The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 342

HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 1.-Called out of Egypt. These words refer primarily, of course, to the historical event of the Exodus. But they are also prophetic words, and as such they have been already verified, and still await further verification. When a stone is thrown into a pond, a series of e,·er-enln.r~ng concentric rings is formed, which extend perhaps to the bn.nks of the water; so in like manner, although the first fulfilment of a prophecy may be near at h&0d., the prediction may also receive various further and wider fulfilments, until at last it is completely verified, on the largest scale, at the end of the world. The words before us have several applications. They apply- , , I. To THE J Ewrsa NATION. God elected Israel as his ":firstborn son ". among the nations (Exod. iv. 22), thus constituting the Hebrews the aristocracy of the human race. Re set his love upon them when they were a community of slaves. He heard their groaning by reason of their bondage. When the people were lying like toads under tbe harrows of their taskmasters, he interposed to save them. He raised up Moses to be their emancipator. Jehovah wrought on their behalf the ten plagues of Egypt. He led them, by a mighty miracle, through the bed of the Red.Sea, while Pharaoh and his army perished in the waters. Jehovah protected and supported and guided Israel in the wilderness. He rained bread from heaven upon them, and brought them streams also ont of the rock. He kept their clothes and shoes from wearing out. He led them. by the cloudy pillar. He delivered them from their enemies. He entered into covenant with them., taught them his Word and will, and brought them at last into a goodly inheriwu:e in Canaan. No other nation ever received such marks of honour. To Israel alone "pertained the adoption" (Rom. ix. 4). , II. To JEsus CmnsT. Matthew says that this word of Hosea was fulfilled when the Child Jesus was brought up out of Egypt (Matt. ii. 15). If Israel was •1 God's son, even his fi.rstborn," Jesus is" the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father." The history of Israel typified and foreshadowed his career. He is the true seed of Abraham, the true Representative of the ancient Hebrew nation. "All the magnificence of prophecy, limited to Israel. would be bombast; Christ alone fulfils the idea which Israel stood for" (F. W. Robertson). , The paternal love of God,wa.s exhibited more richly in the .protection and deliverance of his holy Child Jesus than even in the great• blessing of the Exodus. It was to.avoid the .danger of destruction that the infant Saviour a.nd his mother were taken down into. Egypt. The Lord of heaven and. earth, jr1Rt now .a waili1.rg infant, must bide for I!, little season m;uier the shadow of the ·rrralllids. By-and-by he shall be "called out of Egypt" to return to. tlie:Holy Land, a.nd to become at length what Israel ought to have been-the great Witness for God, and 1'eac1.er of his will t.o all the nations of the world. IIL To THE CHBISTIAN. Believers are all the sons of God by faith in Jesus Christ. A..ud the redemption from Egypt was a type of deliverance through him from sin and &ath. Just as to the Hebrews in the time of Hosea "Egypt" stood for Assyria, or Babylon, or any land which they were to associate with a state of bondage (eh. viii. 13; ix.. 3, 6), so now to us Gentiles" Egypt" is the symbol of our .unregenerato state, and the Egyptian bondage is a type of the bondage of sin. All men are by nature the 11lavei; of sin, and Satan is a much harder taskmaster than the Egyptian overseers. The natural man labours helplessly under the burden of evil. But God calls his people "out of Egypt" with an effectual and a holy calling. He redeems the believer from the bondage of guilt (Gal. iii. 13), from subjection to the Law (Gal. iv. 5), and from err. x:r. 1--12.J THE BOOK Olt' HOSEA. 343