rollgion (ver. 11,, he rnay regard thia 11B amply outweighing the deceits and oppreSBiona of hie buHinoH hfe. II. Gon'11 BAY ll'f TDl!l MA'l"l'EB. (Vere. 8, 9.) God: 1. E.r,pom tM ,rin a,rvl,folly of Ephraim'• boa,ting,. ' And I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt." If Ephraim woe rich, h wu God who made him rich. If he had substance it was God who gave him substance, not Ephraim who had found it out for himaetr.' Ephra.im's boasting was, therefore, entirely out of place. It was a.e foolish 1111 it was wicked and ungrateful. 2. Show, tM inezcU1JablMiu1 o/ Ephraim', conduct. "I have also spoken b_v the prophets," etc. Ephraim had been well t.aught and warned. Moees in the plains of Moab, had already foreshown the dangers to which fara.el woulu he 'expoHCd wbcn they came into pos11Cssion of the goodlinesH of Canaan, and hali forewarned. them ogainst pride and undue self-elation (Deut. viii. 7-18). Other prophets had bP,en sent as occasion required. God had "multiplied. visions n to the pe,,ple, a.nd had "used i;imilitudcs" to make matters plainer, and to draw attention. In spite of a.II, Ephraim continued sinning, If such were hie privileges, what are ours, to whom Gc:.d, "who at .sundry times and in divers manners spake in time pa.et to the fa.there by the prophets," bath in these last days spoken by his Son (lie b. i. 1, 2)? 3. Declares Eplvraim's punishment. "I will make thee to dwell in t.abernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.'' Ephraim, having forfeited. his bleBBings by his sin., would be turned back again into the wilderness, there to renew the experience of the old wanderings, of which the Feast of Tabernacles was a memorial (Lev. xxiii 42, 43). The words are a threaten- ing, yet imply mercy. The wilderneBB wanderings were ii punishment, but also a discipline. During .these wanderings, Israel enjoyed God's protection and sheltering care. The end of the wandering was Canaan. So Israel's present banishment is with a view to ultimate recovery. III. 'l'BE DELUSION PBIOKED. (Ver. 11.) Ephraim, like the Laodicea.n Church, llllid. " I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing," and knew not that he was" wretcbed, and miserable, and poor, and blind. and naked" (Rev. iii. 17). He had failed to take God's counsel (by the prophets), to buy of him "gold tried in the fire" that he might be rich, and "white raiment" that he might be clothed, and to anoint his eyes with eye-salve that he might see (Rev. iii. 18). He still pursued vanity and 4eceit, and multiplied transgressions. This state of delusion in which he lived was now to be rudely broken in upon. Gilead, for its iniquity, would become (or, perhaps, had already become) vanity, nothingness. Gilgal, where bulls were offered in such numbera in sacrifice, would witness (or had already witneued) its altars made as heaps of stones in the furrows of the field.-J. 0. Vere. 12-14.-Preserved by a prophet. Comparison with Dent. :nvi 5-10 shows that the point in this passage is the contrast between Israel's ori,,ainal low estate in Syria and Egypt-the nation in the former case being represented in its ancestor-and the state of honour to which God raised it, when he brought it out of E;zypt by Moses, and settled it in Canaan. The intention is t.o show the full enormity of Ephraim's ingratitude. I. ISRAEL IN SYBIA. (Ver. 12.) This is viewed as the beginning of Israel's servi- tude. There was little in Jacob's condition in Padan-Aram to indicate the honour that was afterwards to be put on his descendants. His state was one of: 1. Peril. "Jacob fled into the country of Syria." Or, as in Deuteronomy," A Syrian ready to perish waa my father" (eh. xxvi. 5). 2. Servitude. Be was a serving-man with Laban. He bound himself for terms of years, and wrought for wages. 3. Poverty. When be wished a wife, the only thing he could do was to serve for her. We do well to remember the forlorn, helpless, wretched, and bound state in which we were when grace found ue. II. lBBAEL BROUGHT OUT OF EGYPT. (Ver. 13.) Egypt was a continuation of the at.ate in which Israel found himself at l'a.dan-Aram (cf. Deut. xxvi. 5). From this state God delivered. him by a prophet. 1. It was God who delivered and preserved him. Moses, though a prophet, was but God's agent. God is the only Saviour. 2. A prophet was tM instrument of deliverance. This put honour on the prophetic order. It may be cited as a reproof to Ephraim for slighting the prophets now eent to him ( ver. 10). The Mediator of our salvation is Christ, the "Prophet like unto Moses" (Acts iii. 22). 3. IJe THE BOOK OF BOSEA. [en. xnt. 1-18,
= effrdoo11y deUf!ef'ed. The Lord: (1) "Drought him forth "-go.vo him liberty national exiswnoo, laws, priviloges, a rich inheritance. (2) Pl'888l'ved him. Guarded and kept him in the desert, n.nd e11.fely plllntefl him in CAna&n. Ill. IBRAl\'I)s REOOKM:NBR OF Gon's KINDNESB. (Ver. 14.) 1. Ephraim Instead of Phowing gratitude, provokt>d God to m,,st bitter anger by hie tranegrcsalon~. Ho had pe111istcd in thie V.Tong~oinJ?, notwithat,mdin~ warning and entreaty. 2. Ho hBd btought reproach on God. "Ria reproach," i.e. the reprOBCh ho brought on God by hie wanton behaviour (cf. Dcut. u:xii. 5, 6). 3. He would accordingly be puniahed, God would leave him to expiate his blood-guiltineu by aufferlng.--J. 0.