The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 454

nations rise from calamity and ch&stisemcnt, when public spirit springs into being, when the arts and industries of BOOiety are vigorous and proMperoua, when justice and mutual consideration prevail, when the poor are c&red for, when piety assumes practical and beneficent fonns,-there is life. 2. Growth. Steady and vigorous growth is the l'88nlt of genial influences acLing upon lifo. Declension is the precursor of de11th. As surely as the tree lives and thrives, it spreads; as surely a.s the seed is sown in a fruitful ~oil, the crop, by its abundance, rewards the labourer's toil. Emblematic of the extension of the people who are filled ";th a true national life, in whom the Spirit of God lives ~nd moves, and in whose midst the Church is not a dead organism, but an organism which is the Yesture and embodiment of a spiritual and imperishable life. 3. Beauty and attractivenus. The Author of nature, the Giver of life, has ordered that beauty and fragrance shall accompany the vital growth-that the cedar shall be stately and the olive evergreen, that the vine shall cling with grace around the elm, that the fragrance of the lily shall delight the sense, thnt the com shall wave in beauty and rustle with music in the passing breeze. And the same Being appoints the.t, in the moral realm, true excellence and true attractiveness shall be conjoined. 'l'he beaut1 or holiness, the harmonies of praise, the fragrance of piety, are signs and ornaments of spiritual life. ·where these graces abound, the world will feel the spiritual magnetism or the Church. " They shall come a.gain who dwell under his shadow."-T. Ver. 8.-Idol,atry abjured. This is the language of sincere repentance. The state of mind here revealed is decisively acceptable to God, and is the earnest and promise of better days. It is a sign of the Spirit's gracious working in the heart that every rival to God's dominion is forsaken and abjured. I. Tm: EXPERIENCE TB.AT LEADS TO Tm:s BE80LtTTION. 1. Dise.ppointment in the serdce of others than the true God. Israel had addicted herself to strange gods, only to learn that all the flattering promises of their priests and ministers were delusive and vain. And whatever deity man has set before himself, as worthy of the homage and service due to God alone, it may be confidently asserted that such a rival bas fe.iled to answer pra}·er, to fulfil hope, to satisfy the heart. 2. Chastisement on the part of Divine Providence. As long as there is a Supreme Ruler, let men be assured he will not suffer his prerogatives to be invaded without inflicting the righteous penalties due tu disobedience and defiance. Israel learned by bitter experience that Jehovah would tderate no rival; and every generation of sinners he.s been taught the same lesson. "The way of tra.ngressors is hard." Happy they who, through however painful an experience, have, nevertheless, come to see and feel that to have aught to do with idols is to involve themselves in distress and misery I II. THE RESULTS THAT FLOW FBOH THIS RESOLtTTION. 1. When the soul abjures the objects of a foolish affection and devotion, Divine forgiveness and favour are waiting to restore and comfort it. The soul that is without idols shall not be left without God. 2. 'l'he rivals to the true worship and service shall lose their charms, and the soul shall wonder how it could have been captivated and enthralled. 3. A full and eternal satisfaction shall take possession of the nature which turns a.way from idols with abhor- rence, and turns confidingly and devoutly unto God. What the false deities were povcerless to bestow, the living God confers in perfect completeness. "His loving-kind- ness is better than life."-T. Ver. 9.-Wiadom and righteousness. The book of Hosea's prophecies closes with a solemn statement of human freedom and human responsibility. God's mind and will are revealed, but the prophet gives all concerned to understand that the revelation a.lone is insufficient. Let men observe that it depends upon the spirit in which they receive it, and the action which they take upon it, that all its benefit and advantage depend. I. DIVINE REVELATION CALLS FOR THE EXEROISE OF IIUHAl!I' WISDOM. The praise of fully, which some religionists account a proper part of piety, bas no countenance in Sc:ripture. The wise man is the good man ; and his wisdom is apparent in his accept- :1.ic~ of Di vine counsels and his submis~ion to Divine appointments. The faculty of U1J11erstanding has bee □ implanted by the Creator, and the due exercise of that faculty is honourable to God. Human wisdom may be misdirected; but human ignorance and imprudence a.re far more likely to lead men a.stray. What is needed is a more active OB. XIV. 1-9,l THE .BOOK OF HOSEA. i67