used the idol-worship set up by Jeroboam was a plagiarism from the worship of Jehovah, 1. Man cannot create in religion, but he r:an adapt. He can form no idea of spiritual things ape.rt from Divine revelation (1 Cor. ii. 9). At the same time, God's revelation of spiritual things is too pure for his taste. The result is that he compro- mises the matter by adopting ready-made ordinances, and loading them with his own corrupt spirit and meaning. 2. IdolatrO'Us worship seems less of an apostasy in pro- portion as lt retains the forms of true worship. The devil lets man down into idolatry as into other sin by easy stages. First he parts with the spirit of true worship, whilst retaining the form. Then he parts with the object of it, corrupting the form. Then he adopts a new object, and adapts to its worship the already corrupted form. And so with all sin, which is spiritual idolatry. Man does not first abandon the forms of god- liness, and then the pra.ctice of it. He gives up the substance of it as a matter of taste, and ~ries to salve his conscience for this by adhering to its forms (2 Tim. iii. 5). 3. This also makes it more p7,aiusibl6 and insidioU8. 'l'he worship set up in Dao and Bethel by Jeroboam was not idol-worship pure and simple. It was the worship of God by means of idols, and in forms which mimicked the worship at Jerusalem. Heresy at the outset always masquerades in the guise of truth. By adopting the sheep's clothing the wolf gets easy access to the fold. It is only after he has entered, and the danger of eviction is over, that his true character is assumed. IV. ONE IDOL BREEDS MANY. "The altars of Bethel." There was but one sacri- ficial altar in connection with the worship of Jehovah, but when many gods were invented, many altars were provided to correspond to them. This multiplication of idols is accounted for by the fact that: 1. Evil naturally spreads. One sin leads to more. Covetousness leads to theft, drunkenness to uncleanness, all three often to murder, and almost every sin to deceit and lying. No man can set up one IWlful idol and say he will have no more. It will bring others with it whether he will or no. It is the first swallow of the summer of evil-doing, and heralds a coming flock. 2. Idolatry fflf/,Bt become polytheism in the attempt to meet the spiritual wants of men. God is au infinite Being, and so can meet our human necessity all round. But an idol is the creation of a finite mind, and so a finite thi □ g. It is to meet one need of our nature, the need that was uppermost in the consciousness of the inventor. But a different need will be uppermost in another worshipper, and a different idol will be wanted to meet his case. Accordingly, in the mythology were many gods, who distributed among them the various functions necessary to complete the circle of human good. lt was, iu fact, an attempt, by multiplying deities indefinitely, to provide a substitute for the infinite God of revelation. 3. A worship that is all error ia more logical than one that is half truth. Everything has its own proper form. You do not finrl an eagle in the form of a dove, nor an apple in the form of a plum, nor an evil principle in the form of e. good one. If such a form is artificially put round it, the result is a palpable misfit. Polytheism is the nearest approach to logical idolatry, and in proportion as it is self- consistent is dangerous, and wins its way. V. THE FIRST TfilNG JUDGHENT DOES AGAINST THE IDOLATER IS TO DEPRIVE HH[ OIi' HIS GODS, "The horns of the altar shall be cut off,'' etc. This woul,l put an effectual stop to the idol-worship. We thus see that: 1. God wants his judgments to be recognized. He never punishes men incognito. When he puts forth his power he wants men to see that it is his (Exod. vii. 5; 1 Kings x.x. 28 ; Ezek. vi. 7), and striking the very seat of sin inflicts a stroke at once significant and effectual, a reve- lation at once of the Divine hand and power. 2. He wants them to be effective. The moral effect of a judgment depends very much on our knowing whence it comes. If we recognize it as sent by God, it is tenfold more impressive. Now, to exercise the maximum of beneficial influence with the-minimum of afflictive visitation is ever God's way (Lam. iii. 32, 33). He does not strike an aimless or e. needless blow. Each stroke ls meant to tell, and the medicine of affliction is stopped the moment the patient is cured. 8. Idolatry is at the root of all other sin. It is the complement of atheism, which is radically the heart departing from God. It is a sublimated self-worship, making an idol of our own mental creation. A god dethroned, and a self enthroned, is a state of thincrs which "contains the promise and potency" of all evil. To strike at Israel's idolatry was to lay the axe to the root of the national evil. The idols abolished, and God restored to the national heart, its life would be again a consecrated oue. THE BOOK OF AM0:3. [oe. m. 1-15.
VI. MAN'S SELF-INDULGENCE, THE DEAREST IDOL HE HAS, WILT, BE TAKEN FROM HIM ALONG WITH THE REST. (Ver. 16, "Aud I will smite," etc.) Luxuries long enjoyed become necessities of life, nnd no judgmcnt would be thorough that left them untouched. Self-indulgence, if it were left, would soon invent a new idol11try for its own accommodation. lt is only by making a clean sweep of the idols already in possession that God can get his place in the sinner's heart.