The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 284

contlhtHtnce,· !laying, "Leave ne Mt," e.ttd: avoid whatever would force ot ba~ten his jcpMturo I But how may we be sure that he bas not alrcruly forsaken us? The nnswer may be l'enr11ed frdm tho W'ords of the psii,lmlst: "I will keep· thy statntes: rJh, forsake mo not utterly." Ae long ag we aro reec;lved to keep his etatlltes, we may have little fcl1dwHhiJJ with, but cannot be forsaken "by, God. 8, How dreadful the doom of those frotn whom God hae actually and already departed! It is like the withdrawal of the sun from tbe firmament. "Take a delightful summer's day, and how bcalltiful it is I Now compare that with a winter's dark, dismal night. What makes the difference between these two? The presence of the sun in the one, nnd its absence from the other. • Thie is but the presence or the departing of one of God's creatures. Oh! if that makes such e. difference in the World, what must the presence or depnrting of the infinite God do to the soul ?n In the case of Ephraim, their children are brought forth to the murderers-not only murdered, but that murder perpetrated before the eyea of their parents. Thie seems the severest stroke of all. Even a heathen poet has most pathetically portrayed the extreme sadness of this condition in the death of Polites, a. son of Priam, who addresses his murderer Pyrrhus 'in the well-known words: "May the gods, if there be any kind power in heaven to watch such deeds, yield you your due reward, who have defiled the father's eyes by the sight of his son's murder." III; CoM:WSERATION EXPRESSED. The prophet prays for his people, but seems straitened in his petitions, or rather he is at a loss to know what was most expedient for thein •e.nd conducive to the Di vine glory. He does not pray for peace, nor for deliverance, i:ior for prosperity. He dared not venture. He knew too well the sins of his cotmtrymen, their abuse of the Divine mercies, their contempt of warning, their hardness of heart, their see.redness of conscience, and their gross misuse of all means used for their recovery. No wonder he pauses and hesitates. He cannot pray for a numerous progeny to be vouc~safed to his people, or. for children at all. Better they should ,never come into. the world at all than to be made the prey of the spoiler; better' not· to be. born. than to become victims of the murderer; better pelish before birth or· honi the birth than live a life of sin and misery, and die a death of violence and hopelessness! At,length, in view of the sinfulness of the people, the misery of times not far distant, and the fasti-approaching calamities, he prays either that children might not be born at all~ or t,hat they might not be sustained:. so as long to survive their birth. •• ' • 1 : • " • IV. CRIMINALITY EXPOSED. We are here reminded of the plan of Israel's criminal conduct, of the punishment of it, and of the princes who were ringleaders in it. 1. The place of their chief and greatest crimes was Gilgal. What a contrast! The place that testified to God'.s . greatest mercies also witnessed Israel's greatest wickedness. In _Gilgal th~ IDemorial stones were set up after the passage of the Jordan ; in Gilifal the first Passover was celebrated after the Exodus; in Gilgal the rite of circumcision was 'renewed· and the reproach of Egypt rolled away; in Gilgal Israel first ate the fruits of the promis~d land. Yet all their wickedness, their chief wickedness, was wrought there. There they threw off the government of God by judges, and would have Saul to _be their king; there, in their superstition, they worshipped God instead of at Jerusalem, and thus trampled underfoot the Divine appointment. The more God signalizes a ·person or place by his mercies, the more severe his judgments on the wickedness of such.· Every time God's eye rested on Gilgal, a feeling of hatred was r?used against the works and workers of iniquity there. 2. The punishment of their wickedness was ·expulsion.·· '' Some sins," as has been said," provoke God to anger, and some to grief, but some to hatred: ','l'here I hated them.' It is dreadful when our sins provoke hatred. This is the great difference between the sins of the saints and others. The sins of the sainfa tnay anger God, may grieve God, but the sins of others provoke God to hatred." 'fhat hat.red manifests itself in their expulsion. They are driven out of God's house, and so nationally unchurched-as a disobedient and unruly child is driven out of his father's house, or as o. rebellious and ·unruly servant is turned out of the house of his ·master; while son and servant receive no more tokens of favour or good will. 3. Their princes, one and all, set the bad example of rebellion and revolt. As "like priest, like pcuple," so like prince, like people. Persons in high places have it in their power to do much good or work much evil by their influence and example; for such they are responsible, and shall one day be called to account. Of every talent given us, whether 284 THE BOOK OF HOSEA, [oa, 1x, 1-17,