became arrows in his heart, instead of "arrows in his hand." The historian eho'We us the poor king reaping his dismal harvest in the pathetic scene in which ho bewailed the fate of Absalom (2 Sam. xviii. 33). IV. VICIOUS MEN. The young man who "wastes his substance with riotous living" has his car('{'r described in our tei.:t. In following the impulse of his wild hot passions he "sows the wind." The senwalist, the drunkard, the gamblor,-how profitless all their sowing "to their own flesh"! And what a harvest of torment and terror and shame they are compelled to reap! It has been so even with men of the most brilliant g<>llius, as e.g. the poets Byron and Burns. A career of sinful pleasure produces the whirlwind as its nntuml harvest. It undermines the foun,lations of mornlity within the soul (eh. iv. ll). The appropriate cpit:c1ph for such a life is, on the one side of the tombstone, "Yanity of vanities;" and on the other, "Vei.:ation of spirit." V. ALL m-BELIBTIRS. For even the man of good moral character" sows the wind" if he neglects the salvation of Jesus Christ. Every one who lives without God is without hope. He who believes that the only real life is o. life of sense, and who therefore shuts his eyes to the world of the unseen, shall one d11y be fully undeceived. Should no whirlwind arise within his conscience during the present life, he shall :find himself, when he passes into eternity, at once involved in tremendous wreaths of storm. He "shall eat of the fruit of his own way," and his "destruction shall come as a whirlwind" (Prov. i. 24-33). What a dreadful tempest is "the wrath of _the Lamb" (Rev. vi. 12-17)1 Yet the ungodly shall be exposed to all its fury. They shall·" reo.p the whirlwind;" or, rather, the whirlwind shall reap them; they are "like the chaff which the wind driveth away" (Ps. i. 4). LESSONS. 1. This life is the seed-time of eternity, and all are sowers. 2. The harvest depends upon the seed; hence the importance of sowing good seed. 3. To sow i:in is a policy of wretched infatuation ; it is like "sowing wind." 4. The harvest of sin is not only profitless, but terrific and destructive; it is "the whirlwind." 5. All men have "sown the wind," for all are sinners ; but there is "a Man" who is able to shelter us from the whirlwinci (Isa. xxxii. 2).-C. J.
Ver. 12.-Holy Scripture, and man's neglect of it. The complaint contained in this verse may reasonably be addressed to multitudes still. With even more reason, indeed, than to Ephraim seven centuries before Christ; for our completed Bible contains a much richer revelation of Divine truth than those earlier Scriptures which are here referred to. I. GoD's GREAT GIFT OF HoLY SCRIPTURE. "I have written to him the great things of my Law." 1. What iB God's "Law" t The worcl is used in various senses. Sometimes it denotes the ten commandments alone; sometimes the :five books of Moses as distinguished from the prophets; sometimes the Mosaic economy, in distinction from the gospel; and sometimes the whole will of God as published in Holy Writ to determine man's faith and to control his conduct. Hosea in this verse, without doubt, refers immediately to the Pentatench; but, iu applying the passage to ourselves, we must extend the application of the term "La,v" so that it shall cover the whole Bible. 2. What are " the great things" of God's Law, These can be nothing else than those matters which constitute the substance of revelation. '.!.'he Bible discloses truths which are: (I) Great in themselves. The Book is a revelation of God-his nature, his trinity in unity, his ways in providence, his love to sinners. It unveils' to man his own origin and destiny; shows him the greatness of his nature, despite its ruins; supplies him with the perfect standard of moral purity; and satisfies his loftiest aspirations. The Book grapples with the problem of sin, and reveals the way of salvation, through the mediation of the Son of God, his incarnation, his obedience unto death, his resurrection and exaltation (1 Tim. iii. 16), and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It anticipates" the last things "-the uni versa! triumph of the gospel, the final resurrection, the general judgment, and the blessedness of the heavenly kingdom. (2) Great in their importance to man. For the Bible tells man what he most needs to know, in order to his highest well-being. It answers to all the wants of his many-sided nature-his desire of knowledge, his admiration of what is noble, his yearning after ~ympathy, bis need or inward rest, hia hunger for immortality. Holy Scripture i~ a L,mp unto his feet. It iij the storehouse of his spiritual food. lt· is ·the fountain of T1iE BOOK OF HOS.EA.