The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 295

LOVJ!. Wbat love? Human, angelic? No; too weak, Dlvlne love. Divine love not merely in nature, nor in propositions, but in example, the example of God himself. This is moral omnipotence, this is the Cl'Oal, this is the power of God unto snlvntlon. Let no m11,n say that the ideR.l minister ia a. fool; the man who 8t1,y1 it ls a fool. • I saw one man, a.rmed idmpcy with God's Word, Enter the souls of many feUow-men, And pierce them sharply a.e a two-edged a\tord, While oomoienoe echoed back his words a.gain, Till, even as ~howers of fertilizing rain Sink through the bosom of the valley clod, • So their hearts opened to tb.e wholesome.pain, And hnndreds knelt upon the flowery sod- One good ma.n'a ea.meet prayer the link 'twixt them and God," (Carolin!!. Notton.) n,rr:. . Vera. 1--S.-The Lord's_ UU!;dfor_ tht Lord's people. Th~ ch~p1?r may (all in ~e rnterval between the AsSJTlan 10vas1ons of B.o. 743-738, and the mvasions endino- iµ the overthrow of Pekah, B.c. 734-730 (cf. 2 Kings xv. 29, 30; 2 Chron. xx~iii. 16-21, and Assyrian monuments). The interval seems to have been one of revived prosperity (2 Chron. n:viii. 6-15). . ' . . ' I. ABUSED ooonnss. (Vers. 1, 2.) 1. .A glimpse of prosperity. Israel had been rejoiced ~ith a bounteous harve_st. Land and people.had previously ~uffered sore,f,:<\IIL the Assyrian. For a moment Judgment pauses. It would be interesting if we coul\i connect this gleam of prosperity with the momentary gleam of better.feeling in the nation, as recorded in 2 Chron. xxviii. God tries all methoc.~ with. the sinner. He varies judgment with mercy. He pauses, as it were, to give. space, for repentance. He tries, having humbled by application, again to melt by gooq.ness (Rom.'ii. 4). 2. Goodness abUBed. Israel knew not the meaning of this grace. The moµient11ry soften- ing led to no good results. The people, reassured by the hea,ped 0 up corn-floor and the full wine-press, fell into the old error of attributing their prosperity to ~he idols (eh. H.. 5), and renewed their assiduity in their service. Our jqy in the use 'of Gc;id'11. good gifts becomes sinfnl when, (1) excluding God, we boastfully attribute them to our own labour, or to•• nature" (Deut. viii. 17); (2) our joy in them is purely natural, without recognition of, or gratitude towards, the great Giver;. (3) we abuse thm., by gluttony or drunkenness. In any ca.se, with doom hanging over his head, the sinner's joy is a species of madness. 3. The disappointed ezpectation; .'! 'l:he floor a,n_d the wioe-press shall not feed them," etc. One swallow does not make a summer, and the sinuer errs if he su,.iposes that one returning glimpse of prosperity means the reversal or collapse of Gods threaterungs. God punishes the abuse of his gifts: (1) Hy their remo,aL "When they thought themselves most secure, when the corn waa stored on the floor, and the grapes were in the presses, then God would deprive them. of them " (Pusey). (2) By denying his blessing with them.. "I will curse your blessings" (MaL ii 2). (3) By their failure to satisfy. The' good which.the sinner seeks in a godless enjoyment of natural things, he is doomed not to find. They "lie" unto him. They constantly cheat bis hopes. , II. DECREED EXPULSION. (Ver. 3.) The glimpse of prosperity did not mean much. 'fhe sinner, notwithstanding passing appearances to the contrary, abides under wrath (John iii. 36). The decree of judgment stands unrepealed. "They shall not dwel~ in the Lord's land," etc. 1. The Lorcl'6 land only for the holy. Canaan was chosen by God a.s the seat of his majesty, the place of his abode. His presence sanctified it: Israel possessed it as his people. They held it on condition of obedience. Their fir11t work in it was to purge it of the impurities which had formerly desecrated it (Deut. vii. 1-6). Now that Israel themselves had become unholy, they must, in turn,. be cI:pelled from the land. God could not allow the!Il to remain in it. The "holy land" is for a holy people. So it is said of heaven that into it "shall in no wiRe enter any- thit:ig tbat deti.leth" (Rev. xxi. 27). 2. The Lord resuming his own from the wicleed. 'l'Le laud was the Lord's, and, when Israel proved incorrigible, the Lord took his own from them. They had not owned him in the po66ession of what he gave, and he now OH. lX, 1-17,] 'l'HE BOOK OF. HOSEA. 295