II, AFFLIOTION IB INTENDED TO DIREOT THE THOUGHTS TO THE BUFFERER'S BINB. H is oftou idle curiosity to speculate upon the connection between disobedience and pCLrticular troubles. But, as a general principle, sin is the root of which sufferinu is thu fruit. And times of affliction call upon the "tried" and harassed to scruti~izc their own conduct and their own heart, " till they acknowledge their offence " or "hold themselves guilty." Men go on sinning, from one crime or folly to another and confirm themselves in their evil courses, until a check comes, until calamity over~ takes them, until they are constrained to ask themselves-Have we forgotten that the world is ruled by a righteous God, who is angry with the wicked e,very day? Thus they are led, by God's grace, to confession and to penitence. III. AFFLICTION 18 INTENDED TO DIRE0T THE THOUGHTS TO Goo. It is not enough for the offender to look in wards to himself; he must look upwards to his God. "Till they seek my face;" "They will seek me early." In days of calm, of pleasure, of health, of plenty, God has been forgotten. But "sweet are the uses of adversity;" and there is no use sweeter, more profitable, than this-its tendency to raise the mind to heaven. 'l'o seek forgiveness for careless, forgetful days, to seek the favour which has been justly forfeited, to seek the help which has been despised,-such is the attitude of the humbled and the contrite. .And such suppliants shall not seek the face of God in vain.-T. Vera. 1-3.-National depravity. "Hear ye this, 0 priests; and hearken, ye honse of Israel; and give ye ear, 0 house of the king; for judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor. And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been a rebuker of them all. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, 0 Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.'' " With the words, 'Hear ye this,' the reproof of the sins of Israel makes a new start, and is specially addressed to the priests and the king's house, i.e. the king and his court, to announce to the leaders of the nation the punishment that will follow their apost.asy from God and their idolatry, by which they have plunged the ,people and kingdom headlong into destruction " (Keil and Delitzscb). These words lead us to consider the depravity of a nation. I. PRIESTS AND PEOPLE ARE INVOLVED IN IT. "Hear ye this." All orders and degrees of men are here cited to appear before the Almighty on account of the sin of the country. Both priests and rulers, clergy and kings, ought, not only to be unimpli- cated in the moral corruption of a country, but to be evermore the most zealous and efficient agents in purifying the spirit and elevating the moral character of a nation. In their elevated positions they should not allow a breath of general depravity to touch them, but pour down evermore upon all grades of people sentiments and influences that shall purify and bless. Alas! it has been otherwise; both have, for ages, proved the greatest contaminators and curses of their race. Priests have oftentimes been fiends in sacerdotal robes, and kings beastly voluptuaries in royal garb and stately gait. No man is a real priest of God, and no man a true king, who is not the most distinguished exemplar and promoter of those heavenly virtues which alone can confer peace, stability, and honour upon a country. II. UNFAITHFULNESS TO GoD 18 A PROOF OF IT. "For judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor." "As hunters spread their net and snares upon the hills Mizpab. and Tabor, so ye have snared the people into idolatry, and made them your prey by injustice." As Mizpa.h and Tabor mean a " watch-tower" and a "lofty place," a fit scene for hunters; playing on the words, the prophet implies, ."In the lofty place in which I have set yon, whereas ye ought to have been the watchers of the people, guarding them from evil, ye have been as hunters entrapping them into it." The meaning is "'l'hese kings and priests use their elevated positions in turning men away from the true God." " And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been a rebuker of them all." "Re- volters" means apostates, and these apostates were " profound," deeply rooted, sunk into the lowest depths of idolatry. "To make slau~hter." Their offerings were not sacrifices, they were mere slaughters, butcheries; there was nothing sacrecl about them. Here, then, is a proof of the goncml depravity of a nation. A natiou t-hat is unfaithful to its true God is a tree-rotten in its roots, a river p0isoned in its springs. 158 THE BOOK OF HOSEA. [011. v. 1-15.
Philosophically there can be no morality where there ia no fidelity to him whose existence is the foundaUon and whose will is the rule of all virtue, . . III. THE JUDGE OF THE WORLD 1s COGNIZANT OF IT. "I know Efhraim, and Israel is not hid from me." No covering oan conceal it, no argument wil disprove it. It lays be.re to the eye of Omniscience. "I know Ephraim." Though they were i~norant of him, he knew them and read them throuii:h and through. Nations often cover over their depravity by the promotion of benevolent institutions, by encouraging the ordinances of public worship, and by a public profession of religion. But there is an eye that penetrates through tho thick covering-he sees the devil in the an"'el, 0 "He ~earcbPth the heart, and trieth the reins of the children of men." '
CONCLUSION. Suppo~e not that national depravity is somethinp; distinct from tho depravity of the indindual. It is but the aggregation of individual depravities. Nor ~uppose ~hat, bec:a.use pri_ests_ 3:nd kings ~ay_ 1;ie the_ mightiest_ agents in promoting national 1mmorahty and 1rrehg1on, each 1nd1vidual Ill the nation is less accountable for his sins on that account. No priest or king can compel us to sin, Sin is an net of freedom, and for it each man is held responsible to the Most Hi<>h. Daniel ·K ebstcr was once asked, "What is the most important thought you ever entertained?" He replied, after a moment's reflection, " The most important thought I ever had was my individual responsibility to God."-D. T.