V ers. 18-1/i.-The rprolifttfroits of eml. The lATllellteB l\h! not only charged with neglect. of duty, bnt with sins of commission. 'l'he concluding v-enies of the chnpt!et point ont this contrariety of their conduct to the foregoing eitbortl\tlon, and Its oon• sequenreB; tr11ce'the source of their sinful oolll'Se8 to their oarn&l coefldencee • nnd fori/-1 tell the coming cal11tnities Mused thel'eb)'\ · • ' I. THE OO~'DUCI' OF THE PEOPLE BAD BEEN DIREOTLY OONTRARY TO 'rRB ADMONITION .TIJflT GIVEN. 1. They bad been not only neglectful of duty, indifferent· and cereless about spiritual concerns, 11.nd selr-satisficd ,~ith their sinful course, but hl\d taken much pains in pursuing a course the opposite of what duty demanded. They had not only lived in sin, enjoying its so-called pleasures, but had l&boured in the practice of it, serving Satan and doing his drudgery. Thus they ploughed wickedness.· · Not con-tent with the spontaneous growth thereof, whibh is sufficiently abundant in every DBtilral heart, they actually culti\"11.ted it, sparing no pains 'llnd grudging no diligence· in its culture. Thus they ploughed and sowed laboriously; but it was tares, not wheat cir good grain they spent their 111.bour on. 2. As they ploughed and sowed, so they reaped; ·the crop "in harvest-time corresponded with the seed which they had sown, and for which they had made such cs.reful preparation. The harvest was abundant, the increase thirby, or sixty, or a hundredfold. The quantity was large, but the quality was 'bad. 11 In all labour there is profit," said a minister to a man at work. "There is one exception," was the reply ; "for years I labonred in the servioe of Satan, and of that labour I can· truly my, 'What fruit had ye in t.hose things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.'" 3. The fruit of lies, like lies them~elves, is deceptive; such fruit reeembles the fabled apples on the shore of the Dead Sea-attractive in appearance, but ashes in the mouth. The plea.sues of the wicked don't s1ttisfy; their gains don't profit in the end; all sinful works are unfruitful works. 'l'hus :t was with Israel's hypoc~isy, idolatry, and other.a!bominations. _ - II. TREIB CARNAL CONFIDENCES WERE· THE. BOUBCE OF IBBAEL's ems.. They are also a common soarce of sin still. • The people of Israel ·trusted in their ways ot political wisdom, and the power and prowess of their mighty men. • Their iltatecram, their calf-worship, their military preparations, were their· confidences. .The fountain~ head of their offending, the source when~ such bitter waters flowed, a~d flowed so copiously, was the confidence they reposed' in Tefuges of lies-their W!l,Y,'in,clusive of their wicked calf-warship, their· tortuous worl.dly policy, aud their 'forbidd,en foreign alliances with the heathen. Such was their internal safeguard, whqe the m'u\titude of their mighty men was their external defence. All these confillences failed ,them. , Every promise that sin makes to the sinner is a lie; the fruit-of sin; like sin 'itself, is faliacious 8.DQ deceptive. ! ' ' ' a ·, I
Ill. CALAMITIES CROWDED ON THEM AB ·THE CONSEQUENCES, ANO IN PUNISHMENT; OF BIN. 1. Their cities were sscked, their fortresses disI)la~tled; the.ir· citizens _and cciui:I~ trymen butchered, and unbeard--of cruelties · perpetrated; '. :2. He~ we see ,how;; the worldly wise are taken in their own ~raftiness, and how sin''fi'nds-the· sinner out. •• The consequence of all was not a time _of-peace,·but' the tumt{H-of war extending to the whole people iu their tribal divisions, e.nd. probably to·their neighbours, with whom they were in allianoe; while the issue of the war;was· defeat and disaster-their defen"Ces were destroyed, their strongholrls rifled, the triumph of the• enemy co~plete, and their cruelty unchecked. a. See the bitter fruit of sin . .
HOMILIES BY :vARIOUS AUTHORS, 11' , JL
Vers. 1-8.-The calves and tke kings. 'The "burden" is. still 'trui ~a~e-Israel's guilt and punishment. But in the verses before us these are ·dealt with mainly in their ..xternal and national aspects. '!'he most promia(Jnt thought of the passage centres in the calves -and the kings. • , I. THE NATIONAL srn. Alt.hough the prophet handles his theme in this' strophe for the most part on its external side, yet in one or two expressions he refers to 'the root of the evil in the heart11 of the people. "We feared not the J,ord" (ver. 3); i.e. the men of lsrael had forsaken the service of Jehovah, and rejected him as their Portion . •" 'l'L~ir l,cart is divided" (Yer. 2), or "smooth," i.e. insincere. They did not devote on. x. 1-15.] THE BOOK 011' HOSEA. 315