The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 265

I. As ENDANGERED, " He shall come as an eagle against the house of tho Lord." How come~ the eagle? Ila,enously, suddenly, and swiftly; it pounces down on it.a rrc~· wit-h the rapidity of lightning, and fastens its talons on its heart.· A conventional Church is in greater danger than any secular community. Why? 1. Its guilt i8 greater. It hru; t.he oracles of God, and it professes faith in those oracles, aud yet its heart is out of sympRthy with God and his laws. "Woe unto thee, Chorazin,;, etc. I "He that knowcth his master's will and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes." 'l'ho )iell of con \'entional ~hurches ~ill ~e, methinks, _deeper an~ darker than any other hell rn the black domam of retribution, 2. Its tnfluen~ ts more pernicious. Whose inflnence on society is the most baneful-the man who denies God, the man who ie:nores him, or the man that misrepresents him? The last, I trow. The conventional Church gives society a mal-representation of God and his religion. Of all the men in Christendom there is no man who is a greater bane to his race than he who wears the garb of religion but is destitute of its spirit. Surely the eagle of retribution will wing ' its way to no class more savagely and more quickly than to these conventional religionists. II. As WAR1'"ED. "Set the trumpet.to thy mouth." This is Heaven's command to the prophet. Blow a blast that shall thrill every heart in the. vast congregation of Israel. Why sound the warning? 1. Because the danger is tremendous. It is utter destruction. 2. Because the danger is at hand. The eagle has spread its pinions, has mounted the air, fastened his eye on the victim, and is about swooping down in fury. 3. Because the danger may be avoi,ded. Were there no escape, why blow the trumpet? Why raise the alarm P Thank God there is escape as long as life continues. • While the le.mp holds ont t,o burn The vilest sinner may return." What is wanted now is a ministry of warning to conventional Churches. We want bold, intrepid, :fiery prophets, like unt.o Elijah, to BOund the trumpet of alarm to all who are at case in Zion. III. AB REPENTANT. " Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee." The alarm has been ta.ken and the refuge is sought. "My God, we know thee." "Thie is life eternal to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou bast sent." Oh, hasten the day when all conventional Churches shall be brought to a deep and experimental knowledge of God and his Son ! When this transpires, the dense cloud that li:i.s concealed the 5Uil of Christianity shall be swept away, and the quickening beam shall fall on every heart. The mountain that has obstructed the chariot of redemptive truth shall be levelled to a plain, and the wheels shall move with lightning speed. "The Word of the Lord shall have free course, and be glorified."-D. T. Vers. 3, 4.-TM abandonfflfflt of good, and the conseqwmt pursuit of evil. "Israel hatb cast off the tbincr that is good." 'l'wo things are contained in these verses. I. THE Al!Al-DONMiNT OF GOOD. "Israel hatb rejected what is good" (Elza.a). The good here undoubtedly refers to the true worship of the true God. Observe: 1. That true worship is the "good thing" for man. It is good not only because God requires it, but because it is the necessary condition of spiritual life, growth, harmony, and Llessedness. True worship is the soul's only heaven. 2. That this "good thing" man s01rtetimes abandons. Israel was once a true worshipper, but the true worship it had now " cast off." Fallen angels were once true worshippers, and many a human spirit once inspired with true devotion has fa.lien into worldliness and idolatry. Moral mind has the power of abandoning the highest good. 3. That the abandonment of this " good thing " imperils the soul. " 'l'he enemy shall pursue them." Moral good is the only effective safeguard of the spirit; when this is given up or "cast off," all the gates of the soul are thrown open to tormenting fiends. The walls of the vineyard are broken down, and it lies exposed to the tread and ravages of every moral beast. IL THE CONSEQUENT P0118UIT OF Evn.. "'l'hey have set up kings, but not by me," etc. 'l'he setting up of kings here refers to the founding of the kingdom by Jero,boam, and to the entire series of Israelitish kings. The kings of Israel were not according to Divine ordination (1 Kings xi 27-40). "Their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off." From these kings of their own making came the ll ttiug up of the idolatrous calf-worship which was started by Jeroboam. Though <lrt. Vllt. 1-H.) 'l'llg IlOOK OF HOSEA,