The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 263

= V. T~ THE BIIITURN PURPOSE OF THIS PROVl8ION 1B .l.'O LEAD TO nEPEl!l'rAN'OE AND TO LORD. Declarations of dl&pleasure aild denunciations of wrath afford no pleiumre to the Divine mind that.,ahthorizes them. God's throat to deRtroy all rivals to his authority 1md supremacy must indGed be lit.etally fulfilled. But for those who -return to t.he God they have forsalron, there are open arms, there is a heart of mercy, there are words of pardon, there is welcome, restoration, and life.-T. Ver. 7.-Sowing the wind a.nd reaping thtwkirlwintl. Sowing and teaping In the natural world are processes of husbandry so closely and vitRlly connected that they obviously suggest corresponding connections in the spiritual. realm. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Such is the .great moral law. Yet there is Ii. characteristiic of the working of this law which is very suggestive. Whilst the kind remains the same, the. measure .of what is ~ped .largely exceeds the measure, of :what is sown. This is the lesson of the text. What i,s sown is the wind; Jwhat is r.eaped is the whirlwind.. , •• I. IN WHAT SENSE ,S1:NNEBB sow 'l'RE WIND. The sins for which.Israelwas ohiefl.y denounced by the prophet were idolatry and he.-ithen a.lliances, in-both· of which the Lord's honour wns given to another, and the confidence due to him was unrighteously and fooli5hly transferred.. Now, the wind is the emblem of empt.iness and unsubstantial vanity. .Accordingly, the language of -tp.e -text teaches that the conduct of Israel was· foolish :i.nd vain. .J..nd this may be asserted of all who, by vice, or crime, or .irreligion,, depart from God. ,. . , - IL IN WHAT SENSE BINNEBS REAP 'l'HE WBJRLymm. Under $e government of a just and almighty Ruler, it could.not be thatlsraetor any nation could.forsake .the true religion and abandon lofty principles, without suffering the .consequences :in the penalties attached to disobedience and rebellion. But 'the point of the text is to.pe found in the a.ppa.rent disproportion between the offence -and .the penalty. _·Israel hoped for safety; instead of this, and as the result of apostasy, Israel went into captivity. The national life of the kingdom and people of Samaria was absolutely destroyed, never to be revived. Thns a mighty whirlwind, the messenger of Divine indign·ation. <:arried the people away in their sins. Thus is it with.all high-handed· and stiff-necked sinners;, Their rebellion and apostasy has even to human eyes the appearanbe of a sowing to. the wind; but in the order of the Divine government.it is .appointed that such shall reap the whirlwind. We read the lesson in the awful fate which has overtaken all nstions which have been unfaithful to their calling, which .have defied the righteous and Divine Governor. And in how many instances of individual -life have we seen the, operation of the same law! Moral ruin and utter oveithrow have followed upon estrangement and rebellion. The very confidence, w,hich sinoers . repose· in the idols. they choose for themselves becomes the occasion of their more complete and irreme- diable confusion. J udgment is delayed ; . but the stores· of retributive force accumu- late, and in due time the tornado of Divine indignation sweeps down upon the sinner's he2.d with irresistible force, issuiDg in .the catastJ;ophe· of temporal and spiritual rui.n.-T. Ver. 9.-Hired lover,, Israel excited the~ displeasure of Jehovah by not merely renouncing confidence in him, but by placing confidence in.foreign nations and strange gods. And Israel aggravated the offence by-rejecting ,the aid which. her covenant God would readily and gratuitously have bestowed, and .,_by ,expending her treasure in purchasing from neigh bouricg nations aasistance. which. proved to be :vain. and unp1:ofit- able. Her conduct is compared to that of an adulteress, so wanton as to-purchase· with• her husband's money the affection and embraces of a stranger. . • L JT IS THE INl"ATUATION OF BIN TO FOllBA.IIE THE. FRBllL A.ND UNDESERVED FAVOUR OF GoD. The folly of such a. course is apparent to all whose minds are ndt Ullder the illfluence of prejudice and passion. When the fountaiD of, living waters is·accessible, how wret,cbed is _the self-delusion of those who turn away from it I lL THIS INFATUATION JB BTILL KOBE Al'PABENT WBJl:N IT LEADS SINNERS '1'0 TBUST TO VA.Ill REFUGES. The cisterns which a.re sought when the fountain is forsaken are broken cisterns, which can hold no water. Such was the',pawerlessness, the insufficiency of the gods and the kings whom !Brae! sought. AAd;.iJI -thM, they·represent the men, aH, vm. 1-14,] 'rHE BOOK OF HOSEA. 268