The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 286

warning, How sntl the.t the chosen ne.tion should look upon her harvests as the gift of heathen gods-e.s Baal's reward for her devoted service of him I Not only so but Israel's wickednces was gree.t all round. The people heartily hated both the L~rd and hie servants the true prophets. The whole country was now as notorious for its monstrous corrupti?n, as Gi~eab of B~njamin had been, since the time when the tragic atrocity of the LeV!te and his concubme had been perpetrated there (Judg. xix.16, et 11e7.). The error of the men of Benjamin in shielding the villains who wrought that foul deed had involved the town of Gibeah in destruction, and the tribe itself almost in extirpation. And eo also was it to be now with the ten tribes. 2. Israel's impending misery. The commonwealth was on the verge of destruction, and soon the people's place in the land would know them no more. Surely it were madness to rejoice now, when they are on tho very eve of being carried away into captivity. The prophet proclaims most plainly the fiat of expulsion (ver. 3). The nation that is now" Lo-ammi," "Not my people," cannot be allowed any longer to remain in "the Lord's land." " Ephraim shall return to" the new "Egypt" of Assyria, and shall there undergo a second Egypt-like oppres- sion. The Exile shall involve the withdrawal of all the ble~sings and privileges in which the people gloried; as, e.g.: (1) Loss of harvests. (Ver. 2.) Palestine was a. land of inexhaustible plenty, and there Israel "did eat bread without scarceness;" but, in her effacement from the land, she shall of course lose her harvests. She shall have no happy harvest-homes in Assyria. (2) Loss of national distinctions. (Vers. 3, 4.) To" eat unclean things in Assyria" would prove e. severe trial and a. sore punishment. For the Jews, al though they imitated the heathen in some thingll--QS, e.g., in desiring a king like the nations, and in falling into Gentile idolatries-plumed themselves all the while upon the fact that the Gentiles and they did not stand religiously upon the same level; and they clung to the Mosaic distinctions of meats because it was a badge of their peculiar privileges as the chosen nation (vide Smith's• Dictionary of the Bible,' voL iii. p. 1590). (3) Loss of spiritual privilege8. (Vers. 4, 5.) In their exile the Hebrews would miss the opportunities of sacrifice to Jehovah which they had neglected while they "dwelt in the Lord's land." Jerusalem was the one place of sacrifice; and for the captives.there would be no gracious presence of God in heathendom. No temple there, no ritual, no great annual feasts, no exuberant festal joy! The feast of tabernacles, as the grand harvest-home festival, used to be kept by the tribes with lively de!Ilon- strations of national gladness ; but, alas I the " Greater Hallet" would never be sung amid the miseries of Assyria. (4) Loss of inheritance in Canaan. (Ver. 6.) That land had been given to the Hebrews, and was continued in their possession, upon condition of obedience to the Divine Law. The occupancy of" the Lord's land" was a symbol of the enjoyment of the Lord's favour. Now, however, seeing that the people have forfeited the blessing of Jehovah, they must be expelled for ever from that goodly heritage. The ten tribes shall not return to Palestine. The people shall find their graves in the Egypt-like exile of Assyria. Thistles and nettles shall spring up in lnxu• riance among the ruins of their once beautiful houses. 'l.'he traveller finds these nettles still, growing rankly to a height of six: feet-a sign of the c1Use that yet rests upon the land. (5) Loss of the hopes held out by the false prophets. (Vers. 7, 8.) At present there were false teachers among the people who kept saying," Peace, peace," merely to flatter them, and to make matters pleasant for the time. But every prediction of prosperity would be falsified. The people would soon discover that these so-called prophets had been either" fools" or " snares," that is, either simpletons or sharpers. The expecta- tions of well-being which these persons enconra"ed them to cherish would be miserably disappointed. It would presently be found that Hosea had been the real patriot, a.nu the truest ~riend of his nation,although he did not prophesy good concerning it, but the worst of evils. The northern kingdom is to be wasted with misery; no wonder, then, that the prophet calls out, "Rejoice not, O Israel." III. Sor.m LESSONS OF THE INTERDICT FOR OURSELVES. 1. The ungodly man has n., rational ground for gladness or rejoicin"' (ver. 1). 2. Our harvest-joy should be a joy "before God" (vers. 1, 2). 8. In emig~atinrr to a strange land there is often danger to one's spiritual nntnre, arising from the loss of relirrious privileges (vers. 3, 4). 4. It is supreme folly to banish all thought of" the solem; days" of life by giving one's self up to habits of frivolity anrl worldly pleasure (ver. 5). 5. We must "beware of false prophet~," and" try the ~pirits, whether they ,re of God" (vers. 7, 8). 6. "The Loru's  286 THE .BOOK OF . HOSEA.