Ver. 17 .-.An unholy alliance and a righteous abandonment. "Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone." "Ephraim," the most powerful of the ten tribes, is frequently used by the prophets for Israel. Notice briefly two things. I. AN UNHOLY .ALLIANCE. "Ephraim is joined to idols,'' is welded to them; his heart is rooted in them. Wha.t is an idol ? Carved wood, stone, or moulded metal, living creatures, flowing streams, or heavenly orbs? No. These are mere representa- tions of idols. The idol of a man is the object supremely loved, whatever that object . may be. Gold, fame, beauty, power, plea.sure,-wha.tever the heart is set on, tha.t is the idoL Here in onr England we condemn polytheism, but we abound with polytheists. Men have as many idols here a.s they ha.ve objects of supreme love, a.nd they a.re ma.ny. 'l'housands of Englishmen are joined to their idols ; they are chained to them by the ties of their strongest loves and ha.bits. II. A RIGHTEOUS .A.BANDONMEJ,.-T. "Let him alone." It is a hopeless case. Waste no more time in argument and mora.l appliances. The times comes with every sinner when he is abandoned, his character is stereotyped, and his doom is settled. God says to providence, "Let him alone "--do not disturb him; to conscience, "Let him alone ; " to the Spirit, " Let him a.Ion~." . When God abandons th~ soul, all is over; when the fountain refuses to pour forth its waters, the stream dries up; when the sun refnses to travel up the horizon, a.ll nature will die.-D. T. Ver. 19.-Retributive justice. "The wind ha.th bound her up in her wings; a.nd they sha.11 be ashamed becanse of their sacrifices." The simple meaning of this is, Israel shall be borne away from her land, suddenly and violently, as by the winds of heaven. '!'here is retributive justice in the universe. Men are slow to discern it, ,and it often moves so silently and secretly a.s t-0 elude the dim vis,ion of the wicked. Still it is in existence, a.nd it works like the thunder~torm ; it ma.y sleep silently in the heavens for some time, but break into tempest a.nd fury it must, sooner or later. The verse lea.ds us to notice two things in relation to this retributive justice. I. !Ts EM.BLEJIL It, is here compared to the "wind." Why is it like u wind "f Clll, IV, 1-19,] THE BOOK OF HOSEA. 131
1. In its agitation, Wind ie e. disturbance or an agitation or the atmo~phere. Tho nvorago condition of the nir is silence and serenity. The normal condition of Divina govcrnme_ut is q~let. I~ has no _tempest where t~ere is not wickedness. The growing heat of em so disturbs 1t that 1t often breaks mto an all-dsvastatincr fury. 1t is lilrn "wind." 2. In its violence. There is often a mighty power in° th 6 wind. It sometimes "rends the mountains and breaks in pieces the rocks." It ha.a overturned the "mountains by the roots; " it has " broken the cedars, even the cedars o{ Lebanon, and shakerl the wilderness." Cambyses being once in the wilderness with the soldiers, a strong and violent wind broke and buried thousands of them in the sand. Who can stand before retributive justice when it comes forth in its power? "'rhe wind bath bound her up in her wings." Avenging justice binds its victim up, and carries it away-whether it be an individual, a nation, or a world-as tempests carry off the chaff. Il. ITs EFFECT. "And they shall be ashamed becauee of their sacrifices." Shame -moral shame,'the primary element in the soul's hell-ever comes to the victim of retributive justice. 1. There is the shame of disappointment. All plans broken, all purposes thwarted, all 'hopes destroyed. "Let me not be a9hamed of my hope,'' said David. 2,. '!'here is the shame of e:,;posure. The wicked always live in masquerade. they always· appear to be what they are not; they are necessarily hypocrites'. Retributive justice takes off the mask and lays bare their hearts in all their revoltin,,. foulness. ' 3. There is the shame of remoTSe. This is the most burning shame ot' all. It sends its fires down into the very centre of man's being, and sets all the moral nerves aflame. CoNCLUBION. Take warning, ye wicked sons of men; let not the present stillness of your atmosphere deceive you; your sins are generating a heat that mnst sooner or later so distw-b the elements about you, as to bring on you ruin and fill you with "shame and confusion of face." '"A year has ended. Let the good man pnuse, And think, for he can think, of all its crime And toil and suffering. Nature has her Jaws That will not brook infringement; in all time. .. .All circumstances, all states, in every clime, She holds aloft the same avenging sword; And, sitting on her boundless throne sublime, The viuls of her wrath, with justice atored, Shall, in her own good hour, on all that's ill be poured." (James Gates Percival) lJ. T.
Vers. 1-5.-The Lord's controversy. God had a controversy with the inhabitants or the land. The essential part of the indictment was that they had forsaken him. "There is no knowledge of God in the land." Hence- I. A FEARFUL OVERFLOWING OF IMMORALITY. 1. With the knowledge of God there had departed also "truth and mercy" (ver. I). "Truth" and "mercy," or" kindness," are root-principles of morals. The subversion of them is the subversion of morality in its foundations. These foundation-virtues, however, had been subverted in Israel. Morality has never proved able to sustain itself in divorce from religion. The bond which binds man to God ii; also the bond which binds him to the practice of the moral virtues. To cut this bond is to set him adrift. He who ignores the primal obligation- that to his Maker-is not likely •to have much regard for any other. 2. 'l.'he result wa.s a fearful overspreading of corruption. "By swearing, and lying, and killing," etc. ( ver. 2). Ungodliness rau its course unchecked. It brought forth its natural fruits of rapine, dishonesty, licentiousness, profanity, riotousness, and murder. Society seemed dissolving. Irreligion is the foe, not only of private morality, but of social order. It tends to division, to anarchy, to general disregard of law and rights. II. SEVERE' JUDGMENTS ON THE LAND. "Therefore shall the land mourn," etc. (ver. 3). Man's sin, in its effects, is not confined to himself or to his kind. It over- flows on the animate and the inanimate creation, 1. 'l'he ground was cursed at first for man's sake (Gen. iii. 17), 2, It is degrnded in being compelled to sustain the 132 THE BOOK OF HOSEA. [OD, IV, 1-19,