of heaven; 'yea, 'the fishes of the se~ Riso shall be_ taken away." Literally, this refers to qne of tho~e droughts that occas10nally occur rn the East, and is ever one of the greatest calamities. What a dependent creature man is I The beasts of the field, the fowls of heaven, and the fish of the Ma can do better without him hut he cannot do without them. How soon the Eternal can destroy these means of his subsistence! One hot blast of pestilential air could do the whole. 2. Of spiritual good. "Let no man stri V'O, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive wi tb the priest." 'l'he meaning seems to be' that their presumptuous guilt was as great as that of one who refused to obey the priest when giving judgme'lt in the Name of ,Jehovah, and who, according to law, for that cause was to be put to death (Dent. xvii. 12). One of the greatest spiritual blessings of mankind is the strife and reproof of godly men. The expostulations and admonitions of Christly friends, parents, teachers. What on earth is more valuable; is so essential as these? Yet these arc to be taken away. "Let no man strive, nor reprove another." The tittle comes with the sinner when God says, ":My Spirit shall no more strive with thee; Ephraftn is joined to idols: let him alone." M<cn q.ave _becom'e so dog-like 'in nature"that holy things are not to be preSented to t1iein ; so swinish that yon are td cast before them nc, more pearls (Matt. vii. 6). ,H. I,t is' a deprivation LEADING TO A TERRIBLE DOOM. 1. The destruction of piests and people.' " Therefore shalt thou fall in the day• and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night." The meaning is, that no time, night or day, shall be free from the slaughtcr,'both of the people and the priests. This was literally true of the ten tribes at this time; ·,.And it is·true in a more general and universal sense. God's law is, that "evil shall slay. the wicked;,,, and it is always slaying them, whether they be priests or people-the laity or the clergy. If they are not true to God, day and night, they are ·being slain. 2; The destruction of the sdcial ·state. "And I will destroy thy mother." . Who· was •the mother? • The Israelitish state. And it was destroyed. England is our mother, and our mother will be destroyed unless we banish sin from our n:iidst."-D. 'l'. •
Ver; 6...:.:.Religious 'ignoran&e.' '' My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because "'thou hast rejected· knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou sbalt be no priest 'to ,me: .seeing thou hast forgotten the Law of thy God, I will also forget thy children."· These words suggest three things in relation to religious ignorance. I. IT IS DESTRUCTIVE. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Ignorance is not the 'mother of devotion, it is the mother of destruction. 1. What-does it destroy? The growth· of the soul in power, beauty, and fruitfulness. 2. Hmn does it 'destroy ? How can' the lack of a thing destroy ? How can nothing do mischief·? 'l'he lack of beat and moisture will kill the -vegetable kingdom; the lack of air will cause the extinction of all animal life. 'l'he soul without knowledge of God is like a plant withcmt heat and moisture; an animill without the salubrious breeze. II. IT Ill wn.'FUL; "Because thou hast rejected knowledge." 'l'bere is no culpability in a man being ignorant of some things. He may not have the means, the time, or the faculty for the particular attainment. Not so with the knowledge of God; it comes to him whether he will or not. It comes to him in the objects of nature; it comes to him in the necessary deductions of his reason; it comes to him in the intuitions of his moral nature. Besides; in some cases, as with the Israelites, it comes to ruan by special revelation. He rejects it. Ignorance of God is ever more a criminal ignorance. "For the invisible things of.him from the creation of the world are clearly 8cen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and God- head; so that they are without excuse." III. IT IS GOD-OFFENDING. "I will also reject thee." It is not unnatural or unphilosophic to suppose that the conditio11 of the man ignoring his existence must be to the last degr~e olfoµsive to him. Hence be de:ils out retribution. 1. To themselve.~. " I will 'al!\O reject thee," etc. 2. To their children. "I will nlso forget thy children." It is a Divi11c law springing from the constitution of society, that the iniquities of the fathers: sh,all, be visited on their children. Parents cannot do wrong without injuring their offsp~ing.-D. T. Ver. 7.-'-Secular prosperity. ;, As they ,vere increased, so they sinned a_,"Rinst me : 128 THE BOOK OF HOSEA. [oB, IV, 1-19,