troul>le ,,·ith Ephraim, n.nd cast no more p8"rls before swtne I tho&t 'he le to oease hie ministry in that direction, and shake the very dust off his feet l\ll a testimony against such wayward rebels. So wl1en ministers have cxhansted all their powers of, persua- fion, and all the varied resonrces of admonition, warning, entreaty, remonstrnnce with ti tont-hrartrd, refractory sinners, a time comes when they must just let thrm alone, le_avrng them to be dealt with by the Master at his coming. (3) But, worst of all, God himself lets them n.lone; and when he does so, it Is a. token of their rejection. A father has used all legitimate means to reclaim his profligate, prodigal;· or rebellious son; and whm all has pro\·ed in V1lln, he is forcad to say," I have done with him;" I disown him'· I will have nothing more to do with him; I will leave him•- to himself, O:nd let hiO: alone.n So God lets men alone when he gives them over to themselvea, leaving them to their own devices, to their lusts, to their evil ways, to their doings that are not good. "'They would none ·of me," saith God, "so l gave them up· to their· own counsels."' The Spirit of the living God has striven with tbn.t man to turn l1i:m nway from his injnstice, or profanity, or drunkenness, or impurity, or hypocrisy;, :but he·,has re;:i~ted the Spirit, stifled the v~ce of conscience, and gone on in his way of widkedness, till (,od, long-suffering though he be, and full of infinite loving-kindness,'' says at last, "My Spirit shall not always strive. Let him that is 1i.lthy be filthy still; let him that is unjust be unjust still." ( 4) Consi'der the dreadful import 'Of this brief sentence -" Let him alone." It is as if God said, "Let him alone-he is rushing on ruin; let no barrier interpose tc, stop him; let him take his own way.· Hitherto, and for, long, he has been checked by the restraints of Providence; now let him alone/'. It is all, wry well when a man is at ease, in safety, or among his friends,- to let him alone; but when be is rushing into the·i;weltering tide of ocean; or into the blazing fire of ,a widespread conflagration, or in among mos't deadly enemies, to let him alone·is-to consign him to destruction. It is not necessary that God should send his power to overwhelm us, in his jnstice to condemn us, or his wrath to consume us; he has only to ·let us alciiie, ind our destruction is inevitable. When he let Adam alone, lea.ving,:him .to himself, he undid himself and his posterity; when he let Hezekiah alone, what misery t'hwt; gooa king brouf!ht upon himself and his sabjects ! (5) Let the fear of this terrible Lord God a~·e us! Beware of oommittil!ig wilful sin, lest God should say, "_·Let him, alone.'! Dread of being thus let alone is a sure sign that God has not let us alone, and safe way of keeping us from being let alone. May; the good Lord preserve us from such a fearful fate! · , u'
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS A.ui'HbRS. ,,, Vers.1-5.-The Lora's lawsuit. -The introduction to the Book of Hosl!II coneilits:.of a symbolical narrative, contained in eh. i.-iiL 'r,he body ~f the book,is,o_ccupted·wi_th di,;courses, which are full of mingled reproaches, threatenmgs, and 'promises;: ,Ch.1v:: evidently reflects the condition of the nation during ,the interregnum whi~h follo:w,ed the death of Jeroboam II. The key-word of the first ·strophe-(vers. 1-5) 18,the word " controversy" (ver. 1), used in the sense of a legal action-a. suit at law. Jehovah re_presents himself as prosecuting Israel for breach of contract. • I. THE suMIIIONB. (V-er. 1.) A solemn covenant had :been •concluded at Sinai between God and the chosen nation. It had the Decalogue for its basis, and it had been ratified by sacrifice (Exod. xx.-xxiv.). _ But the people of the ten tribes had infringed the covena!lt, and e:i.:posed themselves (taking the figure of the passage) to legal proceedings for bre~ch of contra.et. T~e eum~o_n~, however! ":fs no~ served without extreme provocation'. For t~e Lord 1! not l~-~1g10us. He 1s merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plen~~s in 1!1erey (Ps. cm. 8). We shall _see from the iudictmcnt that almost evt'l'Y obligation of the sacred compact had been v10lated. ·, II. THE no>ICTMEl'IT. (Vers. 1, 2.) It is a tremendous one. There are two weighty counts in it and t.ogether they show that by this time the very bonds of eociety in Israel had ~en dissolved. 1. Religion was -dead. (Ver. 1.) "-No truth," "Truth" may here be taken to cover the entire masculine side of the religious characteJI, and to iuclude all such strong virtues as veracity, faithfulness, integrity, righteousness, immu- tability. 'l'o lo1•e truth is one of the first duties of rdigion. 1' Nor ,mercy." 'l'his w~rd Oil, IV, 1-19.) THE BOOK OF HOSEA. 11.i