sin, aggravates the sin of the impenitent. 1. God's claims on Israel's gratitude had been, in<lccd, mighty nncl manifold, as well as from ancient times. The glorious deliverances ho ha.d wrought for them, tbe low estate from which he had lifted them the great exaltation to which he had raised them, the good hnd into which he had bro~ght them, the rich grace he had bestowed on them, and the religious privileges he had conferred on them,-1111 these blessings, having been abused, increased the sin of their ingratitude and intensified their guilt. 2. God cannot hold the sinner guiltless. Sin, wherever it is found or by whomsoever it is committed, cannot pass unpunished. The offences of God's own dear children bring down chastisement upon them; he will not spare their faults. A father does not love his son less because he corrects him; he pities while he punishes; his bowels of compassion move while his hand holds the rod. So Israel, having been unmindful of God's mercy, must be exiled from their goodly pleasant land, and go into a bondage bad as, or worse than, that in Egypt of yore. 3. Yet God for all that does not renounce his interest in his people; he will give them occasion again to remember his goodness and to celebrate his redeeming love. Their preservation and restoration should again afford abundant matter for gladness and thanksgiving, wben they would join trembling with their mirth, and celebrate the solemn Feast of Taber- nacles, with joy drawing water out of the wells of salvation. Whether the reference be to a literal joyful restoration of Israel to their own land, or a glad time of revival and refreshing to all the true Israel of God, whether Gentile or Jew in gospel times, the encouragement is gracious and the prospect glorious. Nor is it less so from the contrast between the chastisement so deserved and the consolation promised. IV. EXCELLENOE OF DIVINE TEACHING A.ND INEXCUSABLENESS OF THOSE PRIVILEGED THEREWITH. 1. To his people in the past God spake at sundry times and in divers manners, or in divers portions, as they needed or could bear it, and in divers ways, by prophecy, by visions, by similitudes, and by the ministry of the Word. The means of grace were thus abundant and multiplied. 2. However different the modes of ministration were, the speaker was still one and the same. It is God who thus speaks to us by his messengers. If we reject the message and the messenger that. brings it, we reject the Author; if we receive the message from the iips of the messenger, we receive him who gave the commission. What II grave responsibility I What need to take heed how we hear as well as what we hear I And how incumbent on ministers also to take good heed, not only to the matter, but to the manner in which they convey the message they have received, remembering that they stand between the living and the dead, like Aaron when he took his censer and ran into the midst of the congregation till the plague was stayed. 3. The inexcusableness of those who, like Israel, enjoy so many privileges. The plainness, the variety, and the frequency of the Divine teaching impose a weighty :responsibility, for unto whomsoever much is given, of them much shall be required; it is even a human principle practised among men, that to whomsoever men have com- mitted much, of him tbey ask the more. How God has left us all without excuse, seeing that in these days of light and liberty God has given us such a clear revelation of his will, so many ministries to explain and enforce it, so much freedom to exercise our judgment upon it, and derive light and leading from it, while we sit, like Israel of old, under our vine and fig tree in peace and safety, none daring to make us afraid I
Vere. 11-14.-Reproofs and remembrancers. Reproofs for sin, and remembrancers of mercy. I. REBUKES FOR sin. 1. The richest temporal blessings are blighted by sin. Gilead was a fruitful and pleasant region, as may be inferred from references to it in Scripture, as when God says, "Thou a.rt Gilead unto me and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness," and when its productions are spoken of, and its pa:;turages celebrated, It is still a beautiful district with its hills and dales, wooded slopes, luxu- riant pastures, lovely flowers, and refre;hing streamlets. In addition to the n:i.tural advantages of the country, there was the city of Gilead, where the ministers of religion on the other side of Jordan dwelt. But sin sadly marred this fair and fertile land; so with many a region "where every prospect pleases, and only man is vile." The inhabi- tants are branded as transgressors of both tables of the Diviue Law; iniquity character- ized their conduct towards man, and idolatry their worship of God; while the priest,, 380 'l'HE BOOK OF HOSEA. [on. xn. 1-U.