came by Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. We have in our hl\nds, and for daily perusal, the wondrous things of the Law and 'the gracious things of the gospel• the 1wi11 lips of God'sgreat oracle speak to us. '2. Many and great nre the lessons of tli:; ~,·ritte~ \Yord. Many as they are in number, they are ye_t gr?8'te_i· in importance-great ~n the!r ong_in, for they come from God ~nd are ~vcn by_msp1rat101;1 o~ his Spirit; great rn their nt1l1ty to man, for they make him acquamted with the thm<1s. ihat pertain to lire and god Imess; gr<'at in their issues, for the interests of eternity a~ intertwined with them and depend on them; great as revealing the one living and true God the way of his worship, his well-bcl~ved S01_1 our only S~viour, and the, plan of salvatlon by biin. 3. Proport10nately great 1s the sm of neglectmg them. Israel, though God had. been at pains to write to them the great things of his Law, turned their baok upon them a~ something strange in which they had no concern, nnd with which they were disincliuea to intermeddle, and which, even if attended to, could prove of little moment. Those things, in greater measure and with greater fulness, have been handed on to us;, for, though written long ago, they were written for our learning. What a terrible resj:ipnsi- liility rests on us if we ~cglect these things from indifference, or slight them fror:jl cont-empt, or refuse to be directed, guided, and governed by them, or reject them. alttj- gether as unworthy of our observance and obedience, or as unsuitable to a progressive age and present circumstances! • YII. SELFlSH SF.lffICES ARE VOID OF SIGNIFICANCE. "Most part of worshippers follow the external duties of religion no further than their own ends lead them; and men's own adrnntage is the upholder of all false religion, for they sacrifice and eat it.~• 1. They feasted on their sacrifices. This was allowable in the case of peace offerings and thank offerings; but iu the case of the burnt offerings they were wholly consecrated to God, and ascended (according to the import of the name) in the altar-smoke to heav.en,. lsrael was not, it is probable, careful to mark the distinction, or restrict ''their appetife in the case. It is right and proper that we should carry our religion into our business, but decidedly wrong to carry our bu.siness, with all its selfishness or greed of gain; into our religion. 2. Their worship was a lifeless, soul-less, unspiritU:al 'service. Besides heing offered in the wrong place and by the wrong persons-that is, in places forbidden and by unauthorized persolJs, such a.s J eroboam's priests-'..they were offered witbout the· right aim or right end, or any true devotion of spirit. It ~as mere external worsh~p, without spiritual affections, or spiritual dispositions, or spiritual life; and therefore such sacrifices wanted the proper qualities and necessary characteristics of sacrifice; they were, in fact, 'only flesh, and the victims only carcases, and consequently the· Lord, could not away with them; he accepted them not. 3. A proper spirjt, a·pure heart, a_rid clean hands are among the conditions of acceptable service. God, by. the Prophet Isaiah, after affirming his respect to him that iB poor and of a contrit!l spirit, and trembling at the Di ~ine Word, adds in. relation to the opposite character," He that killeth an nit is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; be that bu.rneth i~cense, as. if he blessed an idol." So in the New Testain~nt we are required to present'" reasonable service," or service in which the soul and spirit are engaged, as opposed to what is merely outward and corporeal. 4. Unhallowed services only remind God of the offences .of the worshippers, whose sins in consequence he remembers, not to pardon them,_b\1t {? punish them. The God that redeemed them and brought them out of Egypt will sena them back into bondage, in Assyria or elsewhere, equal to or worse than that of Egypt. Some literally and actually went to Egypt, and found a grave there.
Ver. 14.-I~rael and Judah both in the transgression. In this closing verse of the chapter God takes Judah to task as well as Israel for forgetfulness of Go,I ; while that for,,etfulness of his Maker on the part of Israel manifested itself in idolatry, and so in building idol-temples, but on the part ff Judah by carnal con/idences, _and so _in multiplyin<1 fenced cities. The one set up idols rn the place of God, the other confided in outwara"means of defence and safety instead of trusting in God ; thus 'the heart l)f both was far from God and the remembrance of his Name, The sin here recorded occurred in the reign of Ahaz, who sought to secure Judah by fortified cities, dreading the iucur~iuns of Assyria (Isa. xxii. 8-11). The punishment wu inflicted by Sl:nuacherib (Isa. xxxvi. 1). CH, Vlll, 1-14,] THE BOOK OF HOSEA. 251