iniquity? Calvin, who makes the priests and people share the sin in common, says, "There is a collusion between the priests and the people. How so? Because the priests were .the associates of robbers, and gladly seized on what was brought; and so they carried on no war, as they ou~ht to have done, with vices, but, on the contrary, urged only the necessity of sacrifices ; and it was enough if men brought things plentifully to the temple, , 'fhe people also themselves showed their contempt for God; for they imagined that, provided they made satisfaction by their ceremonial performances, they would be e;x:empt from punishment.. Thus, then, there was an ungodly compact between the priests and the people ; the Lord was mocked in the midst of them," , IV. \VHAT IS GOT BY SIN GIVES NO SATISFACTION. "Ill got, ill gone," is a common. proverb and a very pithy one; so with these faithless priests in their ministrations for. a sinful people. They said in effect, "The more sin the more.sacrifices, and so the greater our 6hare of profits;" but tbere was no satisfaction in such things and no success by them. L The pleasures of sin are mostly sensual; they last only for a season-a short one; and they afford no real sati~faction even when they do last. "What profit," asks the apostle, " had ye then in those things whereof ye are nc;,w ashl\med? for the end of those things is death.'' 2. The priests, instead of reproving sin, did practica}ly recom-, mend it by their own godless conduct; and the people were well pleased to have it so. Alike in sin, however, they shall be alike in suffering; they helped each other in sin, they must have their share in punishment. The priests abused their position by neither rractising piety themselves nor inculcating its practice on others; the people, free,l from al restraint and having no fear of God before their eyes, sinned with a high.hand. Both ran to an excess of riot, anu both are to be punished with equal severity; neither can reasonably expect to be spared. 3. The root of the evil was their leaving off to take heed to the Lord. The word Bhamar, here rendered " to take heed to," is very expres~ive; it means to have a sharp eye upon, then to observe attentively. Applied t,, a person, it signifiM 10 have the eye.steadily set on his will, to meet his wishes, t~ OB. IV. 1-10.] THE BOOK OF HOSEA. 111
obey. Thus it is so.id of one w11.Hing on his master, as in Prov. xxvii. 18, "He that waiteth on hie master Rball be honoured;" while in the hundred and twenty-thinl psalm we have n good prnctical illustration of the observance indicated : "Behold, 11s the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us." Vere. 11~14.....:.Faults in the life 1>reed erf'ora in the 1>rain, and e"(Yf'' in the brain 1