The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 232

worketh God oftentimee In man, that he may bring him ba.ok from the pit and enlighten him with the light of the living." II. THAT WHATEVER THE 0HARAOTER OF THE DIVINE DISPENSATIONS, THEY ARl!l OFTEN PERVERTED. "They imagine mischief against me," It matters not what the treatment, they continue to rebel. They are like the sterile ground to which all seasons, all weathers, are alike. Observe: 1. The force of the hwman will. It can oppose the influences of God, and tum what he designs for good to ill. Man is no passive being. He ie not to be acted upon as a ma.chine, not to be coerced either by anathemas or benedictions. He is a voluntary agent. This links him to moral government, makes him responsible for his actions, and invests his existence with a momentous solemnity. 2. The depravity of the human heart. This force of will explains, not man's rebellion, for regenerate souls and holy angels have it, and they run in the way of the Divine commandments. The reason of the rebellion is the depravity of the human heart, which is desperately wicked. CoNCLUSION. Open your hearts to the various dispensations of Heaven. Be thankful for their variety. One is designed to touch a chord within thee that another cannot reach. The one may strike conviction of sin, another may tune thy heart to gratitude and hope. " God, full as kind as he ie wise, So.tempereth all the favours he will do us, That we his bounties may the better prize, And make his chastisement less bitter to ns. , One while a scorching indignation burns The flowers and blossoms of our hope away, Which into scarcity our plenty turns, And changeth new-mown grass to parched hay; Anon his fruitful showers and pleasing dews, Commixed with cheerful rays, be aendeth down, A nrl then the barren earth her crops renews, ·which with rich harvests hills and valleys crown. For, as to relish joys he sorrow sends, So comfort or temptation still attends. (George Wither.) D.T. Vera. 1, 2.-Sin's malignancy. ·Jehovah was Israel's Healer (Exod. xv. 26). His constantly cherished desire was to do them good. He had laboured for this end by his prophets, by chastisements, and by exhibitions 01' kindness. All had been in vain. The people would not permit the Lord to be their Healer. If sin was checked for a little, it was only to break out again in worse forms than before. The more he sought to heal them, only the more clearly 'Was their iniquity discovered. We note here concerning Ephraim's wickedness- !. lTs INVETERATE MALIGNANCY. "When I wonld have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria" (ver. 1). The evil of sin is revealed in the very attempt to cure it. 1. The cure of sin makes necessary the laying bare of its evil. The wound must be probed before remedial measures can be adopted. It is when he begins to probe it that the physician discovers its dangerous character. So, when God would heal us, he begins by discovering to us the truth about our spiritual state. He calls sin by its right name. He tells us of our depravity, our corruption, and brings into Jiaht 0 the transgressions we had covered up. 'rhis was the work of the prophets of Israel. It is the work of the Law, and of God':1 Word generally. Till we are thoroughly convinced of sin, recovery is hopeless. "By the Law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. iii. 20). 2. The evil of sin is discovered i11 its resistance to cure. An ordinary disease yields to remedies. Where these are employed and no improvement is manifest, we pronounce the case a serious one. Its resistance to treatment evinces its malianity. It is thus that Ephraim's sin was discovered by God's attempts to heal hi~. Every means of remedy had been tried, but without success (oh. vi. 4). Wickedness seemed at a greater height than ever. Sin is no skin-deep disorder. 'l'ho difficulty of its cure is sufficient proof of the inveteracy of its hold. So depraved is the heart, that nothing will remedy it but  Tfll!: B001t OF Rosi.A..•