The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 384

the goclless who have never known the advantages of a religio111 home. Amonl7 the nations, "Israel", had this peculiar responsibility. The name of the people :as a reminder of the prayer in W?ic~ their great ancestor obtained self-conquest, knowledge of God, and grace to keep 1ust1ce and do mercy. Hence they are reminded by Hesea of what their father was, that they might know what was still possible to themselves. The prophet refers here to Jacob's agonizing prayer at Jabbok, and speaks of a "strength" which was in him, which consisted not in holiness or merit, but (as the next verso suggests) in "supplication and tears." God could not overthrow his faith and con- stancy, He could not, because he would not. The touch which shrivelled Ja.cob's thigh showed what he could do. The delay and etrug!lle were only imposed on the suppliant (as by Jesus on the woman of Syro-phcenicia) in order to prepare him to receive a loftier blessing than he began at first to seek. The incident is related in a highly poetic form, and to Jacob the conflict was so terrible that it seemed an aclual struggle with a living man. The voice and the presence were not material, but they were none the less real. We do not attempt to distinguish between the subjective and objective in this great conflict, yet we believe that Hosea's words respecting it are true, " There God spake with w," and that we are called upon to incline our hearts to the inference in the sixth verse, "Therefore turn thou to thy God," etc. I. THE PBEPABATION FOB WRESTLING WITH Goo, as exemplified in the experience of Jacob. Most men are so surrounded by what is material that they want the help of circumstances to enforce upon their thoughts the deeper necessities of their nature and the nearness of their God. Refer to Jacob's circumstances, and show how they constituted such a crisis in his life. Examine hie mental condition, and see in it: 1. Remembrance of sin. Twenty years had gone by since that crime was committed which deceived his father, destroyed the peace of the home, and made Jacob an exile. Yet changes of scene, cares of business, the vexations caused by an exacting employer, etc., had not prevented the rising again of that dreadful memory. Bury sin as you may beneath cares and pleasures, it will reappear before you. Men have left the scene of guilt, formed new associations, hushed conscience to silence successfully for years, and then a chance word, or an unexpected event, has raised the spectre of the past sin. Such a one, like Jacob, would give anything to begin life again; but all in vain. We walk on through life like one upon a path in the cliffs which crumbles away behind him, so that he cannot go back to gather the flowers he neglected, or to take the turn that would have given pleasure instead of peril. What else can we do, when the remembrance of sin is overwhelming, but "weep and make supplication unto God"? 2. Realization of peril. Jacob cared not so much for himself; but he could not bear to think that these innocent, dear ones around him might suffer death or captivity because of his wrong-doing. When he co=itted the sin he had neither wife nor child, and little thought how far-reaching and disastrous its results would be. So the sins of youth full often are the seed whence springs a harvest of sorrow to others as well as to ourselves. Darwin would teach as plainly as David that the sins of the father are visited upon the children ; as J acob's children were in peril because of a sin their father committed before they were born. No wonder Jacob turned to God with tears and supplications, and "there God spake with us," saying, "Turn thou to thy God." 3. Consciousness of solitude. Jacob was left alone. Most of the crises of life must be faced in solitude. Hence our Lord said, "When thou prayest, enter into thy close~," etc He himself went up into a mountain alone, and when every man_ de_parted t_o his own house, he went to the Mount of Olives. Moses was alone on Sllla.J, John ID Patmos, etc. It is well for us sometimes to shut the world out, to think over the past and to prepare for the future by waiting upon God. "Therefore turn thou to thy God," etc. II. TBE MEANING OF WBESTLINO WITH Goo. In his spiritual struggle Jacob had: 1. .An apprehension of a personal God. The expressions " man" and "angel" are used to show that God wa11 as real to him as a man would have been; that Jacob found him to be One with whom he could plead, who could speak, who noticed his tears, and was able to bless him there. Those who know something of the intensity of prayer are not sati~fied with vague ideas of God. To them he is not an abstract notion of the mind, projected upon nothingness; nor is he the sum of natural forces. He is the l!ving and true God, who has a personal interest in them, and listens to the cry of their hearts, HOSEA. 2 C  TH~ BOOK OF HOSEA. [en, x1r. 1-14,