The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 446

Lord's ways;" and these ways require to be walked in to be understood. The "wi!ld.om" which the prophet desideratee is not to be confounded wlth intellectual acutcneils; it is e. more.l qualification. Here, 11.11 in the Book of Pro\'erbe and indeed throughout a!l_Scripture, the" wise" are they whose so.ule havo been eniightencd by t-he Holy Spint, and who have been brought into a right moral state in relation to Divine truth. 'l'he profound theology of Hosea., accordingly, will not be grasped by the man of merely intellectual discernment, or by any one who has only uccumulatcd ~tores of human learning. Moral preparation is necessary in order to the reception and assimilation of spiritual truth. A.s the psalmist has it, "Li.,.ht is sown for the righ~us_" _(Ps. xcvii. 11).. Or, as the Lord Jesus expressed the s:me thought," If any man 1s w1llmg to do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God" (John 'I'll, li). This experimental qualification is within ever_y one's reach. The possession of it makes the simple-minded shepherd really wiser than the "undevout astronomer." Cowper's "cottager, who weaves at her own door," has it to the full• while "the brilliant Frenchman ne\'er knew" it. Only the right-hearted man will b~ habitually persuaded of the equity of the Divine government, both as regards judg~ ment and mercy. Such a one has lea.rued to "taste and see that the Lord is good." Correctness of conduct promotes correctness of creed, and helps to the proper under- ~tanding of God's ways. A. man thinks rightly just to the extent of his livin.,.0 purely (Ps. cxi. 10). In our day, accordingly, one must be a believer in Christ and a. follower of him if he would profit by the study of Hosea. , LESSONS. 1. What a commentary upon this verse is the whole history of the Hebrew nation, from the beginning until now I 2. Hosea's last word, like Holy Scripture everywhere, draws a. sharp contrast between the righteous and the wicked. 3, Every man must make choice either of "walking in God's ways," or of "stumbling thereon." 4. The believer should derive comfort from this text in presence of the mysteries of Providence. 5. This final exhortation should come home to us with still greater power than it was fitted to do to Hosea's contemporaries; for, Hince he lived, the four great world-empires have successively fallen, the Jews remain scattered among the cities of the earth, the Lord Jesus Christ has been lifted up on the cross as an atonement for sin, and his gospel has been preached among the nations.--C. J. Vers. 1, 2.-God's message to the prodigal. This chapter stands out in vivid contrast from much that precedes it. The denunciation of threats is over, and now Hosea turns to tender plea.ding with the godless. The change is like that which we see sometimes during a thunderstorm. The clouds gather, the wind sinks into a solemn silence, then the thunder rolls and crashes overhead, and meu's hearts fail them for fear. But suddenly there is a lull, the clouds break, and, as a burst of sunshine lights up the earth, the rain bow of God's faithfulness and goodness is seen. With such a sudden and sublime transition does Hosea pass here from storm to calm, from denunciation to pleading. The prophet is addressing a. nation which, as such, could not be saved. The kingdom of Israel was to be hopelessly destroyed. But the children were still "heirs of the promises," and, while the corporate society to which they belonged would be swept away, they themselves might return to their God. There is no nation so evil but that in it some may work righteousness, no family so godless but that some of its members may be loyal to Christ. Circumstances never necessitate the ruin of a soul. Thi, <lesolation of society has been historically the means of saving what is best in it; e.g. if in the reigu of Charles I. the unscrupulous Buckingham had been successful in his foreign policy, the result would have been the establishment of a tyranny in England. Our national defeats just then were the cause of .our constitutional salvation ; men being roused to a consciousness of wrong-doing by the consequences of wrong-doing. So with Israel. The destruction of Israel seemed to the heathen the failure of Jehovah's purpose; but it was the means of salvation to mauy ~ho heard. and obeyed in _the misery of exile, as they would not have heard and obeyed III prospenty, the exhortation, "0 Israel, return unto the Lord." A world-wide truth was taught by our Lord when be de8cribcd the prodigal as thinking of the father's home, when he" had spent a.JI," -and famine was in the land, so that "he began to be in want." Our text ie God's message to such a ooe. I. 'l'.llB OONDITION OJ' THE 8lNNEB, 1, .A condition of e,trangemfflt. Implied in !lll, XIV, 1-9,) THE BOOK OF HOSEA. 449