^ _d 1882 skolqg; Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from Microsoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/homileticalcomme28wolf THE PREACHER'S COMPLETE IIOMILETICAL COMMENTARY OLD TESTAMENT {ON AX ORIGINAL PL AX), ith (EriticaJ ml &xpl*n*tovji £Lot&e, fttHx**, (Etc., (Etc. BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. % a 11 l) o n : RICHARD I). Dickinson, -71, KA1UUNGDON STREET. 187'.'. HOMILETICAL COMMENTARY ON THE MINOR PROPHETS. bf EEV. JAMES WOLFENDALE. $nnbon: RICHARD D. DICKINSON, 27| FARRINGDON STREET. 1879. 3B nno an ."LAV AND IAYI.UK, PRINTERS H0MILET1C COMMENTARY H O S E A. litotwctuw anfr f rtfaa. 77«e Prophet. Hosea = salvation, deliverance, from the same root as Joshua and Jesus ; the son of Beeri, a native of Israel, whose sins and fates he chiefly records. The name in marked contrast to his mission — announcement of ruin; yet in harmony with his vocation and the object of his book — to proclaim deliverance after judgment. Nothing known concerning the circumstances of his life. His character and disposition gathered from his prophecy. The Age. More or less contemporary with Isaiah, Amos, Jonah, Joel, and Nahum. Probably entered upon his work in the last year of Jeroboam, and ended it at the beginning of Hezekiah's reign, i. e., about 60 years, from 784 — 722 B.C. "The shortest duration must have been some 65 years" [Pusey], Other3 give a much longer period. This is the darkest period in the history of Israel. The obligations of the law were relaxed and the claims of religion disregarded. Baal was a rival to Jehovah, and in the dark recesses of groves were practised the cruel rites of idolatry. The land was distracted by domestic broils and foreign inva- sion. Might was marshalled against right. Princes and priests were accused of bribery and impiety. Murder and bloodshed were steps to the throne ; stream met stream and deluged the land like a flood. " Eemonstrance was useless ; the knowledge of God was wilfully rejected ; the people hated rebuke ; the more they were called the more they refused ; they forbade their prophets to prophesy ; and their false prophets hated God greatly. All attempts to heal this disease only showed its incurableness " [Pusey]. Foreign nations are unheeded. Lycurgus the famous legislator, and Hesiod the Greek poet, lived during his ministry, but the prophet was intensely concerned with his own people. The threatened invasion came, and he saw the murder of the tribes and the ravages of the enemy. In- vitations and warnings are replete with tenderness and woe. All is shrouded in darkness and gloom. Visions send forth lightning and thunder; but the sun breaks forth at last, and rainbow colours expand until encircled with brilliancy and hope. God in wrath remembers mercy. The Book written by the author whose name it bears — the first of the twelve IXTRODUCTION AND PREFACE. minor prophets, probably so placed on account of length, and resemblance to the greater prophets in earnest tone and vivid representation. Its Contents. Externally set forth national apostasy, prevailing corruption and judgments from God on ac count of that apostasy. Severe threatenings are mixed with gracious promises. Israel chastised -would return in penitence to God; the kingdom would be restored and the peoplr united under one head. Internally truths are presented, in form and lan- pecnliar. Israel is viewed in the light of Jehovah's love. This love is of ten wounded and chastises j is ever active and unchangeable, calls and heals. Its Style is bold, often abrupt, and for the most part mere hints. There are changes in figure, anomalies in gender, number, and person. We have fragments, a general summary, and fourteen short chapters include all that is left of, perhaps the longest ministry in Old Testament record. "Each verso forms a whole for itself, like one heavy toll in a funeral knell. The prophet has not been careful about order and symmetry, so that each sentence went home to the soul" [Pusey], Messianic references, not very numerous, lie in allusions, and may be gathered from New Testa- ment citations. Its Analysis rather difficult — the following may help the student. First Period or Division, before the fall of Jehu's house, chaps, i. ii. and iii. Israel's sin and rejection, chap. i. ; Israel's chastisement and conversion, chap. ii. ; Israel's deeper gudt, prolonged punishment, and final restoration, chap. iii. Second Period or Division, after the fall of Jehu's house. I. The Threatenings against the idolatrous people, chap. iv. ; against conniving priests, chaps, v. and vi. ; against the royal court for unholy alliance, chap. vii. ; judgment ending in Assyrian bondage, chaps, viii. — x. II. The Promises. God will have mercy, chap. xi. ; complaint resumed, chap. xii. ; Israel's deeper fall, chap. xiii. ; Israel's conversion and richer blessings, chap. xiv. Ked's division has much to recommend it. Each of the two main sections, chaps, i. — iii., iv. — xiv., is divided into three smaller ones, (i. 2 — ii. 3), (ii. 4 — 25), (iii.), (iv. — vi. 3), (vi. 4 — xi. 11), (xii. 11 — xiv.). In the Criticism we seek to bring out the meaning of the text, in the Ilomiletics to frame and apply that meaning for improvement in pulpit ministrations and the practical pur- suits of life. J7 chap, i.] UOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. CHAPTER I. Critical Notes. — 2. By] Lit. in Hosea, the preposition expresses close relationship with another ; cf. Num. xii. 6, 8 ; Heb. ii. 1. First in us and then through us is the Divine order ; per- sonal enlightenment and then public service. Wife of whore.] A vision, some ; externally acted, others • taken in a real sense by most interpreters. The plural indicates not merely incidental, but con- tinual and manifold acts [Pusey], Take] i. e. marry one whose livelihood is gained by prostitution, and whose whole element is whoredom. Cf. men of blood, Ps. v. 7 ; man of sorrows, Is. liii. 3! This is a symbol of Israel in its state of idolatry. Land] Israel, indirectly Judah, wife and children, equally grieved the husband and father, Ezek. xvi. 8, 15. Committed] is whoring, whoring away, from Jehovah, lit. from after Jehovah ; the composite preposition denoting more than absence from God, signifies opposed to walking with him ; the breaking of the marriage vow, cut off from loving re- lationship (Ps. lxxiii. 27). 3. Gom.] The name of a nation (Gen. x. 2, 3); symbolically G. = completion; i. e. completely given up to whoredom. Dib.] =daughter of grape-cakes, indicating pleasure and sensu- ality. " The sweetness of sins is the parent of destruction " [Pusey]. 4. Jez.] = I will sow, scatter or disperse, like a seedsman, which happened by the Assyrians (2 Kings xvii. 5, 6). Avenge] Heb. visit. Jehu commanded to destroy the house of Ahab, externally obeyed, and rewarded in measure. lie acted not from principle, or as he pretended out of zeal, but to serve his own political ends (2 Kings ix. 10, 36; x. 16). "And so the blood which was shed according to the righteous judgment of God, became sin to him who shed it, in order to fulfil, not the will of God, but his own " [Puset/]. Jez. symbol of past sins, intermediate punishment and final overthrow. 5. Bow] Might, military prowess (Gen. xlix. 24; Jer. xlix. 35). 6. Daughter] A symbol of a degenerate race, some; of the totality of men and women of the nation, others ; seems to intensify Lo-ruh.] = not pitied, lit. I will not add any more to. The original expresses tender yearning towards one (Rom. ix. 25 ; 1 Pet. ii. 10) ; but God would not continue to show compassion as he had done ; Divine mercy ex- hausted and Israel was left in a defenceless state. I will utterly] Lit. taking away, I will take away everything they have. Marg. another sense, to take away, i. e. to forgive sin. 7. The Lord their God] More emphatic than "through me" (Gen. xix. 24). Judah worshipped God; Israel turned to idols. One a witness for God, the other apostates from God. Judah saved in marked contrast to Israel punished. 9. Lo-am.] = not my people ; the covenant relation dissolved. Son may typify the revival of strength in the reign of Jeroboam II., but prosperity brought no revival of piety. They were not God's people. Not be your God] Lit. I will not be to you or for you ; "for you by providence, to you by love " [Pusey]. Deprivation of all that God can be to them. When God ceases to belong to men, to compassionate them, rejection follows. 11. Gathered together] in one body. One head] Zerubbabel typically, Christ really (Jer. iii. 18 ; Ezek. xxxiv. 23). Go up] from Babylon, from whence God restored the two tribes ; typ. = deliverance from sin and moral dignity ; go up from sinful life, join the Christian Church and march to the land of pro- mise. Great, &c] Not as ver. 4. God will increase in mercy, not scatter in displeasure. Where Israel was overthrown, victory shall be achieved. Instead of no mercy and not my people, we have mercy and my people. Great and glorious the day when the fortunes of Israel shall be reversed and the fulness of the Gentiles come in. HOMILETICS. The First Communications. — Verse 1. I. The chosen servant. 1. His human descent, "Son of B." The Jews say- that the prophet whose father is named was the son of a prophet. Nothing recorded of Ber. Hosea dignified and distinguished not by noble birth nor worldly grandeur. Bank and riches are not moral worth. Life outlined by noble deeds ; greatness acquired by religious service. Character in its noblest embodi- ments, exhibits the highest qualities, commands the greatest influence and admira- tion. Apostles of great thoughts and rulers of the human mind have sprung from no exclusive rank in life, but have been called from schools of the prophets and workshops of the poor. 2. His spiritual training. God spoke in Hosea ; gave him knowledge and experience first, then commissioned him to teach others. Fersonal dedication before public duty; fellowship in private before reward in public. "We must speak what we know ; be blessed ourselves before we can bless others. This is a law of Christian economy. We can only teach others as we are taught ourselves. Our influence upon others must be measured by the Divine gifts within us. The best proof of Christianity is the energy with which we can Christianize. God bestows blessings not to nurse in our bosoms but to radiate in beneficent influence to others. " I will bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing." 3. His outward call. Probably when a young man, JIOMILETIC COMMENTARY : 1I0SF..1. lciiai\ i. and hence the length of his ministry. Samuel and Timothy given to God when young, Jeremiah consecrated from the womb. An honour and privilege to serve ( Sod in youth. Energy and enthusiasm are necessary as well as talent and experience. "I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth." II. The Divine message. 1. Its nature. A " wind,'' the expression of the mind and purpose of God. The power of a word to influence character and change the destinies of life. Words of monarchs have decided the fate of empires. The word of God, judgment or mercy, the message of life or death to a people. "To the one we are the savour ath unto death, and to the other of life unto life." 2. Its origin. "The word of the Lord." Not hy man nor from man, not self-originated; it was first God s and then became the prophet's. " For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man." Men not Left to their own devices and must not declare their own opinions. God finds the message and speaks with Divine certainty and authority. All teaching deserving the name comes to us not as the product of human thought but of the Holy Spirit. " Preach the preaching I bid thee." The Bible is pre-eminently the prophetic word. " Ye do well that ye take heed to it." 3. Its medium. Through Ilosea. God's message through men and to men. Man in his moral nature is renewed, elevated, and qualified to teach and bless a fallen people. This displays Divine wisdom and love, creates sympathy for our fellow-creatures, humanizes the Bible, and renders the gospel more charming and attractive. III. The dark days. 1. Days of prevalent idolatry. "The land hath committed whoredoms." Idolatry was made the national religion. The worship of Baal was a rival to the worship of God. Calf-worship led to sin, licentiousness and sensuality. The first in rank were first in excess. Sad when men of high position fall into vice ! Now, even, men profess to own God, talk of "nature "and "natural laws," yet forget God, or "change their glory (i.e. their God) into the similitude " of an ox, a man, a hero, or an abstract principle. 2. Days of political anarchy. Kings came to the throne by the murder of their predecessors and were in turn murdered by their successors. Military despotism disturbed the peace, and horrible slaughter stained the people of the land. 3. Days of threatened judgment. Hosea sent to urge to repentance, for captivity was imminent, certain, and irreversible ; but God was forsaken, the nation was insensible of its moral and political decay, and judgments lost their terror. In spite of warning after warning the people sought to prop themselves up by alliance with Egypt and Assyria. When a nation is rotten at the core no outward power or splendour can prevent its decay. It carries within it the seeds of death. The .sky grew darker and darker ; the thunder at last resounded ; calamities could not be averted ; then judgments fell upon them without mercy in dispersion and destruction. 4. Days of little success. Israel was not converted but taken into captivity, yet Hosea laboured on year after year, through good and evil report (Amos vii. 10, 12). No abatement of his earnestness and elforts. He was faithful to his trust and to his God. It is often the lot of God's servants to labour long and see little fruit. Isaiah cried, " I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain." We must be content to toil on and deliver our message to the greatest sinners in the dark Bst days, and feel like the prophet named, '-surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. In the days of, vcr. 1. — Hosea's min- time and sphere, in chequered scenes istry. 1. A type of God's long-suffering and great discouragements. God gives and //terry; waiting long, sending pro- to every servant his special place and phets, and offering grace to a sinful peculiar gifts. In hope and humble con- people, until beyond the reach of fidence he must labour on. mercy. 2. A type of service fixed in The days of Jeroboam II., days of CIIAP. I.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. prosperity and political pre-eminence. He reigned 41 years; recovered lost cities (2 Kings xiv. 28 ; Amos i. 3, 5) ; was victorious in war (2 Kings xiii. 4 ; xiv. 26) ; and enjoyed the teacning of Hosea, Joel (iii. 16), Amos (i. 1), and Jonah (2 Kings xiv. 25). But idolatry was mixed with the worship of Jehovah ; drunkenness and oppression prevailed in the country, and the prophets predicted its downfall. 1. Temporal prosperity is no guarantee for public morality. The kingdom, amid splendour and popul- arity, rotten at the core, decaying in vigour, and under the judgment of God. 2. Temporal prosperity is no security against public calamity. "Temporal prosperity is no proof either of stability or of the favour of God. "Where the law of God is observed, there, even amid the pressure of outward calamity, is the assurance of ultimate prosperity. Where God is disobeyed, there is the pledge of coming destruction. The seasons when men feel most secure against future chastisements, are often the preludes of the most signal revolu- tions " \_Pusey\. Kings rise and empires fall, but God's purpose is the same ; carried on through all times and by all agencies. Kings die and are buried in the dust • prophets live in all ages and rewarded in eternity. " Monarchs have their times and their turns, their rise and their ruin" \Trapp\ Men pass away — notwithstanding wealth and talent. Nations pass away notwithstanding political power and military glory. God is eternal and carries on his work. The perpetuity of truth. Although these kings successively appeared and passed away, the ministry of Hosea kept on. 1. The " Word of the Lord " is adapted to all generations. It is congruous with all intellects, it chimes in with all hearts, it provides for the common wants of all. 2. The " Word of the Lord " is necessary for all gener- ations. All men in all ages and lands want it, it is as indispensable to their happiness as air is to their life. Gener- ations may appear in the distant future, who may not require our forms of government, our social institutions, our artistic devices, our mechanical inven- tions, and who may despise our liter- ary productions, but no generation will ever appear who will not require the "Word of the Lord" [Homilist]. HOMILETICS. The Symbolic Marriage. — Verse 2. Whether this be regarded as a real and external transaction, or a spiritual scenery, or allegorical description, all agree in taking it as a type of God's dealings with unfaithful Israel. Divine truth was to be acted, embodied in sensible signs and prophetic life. Hosea commanded to marry a prostitute and beget children, whose names, called by God himself, were to set forth the evils of departure from him. I. A type of Israel's fallen condition. It was the chosen people, specially created and brought into covenant relation to God. This relation, often represented under the figure of marriage, they vowed to keep. But the contract was broken, they had fallen away from God, and gone a whoring after other gods. Idolatry was not accidental, but prevalent ; the whole land was polluted, and the sin national. The idolatry of foreign nations was regarded as an abomination, but the sin of Israel a more glaring enormity and greater moral guilt. Three things are con- demned in Scripture as idolatry. 1. The worshipping of a false god; 2. the worshipping of the true God through an image; 3. the indulgence of those passions which draw the sold from God. Israel were guilty of the first in bowing the knee to Baal, and of the second in setting up the golden calves. Men now often guilty of the third. Lust, covetousness, and pleasure allure their hearts, and they set up gold, honour, popular applause, and worldly distinction, and cry, "These be thy gods." II. A type o: God's love to sinners. 1. Love to the unfaithful. Israel had fallen, but God loved her with a ten : r love, and sought HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : 110SK.L [chap. i. to restore her to himself. Many have made a profession, Christians have left their first love, broken their engagement with God, and fallen into disgrace. Love is wounded, and deeply wounded, at such treatment, but it remains love, cannot sutler apostasy from him, and seeks to restore and save. "Thou hast left thy first love. Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works." 2. Love to the unworthy. We shrink from the unchaste and con- demn the outcast, but they are not beyond hope. The drunkard, the thief, and the idolater are renewed and restored to God, formed into a church, and sanctified for his sendee. " Love," it has been said, " descends more abundantly than it am nds. The love of parents fortheir children has always been far more powerful than that of children for their parents ; and who among the sons of men ever loved God with a thousandth part of the love which God has manifested to us?" III. A type of moral life unstained by surrounding evils. The prophet was holy, separated from sinners, and dared nol associate with adulterers. 1. In the family was a "wife of whoredoms" and "children of whoredoms." 2. In tho laud corruption and abominations were prevalent. What a trial of patience ! "What a test of character this would be ! Christians are often so placed, but must be " the salt of the earth," preserve from corruption, and incite men to live godly in dangers by which they are surrounded. " Even in Sardis were a few who had not defiled their garments. "To keep himself unspotted from the world." IV. A type of parental sin portrayed in children's character. Parents leave belaud them Legacies of guilt and shame; contaminate their offspring by their influence and example. Children inherit the lands and the lusts of their ancestors, and are often cursed with the consequences of parental folly. Drunkenness, de- bauchery, and adultery entail on human life their ruinous and loathsome effects. Men transmit to remote posterity guilt and misery, and God visits "the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation." This should excite pity for children and caution in parents for their solemn charge and responsibility. HOMILETIG HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ci>, take, vet. 3. — 1. A people sunk way on their children. Sin is con- into sin and idolatry need desperate tagious, and unless the entail is cut oil' and extraordinary efforts to save them, by grace, hereditary [Pi(sey~\. 2. Men employed in saving them must Depart from God. — /. God is the deny themselves, and adopt the means great end of life. Man restless and in- God directs. Hosea takes a strange sufficient without God. Natural bodies wife. Ezekiel loses his own, xxiv. 16, seek a natural resting-place; sensitive 17. Our will must be merged into creatures seek good adapted to their God's. "This figure was proposed to rank and being: so the soul longs for the people that they might, perceive in God. Echoes of God resound through the looking-glass of this allegory, first) its depths, and it is made to turn in- their duty towards G<>d; second, their st i net ively towards Himself. Some have disloyalty ; thirdly, their penalty for tho found and walk with God, like Enoch ; same" [Trn]>p~\. some walk near to him and others are Idolatry is spiritual whoredom. It far from him. " "Without God in the defiles the soul, God's bridal-bed. It world." God should be the supremo breaks the marriage-knot, and discoven- object of life and affection. This pur- ants. It eniageth God, who in this case suit should be earnest and continued, will take no ransom. It subjecteth men " My soul followeth hard after (is glued) to the deepest displeasure of God, it to thee." The renewed soul is acquaint- besots them and unmans them [Trapp\. ed with God, and follows him with in- Children of whoredom. The sins of tensity of feeling and desire. When tho parents also descend in a mysterious- Christian has lost God, he never rests CHAP. I.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY; IIOSEA. satisfied until he has found him again. When he has found and enjoys him he longs to enjoy him more. And though he can never attain to God in perfec- tion, yet he follows on, first, as a necessary discipline, and then as a necessary preparation for the future. " Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." II. Departure from God is idolatry. Sin hinders and indisposes in the pur- suit after God. It is a violation of his law and rejection of his love and authority. It renounces all subjection to him, and casts him off entirely. This is to prefer the creature to the Creator, in whom all joys and blessings consist. If we seek anything out of God, we turn from following him, and take something else to be our god. This is to make an idol, and prefer emptiness and vanity. An idol is nothing. Men have many idols. When they do not worship God, they worship themselves, their fellow- creatures, their works, and their sub- stance. It is not necessary that each one should sing a psalm and offer a prayer to deify self. The outward life is a psalm, and the inward life a prayer. Man cannot dethrone God in heart and life without putting an idol in his place. u Little children, keep yourselves from idols." III. This departure involves others in its consequences. Every individual is a centre of moral influence. Every word and deed sends forth more than electric fluid. He may choose what ho will do, but having done, he cannot stay tho consequences of the act. Kings and priests, ministers and parents, influence others for good or evil, produce effects which do not terminate on themselves, but extend to society, and are transmit- ted to posterity as mighty, indestructiblo forces of existence. " When one mem- ber suffers, all suffer with it." By neglect of duty, wrong example, and leading others into sin we injure our fellow-creatures, and leave an active influence, which does not cease when we repent or die. Wealth, language, and customs influence the health and morals of society. And as the seed sown will produce the harvest, so licentiousness and idolatry sow their fruits in families, churches, nations, and fill " the earth with violence." " The land hath com- mitted great whoredom." HOMILETICS. The Three Judgments. — Verses 3 — 9. The names of the three children given by God himself were to be significant. The life of the prophet was to be a living sermon before the people. His marriage preached God's mercy, and his children God's judgment. If they refused his words, they should see his actions. In the first name we have a warning of terrible judgment, in the second its connection with the Divine nature, in the third the result. Destruction, cessation of mercy, and rejection, would be dreadful to any nation, but to Israel they involved the loss of special privileges and distinctions, their social, political, and theocratical position. Jezreel ; or Divine Betribution. — Verses 3 — 5. I. The destruction of the Royal Family. " Upon the house of Jehu." J. anointed at God's command to execute judgment upon the house of Ahab (1 Kings ix. 6, 7) ; was rewarded in measure for his conduct, yet served his own ends, and in executing judgment upon others, brought it upon himself and family. God loves justice, and will punish those who administer it from wrong motives and feelings. Kings and men in authority must not fall short of duty, nor exceed it in any respect. " So awful a thing it is to be tho instrument ot God in punishing or reproving others if we do not by his grace keep our own hearts and hands pure from sin " [Puseij], that we may be rejected ourselves. The slaughter of the Gibeonites by Saul, the conduct of Amalek towards J/iKMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. [chap. i. [srael, seemed to be forgotten, but punishment came at last. Jehu's house is visited, hie progeny extinguished in the fourth generation for his offences. If wo judge others we should not do the Bams things ourselves. II. The destruction of the Regal Sovereignty. "And will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel." The strength of the kingdom was paralyzed after the destruction of the house of Jehu. Of five kings that followed Zechariah, only one died a natural death, the others were murdered and dethroned. The kingdom was distracted and broken, and in about 50 years completely destroyed by the captivity of the ten tribes. Kingdoms are built up, extended, and established by God; but the immorality of the rulers and the idolatry of the people will sow the seeds of decay and death. When God has numbered their days, no power, no splendour can hold them up- Foreign invasion and civil revolution may overturn. That kingdom is the strongest, the most splendid and secure, which makes God its sovereign. The skill of parliaments, the valour of soldiers, and the power of wealth are no security against the judgment of God. " Put them in fear, 0 Lord ; that the nations may know themselves to be but men." III. The destruction of Military Prowess. " I will break the bow of Israel " The bow was the special pride of Jehu (2 Kings ix. 24) ; the military strength upon which Israel relied, and for which it was famous (Jer. xlix. 35). 1. This strength shall he broken. When God blows with the blast of his anger, individual health, family prosperity, and national glory fade like a flower. The strength of body, the vigour of mind, and the power of numbers are Aveak before him. God can humble the pride of men and nations, and take 'from them whatever they make their strength and defence. 2. This strength shall be irrc- ■parahly hrulcpn. All power and projects defeated. When God breaks none can piece ; when man pieces God can break. " The shield, the sword, and tho battle," weapons offensive and defensive, God can dash in pieces. In the spiritual conflicts of this and every age, no weapon formed against his people and his purpose shall prosper. IV. The destruction of National Prestige. " In the valley of Jezreel." This valley was the very centre and security of the king- dom, their Marathon and their Waterloo. It was the scene of their exploits and skill ; the place of Ahab's wickedness and Jehu's zeal. Here God had executed judgments against the enemies, and delivered his people from danger. In this very spot in which the nation's history was localized the nation's glory should fade away, and the nation's guilt be punished. Places of carnal security often exposed to shame and destruction. " Thus it is ever ; when retribution comes it seems to despise the very things in which its victim gloried. A noble lineage, great wealth, patrimonial possessions, elevated positions, brilliant genius, and distinguished abilities ; these are the modern Jezreels of sinners. In these they boast. But what are these 1 God, when he comes to judgment, will strike them in those very places, he will break their bow in the valley of Jezreel " [1'he Hum Hist]. IIOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Jehu's conduct. 1. Service insincere, the sight of God. His piety gave way God's will done half way, not fully, to policy, and policy stained his piety. He killed the priests, but clave to the "By the ends, and not by the works calves. 2. Service from wrong motives, done, are virtues distinguished from He acted not, as he pretended, out of vices. Two things make a good Chris- zeal for God, but served his own poli- tian, and declare him so — good actions tical ends, and did God's will from and good aims. And although a good selfish and base motives. 3. Service aim doth not make a bad action good divested of real virtue. It had no prin- (as in Uzziah), yet a bad aim makes a ciple in it, and of was no true worth" in good action bad, as here in Jehu" CHAP. I.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. [Trappj. 4. Service involving his house and hiyigdom in ruin. " The massacre therefore," says Calvin, " was a crime so far as Jehu was concerned, hut with God it was a righteous vengeance." Even if he did not make God's com- mand a mere pretext, yet his conduct was an act of hlood-guiltiness which called for vengeance upon posterity. Things done hy God's desire or com- mand may hecome crimes in the per- former, if he acts from evil and selfish designs, and not from love to God. Religion must never he a cloak for the lusts of an evil and amhitious heart. Retribution will swiftly follow. "Be sure your sins will find you out." Jehu's character. J. was one of those quick, amhitious men, whom God raises up to change the fate of empires and execute judgment upon the earth. His zeal was great so long as it squared with his own interests, hut cooled wonder- fully when directed against them. He was not a great or good man, hut an agent for the accomplishment of great purposes. In his sudden elevation to the throne ; in the ruthlessness with which he carried out his purposes ; in the union of profound dissimulation with fanatic zeal, he is not without his likeness in modern times. Jehu's punishment. " I will visit," &c 1. God's government. God su- preme, exalted above the heavens, and ruleth over the kings and nations of the earth. 2. God's purpose. " I will visit." This purpose not capricious and arbitrary ; in harmony with fixed prin- ciples, and regards moral conduct and desert. 3. God's providence. " I will visit." The providence fulfils the pur- pose of God in the events of history and by the agencies of men. (1.) It is active. " I will visit." " My Father worketh." "All things work together." (2.) It is just as well as benevolent. 4. God's power. "I will avenge." God omnipotent can easily destroy or punish. God's providence and pre- sence are sensibly felt among men. Hence the ruin of the wicked certain, irresistible, terrible, and complete. The destruction of the kingdom. 1. God is the Creator and Destroyer of nations. Men build often upon weak foundations, with unsuitable materials, and for base designs. "Except the Lord build," Sec. 2. When God deter- mines to destroy nations no power cm. avail against him. "I will break the bow." No bow can abide in strength without him. Seeming prosperity or outward grandeur of no account with him. 3. The destruction of notion* is not always by outward force. God has many ways, and can work without means. Loss in battle, invaded borders, and mercantile panics may be recovered. But vital corruption and decay of reli- gion reach the very heart of a nation. Nothing can preserve a people wholly given to whoredom and idolatry. 4. De- struction of national existence. " If all the historians who recorded the ultimate extinction of nations were inspired of God to give the true reasons of their fall, we should often meet this testi- mony : " Perished of national pride, producing contempt of God and of fundamental morality ! '" [Cowles]. Yet a little ivhile. Space for repent- ance in human life and national afflic- tion. Men perish not without warning. Judgment lingers long, but falls heavily at last. God's measurement of time disregarded and sinned away can never be given again. " I gave her space to repent of her fornication." HOMILET1CS. Judgment and Mercy. — Verses 6, 7. The second judgment, the punishment foretold in the name of the daughter, is greater than that of the first. God woidd scatter, now Israel will be unpitied. By reference to the opposite lot of Judah, all false hope in God's mercy is taken away. Those who forsake God, forsake their own mercy, and may reckon upon nothing but judgment. 10 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : ROSEA, [chap. i. I. Judgment without Mercy. Israel owed its preservation and prosperity amid anarchy and prevailing idolatry entirely to God's mercy. God long-suffering, bat sinners may exhaust his patience. 1. Mercy may be withheld from nun. When former mercies are received with ingratitude, or ahused, God "will add no moro (Fs. lix. 5). Goodness and mercy should lead to repentance, hut if despised, men will treasure up wrath for themselves against the day of wrath (Rom. ii. 4, 5). Day by day, hour by hour, individuals may ho heaping up this awful treasure. The cup may soon be idled, God's forhearanco withheld, and judgment without mercy. 2. Mercy withheld from men will lead to utter ruin. "I will utterly take them away." The ten tribes never returned (except very few) from captivity. Judgment fell upon the Churches in Asia Minor, and now they are warnings to others. The long-suffering of God waited in vain in the days of Noah ; the Hood came and destroyed an ungodly world. Because sentence is not suddenly executed, men plunge into deep sin, ripen themselves for greater judgment, which comes in ten-fold vengeance and utterly takes them away. 3. Mercy withheld from us and given to others is a sad ingredient in the cup of sorrow. This life is often embittered by opposite lots. The sobriety of one condemns the drunkenness of another. The spendthrift sees in the happiness and prosperity of his neighbour what he might have been himself. There is a necessary and natural connection between conduct and reward here. So in the future ; condition will result from character ; the fruit will grow from the tree. " Say to the righteous, it shall be well with him. Woe unto the wicked ! it shall be ill with him" (Is. iii. 10, 11). One thing is set against another to teach men righteousness. II. Mercy in the midst of Judgment. " I will have mercy upon the house of Judah." Mercy was W( mderfully shown to Judah in her danger from Assyrians, in deliverance from Babylon, in her beaten and plundered condition at the present by Israel (2 Kings xiv. 12). This a type of God's dealings now. None deserve mercy, all are alike guilty. 1. Mercy Divine in its source. Israel had no mercy upon Judah ; men have no mercy upon one another, but God shows mercy. " / will have mercy." 2. Mercy sovereign in its objects. Upon Judah, not Israel. God has mercy upon whom he will have mercy (Rom. ix. 15). Often sinners beyond all others, liars, thieves, and drunkards are chosen. Paul, Bunyan, and Newton become patterns of mercy unto others. In this there is no unrighteousness in God, nor injury to man. 3. Mercy without human merit. Man clings to means, and wants to be saved by works. Not by works of the law, lest man should boast, but entirely of grace, through faith. Human efforts, instrumentalities of men, the power of intellect, and the energy of will avail nothing. Not by bow nor by sword, not by horses and chariots, on which nations rely in battle. God needs no creature helps ; exalted in power, he will magnify his grace. It is salvation complete, without sorrow, humiliation, and bloodshed. " By the Lord their God," whom they worshipped when Israel committed whoredom. This passage leads us to contemplate God's mercy. Mercy is a modification of goodness. God is good to all, but is only merciful to the suffering sinner. Mercy not only implies suffering, but suffering arising from tin. If suffering were a necessity springing out of the constitution of things, its removal or mitigation would be an act of justice rather tl:an mercy. Earth is a sphere where God shows his mercy, for here is suffering springing from sin. Here we have — I. Mercy withheld from some. "For I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel," &c. When mercy has been abused the time comes when it is withheld, and the subjects are left abandoned of God. When mercy is withheld from nations they perish, from churches they decay, from families they sink to corruption, from individuals they arc lost. " My spirit shall not always strive with men." II. Mercy bestowed upon others. " I will have mercy upon the house of Judah." This mercy was signally shown to Judah, when in one night one hundred and eighty-five thousand warriors were slain. Looking at the words in their spiritual application they suggest two remarks in relation to man's deliverance. First, It is of mercy. The deliverance of man from tho guilt, the power, and consequence of sin, is entirely of God's mercy, free, sovereign, boundless mercy. Secondly, Man's deliverance is : By moral means. " Will not save them by bow," &o. No material force can deliver the soul from its spiritual difficulties and perils. Moral means alone CHAP. I.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIOSEA. 11 ; the object. " Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord." Conclu- se mercy rightly while you have it. Its grand design is to produce reformation of ■, and meetness for the high service and lofty fellowship with the great God. litre and can effect the object. sion : Use character, yonder, now and tor ever [The Homilist] HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Yer. 7. Mercy upon the house of Judah. When Divine justice is glorified in some, yet there are others in whom free grace is glorified. And though some through unbelief are broken off, yet God will have a Church in this world till the end of time. It aggra- vates the rejection of Israel that God will have mercy on Judah, and not on them, and magnifies God's mercy to Judah, that though they also have done wickedly, yet God did not reject them as he rejected Israel [Matt. Henry]. The Lord their God. The antithesis is not merely to the false gods of the heathen, but to the conduct of Israel who cast off Jehovah. Hence God withheld mercy from Israel, but gave it to Judah, who owned him as theirs, and whom they outwardly worshipped in pursuance of the covenant with them. Notice the benefits of national worship. Even outward forms of wor- ship and Sabbath observance remind us of the reality, tend to ameliorate the prejudices and intone the spirit of society. Men are in danger of sinking into animal life by tho pressure of labour and materialism. Neglect of national worship would break down moral barriers, and flood the land with amusements and wickedness. Tho human race feel the necessity of a purer and better life. Hence whatever inter- feres with Sabbath observances, what- ever hinders the worship of God and the moral culture of men, should bo avoided. Without national worship — 1. Many would observe no worship at all. 2. Men would have no opportuni- ties for moral and religious instruction at all. 3. Generous feelings would not be cherished, the mutual equality of men in the sight of God would be for- gotten, the highest ranks would not bo inspired with humility and condescen- sion, nor the lowest with feelings of gratitude and love. 4. The people would have no regard for God ; event- ually cast off all fear and restraint ; and judgment without mercy would strip us of our national prestige and position. When utterly taken away no bow could defend us, and no battle save us. HOMILETIOS. A Cast off People. — Verses 8, 9. The third judgment is the most severe of all. Lo-ammi, not my people. God ceases to compassionate the rebellious tribes, the state of rejection ensues, and they are no longer " my people," Jehovah will not belong to them. " I will not be your God." .Notice the gradual steps to this result. 1. Fellowship with God is interrupted. God was the God of Israel, but they did not own him as such — did not worship him, but committed whoredom. The service of Jehovah was irksome. Idolatry weaned their hearts from him, and they neglected religious privileges anil despised re- ligious teaching. Neglect of public worship and private devotion, contempt for the ordinances of the gospel, any wilful interruptions of communion with God, are signs of declension and steps to utter abandonment of God. II. The Covenant relation is dissolved. Israel would not have God, and G d would have nothing to do with them ; would not be to them what he had bi en, and what they vainly expected he would be. They deprived themselves of his love and mercy, of his providence and protection. Many despise God and contemn his laws. They despise the authority of the Father, the death of tho Son, and the influence of the Spirit. They disregard every office they sustain, 12 1I0MILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE. I. [ciur. i. and dishonour evefy relation they boar to us. They break from their allegiance, and live alienated from God by wicked works. They are "without God in tin' world." To be without food and shelter is sad enough ; to be without friends and supporters is sadder still; but to be without God, the suhlimest being, the greatesl good, is the real and awful condition of those whom God disowns. III. Utter rejection results. "Not my people." Forget God, and you will depart from him. Cast off God, and he will forsake you for ever (2 Chron. xv. 2). When God deserts in providence, and withholds his grace in Christ, men are doomed to be cut off from hope here, and eternal life hereafter. "I will not be your God," describe their dreadful condition ; 1. Disowned, 2. Disinherited, and 3. Cursed. HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. \,,f h, your God. 1. In the exigen- ments of God. 1. Gradual in their cies of life ; to supply your need. 2. manifestation. 2. Intenser in their In the providences of life; to guide degree. 3. Corrective in their design, your steps. 3. In the end of life ; at 4. Suspended in their operations. 5. the solemn hour of death. Continuance Certain, in their event. 6. Destructive in sin after once smiting will bring in their consequence, greater judgment upon nations, churches, A cast-off people. 1. Not a pri vi- and individuals. No limits must be leged people, do not belong to "the set to God's mercy, yet it often happens commonwealth of Israel, and strangers when God contends with nations that from the covenants of promise." 2. Not they prove so obstinate in sin, so incess- a pitied people, destitute of mercy and ant in departing from God, that nothing grace to help, exposed to wrath, and in but rejection ends it for a time. " The danger of perishing. 3. Not a people same is seen in individuals. God often at all, lacking everything which makes first chastens them lightly, then more a people, spiritually dead. God's people heavily, and brings them down in their the only real people, the only persons iniquities; but if they still harden worthy to be called a people. themselves, he withdraws both his chas- Ver. 4 — 10 may be taken as A graphic tiseiuents and his grace, so that the sinner picture of family life. 1. The mother's even prospers in this world, but, re- life a life of apostasy from God. 2. maining finally impenitent, is cast off for The father's life a life of service for ever " [Paseyj. God. 3. The children's lives lives of The Three Judgments. 1. Three judgments from God. "What a diil'er- warnings to the impenitent. 2. Three ence in the moral character, spiritual opportunities of repentance. 3. Three condition, and future destiny in the degrees of chastisement — or, The Judy- same family. IIOMILETICS. The Good Time coming. — Verses 10, 11 ; ch. ii. 1. Though excluded from the love of God, Israel was not always to be so. The hand which wounds will heal, and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. The spiritual Israel, the Gentiles as well as Jews, shall be restored to God and become numerous as the sand (Gen. xxxii. 12 ; Rom. ix. 25, 26). Light springs out of darkness, and life out of death. Promise of blessings follows tlireat of punishments, and a glorious future opens out to the penitent believer. I. Israel shall be increased in number. 1. This increase from God. God the source of all increase in families, churches, and nations. Health, favourable circumstances, do not account for increase. Modern calculations must not be applied. God who multiplied Israel- in Egypt by special miracle increases the chap, i.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : IIOSEA. 13 11111111361 of his people. " I will increase them with men like a flock." 2 This increase is innumerable " as the sand of the sea." It is a law of nature a rule of providence, to promote growth from small beginnings. The oak from an acorn. A Syrian ready to perish became a great and populous nation, Deut. xxvi. 5. God's people, few in number at present, shall be increased 'to " a multitude which no man can number." " A little one shall become a thousand and a small one a strong nation ; I the Lord will hasten it in his time." 3. This increase notwithstanding persecution and sorrow. God's people often severely- persecuted and oppressed; their number diminished; but God replaces things temporal by things spiritual, outward gifts by inward graces, and restores four- fold what he takes away. The Church can never be crushed by force. Omni- potence defends her, and the purpose of God will never be frustrated. " Israel shall be as the sand," " it shall come to pass." II. Israel shall be restored to spiritual dignity. 1. They shall be restored to right relation to God. " The sons of the living God." This the goal of their Divine calling, but from this relation they had fallen. The external relation only a faint emblem of the spiritual. Not merely a people, but the people, the subjects, the sons of the living God. God owns his people, they are reconciled to him, and possess the spirit of adoption, whereby they say, Abba, Father. This is their unspeakable joy now, but is only a foretaste of what they shall be (1 John iii. 2). 2. This restor- ation is by a method least expected. " In the place where it was said, Ye are not my people," &c. Mercy when judgment is expected, love beyond description and degree. Love without a parallel and example. Love to the sinful, restoration to the fallen. The place of rejection, the place of redemption ; in the place where there was nothing good and encouraging, there shall be a change for the better — a people shall be formed, increase given, and a nation gathered together under the benediction and protection of God. III. Israel shall be united under one government. "The children of Israel shall be gathered together and appoint themselves one head." 1. United tmder one head. This head not the pope, nor Zerubbabel as chief, nor Joshua as priest. Christ, the head of the Church, shall be the head of every man. He, " the one King, shall be the King to them all " (Ezek. xxxiv. 23). Men may gather together into societies and creeds, but no true nnity, no real allegiance, except in Christ. He gathers together by his word and love the children of God which are scattered abroad (Johnxi. 52). 2. United by Divine influence. " They shall be gathered." God only knows where, and how, to find his people. He follows them in their wanderings, restores them when fallen, and leads them into green pastures, and beside the still waters. Men are drawn to Christ, disposed to join together, and made willing in the day of his power. 3. United by voluntary consent. We have first the act of God, without whom we can do nothing, and then follows their own act. " They appoint themselves one head." No outward force can constrain. If we do not act willingly, there can be no friendship and loyalty. God's service is a choice, a free service, " Choose you this day." " Will ye be my disciples V 4. United in true love. " The children of Judah and the children of Israel," who lived apart and at enmity. In the gospel only we have a basis for a common brotherhood and fraternity ; in Christ only have we bonds to cement and preserve it. In him Jew and Gentile, bond and free, live at peace ; "no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms." "In those days the house of Judali shall walk with the house of Israel" (Jer. iii. 18). " Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim" (Is. xi. 12, 13). 5. United in great joy. Taking ver. 1 in chap. ii. in connection with these, we have a declaration of joy. Those who called the children of the prophet not my people, and unfavoured, are now to call them the opposite names, the son to his brethren, the daughter to her sisters : or the people who have obtained mercy are summoned to salute one another with the new name and new dignity. Those who have obtained mercy 11 UOMILETIC COMMENTARY : JIOSEA. [chap. i. may rejoice, and rejoice in God. This privilege is insured to them. They must cherish mutual lovo among themselves, encourage one another in trouble, and rejoice together in hope. Clod's blessings must be commended to others. God's family is the only happy family. They "sing imto him a new song." 6. United in great glory. ' "They thai! come up out of the land." They ahaU be delivered from captivity, and led into the land of promise j rise up and march forth to victory, and be reinstated in splendour and power. Egypt is a type of heathen lands into which Israel is driven; Canaan a type of the land of the Lord; the guidance of Israel through the wilderness, and their deliveranco from captivity, a figurative, representation of re-union with God, and restoration to full enjoyment lvation. "Great shall he the day of Jezreel." This grand picture has not yet been realized; hut under the leadership of the Messiah the destiny of the human race shall be accomplished. " This seed is now sown," says Matt. Henry, " in the earth aud buried in the clods, but great shall bo its day when the harvest comes." Look joyfully, pray continually, and labour earnestly for that day when God shall sow and give the full increase of the Eedeemer's work (John xii. 24). HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 10. Places of sorrow, places of highest estimations, most vigorous affec- joij. Where the fathers are cast off for tions, and utmost endeavours of un- un belief, the children shall there be feigned obedience, they set him up in restored in mercy — places of death, places their hearts, and serve liim in their of resurrection. lives [Tro]>/>}. The living God. "The world has The Headship of Christ is: 1. The abounded with dead gods; there is but fulfilment of ancient prophecy. 2. The one living God. He is the living one. He bond of connection with God. 3. The is life, the primal fount of all existence, unity of all ranks. 4. The centre and Christ calls him the living Father, support of all virtues. He is King of As the living Father sent me, I live in the Jews, Head of the human race, and the Father, so he that eateth with me Lord of all creation. "When mankind shall live by me" [Dr Thomas]. If we depart from God, they lose the bond of expect God to be a living God to us, it unity and of peace. They are divided becomes us not to have dead hearts in then into parties, which contend with. his service. If God be active for our and exterminate each other. But when good, let us be active for his honour these have again united themselves with [Burroughs], the Lord, the unity of the members is Sons of the living God. 1. A restored. Therefore there is liberty, unique relation. 2. A distinguished equality, and fraternity only in tho privilege. 3. A blessed prospect. Lord [Langs]. One Head, ver. 11. Saints are said Great days of the Church. The to appoint Christ their head, and indeed Sabbath — the resurrection of Christ — to set the crown upon bis head (Cant, the day of Pentecost — the day of re- iii. 1 1 ), when they choose liim and em- vivals, and the gathering together of all brace him for their sovereign, when with nations. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER I. Our Age and Work, ver. 1. Every If we had great opportunities, and great great man is the son of his age, but not duties, we could do something in life, its pupil [Guesses at Truth]. The and make a mark after death. The dream, tlii- common mi. take, God, to give to earth its fertility; tue earth and all creatures desire to satisfy the want- or God'a people; God is no longer scattering, but providing and planting. 22 Jez. =] the seed of God. 23. Will sow] A promise antithetic to the threat (Deut. xxviii. 23 ; Lev. xxvi. 19) ; expressive "1 pro- digious converts and innumerable blessings on the earth (Rom. xi. 12 — 15). The children now change names to show mercy and prove restoration. " And with tenderness 1 will cherish her that had been Lo-Ruhamah (the not-beloved), and I will say to Lo-Ammi (to the no-people-ot-mine), Amtni (my own people) art thou ; and he shall say, My God" \_Horslcy]. This chapter is an enlargement and application of the first, the symbol of the one is expounded by the other. The sinful conduct of the nation is condemned, punishment is threatened, but salvation is proclaimed in promise of restitution and the blessings of peace and subsistence. The remnant among Israel, for whose sake God preserved a corrupt people, must prove living witnesses for him, testify to his goodness and grace, and urge others to turn to Jehovah. The penitent must plead with the impenitent, the converted with the unconverted, and the children with the parents. HOMILETICS. Filial Expostulation. — Verses 1 — 5. The mother is the representative of the nation, of the ungodly in all nations and families. The sons must plead with them. They are involved in judgments, left orphans, and without protection, by the conduct of their mother. I. Charge her with dissolution of the Marriage Contract. " She is not my wife." A spiritual union was formed between God and his people, under terms of great endearment and oneness. But she was no longer united to God by faith and love, and God would own her no longer. Churches and individuals who give them- selves to God must not decline in love. This will forfeit the honour, the protection of God, and Ms covenant relation ; provoke him to anger, and lead to divorcement. How touching is the rebuke uttered by the complaint, Thou no longer lovest me ! " She is not my wife, I am not her husband!" The history of the Church is a sad commentary upon these words. The Church at Ephesus was not wanting in purify of doctrine, nor in severity of discipline. The Lord disclosed the heart and pub- lished the fault. "Nevertheless I have someiohat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love." II. Urge her to put away Sin. The idolatry is described as whoredom and adultery ; a breach of fidelity which Israel owed to God ; an act of apostasy from God ; more cidpable than heathenish idolatry and superstitions. 1 . A public sin. Israel, like a barefaced harlot, displayed her sins in public before men. Publicity tempts the weak, taints the innocent, and leads to ruin. Wicked- ness like this is the most dissolute, and its woe will be the most intense. Some sin secretly, but others proclaim their sin to the world — they glory in their shame. 2. A shameful sin. The face and the breasts are those parts of the body which dis- play want of chastity, and depict boldness and shamelessness. Many neither shame, nor blush at their vice. Boldness without confession of wrong, wickedness done with desire of recognition, impudence in sin, will lead to hardness of heart. Those who will not blush will soon be unable to blush. " Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination 1 Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush : therefore they shall fall among them that fall." III. Warn her of Danger. Sin always involves risk, and brings its consequences upon ourselves and others. Every one is in duty bound, in his house, among his friends ami relations, and in his country, to labour for the happiness and good of all, to check the wicki d- ness and ward off the dangers by which he is surrounded. 1. She will expose herself. "Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born," &c (a) Expose herself to nakedness and helplessness. Israel taken when weak and 2 13 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY i HOSEJ. iciiap. ii. few in number ; trained, fed, and clothed by God like a little child ; married to God, ami adorned as a bride; should now be Btripped, deprived of every ornament, as an adulterous wife ; of all temporal and spiritual blessings as a people ; and left naked and helpless, a garing-stock to others. When God ceases to care and provide for a people, withholds the gifts of nature and of grace, they will become defiled by sin, cast out and loathsome. Like Adam and Eve, they will lose their innocence, and Lain their nakedness. Divine judgments strip men of natural defence, family honour, and leave them " naked unto their shame amongst their enemies " (Ex. xxii. 25). (!>) Expose herself to want and distress. " .Make her as a wilder- ness, and set her like a dry land." Incursions and hostilities of the enemy could lay • her waste as a wilderness ; or put her in great straits and distress, as in the desert when they came out of Egypt. Idolatry desolates the land and brings the devouring sword. She would be like a dry land, destitute of food and the main- tenance of life. Well-watered gardens become, deserts through sin. The outward is a type of the inward. " Mind hath its deserts no less than Region," says Bacon. "Everything that I love," said Napoleon, "everything that belongs to me, is stricken. Heaven and mankind unite to afflict me." The soul of the sinner is desolate and unfruitful in the ways and works of God; devoid of God's presence and blessing ; unrelieved by green pastures and living rills. " Your house is left unto you desolate," are words which describe the doom of all with- out Christ. Hungry and thirsty, they are not satisfied, but perish like a traveller in want. " Slay her with thirst." 2. She would endanger her children. " I will not have mercy upon her children" — children of whoredom inheriting the nature and suffering from the conduct of their mother. There is no security in sin. The rising generation do not escape. Parents entail a curse upon their offspring, and individuals are involved in national calamities. As good is dif- fused on every hand, so evil has its consequences ; consequences which have their influences, results themselves pregnant with other results, in endless succession. Our endeavour should be to guard ourselves from the evil of others, and guard against detriment from our own acts. " This man perished not alone in his iniquity." IV. Reprove her for Folly. She had acted shamefully in word and deed, towards herself and her children. The course of sin is a course of shame. The sinner forgets his best friend, and forsakes his own mercy. "What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed1? " The conduct of Israel was an affront to God and a reproach to man. To fall down to any image, ancient or modern, is to turn our glory into shame. Tins was — 1. An ungrateful sin. God set before them his law and judgments, promised blessings for obedience, and had given them the necessities and the luxuries of life j "more than corn, wine, and oil" (l's. iv. 7); but they claimed these gifts as their own; "my bread and my water; " or ascribed them to the lovers they followed. Men care for the things of ti and sense, lands, houses, and life, and forget the claims, the prior right of God. These things are only Lent as, must not be held upon wrong tenure arid made our gods. "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." 2. An ag- gravated sin. Amid Divine chastisemenl Israel encouraged herself in idolatry. She called the objects of her choice " lovers," and drew others to follow her in pur- suit. She waits not for invitation and allurement, but eager and unbidden, contrary to natural feeling and covenant pledge, she cries, " I will go." She Avas obstinate in pursuit, and avowed her determination. Abuse is added to ingratitude; God is forsaken for the pleasures of Life, and men attribute present happiness and pros- perity to sin, rather than to his goodness and forbearance. Take heed lest ye be fattened and fitted for slaughter. Aggravated sin ripens for judgment. He that despises God's reproof "shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." 3. A delusive sin. Idols do not give the necessities and enjoyments of life. God alone can fill men's "hearts with food and gladness" (Acts xiv. 17). The heathens had a goddess of corn and gods of. wine from whom they expected these gifts; so CIIAI". If.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : EOSEA. 19 men now make their gods, and fancy that these gods -will help them. They delude themselves hy error and folly; make things outside of God their Lovers ; and deify their talents or the laws of nature. We belong to God, and all things are at hifl disposal. If we do not trust in him, we " observe lying vanities." Man must have a god, and if he will not love and serve the true and living God, he makes a fool of himself, and pays homage to a he and a delusion. " As they did not like to re- tain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 1 may be taken as (in last chapter), 1. A declaration of joy. Wrath passed away and mercy re- membered. 2. A declaration of Chris- tian experience, (a) To encourage others. (b) To glorify God. God's grace is magni- fied j God's word is proved to be faith- ful; God's name made known, and others are induced to repent and trust in him. " Say ye to your brethren, Ammi." 3. An exhortation to the converted to plead with the unconverted. The few faithful in faithless Israel must plead with others. Those who know God must expostulate with those who do not know him ; children with parents ; relatives with relatives, (a) This a natural order. We naturally feel for friends and rela- tives. We may not forget others, but we begin at home. Andrew was ac- quainted with Jesus and related to Peter. " He first findeth his own brother Simon." Paul could wish himself ac- cursed for his kindred in the flesh (Rom. ix. 3). (b) This a Divine order. " Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee" (Mark v. 19). " Let them (chil- dren) learn first to show piety at home " (1 Tim. v. 4). (c) This the most suc- cessful order. We have greater sympathy for friends, more love to our own, than others. They are more likely to be influenced and persuaded by us than others. " Plead with your mother, plead" earnestly, faithfully, and continu- ally. Ver. 3. The folly of sin. 1. It strips men of blessings. 2. Exposes them to shame and danger. 3. Leaves them helpless and distressed. The sinner is naked ; bereft of grace, love, and protec- tion ; and exposed to famine and peril A Christian Church which throws off the ornaments of Divine grace and Divine ordinances will be stripped of outward privileges — spiritual gifts de- spised will lead to withdrawal of tem- poral gifts.1 Ver. 4. Mercy withheld fromchildren, churches, or nations, is a sad addition to their trouble. There is nothing to moder- ate, prevent, or remove their sorrow. Ver. 5. "I will go." The infatu- ation of the sinner, who hardens, em- boldens himself in sin, and rushes, heed- less of warnings and judgments, to shame and destruction. Steps in apostasy from God. 1. Renouncing obedience. 2. Loving idols. 3. Ascribing God's gifts to idols. 4. Justifying this course from benefits received. " We too have our idols, which our natural hearts madly rim after, toning away from God. Whatever we make our chief good, out- side of God, is an idol. How apt, more- over, we are to take God's gifts, our food, clothing, comforts, and luxuries, as if they were our own by some peculiar right; calling them l my bread, my water, my wool, my flax,' and to attri- bute our possession of them to our gold, our industry, and our talents, making these our gods " [Fausset's Com.]. God is the real giver of all temporal and spiritual blessings. If, therefore, thou hast any want, seek its supply from God \Lange\? 1 " Sin is a wasting plague to souls, countries, and enjoyments, for so is imported in the words, and 'make her as a wilderness,'" &c. [Hatcheson~\. .. .. 3 " As it is a great sin to depart from God and his true worship, so especially is it a shameful way of departing from him when men's ends are so low and base that they will follow any way of religion for interest and advantage, and account the thriving way best. Israel thought she throve best in and because of her idolatry, ' they give me my bread,' ' &c. [Hutcheson']. 20 EOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIOSEA. [chap. it. HOMJLETICS. The Unsuccessful Pursuit. — Verses 6, 7. Though Israel is dishonoured and fallen, she is not left to herself. God's mercy- yearns over and seeks to check her in sin and recall her to himself. God even now has not written a lull of divorcement, nor cast away the people whom he did fore- know. Through eighteen hundred years they have heen wandering without a dwelling-place as 1 a temple j hut the day will come, when she will "no more he termed Forsaken," nor "the land he termed Desolate; hut she will be called Hephzi-bah and the land Benlah." Men are prone to wander. They are disap- pointed in their wanderings, and God rouses, instructs, and restores his backsliding people. I. A pursuit after wrong objects. Man is a creature of strong affections. His feelings cling round the objects of his choice like ivy round a tree. Through sin these affections are misplaced. He loves the things which he should hate, and hates the things which he should love; forsakes the true God, and pursues lovers of his own. lie must love, he will worship, something; "that I may win" is the desire of every soul. Wealth, honour, position, and learning are eagerly sought, loved for, their own sake and for the sake of what they are thought to give. Thus men are seeking happiness where it cannot be found ; committing two evils, forsak- ing the fountain of living waters, and hewing out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns which will hold no water. " Who will show us any good1?" is the cry of the many. " Lord, lift thou upon us the light of thy countenance," is the prayer of the few. II. A pursuit with intense anxiety. Man's spiritual desires are in- satiable, yet ever seek gratification. They forbid him to rest, and compel him to seek supply. Inward sense of want, incapacity for alliance with sin, and instinctive longing for God, the " first good, first perfect, and first fair" — of whom all created beauty and good are mere shadows — make men restless and discontented. But in- stead of lifting the Boul to God, they look to the creature for satisfaction ; "seek " and "follow after" in eager pursuit of what they love; labour harder in sin, and seeking pleasure, than in serving God. They weary themselves in pursuit, rendered more eager by thorn-hedges and hindrances. Vexation and disappointment excite to desperate tenacity; affliction and remorse are often no check to the sinner; fuel is added to the lire, and with renewed ardour onward he goes to ruin and iir. "I will go after my lovers." The impenitent struggle on after that which God is taking from them, and will not give up, until the pursuit is found hopeless and exhaustive, and God in preserving mercy brings him back. "Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways ; for why will ye die, O house of Israeli" III. A pursuit under Divine restraint. God governs the world, and seeks the good of his creatures. The way of transgressors is rendered hard "through much tribu- 1 it ion." It is a warfare against conscience, reason, and revelation. In consciousness ilt we may discern our relationship to God. The trouble and anguish of spirit springing from this consciousness, "the inward unrest which sometimes Beizes the slave of sin are proofs that he has not quite broken away from God." God works within by his Spirit and without by hi I providences. Hedges and walls are fixed up to restrain men in sin. 1. The restraints of GooVs providence are virion* in their nature. God Bought to cut off Israel from idolatry by solitude and affliction. Like a thorn-hedge, affliction is painful. "No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous." Conscience, the Divine officer, warns and clerks the sinner. Disappointments in pursuits, pains attending pleasures, Divine judgments, and special manifestations, turn men from their purpose. Saul was overcome by lighl from heaven ; Balaam was met by an angel, and David by Abigail (1 Sam. xxv. 32). 2. The restraints of God's providence are merciful in their design, " that she shall not lind her paths." (a) Given to withdraw men from chap, ii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : IIOSEJ. j| sinful pursuits. " She shall not overtake them; andsheshall seek them, hut shall not find them." (b) Given to restore men to God. " Then shall she say, L will <;o and return." Strong barriers and painful providences are not sufficient. If God did not mercifully interfere we should all go astray. Let us repent of sin, ho thankful for correction, and admire the wondrous grace of God. " Before I was afflicted I went astray, hut now have I kept thy word." IV. A pursuit ending in failure. "She shall not overtake" what she follows; "she shall not find " what she seeks. Failure and disappointment after all her eagerness and effort! Egypt and Assyria were trusted in vain. Worldly alliances were of no service ; did not give the anticipated deliverance. Idols were impotent ; foreign nations were a broken reed, a source of sorrow and bitterness of spirit. Israel was obliged to confess, " it ivas better toith me than now." The sinner gains nothing, but loses everything, by forsaking God. He pursues phantoms of bliss. The pursuit will dis- gust, and end in failure. " Why did the cannon-balls spare me to die in this manner ! I am no longer the Great Napoleon. How fallen and disappointed I am !" cried Napoleon in his latter end. Nothing can take the place of God — nothing can satisfy but bread. A sinful life can never give peace of conscience and peace with God. The beast may be satisfied with what it finds on earth, for its nature aspires no higher; but man is linked to God, longs for him, and cannot be contented without him. Though the heart once alienated from him turns further away, and moves not towards him until renewed, yet even in its wandering it retains its nature and necessities. God is its centre, and it is restless and void till it meets with him again. Men go here and there, do this and that, in quest of good, as moments dictate and circumstances call forth, but all in vain. They faint in mind and fail in hope. God never created man to find rest and happiness in utter rejection of himself. " Thou madest us for thyself, and our heart is restless until it repose in thee " [AugustineV. " Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread I and your labour for that which satisfieth not 1 hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." The Backslider's Way hedged up. — Verses 5 — 7. Consider the text, and seek to arouse and restore backsliders, who have left their first love, and may have forsaken the Church of God, given up their profession and all attendance upon Divine worship. I. While sinful men are in prosperity they pervert the mercies of God to their own injury, making them instruments of sin and weapons of war- fare against God. While Israel enjoyed abundance of temporal comforts they ascribed all these blessings to false gods. Prosperous sinners make three great mistakes. At the outset they give their temporal mercies the first j'/'"'1' in their hearts. Business prospers, but they consider not their soul. They say, " We must live" but they forget that they must die. Such folly most shameful, base ingratitude, in one who has known, or professed to have known, better. One error leads to another, and hence such people hold their temporal things upon a wrong tenure. Observe how many times the word "my" is found in the text. "Give me my bread," &c. They were not hers, but God's, who expressly claims them, and threatens to take them all away (verse 9). The back- slider once professed himself to be God's servant; nothing is his now — houses, lands, profits, and children, only lent for a season. He is but God's under-bailiff, possesses only as tenant-at-will, or as a borrower, holding a loan. Then, further, backsliders are apt to ascribe their prosperity and their mercies to their sine. I have even heard one say, "Ever since I gave up a profession of religion 1 have made more headway in business than I did before." Some apostates have boasted, "Since I broke through puritanical restraint, and went out into worldly company, I have been better in spirits, and better in purse than ever I was before." Thus H HOMILETIC COMMENTARY '.- HGS&f. [chap. n. they ascribe t h<- mercies which Cod has given them to their sins, and wickedly how down to their lusts, as Israel did before the golden calf, and cry, "These be thy gods, 0 Lsrael!" These things are given to try you, to see how far you will go, and to what extravagances of ingratitude you will descend. II. Turn from the gloomy side, and observe that the Lord interposes adversity in order to bring back his wandering children. Consider the hindrances which a Cod of love puts in tie- way. You see an unexpected hindrance, for it is placed right in the man's way. " 1 will hedge up thy way" — it was his way, his Tidbit; he had fallen into it, and he meant to keep on ; but suddenly he met with an unlooked- foi obstacle. This hedge is placed in your way in differenl shapes. Business grows slack ; had debts multiply ; bankruptcy stares you in the face; and where you had enough to lavish on pleasure you have not enough to supply your need. You thought you would live a millionnaire ; more likely now to die a pauper. Or sudden sickness falls upon a strong healthy person. Possibly the hedge is of other thorns. The first-born son, the expected heir, the joy of the father's heart, falls like a withered flower ; his wife is cut oil' as a, lily snapped from its stalk. These are walls across the way of those whom God ordains to bless. Observe, it has a very disappointing impediment. The prosperous sinner is stopped when securely pursuing his way. " Why," says the man, " if it had not been for that I should have made a fortune." "Why did death come just when my fair girl looked so lovely, and when my dear boy had grown so engaging? Ah! this is trouble indeed. To meet with misfortune just when I built that new house, and held my head so high, and expected to see my daughters so respectably married ; this is very disappointing." The man kicks, and though once professed to be a child of God, he is ready to curse Cod and die. If he knew the Divine natm-e, he would thank God for his troubles on bended knees. "What painful hindrances our heavenly Father often uses. He hedges the sinner's path, not with rhododendrons and azaleas, uot with roses and laurels, but with thorns — prickly thorns, which curse the soil and tear the flesh, are God's instruments of restraint. Furthermore, the fence is effectual ; if the thorn hedge will not suffice, it is written, "I will make a wall." Some are BO desperate in sin that they break through ordinary restraints; then a wall shall be tried, "through which there is m> breaking, over which there is uo climbing. III. You would think that the sinner would now stop, but instead of that, according to the text, even though God walls up the way of sin, men will try to follow it, but this resolve shall be in vain, lie is desperately Bel on destruction, as though it were to be desired. What a creature is man, though he knows that sin will be his ruin, yet he hugs it as though it were his chief mercy; heaps to himself destruction as though it were gold. If the righteous were half as intent in seeking after goodness as the wicked are in hunting sin, how much more active would they be. Truly this love is so strange, that if we did not Bee it in ourselves we should wonder at, it. It is in i/i>", Christians, as in the worst of men, and hut for Divine mercy you would have plunged on from had to worse, IV. Consider that the backslider's failure is followed by a blessed result. Observe, here is repentance attended with sorrow. The poor creature deeply feels to the wry soul tlt«' wrel chei 1 ness of her condition. It is an adive repentance. It is not merely " I will return," but, " 1 will go and return." There is much earnestness in a -inner seeking Christ ; bu1 more, if possible, in a backslider returning from the error of his ways; for he has not only the guilt of sin to mourn over, but the double guilt of having despised the Saviour, of having known the way of righteousness and turned from it. The confession which this poor soul makes of folly is one which is sustained by the best of reasons. "Then was it better with lne than now." Backslider, what have you gained'? Have you gained anything more comfortable than ///'■ light of your Father's face? Before, you had tile privilege of going to the throne of grace, you could tell your wants before God, and spread your sorrows there; but now you have no throne of grace CHAP. II.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY : HOSE A. 2:; to go to. Then yo u hud Q oft s promises to fall back upon. Once you had com- munion ivitli Christ. What can the world afford you comparable to this? There is no room to entertain a comparison for a moment. Lastly, this repentance was acceptable. It is not often that a husband is willing to take back his wife when she has so grossly sinned, as the metaphor here implies ; yet God is willing to receive the sinner, though his sin is even more aggravated. "Retain unto me, for I am married unto thee." V. Observe that there is an awful contrast to all this. Some prosper until, like a wide-spread tree, they are cut down and cast into the fire. There are backsliders who, never having had the root of the matter in them, go back unto their own ways and continue there for ever. Never trifle with backsliding. Chosen vessels, notwithstanding their backslidings, are brought bade ; but, ah ! remember that nine out of ten of those who backslide nevei were God's people. You must be born again, and only the man who continues to the end shall be saved. VI. We conclude with this — is not this subject a very solemn warning to the people of God? If one man falls, another may. If one profe boi turns out to be a hypocrite, another may. There must be the continual keeping and anointing of the Holy Spirit. No man backslides at once. Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together. "Wake up your coldness in private prayer. If love to Christ has grown cold, pray to the Master to inflame your heart again. Let us trust the Saviour. There is the sinner's hope ; there is the saint's strength \Spurgeon~\. HOMILETIQ HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 6. Subject: — Divine Restraints. I. These restraints are manifold. " I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall." The first metaphor is from a husbandman who plants a prickly hedge to prevent cattle from breaking away. The other from architecture. If thorns are insufficient, high and mass- ive walls must be built. 1. There is the restraint of affliction. When the wicked purpose some great crime, afflic- tion comes, breaks their plans, and strikes them down. 2. There is the restraint of public sentiment. Public opinion, as it gets enlightened and strong, is a tremendous check to the wicked. The most daring cower before the public voice. 3. There is the restraint of con- science. Conscience is a Divine officer holding the sinner. II. These restraints are necessary. It is necessary that God should plant thorny hedges and build massive walls around the sinner. 1. It is neces- sary for the sinner himself. Were it not for these he would go galloping to perdition. "0, unhappy men," says Luther, " when God leaves them to themselves, and does not resist them in their lusts. You bless yourselves many times that in the way of sin you find no difficulty. Bless thyself! Thou hast cause to howl and wring thy hands, tin in hast the curse of God on thee. A dread- fid curse to make pleasant the way of sin." 2. It is necessary for the world. What would become of the world if the wicked were not reined in1? Were it not for restraints the Ctesars, the Alexanders, and the Napoleons would soon turn it into a Pandemonium. 3. It is necessary for the Church. Had wicked men their full fling, how long would the Church last? The flames of martyrdom would soon blaze to heaven and consume Zion to ashes. Thank God for thorny hedges and massive Malls, for all the restraints he puts on sinful men [The Homilisf]. The Danger of outward Prosperity — sufferings a specific against apostasy. Divine Chastisements. 1. Love, their source. 2. Sorrow, their means. .">. Good, their end. " Crosses and obst in an evil course are a great blessing, and are so to be accounted. They are. God's hedges, to keep us from trans- gressing, to restrain us from wandering out of the green pastures, to withdraw man from his purpose (Job xxxiii. 1 < ), to make the way of sin difficult, that wo may not go on in it, and to keep us 2i HOMILETIC COMMENTARY ': EOSEA. [chap. it. from it whether we will or not. We their own disadvantage in forsaking have reason to bleea God both for re- him: for so much is imported as the Btraining grace and Eor restraining pro- reason for her return, "for then was it vidences" \M att. Henry], he tter with, me than now" [Hutcheson], Ver. 7. The Course of Sin. 1. A / will go and return. 1. The course of labour — unrequited toil — sinner's wandering. 2. The sinner's vexation of spirit and hitter bondage. penitence. 3. The sinner's return to God. Sinners labour harder than saints, and "By this text we may gather what true receive nothing but exhaustion and repentance is: namely, when a sinner fatigue 2. A course of failure. Loss not only confesseth himself guilty and Of health and peace — all loss and no worthy of punishment, but truly dis- gain. 3. The service of God the only pleaseth himself and seriously returns true gain. "It was hitter with me." to God. Here we have two essential Godliness is profitable to all things — parts of true repentance- -namely, con- body and sonl, this world and the next. trition and conversion; or humiliation Sin suicidal. God's service real ad- and reformation. The former is called vantage. Tin ee who embrace God, would in Scripture repentance for sin, the latter take him up as the best of choices, and repentance from sin : and the one with- his way as the shortest cut to do well out the other is to no purpose or profit" and to be well: they are sensible of [2Vaj>p]. HOMILETICS. God Dishonoured in His Gifts to Men. — Verses 8, 9. Israel is still accused and threatened. God will disgust the idolatrous nation, put to shame its delusive fancy that all prosperity came from idols, and bring it to an acknowledgment of dependence upon him. In gross and affected ignorance sho fathered all gifts upon her gods. Here we hive— I. The Gifts of Life bestowed in aluufance. Israel was greatly blessed with "com, and wine, and oil," the fruits of the land. These productions were the foundation of the nation's wealth and prosperity, and the means by which "silver and gold" Mere multiplied. Money was superabundant in Solomon's reign. "The king made silver to he in Jerusalem as stones" (1 Kings x. 27). Wool and flax for clothing and ornament. God be- stows necessities and luxuries upon men; honour and position, leaders and genius, upon nations. The earth yields its increase, and corn and wine, bread and water, aie spread before us in the wilderness. The sun sheds forth its light and heat, flowers send forth fragrance, and herbs grow for man and beast. All our possessions and enjoyments come from him. Amid ingratitude, atheism, and vice, life springs up ever new, food is given as plentifully to sustain it, and joy and blessings are poured over all existence. God " is kind unto the unthankful and the evil." He makes the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. II. The Gifts of Life received with ingratitude. " She did not know." She would not know. [t was not, a mere weakness or infirmity, but wilful ignorance. God had taught her by Moses and the prophets. In their feasts and offerings of Gist-fruits, in their eventful history and the wonders of providence, the goodness of God was impressed upon their minds. But wdien the heart is not touched, the memory will fail. The ingratitude of man to man is base. Pitt was soured in temper by tin- ingratitude which he experienced. " All the | eers whom he had made deserted bun," says a writer, "and half of those whom he had served ret uined his kindness by going over to his enemies." Divine favours are frozen by human ingratitude and turned into a cause of rebellion. There was no excuse for Israel, and none for men now. 1. Ignorant of tin- Divine. source from whence they come. ? /gave her corn." " God is the giver of every good and perfect gift." "A man can chap, ii.] 110 MI LET IC COMMENTARY : HOSEA. receive nothing except it be given him from heaven." But men do not ackmnx ! God; attribute their comforts to secondary causes, their own skill, their fellow men or "good luck." The ox knows its owner, and the ass his master's crib, and both are grateful for help : but intelligent beings receive gifts from God, and hoard up for posterity; forget their relation, and pay no dues to their benefactor; but live in known sin and wilful disregard of his love. What tablesare spread for us without grace before meat or gratitude after. 2. Ignorant of the benevolent purpose for which they are sent. Grass for cattle, corn and wine to gladden human hearts flax and wool to clothe and beautify human bodies, and all things richly to enjoy. God has never left " himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." Put, we claim his bounties as our oavu, forget the end for which they are bestowed, and under a formal and false religion, employ them for selfish and unworthy ends. " Despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering ; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance 1 " III. The Gifts of Life basely abused. Israel first made golden calves, then mended or made images of Baal with the gold and silver which God had given them. God's gifts were turned into human idols, worshipped by men's own hands, and turned into food for sinful lusts. In modern idolatry God's blessings are abused and employed to maintain and spread the worship of Baal and Bacchus. Gold and silver, houses and land, children and earthly comforts, take the place of God ; all are taken as our special right, attributed to our intellect and industry, and employed in the service of idolatry. In providence God is displaced by fortune or fate ; in business talent and tact is all ; in pursuit of pleasure and gain, the heart and understanding, the soul and body, are wholly devoted to unworthy objects. " Covetousness is idolatry." Men are " lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God." Christians are cautioned against " the worship of angels," and of some it is said " their god is their belly." Self-will, excessive thirst of aggrandizement, love of applause, undue veneration of creatures, greedy indulgence in lust and animal appetite, and inordinate attach- ments of every kind, are dishonouring to God and injurious to man, prove a tendency to depart from God, and display the actual and continual forgetting of God's claims, who says to each individual person, " I am the Lord thy God." "Thou shalt have no other god before me." IV. The Gifts of Life justly withheld. " Therefore will I return and take away my corn." These things were God's, not theirs — they were only stewards in trust. He reserves all power to himself, and retains supreme authority over men. If they do not give him his due, unjustly withhold their gratitude and homage, then he will claim his own and take from them what he bestowed for their welfare. God is the sole proprietor, hasincontot- able right, and to him Ave must give an account. 1. Gifts abused ivill be taken away from men. Ingratitude and sinful appropriation will rob us of enjoyments and necessities of life. Idleness and neglect will forfeit all reward.- Take from him that which he hath (Luke viii. 18 ; xix. 24, 26). Keeping, hiding our talents, and non-employment of our time will bring — (a) Divine denunciation, (b) Divine de- privation, and (c) Divine displeasure. 2. Gifts abused tvill be taken away from m a unexpectedly. "In the time thereof," and "in the season thereof." Just when they expect them and when men think they are sure of them. God will blast the harvest when it is ready for reaping. The meat shall be taken from their moutha (Joel i. 16); drunkards will awake and weep (ver. 5, 11); and husbandmen howl. In the fulness of sufficiency men are put into straits (Job xx. 22, 23); and when they are just about to realize their hopes they will be disappointed. Unseaa >nal do weather, wicked men, and mysterious providences snatch away abused mem, s. This punishment is more signal and severe than gradual decay or long-lookedfOT visitation. It is not the work of chance, but a solemn, significant judgment of God which leaves the sinner in want and distress, in shame and utter destitution. 8fi JWMILETIC COMMENTARY: ROSEA. [chap. ii. HOMILETIG HINTS AXD OUTLINES. Ver. 8. Ignorance of God. 1. Nega- imitate those lights of heaven and riven tivo, inexcusable. 2. Affected, sinful, of earth, do all the good we can with 3. Wilful, hopeless. "There remaineth those good things, corn, wine, silver and no sacrifice if we Bin wilfully," &c. gold, &c, which God hath given us, and Ingratitude. 1. Its source, wilful then reflect hack towards and return all ignorance. 2. [ts fruit, (") forgetful- the glory and praise unto the sun of our ness of Divine benefits, (M worship of righteousness and the sea of our salva- idols — coarse and refined. 3. Its tion. Let us ever send back (as the punishment, withdrawal of all gifts, re- beams of the moon and stars return to suiting in poverty and distress. "Were the face of the sun, which gave them men but sensible of what God doth for their beauty) to God's own glorious self them every day and hour, they could the honour of all his gifts, by a fruitful not in equity and common ingenuity improvement of them and fresh songs Berve him as they do. He preserveth of praise" [Trqpp]. God manifests great and provideth for us all; lays us clown kindness, whereof little notice is taken, and takes us up, commanding the best and wherein his hand is not seen nor of creatures fco cater fur us (Hos. ii. 21), acknowledged [Hutckesori]. and to bring as in the best of best for When men will not know God as the our subsistence (1's. viii.). Every good giver of all their temporal blessings, they gift and perfect, temporal, spiritual, and shall be compelled to know him as the eternal, conieth from the Father of withholder of them [Fansset], Those lights (das. i. 17), as naturally and as who abuse the mercies God gives them constantly as light doth from the sun, to his dishonour, cannot expect to enjoy or water from the sea. Let us therefore them long [Matt. Henry], HOM1LETICS. The Exposure of Folly. — Verse 10. Warning follows warning, but amid judgment and corruption Israel forgets God and gives up herself to mirth and idolatry. Pleasures allure men astray. But sin and mirth will be separated, and those who refuse Divine mercy will feel Divine justice. Notice :— I. Folly decked in gaudy colours. "Lewdness" means folly; for -in is real folly, as holiness is essential wisdom. Foolishness is the natural tendency, the mighty propensity to evil; bound up in the heart, incorporated in the thoughts, and manifest in the life of the sinner. But the folly of sin is often veiled in darkness, decked in ornament and trickery, to attract and deceive. It dazzles by its glitter and ensnares by its mask. The outside is attractive, but the inside is deceptive. There is no substance, no enjoyment in sin; all is shadow and empti- ness. Men think themselves wise in their folly, and are praised for their worldly policy (Pa xlix. 18). They call themselves happy, when applauded by others and blessed with temporal prosperity. But fame and success, wealth and worldly pos- sessions, are impotent in the tomb. The dying worldling "shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him." The pleasures of sin and the pride of life are only rainbow colours to the bubble, giving it tint, but no substance and reality. There is no utility, no rest, no gain in sin. It is not a casual step from the path of wisdom, but the regular and usual course of folly. Essential folly, folly in the grain, folly in its nature, folly in its dress, and folly in its end. 'l Nought but itself could be its parallel." It has the fascination and the fangs of a serpent. " It biteth like a serpent, ami stingeth like an adder." It deceives and destroys. In whatever guise folly presents itself, gross and repellent, subtle and seductive, it must be shunned. "Abstain from all appearance of evil," or as some, "from everything that not only is evil, but that looks like evil." II. Folly ex- chap, ii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: 110SE.I. 27 posed to public shame. " Now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of hei lovers." Darkness and secresy are no hiding-place to God. His eyes penetrate every place, and his hand can reach every person. Secret sins shall be discovered and their perpetrators exposed. The mask shall be torn away, and sin in its nature and consecpiences shall appear offensive, lewd, "exceeding sinful." Men may deny the fact and excuse the fault of sin; may cover crime with lies, and self-righteousness with professional virtues; but a God of truth will bring "to light the hidden things of darkness." Virtues are hidden and oppressed ; wickedness rides; and every day cries out for redress and retribution. Evd-doers shun the light and love dark- ness. They never will, never did, appreciate the light of holiness and rectitude. It reveals their folly and kindles remorse in their bosom. As foid birds of night, they hide themselves from its beams. The "wicked cover their sins from themselves and others. They banish serious thoughts from their minds, stifle convictions, and put on a cheerful appearance. But " he that covereth his sins shall not prosper." An offended God, who summoned Adam from his hiding-place, will call and condemn the sinner. In public, " in the sight of her lovers," before men on earth and angels in eternity, they will be put to shame and confusion of face. The darkest deeds are " set in the light of God's countenance," and will " be proclaimed upon the house-tops." " There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves." III. Folly bereft of every defence. " None shall deliver her out of mine hand." When God begins to work, who shall let or hinder him] Men say, "It was an oversight," " I coidd not help it," therefore forget it. They plead ignorance, custom, temptation, infirmity, necessity, and fatalism even, to excuse or palliate their guilt. This will never succeed. It was hopeless for Israel to trust to then* idols and alliances. The strongest army, the most popular idol, are nothing before God. " All nations before him are as nothing ; and they are counted to him less than nothing and vanity." 'iThe allurements of vice will deceive. Ee- liance on temporal prosperity, outward formality, and religious ceremony will be in vain. It is only faith in Christ, not confidence in men, that can deliver us. The wicked " strengtheneth himself in his wickedness " (Ps. lii. 7) ; but he can neither outwit nor overcome his Judge. Given to wickedness, the sinner and the false pro- fessor shall find that "none shall deliver" "The wicked is driven away in his wickedness" (Pro v. xiv. 32); "neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it " (Ecc. viii. 8). Mirth turned into Mourning. — Verse 11. Israel had forsaken the temple of God, and worshipped idols under the form of a calf — had changed some festivals, and kept up all in outward form. The monthly and yearly feasts were celebrated with mirth. God had commanded them to rejoice in their feasts (Deut. xvi. 14) ; but their hymns and instrumental music, their priests and sacrifices, were licentiousness and falsehood, luxury and excess of every description and degree. Their joy must cease and their mirth would be turned into mourning. I. Mirth connected with wickedness. 1. It is a most prevalent connect)"". "The notes of jollity and fun are heard everywhere through society. At theatres, taverns, divans, and social festivities, it flares and rattles. The drunkard has his mirth, the bar his mirth, the debaucher his mirth, the blasphemer his mirth, the sabbath-breaker his mirth. The union of sin and mirth is, alas, very common. "We meet it everywhere; in the dance and in the song, in the \j"ke and in the gibe " [Dr Thomas]. 2. It is a most unreasonable connection. A\ ickednees and mirth, how incongruous ! " Sorrow is better than laughter " to the wieked. " For by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better." The condition and prospects of a sinner shoidd make him weep rather than rejoice. Sin can never give true happiness. The world can never be our home, and the heart cannot rest 2S irOMII.ETIC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. [chap. it. there. Its resources are poor ; its pleasures arc not solid; and when its "joys axe all packed up and gone," then will be the days of mourning. Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful ; and the end of that mirth is heaviness. II. Mirth connected with false religion. If sin and mirth are unreasonable, how much more mirth and idolatry! [srael turned "her feast 'lays, her new moons, and her sabbaths" into days of making merry. On the Sabbath they should have owned God as their ( Jreator; on other festive days they should have thanked him for the gifts of Nature and the wonders of Providence. But the worship of God was blended with the service of idols; and feigned joy under the form of true joy. As Israel of old " made a calf in Horeb," the place of solemnities and law : so men now worship "graven images;" cling to forms of their own device; and change true joy into false mirth. Joy becomes a feast ; but the revelry that marked heathen festivals can never become the house of God. Communion with God can never be enjoyed through consecrated symbols. " Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them ; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." III. Mirth turned into mourning. Their songs were to cease, and their music and dancing turned into weeping and wailing. " I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation" (Amos viii. 10). The mirthful songs of sin- ners suddenly change into shrieks of agony and death. Many a sigh is heard amid loudest laughter. The smiles of mirth are counterfeits to hide hearts of woe. Belshazzar's impious feast to a thousand lords ended by his own destruction and that of his empire. "Be merry and wise." "Fly the pleasure which bites to-mor- row." Mirth pursued, possessed, and enjoyed without God is vanity (Ecc. vii. 6). 1. It is of short duration. It is but " the crackling of thorns under a pot," ablaze for a moment, an excitement which cannot last. 2. It is certain in its terrain- ation. I " will cause her mirth to cease." It may be attractive in its appearance, supported by its resources, and spread by its devotees; but the solemn warning is read, "Woe unto you that laugh now; for ye shall mourn and weep." Prosperity turned into Adversity. — Verses 12, 13. Festive rejoicing was to end. Israel loved new moons and sabbath days not for the sake of religious worship, but for sinful pleasures and delight. The vine and tig-tree, the choicest productions of the land, and the source of great wealth and sustenance, were to be taken away. Orchards, gardens, and vineyards were to be neglected, deprived of defences, and exposed to wild beasts. I. Prosperity in rich abundance. God is the Giver. There is no moment in all history, in all departments of life, in which he is not giving with a liberal and powerful hand. He is the author of abundance everywhere — abundant light, abundant rain, and abundant joys. Israel had a land flowing with milk and honey. The necessities and luxuries of life are given to men in abundance. Giving doth not impoverish him, nor withholding make him rich. But even to those who abuse his gifts, to the wicked and unthank- ful, God bestows prosperity. The ungodly prosper on earth. They are suc- cessful in business. Their bread seems to bo gained without care, and their wines without stint. They are often in great power, ruling with the might of Caesar and the wealth of Croesus. " Spreading themselves like a green bay tree," they are rooted in the world, add house to house, and held to field, rise higher and higher in splendour and pride. "They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men." They escape many anxious cares and killing toil. God's people smart under the rod while the wicked escape. But to the eye of faith and in the sanctuary of God these perplexities are unriddled. "Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, neither be thou envious at the prosperity of the wicked." II. Prosperity greatly abused. 1. Ascribed to wrong sources. A man can receivo nothing except it be given him from heaven; but he looks to sinful and secondary chap. n.J HOMILETIG COMMENTARY: ROSEA. 2'J causes, and boasts as if he had received nothing. Israel thought all their prosperil y •was bestowed by their idols. "These are my rewards that my lovers have given me." Men look to their neighbours, or thank their stars, for their good fortune. They attribute success in business to their diligence and talent ; believe themselves to be the architects of their own fortunes ; and cry in the spirit of Nebuchadnezzar " Is not this great Babylon that I have built," &c. 2. Leading to sinful practices. " Wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels." Like harlots, the Israelites adorned themselves to attract admirers | and like heathens, they burned incense to idol gods. One sin leads to another. Prosperity begets pride, and pride begets ingratitude. Then when God is deserted, his power, goodness, and love are attributed to another; sacrifices are offered and incense burned to unworthy deities. Ancient and modern idolatry have filled the world with corrupt practices and tendencies. Impurity, unchastity of every descrip- tion, is most deteriorating. In dishonouring God, men have "dishonoured their own bodies " (liora. i. 24). Moral corruption is followed by physical debasement. The grossness of Pagan idolatry is only equalled by the degrading immoralities which it fostered and consecrated. Gluttony, drunkenness, and every " sin without the body," only injures, does not alienate the body from God : " but he that com- mitteth fornication sinneth against his own body," commits sacrilege, and makes it like a harlot's body (1 Cor. vi. 18, 19). III. Prosperity visited by Divine judgment. " I will destroy her vines and her fig-trees." What God gives he can easily take away — turn our joy into mourning — our prosperity into adversity. 1. Temporal judgment. Before, God had threatened only to take away the fruits in their season; now he will take away not only fruit, but the trees that bare it. Present enjoyments and future prospects can be cut off; beauty, wealth, and honour wither like a flower; famine and sword can turn our vineyards into a desert. " Ho smote their vines also and their fig-trees; and brake the trees of their coast." 2. Spiritual judgment. " I will visit upon her the days of Baalim." Take one step to idolatry, we may be given up to more. God may seem to wink for a time, but a continual course of impenitence will be visited with severe punishment. Change Jehovah for Baal, you change prosperity for adversity, honour for shame, real en- joyment for sensual pleasure. God's presence is seen and God's voice is heard in all the vicissitudes of men. Woe to men when their table becomes a snare, "and that which should have been for their welfare a trap," a retribution for their departure from God, and their inhumanity to themselves (Ps. lxix. 22). Restoration to God. — Verses 14 — 16. " Therefore," a treatment not as we shovdd expect, not after the manner of men, but according to Divine mercy. This is not an inference from the 13th verso, but from the whole section. Because Israel had been punished severely for sin and for- getfulnessof God; because reduced to distress and longing to return to God — I will go and return, ver. 7 — " therefore " God allures and restores the sinner to himself. I. The nature of restoration to God. 1. From bondage to liberty. Israel in Egypt, under severe, helpless, degrading servitude, a type of the sinner under the dominion, authority, and consequence of sin. Heavy tribute, cruel task- masters, unrequited toil, render life bitter and distressing. Sin makes the sinner serve with rigour and sigh for freedom. Israel redeemed and led into the wilder- ness a type of separation from sin and restoration to God. An entire separation to devote oneself to God (Ex. v. 3). 2. From darkness to light. Egypt not only a place of bondage, but of darkness. Sin is moral darkness. The valley of Achor is a place of Divine chastisement and suffering. Sin brings trouble, penitence bursts the clouds and brings hope. Put away the accursed thing : God will show mercy. The sinner when restored is turned from the darkness of ignorance and di ml it, fear and despair, to the light of truth and joy, from the power of Satan unto God 30 1IO.VILETIC COMMENTARY: 1IOSEA. [chap. ii. (Acts xxvi 18). II. The method of restoration to God. 1. By Divine attrac- tion from icitlwut. God seeks to counteract the effects of sin by showing its exceeding sinfulness ; to allure to virtue by displaying its beauty ; to persuade men by tlic preaching of the gospel. God in Christ is placable. Hani thoughts of God axe sinful Truth is beautiful, and the promises arc encouraging. Though deep and axed dislike be rooted in the heart, vet " God is love." This is the special revelation, the grand fact of the gospel. It is the expression of God's love to me — '• II.' hath loved me." This Divine truth imparts new ideas to the mind, and stays the progress of the sinner, like that of Saul in his departure from God. 2. By Divine operation within. "And speak comfortably unto her." The truth of God alone is not sufficient The Spirit must enlighten the mind and work in the heart. The ear may be touched, but the soid not comforted. "When truth is near it does not attract, nor kindle sympathy in the heart. Men know the truth, but do not practise it. God, Christ, and moral virtue do not attract. The Spirit renews Ihe disposition and begets love; makes us willing, and draws us with the cords of a man and bands of love. God speaks friendly, and draws effectually when be writes his laws in our hearts (2 Cor. iii. 10). III. The results of restoration to God. God <}<«■* not speak in vain. As in the first creation he spake and it was done, so in the second his will is obeyed. "I will draw all men unto me." 1. Re *i i, i a .sv for reluctance. The sinner is unwilling to return ; the penitent fears and hesitates ; but when God said, "Seek ye my face," my heart said unto thee, "Thy face, Lord, will I seek." Where other voices fail God's voice is I ual. There is a true response, a prompt and ready response. The inmost sovd is moved, and, like the echo among the Alps, repeats the notes of Divine music. There is no delay nor denial, for this savours of distrust, and displeases God. There is full and complete, hearty and sincere return. The resolution is no sooner made, " I will go," than carried out. The heart is in tune with God, and sings for joy, like Israel in her days of youth and deliverance. Israel at the Led Sea was a young and joyful nation, redeemed from bondage and ready to sacrifice. "I will sing unto tin' Lord" (Ex. xv.). Man never rises to his dignity until he realizes his relation to God. Then he utters emotions in songs of praise, and music becomes the handmaid of memory and the instrument of praise. 2. Riches for poverty. " I will give her vineyards from thence." The wilderness had no supply of bread and water, no fertile plains and fruitful fields. It yielded nothing, yet Israel lacked nothing. Water gushed out from the rock, and manna fell from the clouds. The sinner is in a dry ami thirsty land where no water is; barren and unfruitful in hearl ami life; poor in spirit, and prospect, in a wretched and forlorn condition; " wretched and miserable, and pour, and blind, and naked." But when restored to God, he is rich in experience and life, spiritual joy and hope, rich in faith and rich in God. 3. Sonship for slavery. "Thou shalt call me Ishi, and shalt call me no Baali" Baal Indicated lordship, and was a name given to idols. God would disown the till.-, lest his people should be reminded of their former condition — preferred ihe tender name of love to prove closer relationship. "Thy Maker (thy Baal) is thy husband." God would have Israel forsake everything which kept up the reputation ami put them in mind of idolatry. lie was married again to them. The < Jhurch calls him by right names when in true relation. The sinner when restored to Divine favour, the son when introduced into the family of God, is nut under the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption by which he cries, Abba, Father. God is not cold towards us; be not lukewarm towards him. " lie ye therefore followers of God as dear children." EOMILETIG HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 14. "/ toill allure her" cj-c. They are innumerable, yet so frequently The attractions of Divine love. 1. overlooked. 2. They are powerful, yet CHAP. II.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY i UOSl.l. 31 so frequently resisted. 3. Rich, in bless- ing, yet so frequently unemployed. " Christ works upon his people fortiter, but yet suaviter; powerfully, but yet sweetly ; he inclineth their hearts to his testimonies, and not to covetousness (Ps. cxix. 36), and brings them to the obedience of faith. If he do seduce them it is for no hurt, it is but to speak a word in private to them, as one friend may with another; it is but to give them his loves, as he speaks in the Canticles ; to show them his glory, as he did Moses ; to spread before them his beauty, and so to catch them by guile as St Paul did the Corinthians (2 Epist. xii. 16); to steal away their hearts before they are aware, according to that, Cant. vi. 12, that they thence- forth may be an Aminadab, a willing people, a free-hearted people (Ps. ex. 3), waiting for the law (Isa. xlii. 4), and walking by the rule (Gal. vi. 16)" [Trapp]. The valley of Aclwr. 1. An asser- tion of God's rights. 2. A warning to sinners (cf. Jos. vii. 25, 26). A door of Hope. 1. Trouble turned into joy. 2. Judgment turned into mercy. 3. Despair turned into hope. Up out of the land of Egypt. Moral life an elevation in character, purpose, and pursuit ; an advancement towards God and heaven. " Such as are con- verted to Christ, should resolve on a journey and progress, as having more before them of duty and exercise and enjoyments ; for after she is ' allured,' Israel is to remove and come to a wilder- ness, whether we understand it of the progress of the godly toward heaven, or toward wonted enjoyments " [Hutcheso?i.] Vineyards from thence. Observe the Author of these favours, I will do it. Every good gift is from God ; and his people acknowledge that all they enjoy is not only from his agency, but from his grace. Observe also the richness of the supplies. I will give her, not her corn, which is for necessity, but grapes, which are for delight. Yea, it is not a vine, but a vineyard ; yea, vineyards ! As if he could not do too much for them, he engages to give ; concerned not only for their safety, but welfare ; not only for their relief, but enjoyment; not only for their tasting consolation, but being filled with joy and peace in believing. Observe also the stremgt nesa of the way in which these indulgences are to be communicated. Whence are those sup- plies to come] From a uritder Loneliness and mazes, danger and beasts of prey, sand, and briers, and thorns only in a wilderness. " lie only doeth wondrous things;" turns the shadow of death into morning, makes rivers in high places and streams in the desert. He makes the wilderness to rejoice and blossom as the rose, and gives us vineyards from thence. Earth is a wilderness. It was not designed to be such, but sin entered into the world, cursed the ground, and the Fall left it such. Such it would be now but for Divine grace. Men of the world are discontented and miserable ; to the Christian the curse is turned into a blessing. He has before him a land of promise, a thousand succours and delights, and in Divine ordinances he has comforts, vineyards from thence. Solitude is a wilderness. There is much to be done, gained, and enjoyed alone. There we gain our best know- ledge and richest experience ; enjoy the freedom of prayer and intercourse with God. Outward trouble is a wilderness. Many afraid to be brought into it, but God has given them vineyards from thence. What proofs of God's presence in trouble ! What discoveries and sup- ports ! As the sufferings of Christ have abounded, so the consolations have also abounded by Christ. The state of m md produced by conviction of sin. A wounded spirit, who can bear] Who does not remember the surprise, the con- fusion of mind, the terror, the anguish, and self-despair he once felt i and who can forget the feelings induced by a discovery of the cross and the joy of God's salvation 1 Many are a Era id when their friends tremble at God's word and are broken in heart. Christians hail it as a token for good, and know that ho gave them their vineyards from thence. The same maybe said of edfabaaemeni, and distress of soid, which a believer may feel, when he sees his unwortlu- o2 HOMTLETIC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. [chap. ii. ncss, depravity, and guilt. The experi- speak comfortably — and give her vine- ence is lamentable, but will not hurt yards." 3. The results of revival. him. lie givuth grace unto the humble. " Youth," and renewed vigour. "Sing," The valley of the shadow of death is joy, and rejoicing. God's presence re- the last wilderness. There is much to stored his ancient people from literal render it awful and uninviting, but captivity, and his spiritual seed from when entered the gloom Hies away, sorrow and distress. " God's dealings The place has been mad'' glad for those with his people will furnish them with joy subject to its bondage and fear. They and refreshment; 'she shall sing.' Not have had a peaceful and delightful only should they rejoice when all things entrance into the joy of their Lord, are performed according to promise, but And what vineyards does he give them Avhen the Lord gives any pledge of his from thence/ [Jay]. love, or begun evidences of it, they Ver. 15. A revived Church. 1. The ought to cherish it by joy and praise, frequent condition of the Church. In though full fruition be wanting: for the land of Egypt ; in bondage to sin, even ' there ' on the border of her to sense, and to materialism 2. The wilderness, in the valley of Achor " means of revival. "I will allure — [Hutcheson]. HOMILETICS. The Good T'me Coming. — Verses 17 — 20. When the cry of trouble is turned into the song of joy, and nations cease to worship idols and serve the true God, then God restores them to his favour, and renews to them his covenant. Idolatry shall cease, and perfect peace — peace with God, peace among men, and peace with the beasts of the field — shall follow. God predicts a memorable time to be enjoyed by men. I. Abolition of idolatry. "In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, I will cut off tne names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered." God abhors idolatry, and warns his people against its evils (Ex. xxiii. 13; Deut. xii. 3). God's name must be remembered, and his worship be upheld by his word and grace. People must not devote themselves to any false god. The non-existence of other gods must be recognized — they are nonentities. " Thou shalt have no other gods." The Church shall be purified from error and false worship. Heathen nations shall abandon their gods many and lords many — shall neglect their offer- ings, and el<>-'' their pagodas and temples. At the present time, at home and abroad, the signs are cheering; but "in that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the hats." 1. This abolition is by Divine agency. "I will take, away the names of Baalim." Atheism, Polytheism, and superstitions of every hind can only be abolished by Divine power. Education, civilization, and commerce cannol renew the heart and reform the habits of people. Our hearts are sinful, prejudices and heathen customs are deeply rooted, and the Gospel alone can renew and deliver. 2. This abolition is seen in the purity of language. The names shall be taken "out of her mouth, and they shall no more he remembered by their name." The nanus detested and disowned shall he disused. There r.ust be no mixture in life or lip of idolatry and true religion. God'sname must not be desecrated and Baal's name be reverenced. " Call me no more Uaali." God's grace in the hear! purifies the lan- guage of the lip. " I will turn to the people a pure language." The liar speaks the truth, the swearer forsakes his oaths, and the penitent separates himself fromevery pollution of word and deed A Christian spirit governs the tongue, selects the holiest themes in conversation, and clothes the tittest wolds with impressive forms. "Mo corrupt speech" proceeds out, of the month of a true believer. His conversa- tion is neither corrupt nor insipid, but hallowed with pungency to excite interest; ciiAr. ii.] H0M1LETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. 33 and preserved with flavour to influence for good. A mail's tongue is an index to his life ; a test of his godliness. "The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom." II. Cessation of war. " I will break the bow and the sword, and the battle out of the earth." Warriors and warlike statesmen have been too long the idols and too much the gods of mankind. Alexander and Napoleon have been extolled : but military fame is delusive and false ; war is inhuman and criminal. Science and philosophy, legislation and commercial treaties, may mitigate, but cannot prevent or abolish it. Nations often defy these, and armies are not checked by paper or parchment. This is to act like the Xerxes of morality, and throw our idle chains into the tempestuous ocean of strife. Morality and religion forbid Avar. Christianity in its principles and obligations, produces peace. Christ the Prince of Peace shall break the bow and the sword; establish the government of peace and good will towards men — spiritual foes are already despoiled of their power to hurt and destroy. The goodness of the cause is certain, though its success for a time be doubtful. God has spoken the word, and it shall come to pass. " They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks : nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." In this belief the Chris! iaii may rejoice. Many are asking, " Shall the sword devour for ever?" and others, whatever be their differences in opinion, cry in practice, " I am for peace." III. Security from wild beasts. " In that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field." When man was subject and loyal to his Maker, all creatures were subject to him. When he rebelled, the harmony of creation was broken, and peace with inferior creatures destroyed. Man is still lord of creation ; but nature is an unwilling servant, and must be restrained and subjugated by force. Man's fear over beasts of the earth has gradually diminished, and the enmity between the tame and wild, between the friendly innocence and the hostile dread of the species has gradually increased. This lost dominion will be regained in Christ. Tin >ugh no longer riding by the sympathy of a spiritual power, yet he is legally authorized to exercise forcible dominion over three classes most injurious to him (Gen. ix. 2). Though nothing in the sight of the starry universe, and " a little lower than the angels," yet all things will be put under his feet. In the mean time God protects the dwellings and the fields of man. Savage beasts are under his control, linked into Divine covenant, and made man's servants. Prowling creatures of the field, ravenous fowls of the air, and creeping scorpions of the earth, are prevented from touching men. " Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder," not accidentally, but intentionally, in power and conquest. " I have an impression," says Dr Thomas, "that were man to possess and manifest the moral majesty of goodness, the wildest and most savage creatures would stand in awe of him." God shall replace the sceptre in man's hand. The promise to Israel was, " I will cause the evil beast to cease out of the land " — the promise to us is, ' The beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee." IV. Perfect peace and tranquillity. " And will make them to lie safely." Man is not secure, is not at peace with all creation, yet. Beasts may devour and war destroy him. Dangers threaten, above, below, and all around him. God only can protect him and make him dwell securely. But outward peace can neither give nor destroy inward confidence and rest. God keeps from fear and alarms by night and by day, and makes us " take our rest in safety" (Job xi. 18). Shortdived is the rest, insecure is the safety, of the wicked ; but the righteous " lie down safely," in confidence and calm repose. He is fearless and courageous, for only " perfect love casteth out fear." He is often at peace with his neighbours, and always at peace with his conscience and God. As a loving parent puts to rest and watches over her darling babe, so God sends to sleep and keeps in rest his own children. This rest is only a foretaste of everlasting rest, unfading peace in Christ. Tenures differ, but nothing can equal the safety which the believer has in his covenant God. By special promise his security is fixed, and by special presence his safety is secured. What would some men give for a good night's rest ! They 3 31 IIi>M1LI;T1C COMMENTARY: UOSEA. [chap. 11. aro tossed about by troublous thoughts, waking at every stir, and unsettled in every place. " When thou liest d"\vn, thou Bhalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy Bleep shall be aweet." V. Covenant blessings renewed. "And I will betroth thee unto me for ever." God promises to restore Israel and treat her as a spotless virgin. In a threefold repetition he declares his love to the unfaithful and unworthy. Be forgets the past, forgives sin, and espouses afresh, and that for ever. There is no divorce for adultery. He only is unchangeable, and his mercy, grace, and goodness abound to the chief of sinners. It is mercy to bring back, but love beyond degree to betroth and endow with bridal gifts. Notice — 1. The method of the i ngagement. " I rod betroths his Church to himself in righteousness and judg- ment, net, by doing her justice, and faithfully fulfilling the obligations which he undertook at the conclusion of the covenant, but by purifying her, through the medium of just judgment, from all the uncleanness and ungodliness that adhere to her still (Is. i. 27), that he may wipe out everything that can injure the covenant en the part of the Church. But with the existing sinfulness of human nature, justice and judgment will not suffice to secure the lasting continuance of the Covenant ; and therefore God also promises to show mercy and compassion. Hut even the love and compassion of God have their limits ; the Lord still further adds, "in faithfulness or constancy," and thereby gives the promise that he will no more withdraw his mercy from her" \_Keil]. The covenant is founded upon a firm basis — "in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies." In the faithfulness of God the pledge is sure; God will keep his covenant for ever (Ps. cxi. 9). 2. The result of the engagement. " Thou shalt know the Lord." The complaint was that Israel did not know God, nor recognize his pro- vidence in the blessings of life (ver. 8). The consecmence of this union would be a real and experimental knowledge of God; not intellectually merely, but living, personal relation to him. Many acknowledge God, but do not know him. True knowledge includes love and life. "And this is life eternal, that they might know tin e, the oidy true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." When restored to God, we know him not merely as God, as revealed in his word, but what he is to us, as our God in Christ. We discover more of his grace and love, enjoy more of his favour, and we love God because he first loved us. IIOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 17. That which is very inno- bird, and reptile is named. Together cent in itself should, when it has been the words express that God would with- abused in idolatry, be abolished, and the hold the power from all enemies, visible very use of it taken away, that nothing or invisible; worldly or spiritual. Each may be done to keep idols in remem- also may denote some separate form of brance, much less to keep them in reput- the enemy [Pusey~\. at ion. God foretells much more the great- To remember with delight sins past is ness of what he would do for man, than to re-commit them ; and herein the the little which man receives. The deceitful heart ifl with all care to be gospel brings peace within, and since Looked unto, that when we call to mind wars and fightings come from evd pas- former evil practices, though with an sions and lust, it brings peace as far as intent to be humbled for them, we be it prevails without also; peace, as the not insnared and drawn to commit them borders of the Church (Ps. cxlvii. 14); afresh by being tickled in the thought peace in the world, so far as it is won of them [Trapp\. 1m Christ by the Church; peace to the Ver. 18. The blessings of God do not soul of tin; believer, so far as he loves correspond only, they go beyond the God and obeys the gospel [Posey]. punishment The protection is com- Ver. 19, 20. In the covenant of plete. Every kind of animal, beast, grace, there is God's part and there i3 CHAP. II.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : ROSEA. :;.-> our part. But God undertakes for the latter as well as the former — engages to do all that is necessary for his people and in them. Here is the nature of the connection he will establish with them. "I will betroth thee unto me." And the manner of it. In righteousness, &c. 1. In righteousness. He is holy in all his ways, and righteous in all his works. The soul that sinneth shall die. Right- eousness, then, seems to require the punishment of the sinner. The awakened soul wants to see how God can be just and the justifier. He has provided for this in the gospel. Though sin is pardoned, yet it is condemned. The transgressor escapes, but the curse falls upon another. The law is magnified and honoured in Christ. In the destruction of sinners justice would have been dis- played passively, but now actively — ■ would have been hated, but now loved by them. For righteousness means not only the way in which the guilty are made just, but the depraved holy. This is from the same gracious agency, and equally necessary with the former ; for God could not admit men into com- munion with himself in a state of sin. " How can two walk together except they be agreed]" 2. In judgment. The heathens placed Mercury, the god of wisdom, by the side of Venus, the god- dess of marriage : and for good reason, for there is nothing in which judgment is so needful. Hence the wretched con- sequences of hasty matches. But God knows what he does and why he does it — has reasons which justify the measure of his infinite understanding, and salva- tion is called his counsel. This is true in contriving, procuring, and applying it. The place, time, and manner of conversion known to him. We know but little now, yet there are openings which carry the mind in contemplation and surprise, and which assure us more remains for our discovery and rapture in the world of light. This applies also to God's people as well as to God himself. In their choice of him and love to him wisdom is seen. The world may censure, but they can give a reason of the hope within them. The spiritual judgeth all things, though he himself is judged of no man. 3. hi loving-kindness. With. out this persons had better aevei come together — it is daily and mutually needed. The law of kindness should rule in looks, words, and actions. This seldom wanting in the female, often in the male side. Hence men commanded to love their wives. God says to his Church, "You shall find me full of tenderness and compassion," &c. Strange to apply the exercise of this quality to them as well as to him, yet he has sanctioned it. "I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth," &c. He takes at their hand everything they do for him ; their disposition makes them afraid to grieve his Holy Spirit, and anxious to walk " worthy of him unto all pleasing." 4. In mercies. This is distinguishable from the former. That was the effect, this shows the cause, and mentioned in addition to loving-kind- ness, to remind us that all we possess, or expect, springs from the free, unde- served grace of God, and to meet dis- couragement from a sense of unworthi- ness and ill-deservings. God will not cast away his people, but have mercy upon them according to the multitude of his tender mercies. The more cheer- fid and vigorous will they be, the more they remember this truth. Fruits that grow in the sun are richer and riper than those which grow in the shade. The- best frame we can be in is to be upheld by a free spirit, and act under a full sense of our Divine privileges. Let us therefore sing of God's mercy for ever, and if he seems to have forgotten to be gracious, plead and say, " Where is thy zeal, and thy strength, the sound- ing of thy bowels, and of thy mercies toward me 1 " Here again is imported, not only that "we receive, but exercise mercy, not towards him personally, but towards his creatures that need it. What is done to them he considers us done to himself. What so just and proper as that they who are forgiven should forgive 1 And they which live by mercy should be merciful ? [Jay]. I will betroth thee unto me for i Christians are not only pardoned, but employed in God's service — not only reconciled, but admitted into friendship 36 1IOM1LKTIC COMMEXTARY: 1I0SEA. [CIIAP. II. and intimacy. Yea, they are not only friends and favourites, but his bride. Observe the •permanency of the relation. u Permanency adds bliss to bliss." Every enjoyment and possession is im- paired in value without it. The more important any acquisition, the more necessary to our happiness, the more alive we are to keep it ; the more averse to its absence, the more painful the loss. Yet -whatever we are attached to here, we set our hearts on that which is not. dews are said always to throw a glass on the ground in their nuptial ceremony, to indicate that the union formed was brittle as glass. The apostle reminds us that time is short, and that they who have wives will be as though they had none. We take each other " till death do us part " — the relation is terminated by the death of either. But Christians can never be in a widowed state — never lose their defence, glory, and joy. Nothing i* precarious in the transactions of God with his people. " I know that whatsoever God doeth it shall be for ever," &c. How delightful in a world of changes to know that he changeth not, and therefore we shall not be con- sumed. Many a persuasion fails, for the confidence may be strong and the foundation weak. But here the full assurance of faith can never do justice to the certainty of the event. " I am persuaded that neither death nor life," &c. [Jay]. The Harmony of the Divine Attri- butes in Salvation. Mercy founded on righteousness, and truth vindicating mercy. Justice honoured in mercy. Loving-kindness which is faithful. " Eternal love and immutable faithful- ness are the body-guards of Jesus' throne, and they are both the providers and the preservers of all those who in him are made kings and priests unto God. We cannot keep ourselves, and nothing short of Divine mercy and truth can do it ; but these both can and will, nor shall the least of God's people be suffered to perish " [Spurgeon]. HOMILETICS. The Universe Governed in the Interests of Humanity. — Verses 21 — 23. In these verses we have an unbroken chain of causation. The prophet repre- sents God as listening to the prayer of the heavens, to allow them to give fertility to the earth. The heavens fulfil the desire of the earth, and the earth yields its increase to the nation ; all things in heaven and earth depend upon God, "so that without his bidding not a drop of rain falls from heaven," says Calvin, "and the earth produces do germ, and consecpiently all nature would be barren, unless ho gave it fertility by bis blessing." I. All things are subordinate to God. 1. God is the Creator of all things. All things were made by him at first. He only has absolute being and original essence. I 'nation is derived from him, The Great First Cause. "In the beginning God created the heaves and the earth." By this simple expression Atheism, Polythe- ism, Pantheism, and Materialism are denied, and that philosophy which sees nothing apart and distinct from matter is reproved. We have no chance work, no " theory of development" here. Matter is not eternal. The world had a birthday. In the beginning God; God before primordial matter; God before its arrangement into shape and order; God first, and last, and everywhere; God before all things; God the cause of all things, and God the meaning of all things. 2. God is the Conserver of all things. That which was dependent at first cannot afterwards become independent. It requires the same hand to sustain as to create a thing. God did not create the world like a carpenter builds a house, to stand still. Having its verv being from him, that being cannot be, or continue to be, without him. " By him all things consist," or stand together. Cod is "the Conservation and Correlation of forces."' Not an atom is permitted to fall out of existence. Things may travel far, ami take different shapes; but nothing is destroyed. The tiniest dew-drop is lung-lived us the mighty ocean, and the feeblest nebule indestructible as chap, ii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : HOSEA. 37 the everlasting hills. As in matter, so in mind and morals. " 1 know whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever. Nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it." 3. God is the Governor of all firings. Creation carries with it the idea of control and superintendence. We are under law, mild, gracious, paternal law. But laws of themselves are impotent without the law-giver. Second causes depend upon the First Cause, and cannot put forth any causation without God. God works, and is ever active in his dominions. We are not the inhabitants of a fatherli -; world, nor is the earth a little province in a forsaken universe. God directs and controls all forces, all agencies, and all events, for the accomplishment of his design. There are no localities with God. He is everywhere present, and ruleth over all. In effecting his great designs he is independent also of every other creature, and renders the purpose and plans of every other power subordinate and auxiliary to his own. Here one sovereign forms an alliance with others for mutual interests and protection. If one were to oppose another the opposition might endanger all states under the alliance. But were all kings and kingdoms of the universe to unite against him, they could not succeed. His throne is above the heavens, above the accidents and contingences of earth. The frame of nature might be unhinged, and the universe fall into commotion, but he reigns undisturbed, God over all, and blessed for evermore. II. All things co-operate, or work together. God hears the heavens ; they hear the earth ; and " the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and they shall hear Jezreel." Here we have the connection and concatenation of all things. " God is not the author of confusion." Providence, therefore, which is God's will in action, is consistent with itself. It is the glory of creation that it everywhere " marches in time, moving to the music of law." Here is the true " music of the spheres." A consummate harmony of relationships so dom- inates over the whole, that we have never an organic demand without the means of satisfying it, that amid innumerable changes and intermediate ends we find designs of final results. The world is not a machine, and the action of God interference ; things are not like particles of dust driven in a whirlwind : but "all things work together," work in harmony, subserve the ends for which they were made, and never cease to conform to God's will, and be a reflex of his wisdom and goodness. The principle of mediation is seen everywhere in God's government. " I will hear the heavens." Heaven intercedes for earth, and the earth for men upon it. In the common intercourse and concerns of life, one man is blessed through another and for the sake of another. Our material and spiritual gifts come through the medium and mediation of another. But this regular system of established agency connects the result with the sovereign will of God. The first power is a link placed at the foot of the eternal throne. " I will act upon the heavens, the powers of nature above us ; they shall act upon the earth, the powers and sources of vegetation beneath us ; the earth shall act upon the corn, and the wine, and the oil ; the results of their combined and mysterious influence. Thus the chain is complete and unbroken. "Where one step broken, the great scale's destroyed : From nature's chain whatever link you strike, Tenth, or ten thousandth, breaks the chain alike. III. All things are governed in the interests of the Christian Church. " They shall hear Jezreel." Jez. means the seed of God, the nation pardoned and restored to God. All things not only work together, but good is the result, and this good is "to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Rom. viii. 28). The universe in all its operations and departments contributes to the interests of God's people. Events do not happen in human society and the Christian Church as if left to the mere causalities of nature, and were not under Divine control. Human happiness is promoted and human wants, supplied, and men in Christ are the objects of God's eternal purpose. 1. Human 3S HOMILETIC COMMENTARY. HOSEJ, [CHAP. II. wants are satisfied. Corn, wine, and oil are given to Jezreel. Chastisements are removed, Divine favour is restored, and men are daily Loaded with benefits and blessings. The gifts of nature are emblems of the gifts of grace Constant bread, common mercies, and spiritual joys are bestowed with a liberal hand "Thou est thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living tiling." 2. There is spiritual increase in the Church. "1 will sow her unto me in the earth." Per- secution and affliction did not diminish Israel. "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." God restored her, and in her dispersion she was the means pf scattering the knowledge of God and the seeds of Divine truth. Gentiles were converted t .. I rod, and the earth will yel be the scene of an increase richer than any yd enjoyed. The fields are already white unto harvest. 3. There is restoration to friendship with God. Mercy for those that were unpitied, that had not obtained mercy, and those that were not God's people were to become his people. God would anew declare them his people, and they would affectionately respond to the call. Jew and Gentile, bond and free, Barbarian and Scythian, will be one in Christ. " All that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 21, 22. All nature is closed and would refuse her office to those who rebel against her God, so when lie hath withdrawn his curse, and is recon- ciled to man, all shall combine together for man's good, and by a kind of har- mony all parts thereof join their minis- tries for the service of those who are at unity with him. And, as an image of love, all, from the lowest to the highest, are bound together, each depending on the ministry of that beyond it, and the highest on God. At each link the chain might have been broken; but God, who knit their services together, and had before withheld the rain, and made the earth barren, and laid waste the trees, now made each to supply the other, and led the thoughts of man through the course of causes and effects np to himself, who ever causes all which come to pass [ Pusey]. Learn — 1. The unworthiness of man. A dependent, sinful creature. 2. The dignity of man. All creatures employed to help him. 1. The abundance of God's gifts — " corn, wine, and oil." 2. The good- ness of God in supplying them — "I will hear." 3. The medium through which they come — "heaven and earth." 4. The certainty of their bestowment — " It shall come to pass." Ver. 23. "I will sow her." The Church the channel of blessings to the world The ( lunch can only bless the world as she is blessed herself. A beautiful earth. 1. The residence of the Church of God — " I will sow her unto me in the earth." 2. The theatre of the mercy of God — " I Avill have mercy upon her that had not ob- tained mercy." 3. The scene of obedi- ence and love to God — "Thou art my people . . . Thou art my God." God's mercy. 1. The sum of human wants — " not obtained mercy," " not my people." 2. The source from which it comes — free grace. " I will have mercy." 3. The result of its bestow- ment— " Thou art my people." 4. The evidence of its possession — "Thou art my CJjd." ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER II. Ver. 1 — 5. Mothers and children. When a mother once asked a clergyman when she should begin the education of her child, then four years old, he replied, " .Madam, if you have not begun already, you have lost those four years. From the hist smile that gleams upon an in- fant's cheek your opportunity begins." The mother lives again in her children. They unconsciously mould themselves chap, ii] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE.t. 39 after her manner, her speech, her con- duct, and her method of life. Her habits oecome theirs, and her character is visibly repeated in them" [Smiles], Children may be strangled, but deeds never : they have an indestructible life, both in and out of our consciousness [George Eliot\ Ver. 6, 7. Affliction. The hedge stops or gives a turn. God, in pursuance of his covenant, and with a gracious meaning to a revolting people, hedges them up by affliction to stop them from undoing. It is a mercy to be kept out of the pond, though it be by a thorn hedge, sharpest troubles. This stop the Lord, doth often give, though not al- ways to sinners ; he sometimes lets them run on to fill up their measure of sin and to receive their full measure of punishment. Eeproof for sin is a great favour. Though God is angry for what we have done, yet it is a mercy that he will not let us do more, and so make ourselves vile and miserable [Caryl], Ver. 8, 9. Ingratitude. When I consider how the goodness of God is abused and perverted by the greatest part of mankind, I cannot but be of his mind that said, " The greatest miracle in the world is God's patience and bounty to an ungrateful man." Oh ! what would God not do for his crea- tures, if thankfid, that thus heaps the coals of his mercies upon the heads of his enemies'? But think not, sinners, that you shall escape thus. God's mill goes slow, but it grinds small ; the more admirable his patience and bounty now is, the more dreadful and insupportable will that fury be which ariseth out of his abused goodness [Ghirnalt], Ver. 10, 11. Mirth. Mirth is a vain and unprofitable passion, not fit for a wise man's entertainment [Bp. Hall]. Often when in the full enjoyment of all that this world could bestow, my conscience told me, that in the true sense of the word I was not a Christian. I laughed. I sang. I was apparently gay and happy. But the thought would steal across me, — what madness is all this ! to continue easy in a state, in which a sudden call out of the world would consign me to everlasting misery, and that when eternal happine is within my grasp [WUberforee]. Mirth at a funeral is scarce more indecent or unnatural than a perpetual flight of gaiety and burst of exultation in a world like this; a world which may seem a paradise to fools, but is an hos- pital with the wise [Dr Young], Forgeffulness of God, ver. i 3. Suca is the character of all engrossing passion, such is the source of sin to which the soul gives way, in avarice, ambition, worldliness, sensual sin, godless science. The soid at last does not rebel against God; it forgets him. It is taken up with other things, with itself, with the subjects of its thoughts, the objects of its affections, and it has no time for God, because it has no love for him [Pusey], The gradations of sin. 1. Neglecting God. Neglect of his word, house, and service. 2. Forgetting (J od. Forgetting his love, goodness, and claims. 3. Departing from God. Departing into danger, error, and punishment. Forgetfulness of God — a sign of care- lessness— a mark of ingratitude and contempt — springs from unbelief and disobedience to God's command (Deut. iv. 9 ; viii. 14). Idolatry in the Church — the top- stone, the height of all crime — hated by God, and pursued by the sinner. Pro- fessed believers are too slow after God, but sinners hasten after their lovers. Let their zeal rebuke our tardiness ; their punishment turn our steps to God and duty The two masters. 1. Jehovah for- gotten, Baal loved and worshipped. 2. The sacred days of Jehovah turned into festive days of Baal. 3. The gifts of Jehovah devoted to the service and sup- port of Baal. "No man can serve two masters," &c. Which are you serving? " Choose you this day," &c. Arer. 18. Covenant with beasts. To men who dwell in God the most evil forces become harmless; they wear a charmed life, and defy the deadliesl ilk Their feet come into contacl with the worst of foes; even Satan himself nib- bles at their heel, but in Chris! Jesus they have the assured hope of bruising 40 IIOUII.ETIC COMMENTARY: ROSEA. [chap. III. Satan undei their feet shortly. The prop].' of ( rod are the real " ( 1-eorge and the Dragon," the true lion-kings ami Berpent-tamers. Their dominion over the powers of darkness makes them cry, "Lord, oven the devils are Bubject mito us through thy word" [Spurgeori], Vex. 21, 22. Providence is God in motion; God teaching by facts, and God fulfilling, explaining, enforcing his own word. Providence is God render- ing natural events subservient to spirit- ual purposes; rousing our attention when we are careless; reminding us of our obligations when we are ungrateful; recalling our confidence when we depart from him by dependence upon his crea- tures. Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord [The Pathway]. Ver. 23. My God. All in this life that is truly good is included in this, my God ! if said not from habit, but with a full title to its use. This is a word of faith, by which we place our whole reliance upon the almighty, true, and compassionate God ; it is a word of hope, by which we provide ourselves with all good perpetually in God, who is a Rock of Eternity ; a word of love and fellowship, by which we delight ourselves in the goodness of God, and give ourselves wholly up to him [Rieger.] " This God is our God." Is it so 1 Then infinite ricbes, infinite beauty, infinite excellence is ours. Is it so1? Then all he has is ours; his infinite resources are ours; his providence, his Son, bis Spirit, his heaven, are ours (1 Cor. iii. 23). If the character of God be paternal, then your character should he filial, and the leading features of that are dependence and love. CHAPTER III. Ciutical Notf.6. — 1.] The significant pair is introduced again with a fresh application. In a second symbolic marriage, the faithful, chastening love of God is set forth to adulterous Israel. Love] Not take, as ch. i. 2. Woman] Many think another person, not his former wife; others, that she was his former wife, but unfaithful and living with another man, an adulteress. This lovo greater, bibber than the former. One proved disturbed relation, and the other restoration to God. Friend] 3eb. neighbour, and husband (Jer. iii. 20; Cant. v. 17) ; the propbet himself intended. Accord] H"s. must frame bis life to represent the ingratitude of nun and the wonderful love of God. Who look] Lit. they arc looking; a continuous act and a contemporary circumstance. God was lov- ing them while they were looking to idols. Flagons of wine] Lit. of grapes, used in idolatry (Jer. vie IS: xliv. 1!>) ; or drunkenness and vice sanctioned by it — a figurative representation of service, which appeals to sense, gratifies carnal desire and sensual indulgence (cf. Job xx. 12). 2. Bought her] witli money and grain. Money half the price of a common slave (Ex. xxxi. 32) ; the grain of the coarsest kind, not wheat, but barley, the food of animals, and the offering of one accused of idolatry, an expression of worthlessness and degradation; 3. Abide for me] Lit. "many days wilt thou sit. for me; " in a state of solitude and widowhood, debarred from intercourse with any man, and detained until restored to God himself (Duut. xxi. L3). Now God will have no more conjugal inter- course witli Israel than any other people. lie will cut off idolatry and suspend his relation to them for an indefinite time. 4. Without a king] Without civil polity. Sac] Without national worship and religion. Image] Lit. monument, consecrated to Baal (Ex. witi. 24); pillars forbidden to be reared (Lev. xxvi. 1; Dent. xvi. 22); widely spread in tsrael (2 Kings iii. 2; xvii. 10) and in Judah (1 Kings xiv. 23 ; 2 Chron. xvi. 2). Ephod] Shoulder-dress of the high priest, to which the rjrim and Thunmiiui were attached, and the medium of revelation between God and his people. Teraphim] Penates worshipped as the given of earthly prosperity and revealers of future events. This threat fulfilled in the ten tribes, in Assyrian captivity, and in the present time they are without monarchy, priesthood, and the worship of Jehovah. Judah alter her captivity had a government, but not an independent king; she rejected Christ, and then she was doomed to the judgment of God, said efforts to restore her have yet railed. 5. Seek! "'I>. a diligent, intensive search, a religious search u»ed in regard to God [Pun ij\. David their king] i.e. the Seed, the Sou of D., the Messiah CH4P. in.] II0M1LETIC COMMENTARY ■. I/OSE.l. (Ezek. xxxiv. 23 ; Amos ix. 11). Fear the Lord] Lit. "will tremble towards Jehovah and towards his goodness ; " stronger than seeking one upon whom they depend. Tremble with distress and anguish, conscious of guilt and unworthiness, and utterly unable to help themselves. Goodness] In gifts of which they had been deprived. This fulfilled in the gathering round David's greater Son, and in the universal conversion of Israel to God. HOMILETICS. The Wondrous Love. — Verses 1 — 5. In this chapter God's grace is marvellously set forth to his ancient people. Though fallen and unfaithful, the prophet is commanded to love. " Go yet," give them line upon line, precept upon precept, sign after sign, and act after act, to remind them of this truth. Not only must the disposition exist to love, hut an attestation of it. Hosea must again represent the conduct of God in displaying his love and urging to penitence. Men are repeatedly urged to helieve the gospel and -welcome the Saviour. God multiplies mercies when judgments are richly deserved. The grand truth of these verses is the lesson which John taught so affectionately afterwards, " God is love." I. Love in its highest form. Israel had fallen into idolatry^ and was guilty of adultery. Lust and sensuality were mixed with illicit worship. God, their chief good, was forsaken and lovers trusted. 1. Love to the guilty sinner. Men have gone astray from God, and live having no hope, and without God in the world. Alienated from God hy wicked works, they do not seek nor serve God. God is not in all their thoughts. They are given to pleasure, gratification, and shame. Some men are not even moral. They are corrupted hy their worldly, selfish prin- ciples. Loving sin, and rendering homage to improper, unholy ohjects, they havo become like the gods they worship. Man is lost, spiritually lost; lost to God and to his highest interests — unholy in character, helpless in condition, and unlike God in everything. " There is none righteous, no, not one : there is none that under- standeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone (aside) out of the way," apostatized from God, from his laws, and from principles of truth and right; " they are together become (filthy) unprofitable," in their conduct and practice. They are depraved in heart and defiled in life (Ps. xiv. 2, 3 ; cf. Kom. hi. 12, 13). Yet man thus lost and depraved is the object of Christ's care. God loves us, even in our weakness and worldliness, in our "crimes and carnality." "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Christ seeks to bring us back to God, to deliver us from our sins, to correct the sinful and selfish principles of our nature, and to make us sons of God. The most distant ami degraded, the most wretched and licentious, all who are conscious of their lost and ruined con- dition, may come to God. Poor Joseph, with a parcel of yarn hanging over his shoulders, heard the message of joy from the text : " This is a faithful," &c. John Newton in preaching to the prisoners at Newgate wept, and they wept with him, as he enlarged on " this faithful saying." " This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ came into the world to save sinners." 2. Love to the unfaithful professor. God's love is not simply to the wretched and perishing. To love the distressed is comparatively easy; but to love the unfaithful and the adulteress, those who add guilt to unworthiness, idolatry to apostasy, and provo- cation to ingratitude, is more than humanity can do. Men respect the just and love the good ; but God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners. We may even love when immorality is allied to woe, and hatred to personal offensiveness ; but love in its purest, freest form, love in God, passes over demerit and offence, withstands provocation and insult, and blesses those that curse. The unworthy servant is sent away from our employ. The unfaithful friend is forsaken and condemned. Put what shaU we say of unfaithful Israel I What shad be done to those who have loved and forsaken their love, Bworn alle- giance, yet broken off and are guilty of fornication ? " Go yet, love a womuu 12 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ROSEA, [chap. m. most guilty and most unworthy ; love with a definite and Divine love, "according to t/,r love qf the Lord toward the children of Israel;" a love without a parallel and beyond expression. " I know thai the mercy of God is infinite," said a brother of Whitfield, the greal preacher, to Lady Huntingdon j "but, my lady, there is no mercy for me, a backslider, a wretch, entirely lost." " I am glad to hear it, Mr Whitfield/1 said she. " I am glad that you are a lost man." "What ! glad that ] am a lost man, my lady ! " " Yes, truly glad; for Jesus came into the world to save the l«.st." lie blessed God for his love, and the same evening died in peace. God still yearns over those who have fallen a second time. The backslider and unfaithful professor may yet return. God remembers his covenant and will ever fulfil his word. " Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine angel* to fall upon you ; for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep mine anger for ever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God." II. Love in its active operation. All feeling, all emotion in the heart demands and seeks an outward expression. Feel- ing will not slumber in the soul any more than ignited gunpowder will smoulder away without explosion. Man is not a mere block, to move and be moved by at- traction and force. # Nor is he a mere physical structure ; but a being of sympathy and emotion. Love is one of the strongest passions, and on whatever object it is fixed, will lead to intense energy and activity. There may be pity without help ; benevolence which merely wishes good to be done. We may feel for the sufferer and not interpose ; retain our sentiment and say, " Be ye warmed, be ye clothed," without giving " the things needful for the body." Love is deeds, not desires, nor words. Its objects are out of itself, and according to its strength and opportunity it reaches others. " God so loved the world," that "he gave" something, he did something. " In this was manifested the love of God toward us." " Hereby per- ceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us." Measure the love by the gift and the deed. Things may represent feeling and value, desire and delight, but persons are the greatest sacrifice. In giving a person, God gave the greatest of all persons — " his only begotten Son." Christ shed his precious blood to redeem men from sin and death. Damon had great affection for his friend Pythias. AVI i en Shelley gave Leigh Hunt a thousand pounds to liberate him, the act was a proof of no common friendship, and showed that he valued his friend more than his gold. God's love excels all other, seeks to restore the fallen and most degraded to himself. He is not satisfied with anything less than complete restoration, com- plete salvation. The prophet bought the " woman beloved," redeemed her from slavery and idolatry, and eventually took her to himself. Life must be supported, a bridal gift bestowed, and she must be re-instated in his heart and home. " If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the deadl" III. Love in its necessary discipline. According to Scripture, all Buffering under God's administration has a moral end, and must not be viewed by itself, without any reference to results. In some cases it is judicial, penal, and exemplary in solemn terms. But in its hearing upon God's people, it is corrective, given for a gracious purpose and a blessed experience, pro- gressive sanctificatiorj and final perfection. " God chastens us not for his pleasure, but for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness." This design should help us to bear it even most frequent and severe. " My son, thank God for me," said Dr Arnold on his death-bed. "Thank God, Tom, for giving me this pain. I have suffered so little pain in my life, that I feel it is very good for me now God has given it me, and I do so thank him for it." That man should be capable of Divine holiness and fellowship with God, proves the capacity of his mental and the dignity of his moral nature. Affliction is chosen as a suitable and sovereign remedy to cure our evils. We are estranged from God and given to the creature. Our attachments to wealth, power, and ambition, to pleasure and sensual indulgence, are not easily broken. Ood's method of weaning from the chap, m.] IIOMLETIC COMMENTARY: 1I0SEA. Y\ world, and breaking up unhallowed and degrading attachment to sin, is by remov- ing the object from us, visiting us with sickness, or smiting with a curse, what wo love instead of him. Israel, like a captive woman remaining in the house, separated from her master, bewailing her captivity, was to sit for many days in solitary discipline (Deut. xxi. 13; Ex. xxiv. 14; Jer. iii. 2); weaned or free from idolatry, yet not immediately received into friendship and favour with God. They were also to abide many days without prince or priest, temple or sacrifice. Hence — 1. Love disciplines by solitude. " Thou shalt abide (remain quiet) for me many days." God often withdraws us from scenes of pleasure and mirth, deprives us of friends and means of grace, and confines us to beds of sickness and solitude. Sequestered from the excitements of life, cut off from the objects of our love, we should " be still and know that I am God." Murmur not, nor complain ; but submit in patience and hope. " So will I also be for thee." Our deepest experience, our spiritual discipline, must be in solitude. We must suffer alone, and get wisdom alone. "We must learn the evil of our ways and God's displeasure against sin, not in the friction of society, but in the lonely chamber and the closet. This is the ex- perience of all good men. Our affections are kindled, our resolutions fortified, and our hearts prepared, in solitude. Christ began public life with forty days in the wilderness, was made perfect through suffering, and had to tread the wine-press alone. Solitude and suffering alone are means of education ; designed by God to chasten and refine, to awaken, convert, and restore the sinner and the backslider to himself. Afflictions are not messengers of his avenging wrath, but tokens of parental love ; and in sending them he acts not as an angry judge, but a kind and forgiving father ; correcting in love, and designing to bring forth " the peaceable fruit of righteousness in them which are exercised thereby." 2. Love disciplines by deprivation. First, By depriving of the supports of life. " Without a king and without a prince." A king was Israel's special choice, and a king was Israel's support. The court of Solomon was the glory of Israel, and Solomon's son was the favourite king. Kings and princes were commanders and leaders of the people. When these were slain, when civil governments were overturned, they were left without support and defence. God not only gives, but takes away. Kings, princes, magistrates, and judges, are ordained of God, and are often taken away by his providence for the sins of the people. Individuals are often bereft of bread, friendship, and support, and families of honour and prosperity, that they may know that Jehovah alone can deliver and save. Second, By depriving of the en- joyments of life. " And without sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod." Sacrifice was the distinctive feature in the Jewish religion. To take away sacrifice was to rob them of their prestige and religion, their enjoyments and freedom. They had no legal priesthood, no liberty of public worship, and no oracle to guide them in duty and distress. To be deprived of religious teachers and religious ordinances is sad indeed. But comforts die, riches fly away, friends forsake us, and our enjoyments often decay. Our lovers disappoint us, and we are compelled to " return and seek the Lord our God," who afflicts in mercy and draws in love. IV. Love in its blessed results. After a time of Divine chastise- ment and discipline, Israel will "turn and seek Jehovah their God, and David their king, and will go trembling to Jehovah and to his goodness." Jehovah will be found of them that seek him with solicitude. He is our only hope and dependence. If we abandon idols and turn to him, we shall again taste hifl good- ness and rejoice in the light of his countenance. 1. Love draws the penitent. When the sinner discovers his folly, and repents of his sin; when he feels his helplessness, and cries for mercy ; he needs some encouragement and h< ipe. I he Bible reveals a God of love. God in Christ upholds the law in love, atones for sin, and loves the sinner. Mercy invites, and the weary and heavy laden come and find rest in Jesus. Hope beams upon the soul. The love of God warms and breaks up the heart, like the spring breaking up frozen waters. This love reaches 41 im.Vn.KTrr COMMENTARY: HOSEJ. [chap. m. and draws the contrite sinner, and he resolves to return to his home and his rest. " I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving-kindness have / drawn thee." 2. Love funis the backslider. Professing Christians are often unfaithful to their vows and their God. They fall into error and backslide from God. " Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer." " My people are bent to backslide from me." But God still watches over them, seeks to chastise and cor- rect them, and restore them to his favour. Peter denied his Master, but was over- come by the look of love, and went out and wept bitterly. He felt his guilt and was despairing of mercy, but the message of joy encouraged him — " Go and tell Peter." The description of the world without God, is the personal experience, the humble confession, of God's people — " All we, like sheep, have gone astray." They are led away by open sins or "secret faidts ;M by sense, fancy, or appetite ; and are found in crooked paths of sin and shame. Strange tendency to wander from a God so good, and privileges so great ! What can induce men to turn their backs upon their best friend, and sin against the most precious love that was ever known] There is no enjoyment in distance from God. The child of God cannot be happy separated from God, and will not entirely lose remembrance of forsaken blessing. God seeks his own. Christ, the good shepherd, goes after that which is lost, until he finds and restores it. " I have gone astray like a lost sheep : seek thy servant ; for I do not forget thy commandment." 3. Love begets loyalty. Israel shall not only seek the Lord their God, but "David their king." A prince shall rule over them again, and they shall be a loving, loyal people. Love subdues the haughtiest, brings back the most distant, and wins all favours. Love overcomes apathy and m///pathy. Severity creates hatred ; mercy, love, kindness ; " a kiss for a blow " will ever be found the best antidote to crime. Enmity to God is the nature, the very essence, of the carnal mind. Destroy its enmity, and you destroy its life and power. God destroys by his love, disarms all opposition, and begets love in return. "Truth is light, but love is life." "Love is power." Knowledge does not impart power to obey. Nothing but love, an appreciation of the Divine character and goodness, can beget true loyalty in the heart. "We have the manifestation and method of love in the gospel. New life is quickened within us, and God speaks with power to our hearts. New affections expel meaner ones ; moral activity is guided by faith. We love and labour most earnestly for God, who has blessed us. " We love him because he first loved us." HOMILETIC HLNTS AND OUTLINES. Truly the prophet in two respects has Jehovah is plain but wholesome food ; set forth great things. For, in the first whereas idolatry is relaxing food, which place, he could not describe sin as being is only sought after by epicures and more dreadful than he here pictures it men of depraved tastes " [Hengsten- in the sin of the adulteress. And, again, berg]. Compare Job xx. 12, where he extols highly the love of God by this sin is figuratively described as food image, when he says that he is animated which is sweet as new honey in the by love toward the adulteress [Luther]. mouth, but turns into gall in the belly. Looking uuti) other gods. Placing Ver. 4. In this condition Jews have our affections and confidence in other ever since remained : free from idolatry, things — preference for the creature in- and in a state of waiting for God, yet stead of the Creator, who is infinite in looking in vain for a Messiah, since they goodness and resources. had not and would not receive him who Flagons of wine. 1. A type of sin — came unto them ; praying to God, yet sweet, sensual, and unwholesome food. without sacrifice for sin; not owned by 2. An image of idol worship — fleshly in God, yet kept distinct and apart by his its nature, poor in its consequences. providence, for a future yet to be re- " The solemn and strict religion of vealed. God has been towards them. chap, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : HOSE J. He has preserved them from mingling the dead shall hear the voice of the Son ■with idolaters and Mohammedans. Op- of God, and they that hear shall live pression has not extinguished them, [Pusey]. 1. Cutting short of outward favour has not bribed them. He has mercies, should cut off from sin a in I kept them from abandoning their humble us that we may be ripe for mangled worship, or the Scriptures mercy; and whatever our frame and which they understand not, and whose carriage may be, yet by affliction God true meaning they believe not; they will cut short occasions of sin, as the have fed on the raisin-husks of a barren adulteress is shut up and dieted, is ritual and unspiritual legalism, since secluded from her lovers. 2. The Lord the Holy Spirit they have grieved may intend much good to them whom away. Yet they exist still, a monu- he brings into contempt, and to a low ment to us of God's abiding wrath on condition ; for he sequesters and shuts sin, as Lot's wife was to them, encrusted, up Israel with an eye to marry her stiff, lifeless, only that we know that \Hutcheson\ HOMILETICS. "Fear the Lord and His Goodness." This is the drift of the discourse, the right and proper result of the goodness of God upon our hearts. I address myself first of all to God's people; secondly, to such as are yet unreconciled to him. I. First, to God's people. You have received of this goodness two ways; the first and the higher is his spiritual goodness ; the second form is the providential bounty of God toward you. First survey the spiritual goodness of God to you. It was no small goodness to choose you at first — no slight goodness which ordained a covenant on your behalf with Christ Jesus, and which fulfilled that covenant. Think of God's goodness to you when unconverted : what long-suffering ! what tenderness ! You have been filled with joy and peace in believing ; led first into one truth and then other, and God has outdone all you asked or thought. All this should constrain you to fear the Lord. First, there should be a fear of admiration. Saints who have tasted the Lord's goodness should fear him with worshipful fear of adoration. The goodness of God to us should suggest aspiration. The great- ness of it should suggest to us great service ; the continuance of it should move us to persevere in honouring him ; the disinterestedness of the love of God should make us ready for any self-denials; and above all, the singularity and speciality of his goodness should determine us to be singular and remarkable in our consecratinn to him. We should also fear the Lord and his goodness in the sense of affection. \Ve must fear him with humiliation. The goodness of God ought to make us fear him with a sacred anxiety, an anxiety of a double character. Am I really his 1 or if I be his, and have such goodness bestowed upon me, am I rendering to him what he may expect ] We should fear the Lord, lastly, with the fear of resignation. Now for the goodness of God in providential matters. Fear God much more than ever before, lest these temporals should, become your god. Fear God, lest you should un- dervalue your resptonsiuilities. Fear God and his goodness, lest he turn In* hand and make you poor. You should fear the Lord now, especially while you have your children about you, and you are in health, because you will have /<> leave all these things very soon. Fear God and his goodness, because he is better than r genius can be trusted unless based on truthfulness. This is 'the foundation of personal excellence and human character ; this is the health and ornament of the nation ; loyal adherence to truth is the secret of a nation's power and a nation's glory. When there is no truth, but falsehood ; when men's acts are at variance with their words ; then there is no respect, nor honesty, nor security. "What a sad state of society ! We depart from truth when we state as true what we do not know to be true, when we intentionally produce a false impression, when we deceive and designedly mislead. Often painful wrongs are inflicted by covert innuendos and malignant insinuations. Half a fact is a whole falsehood, and he who colours truth by false methods of telling it is a liar. " Of all duties," says a writer, " the love of truth, with faith and constancy in it, ranks first and highest. Truth is God. To love God and to love truth are one and the same." (b) " Nor mercy." Mercy is pity or compassion which one man shows toward another in misery; clemency towards our neighbours (Prov. xx. 28; Luke x. 37). "Let not mercy and truth forsake thee ; bind them about thy neck ; write them upon the table of thine heart." Mercy and truth are the glorious perfections of God always in harmony and action. We rest upon them for salvation, and should copy them in life. The want of one neutralizes the effect of the other. A man may be truthful, and yet not merciful Just in his dealings to others, yet " as hard as flint." Mercy has been urged upon man from the very beginning to counteract his selfishness and cruelty. " It becomes the throned monarch better than his crown," and " earthly power doth then show likest God's when mercy seasons justice." Kindness evokes kindness, and our own happiness is increased by our benevolence. "Kind words cost little." Friendly conduct may meet with ungrateful return; but absence of gratitude on the part of the receiver cannot destroy the pleasure of the giver. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." (c) " Nor "knowledge <>/ God." There was no sense of honesty and obligation, no justice nor humanity. Truth and benevolence, had been disregarded. The fragmentary man was seen in disordered society and ignorance of God in a land specially bis own, and which should have presented his glory and preserved his name. The know- ledge ill' God is a necessity of our moral nature, and lies at the foundation of all morality and religion. Man can have no obligation to mere laws of nature, and feel mi sense of res] lonsibility to an impersonal being. God has revealed himself in his works and word. We are related to him as intelligent and moral beings. We owe duty to ourselves and our fellow-men because God wills and commands it. But God is not recognized, and then forgotten in motive and duty. God is not seen through his works, and in Israel and England we have a succession of human beings instructed in the laws and duties of society, with the character and even the existence of the law-giver omitted. We have the means of knowing and worship- ping God, but no true, practical knowledge of God. The supreme influence of God is lost in the family and in the land, in custom and law, hence, a spirit of subor- dination and licentiousness. We have sound creeds but ungodly lives ; theoretic, but little practical knowledge of God. [f men " hold the truth in unrighteousness," check the development of it in their lives, and reject the knowledge of God; they chap, iv.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIOSEA. 40 begin the downward course to idolatry and grossest sin. The history of tho heathen world and the results of the French Eevolution prove this knowledge to be the safeguard of the people, to be necessary (1) to preserve mental vigour. If the knowledge of God is not thought worth keeping in the mind, then tho mind itself will become worthless and degenerate, " a reprobate mind " (Rom. i. 28). ('_') to preserve true morality. Progressive vice, penal suffering, and fearful lusts are the certain results of rejecting the knowledge of God. " If there be not a God, we must invent one," cried one of the leading spirits of France. " Some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame." 2. A corrupt morality. " Swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery," were common practices. These, and nothing but these, were seen all around. Religion and morality are bound together. Without the one there can be no true existence of the other. Ignorance of God is a source of wrong practice, a source of all evils. Where there is no love and truth, no regard to God, there will be vices contrary to these virtues. When the soul or the land is empty of good, it will be full of evil. Evils of every description abounded in Israel. Society was penetrated with vice and profligacy. Perjury and falsehood corrupted the morals and manners of the people. Religion and virtue were swamped. Family and home were alike tainted. Domestic purity, religious sanctity, no longer restrained and bound society together. The laws by which God had fenced the estate, the life, and character of men were broken; violence and bloodshed knew no bounds, carried everything before them, and like a flood swept the nation to rum. III. The nation punished. "Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven ; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away," &c. General depravity produces general punishment. God in judgment sent a universal drought, such as that which pre- vailed in the reign of Ahab. Vegetation was to suffer, animal life decay, and sea and land groaned beneath the visitation. If man will not love God, neither shall God's creatures help man. For man's interests and theirs are bound together in the wondrous providence of God. 1. 3Ia?i's sins affect inanimate creation. Man was not made for the earth, but the earth was made for man. By successive steps and gradual events the earth was prepared and fitted to be his residence. For him power had stilled the conflict of chaos and restored " the reign of law." For his sake goodness had beautified the earth and clothed it with vegetation. In wisdom the various animals were subject to his control, and he had dominion over all tho earth. Man had to replenish, subdue, and govern the earth (Gen. i. 28). (a) Man is related to material creation by his physical nature. His name (Adam), man, is formed from the (adamah) material of which his body is composed. He is related to the physical laws of the universe as a physical being, and is amenable to gravita- tion, mechanical force, and chemical action. As an organized being he is subject to organic laws. Every great characteristic by which vegetable life is distinguished from inorganic matter and animal life, is found in him. He also possesses animal instincts like the inferior creatines. Thus man's constitution in its threefold cha- racter, of physical, organic, and sentient, " took up the strain of creation which had preceded his coming, in praise of the power, and wisdom, and goodness of God." (b) Man has brought a curse upon material creation by his first sin. The earth is not like the garden of Eden in Avhich he was placed at first ; " cursed is the ground for thy sake." It does not yield its produce with its original ease and abundance. We have disorder and decay, malformation and barrenness. " Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth," with all our toil and daily labour. When man fell from his original position with God, the earth lost its fruitfulness and dignity, and now "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain " under its bondage and corruption, and is waiting for its freedom and greater blessing (Rom. viii. 20 — 22). (c) Man injures material creation by his immoral conduct. Material forces are largely at his command. He can change and create ; beautify and adorn ; 4 50 UOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. [chap. iV. impair and destroy. Solomon saw the field of the slothful "all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down" (Prov. xxiv. 30, 31). A life of mere animal sensual indulgence, manual or mental sloth will bring to poverty. Idleness and neglect will bring drought ami failure of crops (Hag. i. 2 — 11). Vice, idolatry, and licentiousness will spread their effects and spoil the face of nature. Creation is in sympathy with man, responds to his moral lite, and is blessed or wasted by his moral conduct. In peace and plenty, under the benediction and providence of God, the valleys shoul and sing for joy. In famine and war, under the curse and sin of man, " the land shall mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish." "How long shall the land mourn and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein1?" (Jer. xii. 4; Ps. cvii. 34). 2. Man's sins affect the animal creation. We should regard the animal world with due feeling. Life in its lowest form is the gift of God. Wo should not abuse any creature which God pronounced good and intended for our welfare. The inferior creatures have been useful to man and subservient to his interests in many ways, (a) They have been a source of sustenance, (b) A source of commerce, (e) The means of training his powers of body and mind. But they have been punished for man's idolatry. Their growth and continuance have been hindered by man's sin. As necessities of lifo they have been cut off, and as objects of adoration they have been smitten with the plague. "He turned their waters into blood and slew their fish" (Ps. cv. 29). Internal blessing and outward prosperity shall go hand in hand when man is restored to right relation with God. Then shall the original promise be fulfilled, and God Avill give peace in the land; rid it of evil beasts: and its inhabitants shall lie down, and nothing shall disturb their rest (Lev. xxvi. 6). IV. The nation punished without mercy. They had rejected God, and God woidd leavo them to their fate. They had despised the priests, and he would slay their prophets. By degrees they had hardened themselves and grown stubborn in sin, and thus ripened themselves for destruction. When the Lord has a controversy with a people and they will not hear, it is useless to strive with them. They who resist the Spirit and the ministers of God, resist God himself. " He that despiseth you despiseth me." Their state is most desperate and deplorable. 1. Punishment without intermission. "Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night." There would be no time free from destruction, night and day calamities should never cease. Darkness woidd be no protection, and day would be no security. Terror by night found them helpless and exposed. Arrows from cunning foes and with deadly aims flew by day. Pestilence, shrouded in mystery, marched on unseen, to infect the home and alarm the city. Destruction wasted at noon-day, and there was no shield nor buckler. This re- minds us of the Great Plague of London, when evil befell the city, and its inhabit- ants were stricken with death. 2. Punishment without exnuption. People and prophets fell together. God's judgments are impartial. Lank and title, wealth and worldly distinctions, are of no avail. "Label men how you please," says 1 hi licit Spencer, "with titles of 'upper,' and 'middle,' and 'lower,' you cannot prevent them from being units of the same society, acted upon by the same spirit of the age, moulded after the same type of ch meter. The mechanical law, that action and reaction are equal, has its moral analogue. The deed of one man to another tends to produce a like effect upon both, be the deed good or bad. In whatever rank you see corruption, be assured it ecpaally pervades all ranks; bo assured it is the symptom of a bad social diathesis. Whilst the virus of depravity exists in one part of the body-politic, no other part can remain healthy." Man's evil character and influence blend and bind him up with others. Not a particle is lost, but the whole is taken up and produces its results in the general community. Collectively and individually the destruction of all is declared. Koot and branch they were to be cut oil'. As a nation they could not escape. " I will destroy thy chap, iv.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : 1I0SEA. 51 mother," and as individuals they could not flatter themselves with hope. " Thau shalt fall." 3. Punishment without human sympathy. "Let no man strive aax reprove another." Man is forbidden to interfere or aid. God will implead them and none can contradict or evade his judgments. We know not how to judge. "We condemn and acquit without cause. We are ignorant and helpless ours< " None can hy any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom fur him." All are alike guilty, condemned and exposed to death. Christ alone can deliver us. The redemption of the soul is precious, hut human efforts, gold and silver, and a world of rubies, coidd not purchase it. Riches cannot ward off judgment, nor tears avail with God. The Scripture hath concluded, shut up as in a prison, all in unbelief, not that God might condemn, but that he might have mercy upon all men (Gal. iii. 22). 4. Punishment without Divine help. Criminals are sometimes recommended to mercy and delivered from punishment ; but Israel was stubborn and incorrigible, and God forbids any to remonstrate or reprove. Christian reproof and expostulation bring sinners to repentance and are of immense service in setting them right. It is one of the duties of friendship. " Faithful are the wounds of a friend." But when men hate reproof and defy the judgments of God, then they are let alone to reap their folly. Their doom is certain : " Thou shalt fall," and " I will destroy." " He that is filthy, let him be filthy still." " The fruit of sin in time," says Chalmers, " when arrived at full and finished maturity, is just the fruit of sin through eternity. It is merely the sinner reaping what he has sown. It makes no violent or desultory step, from sin in time to hell in eternity. The one emerges from the other, as does the fruit from the flower. It is simply that the sinner be filled with his own ways, and that he eat the fruit of his own devices." A TERRIBLE DEPRIVATION. Verses 3 5. The words lead us to consider a lamentable deprivation — a deprivation that comes upon the people in consequence of their heinous iniquities. Two remarks are suggested concerning this deprivation. I. It is a deprivation both of material and spiritual good. First: Of material good. (1) A deprivation of health. "Everyone that dwelleth therein shall languish." The physical frame loses its wonted elasticity and vigour, and succumbs to decay and depression. " Languish," like a dying man on his couch. Sin is inimical to the bodily health and vigour of men and nations ; it insidiously saps the constitution. (2) A deprivation of the means of subsistence. " The beasts of the field and the fowls of heaven ; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall bo taken away." Literally this refers to one of those droughts that occasionally occur in the East, and is ever one of the greatest calamities. What a dependent civaturo man is ! The beasts of the field, the fowls of heaven, and the fish of tho sea can do better without him, but he cannot do without them. How soon the Eternal can destroy those means of his subsistence ! One hot blast of pestilential air could do the whole. It is a deprivation, secondly : Of spiritual good. "Let no man strive nor reprove another; for thy people are as they that strive with the priest." The meaning seems to be that their presumptuous guilt was as great as that of one who refused to obey the priest when giving judgment in the name of Jehovah, and who, according to law, for that cause was to be put to death (Deut. xvii. 12). < toe of the greatest spiritual blessings of mankind is the strife and reproof of godly men. The expostulations and admonitions of Christly friends, parents, teachers, what on earth is more valuable, is so essential as these1! Yet these are to be taken away. " Let no man strive nor reprove another." The time comes with the sinner when God says, "My spirit shall no more strive with thee; Ephiaim is joined to idols, let him alone." Men have become so dogdike in nature that holy thing* not to be presented to them; so swinish, that you are to cast before them no mow pearls (Matt. vii. 6). II. It is a deprivation leading to a terrible doom I usi : The destruction of -priests and people. " Therefore shalt thou fall in tho day, and 52 UOMILETIC CUMMESTARY: HOSEA. [chap. IV. the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night." The meaning is that no time, night or day, shall be free from slaughter, both of the people and the priests. This was literally true of the ten tribes at tins time. And it is true in a more general and universal Bense. God's law is, that "evil shall slay the wicked ; " and it is always slaying them, whether they be priests or people — the laity or the clergy. If they are not true to God, day and night they are being slain. Secondly : The destruction of the social state. " And I will destroy thy mother." Who was the mother 1 The Israelitish state. And it was destroyed. England is our mother, and our mother will be destroyed unless we banish sin from our midst [The Hum Hint]. HOMILETIO HINTS AND OUTLINES. An expostulating God, ver. 1. "Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel," &c. 1. It is a marvellous con- troversy. God might forsake, but he strives with men. Princes might hold a controversy with princes, and nations with nations, but for God to plead with his creatures is wondrous love. 2. It is a just controversy. There is abundant reason for it. We have broken his covenant, reproached his name, and been ungrateful for his favours. The demands of moral government, the interests of the universe, require some rectification, some settlement of matters. 3. It is a continual controversy. God is speaking now day by day by his word and servants, carrying on the contro- versy yet with the most guilty and re- bellious, seeking to convince them of sin, and leave them without excuse. 4. It is a hopeless controversy. The sinner has no excuse, no argument ot right on his side. He has sinned against light and truth, the voice of conscience and the warnings of providence. "Let them bring forth their witnesses," as I do mine, "that they maybe justified" in their works and ways. " Or let them hear and say it is truth ;" let them hear the arguments on my side, and say, after due consideration, if truth is not with me, and that I am perfectly reasonable in my requirements. The sinner is " speechless " now and will have no plea at the judgment day. The potsherd of the earth may strive with the potsherds, but man is unequal in strife with God. " Woe unto him that striveth with Ids Maker ! " Truth and mercy. 1. Rooted in the knowledge of God. 2. Belated one to another. 3. Opposite to the five sins mentioned in verse 2, swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and incontinency. "Truth and love are mutually condi- tions, the one of the other. 'Truth cannot be sustained without mercy ; and mercy without truth makes men negli- gent ; so that the one ought to be mingled with the other ' [Jerome\ They both have their roots in the knowledge of God, of which they are the fruit ( Jer. xxii. 16 ; Isa. xi. 9) ; for the knowledge of God is not merely ' an acquaintance with his nature and will ' [Hitzig], but knowledge of the love, faithfulness, and compassion of God, resting upon the experience of the heart. Such know- ledge not only produces fear of God, but also love and truthfulness towards brethren (cf. Eph. iv. 32; Col. hi. 12). Where this is wanting injustice gains the upper hand" [Keil]. Speculative and practical knowledge are bound up together through the one- ness of the relation of the soul to God, whether in its thoughts of him or acts towards him. Wrong practice corrupts belief, and misbelief corrupts practice [Pusey]. Pr'test-strivers. 1. Strife against the means of knowledge. Priests were re- positories of knowledge, the oracles and guides of the people (Mai. ii. 7). 2. Strife against Divine authority. All dillicult cases were taken to the priests (Deut. xvii. 8 — 12), who pronounced judgment, and those who refused the sentence were put to death. They re- presented God's authority, and spoke in God's name. 3. Strife against spiritual interests, (a) Even here they, priest- strivers, are often left alone. Let not chap, iv.] HOMILETIC COMMENT J RF: HOSEA. man strive with those who strive with priest, so would, and did, they reject God; reproof will only irritate and not the prophets. St Stephen gives it its a correct them, (b) Hereafter they suffer characteristic of the Jews, " Ye tfiff- the consequence of their evil ways, necked and uncircumcised in heart and " To strive then with the priest was the ears, ye do always resist the Hah/ Ghost ; highest contumacy, and such was their as your fathers did, so do ye" [Pusey]. whole life and conduct. It was the Ver. 5. When false prophets flatter character of the whole kingdom of and soothe the people in sin, when sin- Israel. For they had thrown off the ners rehel against Divine authority and authority of the family of Aaron which reject Divine teaching, they hasten on God had appointed. Their political their ruin. No degree of prosperity, no existence was hased upon the rejection human aid, and no mere Church or of that authority. The national character State can save them from sudden, unex- infmences the individual. When the pected, and fearful fall. "Thou shalt whole policy is formed on disobedience fall in the day, and I Avill destroy thy and revolt, individuals will not tolerate mother." interference. As they had rejected the HOMILET1CS. Ignorance op God : A Warning to the People. — Verse 6. The prophet had complained that there was no knowledge of God in the land. This was a serious offence in a land of privileges and religious teachers, and an error fatal to the people. All were ignorant. The people and the priests were all to blame. In spite of warning and judgment, by the destruction of one dynasty after another, they would not desist from the sin of Jeroboam. God therefore would deprive the nation of its priestly honour, strip it of its priestly rank, and make it like a heathen nation. The words contain a warning to people and priests. I. Ignorance of God is inexcusable. Israel had abundant means and oppor- tunities of knowing God. " For did Israel not know 1 " and " have they not heard 1 " (Eom. x. 18, 19). The sound of the gospel was heard, and was sent forth like the voice of nature in all the land. The conversion of the Gentiles and the universality of Christianity were predicted ; they had the oracles of God, and were highly exalted above other people. They had no excuse therefore for their unbelief. They possessed the law of God, but neglected to look into it, and for- sook it. In this Israel are like many now, who, in the midst of religious ordinances, in a land of Bibles and Christian Sabbaths, disregard, neglect their salvation, and live in total ignorance of God. There is a natural distaste for spiritual things, in- attention to religious duties, and an absorption in things of this world, which beget indifference and lead to unbelief. There are persons who are moral but not devout, honest but not prayerful, benevolent but not converted, amiable but not decided, nominal Christians who are not real Christians. Those who forget God are more numerous than the profligate and profane. Ignorance of God seems a small sin, but ignorance is allied with wickedness. To forget God is to exclude the essential parts of religion. It implies that his goodness, holiness, and claims are of no value to us ; it is to exclude God from our thoughts and give him no place in our heart and conduct. Hence to be ignorant of God is not to love and fear him ; not to live in subjection to his law, nor to aim at his glory as the chief end of lite. Yet this is the real, the sad state of thousands in Christian England ! II. Ig- norance of God is wilful. " Thou hast rejected knowledge." To forget is an act of negligence ; to reject is a calm, deliberate sin, a positive refusal of God's kind offers. Not the mere absence of knowledge, a deprivation of it; but a denial of it, an affected ignorance. They hated the light and loved the darkness. There is no guilt in rejecting some things, but to refuse the offers of mercy and despise 54 1I0MILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. [ciur. iv. the revelations of God's love in his Son, is to sin away all mercy. " For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin." Ueliherately and knowingly to forsake God and the services of the sanctuary, is to make common cause with ungodly men and anti-christian synagogues. To suppress by an act of self-will your b Litter knowledge and con- viction, is to reserve yourself for future punishment and rejection. If the apostate under the Old Testament was punished with severe penalty, how much greater the punishment of the sinner against greater privileges and fuller light ! " Behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it." III. Ignorance of God is destructive. A man may be ignorant of mathematics, astronomy, and geology, without suffering much ; but to be ignorant of God, the chief and highest good, is to rob ourselves of happiness and expose ourselves to death. " My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." 1. Ignorance perpetuates folly. Ignorant men fall into temptations, seek sensual gratifications, and live in error. Knowledge is valuable for its own sake, and when rightly used, preserves from many "foolish lusts." "Be assured," says Or Chalmers, "it is not because the people know much, that they ever become the willing subjects of any factious or unprincipled demagogue. It is just because chey know too little. It is just because ignorance is the field on which the quackery of a political impostor ever reaps its most abundant harvest." 2. Ignorance destroys present enjoyment. The animal has all the instincts necessary to make it happy ; but man's true enjoyment is in the knowledge and love of God. Human beings to fulfil their vocations must have knowledge. We are dependent for happiness upon knowledge. Every evil that curses mankind is connected with ignorance. Hence knowledge is light. Ignorance is a blind guide, and its results are often more fearful than the cause itself. Ex- clude knowledge from the mind, you turn it into a world of darkness, and rob it ot its native element. Thus driven from light, no brilliant genius, no flashes of fancy, can enlighten it. These will scathe like the lightning, rather than bless ami cheer, and leave the gloom more horrible. Knowledge is life and health. " That the soul be without knowledge, it is not good." The words of God are the health and life of the soul. " They are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh." "Wisdom is the indispensable condition of physical and spiritual health. It promotes temperance, and gives self-restraint. It teaches submission to the I Hvine will, and leads to the emancipation of our noblest powers and capacities. It secures the fullest and freest development of body and mind in personal life and activity for God. Ignorance is sickness, decay, and death. Knowledge unites to God, but ignorance cuts off from God. " My people are cut off for lack of know- ledge " Cut off from the source of life and enjoyment, like a branch lopped oil" from the tree. Man cannot bear fruit of himself, hence he will perish if not united to God in knowledge and faith. 3. Ignorance destroys future happiness. Eternal life is suspended in knowledge, for men "perish for lack of knowledge." On the otler hand, "This is life eternal, to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." Knowledge of all kinds is the proper wealth of our rational nature : but to captivate us with the knowledge of God, it is set forth as the only wealth worth possessing — the only science which conducts to life. And this life not mere unending existence, but growing knowledge and conformity to Christ. Religion on earth consists in the knowledge of God, and blessedness in heaven con- sists in the vision of God. Well may we pray with Professor Hall, " 0 Lord, remove our ignorance, that we may know thee ; our idleness, that we may seek thee ; our unbelief, that we may find and enjoy thee." Ignorance of God : A Warning to the Priests. I. Priests blamed for the ignorance of the people. They were appointed to teach and warn the people; but were unfaithful to their trust, and suffered the chap, n.] II0M1LETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE J. nation to sin. 1. They neglected study. "Thouhast rejected knowledge." They had the means, but did not improve them. They had the law, but did not read it. The preacher should be wise and teach the people knowledge (Ecc. xii. 9); should stud make provision for their wants (Matt. xiii. 52) ; and make full proof of his ministry. But an idle, ignorant minister, is a disgrace to the community, and a curse to the Church. 2. They lived inconsistent lives. They professed to belong to God, hut worshipped the calves of Jeroboam. Through poverty, fear, or shame, they with- held, suppressed the truth, and connived at the nation's sin. They shared in the rejection of God's truth, and brought themselves under God's curse. " I will also reject thee." II. Priests punished for the ignorance of the people. It was their duty to remove it, but they encouraged it to answer their own selfish ends, llenco they were guilty, partook of the sins of the people, and were deprived of their honour. 1. Tliey were cast out of office themselves. " Thou shalt be no priest to me." Sad fall ! God will not retain idle and ungodly men in office. Those that have no love for Christ and immortal souls, will have no love for their work, and display no activity in it. " Consider this," says Bishop Taylor, "which is a great truth— that every degree of love to the world is so much taken from the lovo of God" " Take heed unto thyself," lest thou miscarry and become a castaway. 2. Tliey deprived their 'posterity of honour. " I will also forget thy children." "What will the rising generation be without the means of knowing and loving God? What will the nation become when its " candlestick is removed out of its place " 1 It is sad to be forgotten of God. The sun does not shine on more wretched creatures, than on the awful masses of our fellow-creatures growing up in ignorance and estrangement from God. " Where there is no vision, the people perish." God only knows how far the ministers of his word are the cause of this destruction. " When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life ; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity ; but his blood will I require at thine hand " (Ezck. iii. 18 ; cf. Ps. li. 14 ; Acts xx. 26). HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Rejecting knowledge. Proves — 1. A selves, as to their own lives, as to their wrong spirit : (a) hating to be taught, own shame even, still long that theil (b) despising the teacher, (c) resolved to children should not be as themselves. sin. 2. A mournful indication: (a) God tries to touch their hearts where they pride, (b) contempt of God, (c) indiffer- are least steeled against him. He says ence to truth. 3. A fatal result : (a) not / will forget thee, but I will forget deadness of conscience, (b) unbelief of those nearest thy heart, thy children heart, (c) utter rejection of God. [Pusey], Forgetting God. 1. The course, for- It is the righteous judgment or God getting his love and goodness, word and upon negligent parents and unfaithful power, justice and grace. 2. The re- ministers, to requite their children, for suit : (a) awful, (b) unexpected, (c) uni- their treatment to his. " I will also versa!, (d) inevitable. " Ignorance is so forget thy children." Parents cannot far from being the mother of devotion, do wrong without injuring their child- that it is the mother of destruction; ren. Ministers cannot neglect their duty lack of knowledge is ruining to any without robbing their people The mi- person or people [Matt. Henry]:' quities of the lathers and teachers shall Parents who are careless as to them- be visited on their children. HOMILETICS. The Danger of Worldly Prosperity. — Verses 7—9. The increase may refer to number, or wealth, power, and dignity. Israel had grown into a strong and powerful nation, but increase of greatness was attended 50 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : EOSEA. [chai>. iv. with increase of sin. Its prosperity was attributed to idols (ii. 7), thought to be the fruit of their worship, and strengthened them in their delusion. God would therefore turn their glory into shame and make them a warning to others. I. In worldly prosperity men forget God. The standard of revolt was erected in the first sin. The liistory of man since has been an endeavour to build an empire, governed by laws and replenished with resources, independent of God. Haying by apostasy cut himself off from the true God, he has joined himself to idols, oi in his own sufficiency deified himself and made himself his own first and last, all in all. 1. God is not recognized. The gifts are received with ingratitude or attributed to human skill and effort. God is shut out entirely from men's thoughts and business. "When men do not fear, they sink into utter forgetfulness of God, into practical atheism. " Because they have left off to take to the Lord," ver. 10. 2. God is forsaken. "As they were increased so they sinned against me." It is easy to forsake God when once he is forgotten. "Worldlings make their prosperity minister to their pride and ingratitude. Increase of wealth occasions increase of pomp. " Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked, then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation." An abundant popula- tion begets haughty self-reliance, and tempts nations to war. Riches and wealth are not evil in themselves. Nor is the mere possession of them wrong. In almost every stage of civilization they procure the necessities and conveniences of life, and may be made the means of doing good. But to desire them for their own sake, to put them in the place of the highest good, and to let them beget a rapacious worldly spirit, is to abuse them and sin against God. " A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." II. In worldly prosperity- men become covetous. " They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity." The priests made again of the sins of the people. They encouraged idolatry, which involved desertion of God, and connived at sinful customs. The more the people sinned, the more sin-offerings were presented. Their fees and support were derived from the calf worship. They set their heart, i. e. their longing desire, upon their iniquity, had an interest in its growth, and did all in their power to uphold and increase it. 1. False reliijionisfs feed ti/>on sin. Religious teachers are most assuming in their authority and dictatorial in their con- duct. They feed upon the ignorance and are worshipped by the superstitions of the people. Servility and flattery exalt them and putt' them up with pride. A train of followers, a multitude of dependants, look up to them when they go out and when they come in. " Self, is Dives in the mansion, clothed in purple, and faring sumptuously every day — the cause of Christ, is Lazarus lying at his gate, and fed only with the crumbs which fall from his table." Religious professors are satisfied with forms and ceremonies, anxious for the reputation without performing the duties of Christians, and feed upon merit, not upon Christ. They turn religion into traffic, and " suppose that gain is godliness." 2. Covetous men feed upon sin. Every pas-ion seeks to justify itself, but covetousness is defended and espoused by all the passions. Covetousness was manifest in the first transgression, and has maintained a fatal ascendency ever since. It turned the nations of old into rapacity, arrogance, and pride, which braved the very throne of God. Alas ! it changes the priests and ministers of God into mercenary hirelings, " The heads of Zion judge for reward, and the prophets therefore divine for money." All covetous men seek to feed, to support themselves, by fraud and deceit; by worldly lusts and pleasure; by idolatry and selfishness. " The covetous man lives as if the world was made altogether for him," says South, " and not he for the world; to take in everything and part with nothing." Worldly men have perverted spiritual appetites, relish only inferior and sinful pursuits, and feed upon ashes (Is. xl. 20). III. In worldly prosperity men are ruined. " I will punish them for their ways." "Therefore will I change their glory into shame." Sin brings its own punishment. The very objects which excite it form a rod for its chastisement. God is perpetually remind- chap, iv.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. ing men that pursuit of worldly good is attended with great anxiety and exhaust- ing toil — that its possession is often a mortification and its loss an anguish— that it is dangerous and destructive, leading men "into temptation and a snare, and pierc- ing them through with many sorrows." 1. Ruin instead of glory, I will change their glory into shame. God overrules the purposes and pursuits of men. They reap what they do not sow, and are rewarded with the opposite, of what tiny anti- cipate. God can strip worldly prosperity of all its glory, turn the ornaments of character, and the acquisitions of fortune, into a curse instead of a blessing. 2. Glory the means of ruin. Beauty is often the cause of pride. Pride and a haughty spirit come before a fall. Ambition, power, and population drive nations to war and destruction. "Ambition overleaps itself, and falls on the contrary side." Amaziah would take no warning, lost his own wealth, and wasted the treasures in God's temple, and the walls of Jerusalem were broken down, and the city exposed to shame and contempt (2 Kings xiv. 10). 3. Ruin upon all the people. "Like people, like priest." Priest and people were alike in sin and must sutler in punish- ment. " As with the people, so with the priest " (Is. xxiv. 2). Prosperity would not exempt the one, nor sanctity secure the other. None would escape, all must be carried away into disgrace and death. The people shelter themselves under the example of the priest : and the priest excuses himself by the power of number, the weakness of our nature, and the strength of temptation; but God " will punish them for their ways." The wicked may prosper and rule for a while; but God will visit them. They act foolishly by turning God's mercies to their own destruction, and because they prosper confirm themselves in their folly. Their fame will become infamous, their disgrace conspicuous, and their " shame will be their promotion " (Prov. iii. 35). " The prosperity of fools shall destroy them." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. A just retribution : if we turn God's apparel, and covetousness, so prevalent, glory into shame by idolatry (Ps. cvi. Ministers conniving at the corrupt ways 20 ; Jer. ii. 2 ; Rom. i. 23 ; Phil. iii. of the people, and the people screening 19) ; God will take away glory and give their sin behind the worldliness of us our shame. " Such is the course of ministers, are both alike in guilt, and sin and chastisement. God bestows on shall therefore be also alike in punish- man gifts, which may be to him matter ment. God will make their sin their of praise and glory, if only ordered punishment; their own presumptuous aright to their highest and only true doings shall be their reward [Fausset], end, the glory of God ; man perverts Like priests like people. 1. Like in them to vain glory and thereby to sin ; moral character — good or bad. 2. Like God turns the gifts, so abused, to shame" in moral conduct — consistent or incon- [Pusey]. sistent. 3. Like in moral destiny — In our own days Christian ministers saved or lost. "Let your life be a coni- and Christian laymen, from fear of man mentary on your sermons " [Lamont]. and love of popularity, shrink from " The life of a pious clergyman is visible denouncing the fashionable sins and rhetoric " [Hooker]. follies of all classes, the spurious liberal- u WheQ nation8 are to pcrish in their sinS) ism in religion, the equivocal amuse- 'Tis in the Church the leprosy begins." ments, luxury, absence of modesty in lCouj>cr.] HOMILETIGS. Sinful Indulgences. — Verses 10 — 14. God will visit the priests for their presumptuous sins. Those who eat up greedily the sin of the people shall receive neither enjoyment nor sustenance. Insatiable desire is its own tormentor. Sensual indulgence can never satisfy the cravings of 5S HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. [chap. iv. the bouL " Ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink." I. Sensual indulgences do not satisfy our wants. " For they shall eat and not have enough." The food of the priests did not nourish their bodies, nor satisfy their greedy appetites. Sinful desires are never satisfied. The more they are gratified the more intensely do they crave, and cry, like the horse-leech, "Give, give" Every indulgence creates the appetite. Men seek happiness in created good, and are wretched because they do not find it. God made man upright, with a healthy spiritual appetite, that sought its support and fruition in him. But deceived by sin, man Bought out many inventions, prepared many idols, and substituted many pleasures for God, which cannot appease his hunger. The debaucheries of drunken- ness, gluttony, and lust, are husks only fit for swine. The cares and toils of sin, the pursuit of wealth and honour, of fame and fashion, indicate the disease, but give no satisfaction to the soul. Even amid the surfeits of earth's richest feasts men cry, " Who will show us any good 1 " Charles the Fifth, after a life spent in military pursuits and the active, energetic prosecution of ambitious designs, resigned his crown sated with its enjoyment. The poet Campbell, who sung in early youth " The Pleasures of Hope," in the evening of life said to a circle of friends, " As for fame, it is a bubble that must soon burst. Earned for others, shared with others, it was sweet ; but, at my age, to my own solitary experience, it is bitter. Left in my chamber alone with myself, is it wonderful my philosophy at times takes fright ; that I rush into company ; resort to that which blunts but heals no pang ; and then, sick of the world, and dissatisfied with myself, shrink back into solitude 1 " They spend their lives and waste their substance in that which disap- points ; " confessing all the time," says a writer, " that they fail even when in form they succeed, and showing by their symptoms of disappointment and dissatisfac- tion that their objects, whether gained or lost, have no relation to their wants." Nothing can satisfy the immortal soul that is not adapted to its nature and consti- tution. The enjoyment must be lasting and real, but the pleasures of sin are short-lived and only " for a season." They gratify and excite, but never satisfy the mind. Our thirst dries up all earthly tilings, and our hunger craves for fuller joys than sensual indulgences. We must go out of ourselves, beyond the things of sense, and feed on God, the only good. II. Sensual indulgences are pursued by un- lawful means. " They shall commit whoredom and shall not increase." 1. They are increased by sinful methods. Whoredom was not the way to increase their offspring. Children are a heritage from God. Polygamy is against the law of God and the welfare of humanity. The fruit of illicit intercourse God will turn to decay. Those who seek to increase in their families, to prosper in their business, and secure worldly wealth, by unlawful means, fight against God. Dishonest ways can never prosper. Notliing can succeed without God. He can desert the means or curse the issue. " Treasures of wickedness profit nothing (Prov. x. 2) ; ill- gotten gains are a dangerous and uncertain possession (xiii. 1 1 ; xxi. 6) ; and the wages of unrighteousness will be the reward of those who follow ways of covetous- ness and sin." 2. They are sought in forgetful ness of God. " They have left off to take heed to the Lord." Once they regarded God's authority and law, but now they take no heed at all. God is neither acknowledged in worship nor discerned in providence. They live in total forgetfulness and disregard. Men should " take heed," look to God, " as the eyes of servants look unto the hands of their masters," for support, direction, and duty. But when the eye is fixed on lower objects, and the heart centred on sinful pursuits, God is forgotten and forsaken. The lawless and hopeless ways of men spring from disregard to God and neglect of his word. When the eye ceases to watch God, they fall into error, wander amid the pomps, and vanities, and lusts of the world. " Show me what thou truly lovest," says Fichte, " show me what thou seekest and strivest for with thy whole heart, when thou hopest to attain to true enjoyment, and thou hast hereby shown me thy life. chap, iv.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. What thou lovest is that thou livest. This very love is thy life, thy root the seal, the central point of thy being." III. Sensual indulgences injure' the spiritual nature. They were so attached to whoredom and wine that they seemed to have lost all sense of moral duty and religious obligation, and given themselvi i up to "work all manner of sin even with greediness." 1. Sensual imlulgnicrs darken the understanding. They " take away the heart " from God their Bene- factor. Sinful passions brutalize men, and "a brutish man knoweth not." The unbelieving heart does not know nor understand God and his word. Men may parade their intellect, and boast of their gifts, but estrangement from God degrades their condition, and sinks them in the rank of being. If wo have no sanctified principle within us, we look at God's works, interpret God's ways, and receive God's blessing, just like the beasts of the field. We extract no useful and Spiritual thoughts from them. We are content with the natural use, nay, wo degrade the natural use of things. Vain imaginations darken the foolish heart (Rom. i. 22). When the light and life of God have departed from the sold, when the wicked have cast out the knowledge of God, God will give " them over to a reprobate mind ; " a mind void of judgment and perception, weakened in power to apprehend and approve of the truth and goodness of God (Rom. i. 28). When once sinful indulgence darkens the mind, it becomes stupid, and its active powers are suffered to sleep in stupidity. Men could not preserve the truth and philosophy, could not retain the knowledge of God, without moral aid. Habits of sense and sin, of indulgence and passion, destroy the perception of the mind and blunt the understanding. Sensual life impairs and paralyzes the intuitive powers and bedims the judgment. What a sad picture to see the decay of knowledge, to see the moral sense extinguished in man, the king and lord, the minister and interpreter, of nature ! It is melancholy to see the fair creation, which God pronounced good, poisoned and cursed by disease and death. But to make religion degenerate into idolatry, to pervert the moral instincts of our nature, and confound by evil habits and constant crimes the distinction between right and wrong, light and darkness, is sad beyond degree ! "If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" 2. Sensual indulgences deaden the affections. Man is a creature of appetites and instinctive desires, in common with the mere animal. If he were nothing more, he would be innocent in the abandonment of himself to their gratifi- cation. But they need controlling, lest his higher interests be endangered — his in- stincts and affections must be subordinated to a sense of duty and the love of God. If the sensuous predominate over the spiritual, and self-indulgence and self-gratifi- cation become the law of life, then his nobler feelings are crushed and his affections vitiated. " Fleshly lusts " war against the sold, the very centre and citadel of man's nature. The " divers lusts and pleasures," to which natural man is a slave, are dishonourable to the Christian and perilous to all. They disturb the peace of the soul by corroding care and by the tumult of passion — they darken its vision, and taint its powers with corruption — they threaten its life, and intercept its com- munication with God and spiritual influences. To be carnally-minded is death. In spiritual death men are " past feeling " and beyond the charms of life. The conscience is stifled, the heart hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, and they are left without moral sense, and shame, and hope. 3. Sensual indulgences d\ base the moral nature. Every created object expresses some thought, some quality of the Divine nature. The moral character of God was revealed in the moral nature of man. " God created man in his own image, in the image of God created lie him," in knowledge and true holiness. "Man," says Clement, " is the most beautiful hymn to the praise of the Deity." Divine properties in him were incarnated and humanized, and lodged in him were principles before at large. He was "CTOwned with glory and honour." But he voluntarily broke away from God, deranged the harmony of his moral nature, disturbed the peace of the universe, and exposed himself to death. Sin has defaced God's image, and man has lost his original CO I10MILETIC COMMENTARY : IIOSEA [chap. iv. righteousness. The understanding is Winded hy ignorance and prejudice. The In -ni is alienated from God hy wicked works. The affections are disordered, and the desires corrupted. Man is now subject to sense and a slave to sin. He defiles him- self hy the filthiness of the flesh, and deforms himself hy sensual indulgence. Luxury and lusts hind the will and make him unahle and indisposed to restore himself. He has become the sport and prey of his passions. There is a tendency to animalism, and an immortal being is compelled to ride on the hack of lusts and " presumptuous sins." There is a loss of the consciousness of God and a forgetftd- ness of the presence of God. The supernatural tie is broken, and man wanders into error and lives in eartldy, sensual, and devilish sins. Any idol debases the moral nature, and changes the glory which distinguishes man " into the similitude of an ox" (Ps. cvi. 20). IV. Sensual indulgences are oftenconnected with supersti- tion. " My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declare th unto them." It was a sad fall for the people of the living God to consult a heathen staff and say to mere wood, My father (Jer. ii. 27). But the descent is easy and gradual. There is a tendency in man to depart from God, to acquire and foster false ideas of God, even in the midst of the clearest indications of his existence and the tenderest reasons for clinging to him. Guilt, fear, and despair isolate the soul and turn it from God — make it drop, and cut it off as a plant from the light of the sun. Then we approach God in terror. We create gods of our own fancy, philosophy, and early prepossessions. " Fear made the gods," says a heathen writer. It is certain that superstition, polytheism, and atheism are only the counterpart and exponent of the moral condition of nations. Our nature is religious, and the corrupt heart will produce gods like itself. The philosopher contemplates nature, rejects a per- sonal God, and becomes a pantheist. The wicked wishes there to be no God; governed by his wishes, and led to believe against all moral evidence, he says there is no God, and becomes an atheist. The ignorant nmltitude, dreading God, become superstitious, and foster and express their religious feeling in figurative representa- tions " made by art and man's device." Men associate their notions of Deity with the palpable realities by which they are surrounded, and in every light of heaven and every element of nature they behold the presence of a presiding power. The grove and the mountain, the valley and the stream, have been peopled with divinities. The pride of monarchs and the ambition of heroes, the veneration of priests and the licentiousness of people, have swelled the catalogue of gods. In Egypt and Assyria, in Greece and Rome, in their palmiest days, idolatry was sup- ported by the deepest principles, the most violent passions, and the most obvious interest of legislator and prince, sculptor and poet. Originating in the depraved propensities of fallen nature, depending upon their activity for existence and sup- port, it afforded a patron for every vice, a plea for every cruelty; it consecrated every lust and sanctioned every crime. Its terrible effects are written in the destruction of institutions, the corruption of morals, and the doom of nations. Modern civilization fares no better. If men do not consult blocks of wood and stone, they kneel before statues and pictures, endow human conceptions with the attributes of Divinity, and set the creature on the throne of the Creator. We have Ritualism and Romanism, priestcraft and priesthood, sacrifice and offering, with their deadly evils. The mind is filled with narrow conceptions, the eyes are habitu- ated to artistic nullities, and the morals are polluted by gross caricatures and sen- suous worship. In the bosom of the Christian Church untaught myriads are sink- ing into modern heathenism, and believe " the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone." We have material idolatry and superstition in the present day. Tho gods of sensualism are represented by lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God — by those who seek enjoyment in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. The worshippers of the golden calf bow down to riches and worldly success. Devotees of literature and science deify Nature and turn her into a temple of adoration. Worldliness, idolatry, and superstition, in their most refined and chap, iv.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE J. 01 plausible forms, vitiate our conceptions of God, lower the standard of morality wounds society at its core, and spread dire results in families and nations. They have breathed pestilence in the ordinances of the Christian Church — corrupting their simplicity, polluting their sanctity, and tarnishing their glory. Though up- held by the traditions of antiquity, the suggestions of expediency, or the dictates of human authority, they entice, deceive, debase, and are rebellious against the authority, the absolute and sole right of God to claim our homage. " Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath." V. Sensual indulgences affect posterity. " Therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall." Sin and suite ring are inseparable. The moral order of the universe must dissolve and perish before a breach of God's law can bring anything but evil and distress. Under the moral government of God, the consequences of an act do not pass away with the trans- gressor. We are taught to calculate upon remote results, impressed with our responsibility and aided in duty. The Jews were commanded to obey God — taught that obedience would secure, and disobedience would forfeit, their privileges to their posterity, and reminded that the principle of involving their children in the tem- poral condition of the fathers was a just and merciful provision. Eeligion appeals to the strongest instincts of our nature, guards its purity by enlisting the affection of parents for their offspring, and grafting on that affection a salutary fear of the visitations of God. 1. By the influence of example sensual indulgence affects posterity. " Therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery." Children naturally imitate, do as you do, not as you say, and " catch the infection " of parents. Hence a wise man speaks of his children as his " future state." According to example, will this future be good or evil, a success or a failure. If parents drink and swear, neglect the house and forsake the service of God, will their children walk in any other way 1 If fathers and mothers are spendthrifts, pleasure-seekers, and indulgent in vice, their children will follow their steps, and God recompenses parents in their children. The child copies the foibles of the father and pleases him ; he copies his vices and punishes him. Men may love their sins, but they will be alarmed when they see them in their posterity. Antipathies are imbibed, reproduced, and intensified. Lusts are bred and born, and bring forth death in the rising generation. In the French Revolution, the children amused themselves by killing birds and small animals wi1 h little guillotines. This was the natural result of what they had seen. Children live again the lives of their parents, act their deeds, and are rewarded or punished by their example. " God layeth up his iniquity for his children." 2. By a natural law sensual indulgence affects posterity. Parents and children, the present and the future generation, are bound together not by accidental circumstances, but by organic unity. The existing generation is giving the impress of its character to the one that is to follow it. No man liveth unto himself. Every action in this life is the beginning of a chain of results, the end of which cannot be seen. As in the natural, so in the moral world, there is a "conservation of force." Example is contagious. Men beneficially or perniciously influence others, raise them up or bring them down to their own standard of morality. Good and evil are diffusive, and seeds of conduct ripen and reappear in the life of others. "That which is born of evil begets evil," says Euskin, " and that which is born of valour and honour teaches valour and honour." The sensualist and the sabbath-breaker, the drunkard and the glutton, are spreading " the savour of death unto death !" The. wicked and licentious are influencing the morals of those around them. The health aud hap- piness, the honour and the degradation, of posterity are in the power of the present When children are "born thieves," or "born bars," their parents and progenitors are to blame. Drunkards beget drunkards; dishonesty and lusts are hereditary vices. Sensual and vicious parents beget sensual and vicious children. Diseased parents transmit weakened constitutions and diseased tendencies to their offspring. Ct IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. [chap. iv. The intractable ox resisting the yoke is an apt image of the impenitent casting off Divine restraints. Conviction follows upon conviction, chastening upon chasten- ing, still he rebels, hardens his neck, and invites threatened judgments. Ahab ■would not be corrected, and " the bow drawn at a venture " performed its mission. Pharaoh grew more stubborn under the rod, and madly rushed to ruin. " If men will harden their hearts, God will harden his hand," says Howe. Unheeded re- proof ripens us for judgment. " He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." II. The fearful doom. " The Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place." Scatter them into exile and expose them to danger, as a lamb becomes the prey to wild beasts. And this " Koir." The judgment is immediate and at hand, no longer delayed. " Ephraim is joined to idols," in love with his sins ; " let him alone," let hint rest from further correction and expostulation, and take the consequences of his folly. This is the last and most hopeless state of guilt. 1. Let alone by man. The godly must not reprove nor exhort some men. They feel on account of the sins, and are deeply anxious for the welfare, of their fellow-creatures. But there are sins beyond hope, total apostasy and final impenitence. "There is a sin unto death; I do not say that he shall pray for it." Apostasy and idolatry are not only sins against God, but destructive to mem The intercession of Moses and Samuel would not avail (Jer. xv. 1), when God is angry. " Therefore pray not thou for tliis people, neither lift up a cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me ; for I will not hear thee." 2. Let alone by God. It is sad to be without the sympathy and prayers of men ; but to be left of God is a most awful condition. It is something more than being without the warnings of the minister, and the exhortations of a mother or friend. One let alone is not troubled with the power of truth, the checks of conscience, and the restraints of providence. He is undisturbed and un- fettered in his course of sin. He goes from bad to worse, and his end is destruc- tion. Like the adder, he cannot and will not hear the wisest charmer. The will is averse, the purpose is fixed, and the ear is deaf. As stones fall to the ground, sparks fly upward, and rivers roll to the ocean, so silly men run from God, and beyond the reach of mercy. " The soul that sinneth presumptuously shall have no atonement ; it shall be cut off from the midst of my people." 3. Let alone without any pity and protection. "As a lamb in a large place." A lamb exposed to peril is a most helpless and pitiable creature. "What more lamentable to behold than the sinner let alone, exposed to temptation and death. This made Christ weep over the guilty city, and Paul wish that he was accursed for his kindred in the flesh. " The large place " of Israel were the territories of the Medes, where they were deprived of temple worship, prophetic teaching, and Divine protection. The large place of the sinner is the broadway to destruction ; to places where strong drink drowns reason and conscience; where sensibility is consumed by burning passions ; where tender memories are quenched, conscience benumbed, and every noble feeling destroyed. The man who ruins Ids health and his happiness, Ins circumstances and his life, and who implicates his family and his fellow-creatures by the unbridled gratification of sense, is to be pitied for Iris folly. Woe to that man who has forsaken Christ, and whom God permits to go the downward road, unpitied, unprotected, and unsaved ! III. The kindly warning. "Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend." Israel and Judah were at variance, and such warm sympathy could not be expected from those at enmity with each other. But the heart of the prophet beats warmly for Judah, who alone represented the people of God. God is anxious to preserve Judah from the ways of Israel. Spiritual, theocratic feelings are stronger than natural feelings, and must prevail. Christianity is not insensible to private friendship and the claims of kindred; but it kindles within us the fire of universal benevolence. 1. A needful learning. (o renounced. "We must " come out from the world, and be separate," that is, be Christians wholly or not at all. (b) The mixture of idolatry with the worship of God endangered Judah. " Come not ye unto Gilgal," &c. Gilgal and Bethaven we n • places of note and great resort. Here people were accustomed to " swear the Lord liveth," or associate the living God with idols. Formulas of Christian worship were employed to justify the service of idols. Man will worship something. When the worship of Jehovah is forsaken then the devices of man are chosen. Examples and places infect. God will not divide his claims with idols. Supersti- tions are not more warranted or imitable because they are practised under the pre- tence of serving God. Aaron's golden calf was no excuse for the neglect of Jehovah. "We must have no halting, no mixture in religion. Either Baal or the Lord must be our master and God. "We cannot serve two masters. To swear by idols, by heaven or earth, or any creature, dishonours our nature, offends our God, and makes us a warning to others. " Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." 2. A timely warning. God warns before he strikes. Spaces for repentance are given men, and they are urged to flee from the judgment before it is too late. Though Israel is given up, yet Judah must be cautioned. This indicates Divine wisdom, love, and forbearance. " Sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily." " The long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah." Provocations are given, yet God forbears to punish. But we must not question his providence, disregard his word, and abuse his mercy. There is clear and constant warning. The impenitent are without excuse, and the punishment will be complete. Punishment lingers long, but falls heavily at last. " "Woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him." 3. A reasonable warning. Let not Judah offend, " though Israel play the harlot." The separation of Israel from Judah was most unrighteous and disastrous in its results on both kingdoms ; but Israel's departure from God was most aggravating and hazardous. It was harlotry and wantonness. God's service is a reasonable service, in harmony with our mental and moral constitution. God is no hard task-master, demanding impossi- bilities and requiring bricks without straw. " His commandments are not grievous." He treats men as rational and responsible beings, beseeching them to repent, and warning them of the consequences of neglect. HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 15. Places of good reputation God lets him alone, gives him his wish, become infamous, lose all honour, by liberty brings no security and happiness, connection with idolatry and immoral- like a lamb bleating alone, bewraying ity. Bethel, the house of God, becomes its solitude, and he wanders about to Beth-aven, the house of idols, the house destruction. How much better to be in of vanity. Places consecrated by the God's fold, daily fed, and led into green piety of our forefathers and the mercy pastures, and beside the still waters 1 of God are turned into scenes of cor- Ver. 17. " Ephraim is joined" &c. ruption and vice. "We are forbidden to I. The Alliance.— 1. Unholy. 2. Euin- go to such places lest we should be in- ous. II. The Abandonment. — 1. Just fected. Christians must not sanction 2. Severe. 3. Hopeless. " A man may worldly customs and amusements in be given up to Satan for the destruction which God has no place. Abstain from of the flesh, that the soul may be saved ; the very appearance of evil. but to be given up to sin is a thousand Ver. 16. The sinner, like Israel, is times worse, because that is the fruit of often fretful under Divine restraint, im- Divine anger, in order to the damnation patient in the narrowness of God's ways, of the sold " [John Shower}. Ah, Lord ! and is bent on backsliding ; but when this mercy I humbly beg, that whatever CD JIUMILETIG COMMENTARY: LIOSEA. [chap. iv. thou givest me up to, thou wilt not give good in his own eyes." Do any tiling me up to the ways of mine own heart; with me, lay what "burden thou wilt if thou wilt give me up to be afflicted, upon me, so that thou dost not give me or tempted, or reproached, &c, I will up to the ways of my own heart patiently sit down and say, "It is the [Brooks]. Deliver me, 0 Lord, from Lord j let him do with mo what seems that evil man, myself [Augustine]. H0MILET1CS. The Bitterness and the Punishment of Sin. — Verses 18, 19. In these verses we have another triplet of vice. The people are guilty of intem- perance and adultery. The princes and leaders are covetous, pervert justice, and cry, " Give, give." The whole nation had become sapless and corrupt. " Drink " is here put for the effect of sweet intoxicating wine. As sourness was opposed to sweetness, so sin is opposed to holiness and idolatry to the service of God. The verses set forth the bitterness and the punishment of sin. I. The Bitterness of Sin. " Their drink is sour," their delights are insipid and dead. Man's spiritual appetite is strong, and God has made abundant provision for our happiness. But men indulge in sin, are not satisfied with healthful refresh- ment, and " add drunkenness to thirst." The appetite, cloyed with indulgence, turns with disgust from the sweetest dainties, while " every bitter thing is sweet" to the hungry soul (Pro v. xxvii. 7). So in spiritual things. The sinner has no relish, and feels no need for the bread of life. He seeks to quench his thirst by intoxi- cating pleasure or sensual indulgence. This may make him merry, but cannot make him happy. Whatever be the relish and allurements of sin, " at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder." There is poison in the cup. Like the little book which the Apostle John had to take, sin is sweet as honey in the mouth, but when committed, bitter in the belly (Be v. x. 9). " Life, they say, is sweet ; I have found it bitter/' said a young artist in the closing scenes of death. Lord Chesterfield echoed the sentiment, when he said, " I have run the silly rounds of business and of pleasure, and have done with them all. I have enjoyed all the pleasures of the world and know their futility, and do not regret their loss. I appraise them at their real value, which is very low ; whereas those who have not experienced them always overrate them. They only see the gay outside, and are dazzled with their glare ; but I have been behind the scenes. I look back on all that is passed as one of those romantic dreams which opium commonly produces, and I have no wish to repeat the nauseous dose." This Marah is never dry. No art can sweeten, no draughts exhaust its perennial waters of bitterness. The bitter- ness of sin consists — 1. In its wretchedness. Byron described himself as a man whose happiness was gone and could not be restored. "If I were to live over again," he writes, " I do not know what I would change in my life, except not to have lived at all." 2. In its dissatisfaction. After all toil and labour " the good " is ever absent. The thing which was expected to give joy palls on the instant it 13 obtained, like the apples of the Dead Sea, which turn to ashes when tasted. On and on ! the spirit still cries, " Give, give." 3. In its disappointment. Solomon had tried everything, but unalloyed happiness was still beyond his grasp. He drank from broken cisterns, tasted the wormwood and the gall, and gives the verdict — " All was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun." II. The Punishment of Sin. " The wind hath bound her up in her wings." The simple meaning of this is that they would be carried away with a swift and shameful destruction. So sudden is the overthrow of the wicked, that his designs are baffled, his life upset, and he himself overwhelmed with the tempest. "He shall take them away as with a whirlwind." 1. This destruction is sudden. The .wind may sleep and be forgotten, but justice never fails. The sky is clear, men oHAP. iv.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : EOSEJ. settle down, and undisturbed pursue their folly; but "when they shall Bay peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them." In their revelries they will be surprised, and, like Belshazzar, "they shall not escape." 2. This destruction is violent. What more violent than mighty winds tearing up the mountains run I rending the rocks (Job xxviii. 9). The wicked cannot stand before the tempest of God's wrath and the thunder of his power. Cambyses, invading Ethiopia, sent a detachment to ravage the country. Herodotus says that "after they had left Oasis, they halted to take some repast, when a strong south wind arose and over- whelmed them beneath a mountain of sand." Plutarch, in the Life, speaking of the design of Alexander " to visit the temple of Jupiter Amnion," adds, " it was a long and laborious journey, and they might be surprised by a violent south wind amidst the wastes of sand, as it happened long before to the army of Camhyses. The wind raised the sand, and rolled it in such waves, that it devoured full 50,000 men." 3. This destruction is shameful. "They shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices." Ashamed on account of their sacrifices, or of them, and should forsake them and turn to God. But in any case both they and their sacrifices would bo put to shame, (a) They would be disappointed in their sacrifices. They had brought nothing but evil, and not any good. Nothing good should be sought, or can be found, away from God. (b) They would be detected on lull and in dale, in public and private worship. They could not hide their shameful ways from God. Justice would discover them. " As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed." (c) They would be exposed in their shame. Exposed without refuge to Divine judgment. Shame and confusion of face will be the final issue of all the lofty expectations and the sinful ways of the ungodly. Shame is their present fruit, and what will be the results in eternity " of those things whereof ye are now ashamed1?" "Many that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake ; some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Avoid tho guilt if you wish to escape the doom of Israel. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER IV. Ver. 1 — 5. When God has a "con- themselves surrounded by the salt sea. troversy" with a people he appeals to How often are men ignorant of their conscience as a witness to his cause. He mercies ! How sad that they should demands and should secure earnest heed, perish for lack of knowledge ! Jesus is The speaker is great. The cause is most near the seeker even when he is tossed important, and concerns our spiritual and upon the oceans of doubt. The sinner eternal welfare. If we cannot plead ex- has but to stoop down and drink and cuse now, how can we stand before the live ; and yet he is ready to perish, as if judgment-seat at last 1 salvation were hard to find [Spurgeon]. Consideration is the duty of the Those are marked for ruin that aro Church. Faith cometh by hearing, and deaf to reproof and reject good counsel, every faculty of the mind should be bent " Therefore," says Bp Pilkington, " let to receive Divine teaching. every one keep himself in God's school- Ver. 6. Knowledge. Some years ago house and learn his lesson diligently. a vessel sailing on the northern coast of For as the body is nourished with meat, South America was seen to make signals so is the soul with the word of God." of distress. When hailed by another Ver. 7. Gratitude. Special favours vessel, they reported themselves as call for great gratitude, as those who rent 11 dying for water ! " " Dip it up, then," the largest farms generally pay the most was the response ; " you are in the mouth for them. There is ingratitude in con- of the Amazon river." There was fresh cealing a benefit or forgetting it, as well water all around them, they had nothing as not making a return for it j but tho to do but to dip it up, and yet they were worst ingratitude is returning evil for dying of thirst, because they thought good. Prosperity. No sooner does the 63 llo.MILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. [chap. IV. warm aspect of good fortune shine, than all the plans of virtue, raised like a beautiful frost-work in the winter season of adversity, thaw and disappear [JFar- burton\. Ver. 8, 9. Covetousness never judges anything unlawful. Blood is not too sacred for it to buy, nor religion too Divine for it to sell. It has turned the priests and ministers of God into mer- cenary hirelings. In Popery every shrine has its gift, every confession its cost, every prayer its charge, and every benediction its price [Wilso?i]. Ver. 10, 11. Sin is a disease equally dangerous, whether it works secretly within, or breaks out into odious displays of vice. Yielding to humoral pleasure corrupts the mind ; living to animal and trifling ones debases it ; and both in their degree disqualify it for its genuine good, and consign it over to wretchedness [Wilson]. Ver. 1 2 — 1 4. Idolatry is the adoption of a false god. Apostasy is the rejection of the true God. The idols of the heathen stood, so to speak, between heaven and earth, obscuring the vision of God, intercepting and appropriating the incense which should have ascended to the eternal throne. If we look upon the world as a musical instrument, well- tuned, and harmoniously struck, we ought not to worship the instrument, but the Being that makes the music. Ver. 15 — 17. If sin be fashionable, Christians should be out of fashion. If others be punished for it, we should take warning from them. Three things arise from sin, viz. fear, shame, and punishment. The first arises from the guilt of sin, the second from its defile ment, and the third from its demerit. A sinful life is the death of the soul. Look at sin in its guilt, malignity, and curse. Abhor it, oppose it, and dread it more than death [Wilson\ Ver. 18, 19. Pleasure taken into the soul is like liquor poured into a vessel ; so much of it as it fills it also seasons ; the touch and the tincture go together. It is certain sin has no real pleasures to be- stow ; they are all embittered, either by the strokes of providence from without, or the accusations of conscience from within. The fine colours of the serpent do by no means make amends for the smart and poison of his sting. Penalties are often so long delayed, that men think they shall escape them ; but they are certain to follow. When the whirlwind sweeps through the forest, at its first breath that giant tree, with all its boughs, falls crashing to the ground. But it had been preparing to fall twenty years. Twenty years before it received a gash, the water commenced to settle in it at some notch, and from thence decay began to reach in towards the heart of the tree. Every year the work of death progressed, till at length it stood all rottenness, and the first gale felled it to the ground. There are men, who for twenty years shame the day and the night with debaucheries, who yet seem strong and vigorous, but in reality are full of weakness and decay. They have been preparing to fall, and the first storm will strike them down in a moment [Beecher], CHAPTEE V. Critical Notes. — 1. Hear] A fresh beginning of reproof, connected with chapter iv., addressed to the priests, the royal family, and the whole kingdom. Judg.] Lit. the judgment announced in preceding chapter. You] Priests and court. Snare] A net laid to entice the people, like birds in a trap. Miz. and Tab. J Noted places, and peculiarly adapted for bird-catching. 2. Profound] Lit. they have made slaughter deep, i. e. they have sunk deeply into it. Their sacrifices were slaughter, butcheries, and not offerings to God (cf. Is. xxxi. 6). Some, that the allusion is to deep pits covered over for beasts to fall in. Others give the sense of stretching out (Ps. ci. 3). They have deepened to stretch out excesses, i. e. they have gone to great lengths, are deeply sunken in excesses. The ringleaders laid deep designs to ensnare in idolatry. Rebuker] Lit. a rebuke or cor- rection. God's attributes and conduct had taken ihe form of rebuke only towards them. 3. Know] chap, v.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : HOSE A. f,9 their plans, deceit, and profound cunning (Rev. ii. 29). All things arc naked and opened to God Now] Even at the present time, when they forget me. Their wickedness is done in public and is undeniable. 4. Will not frame] Heb. give their doings. Margin, will not suffer them. Tin v an slaves, not free to turn from evil habits. Their works stand in the way, prevent them from return- ing. Habit is a second nature domineering over men's thoughts and ways. In them] The know- ledge of God was wanting, the evil spirit had taken possession of their very centre, had it within them, and held resistless sway over them. 5. Pride] The haughtiness of Is. shall be a wit- ness before God of their folly. Others refer it to Jehovah, the glory of Is., who will witness by judgments and the destruction of their false glory (ch. vii. 10; Amos viii. 7). Jud.] shall fall, because participating in Israel's guilt. 6. Flocks] to propitiate God. Sacrifices of no avail. Be has withdrawn from them and will not hear prayer. 7. Gives the reason. Treacher.] Acted faithlessly in the marriage contract (Jer. iii. 20). Strange children] Aliens, that have not Bprung from conjugal union (ch. i. 2; cf. Deut. xxv. 5). Month] A very brief time; judgment is sudden and near. Others, the new moon, the festal season for sacrifices, will devour them. " Your sacrificial feasts shall not bring deliverance, but ruin" [Keil], 8. The evil denounced is vividly descril- actually come. 9. Shall surely be] Lit. established or well grounded in God's purpose. On Lofty summits the invasion of the enemy is announced, Jud. is menaced, and Is. is occupied, destruction is sure and permanent. The kingdom shall be overcome and for ever laid waste. 10. Bound] Eemovers of land-marks were to be cursed (Deut. xix. 14 ; xxvii. 17). Princes of Jud. had removed the boundaries of truth between Jehovah and Baal, the worship of God and idolatry. " If lie w bo removes his neighbour's boundary is cursed, how much more he who removes the border of his God " \Hengsten.\ God's anger would fall upon them like water in full stream (Ps. Ixix. 25 ; Jer. x. 26). 11. Oppressed] with heavy calamity. Broken] Crushed in contest with God. Command.] The statutes of Jeroboam and Omri (I Kings xii. 28; Mic. vi. 16). 12. Moth and rottenness | Dei tive powers, one injuring cloths, the other wood and flesh ; slowly but surely do they wotk (Job xiii. 28). The sinner has foes within and without ; conscience gnaws like a worm, and Divine judgment falls like a plague. 13. Sick.] Not civil war between the two kingdoms, for both were wounded. Apostasy with its train of moral corruptions was the disease of the body politic (Is. i. C). Eph.] with whom the prophecy has chiefly to do, sought help and found none from Assyria. 14. Lion] A fierce, roaring lion. Young lion] An emblem of strength and ferocity. They can no more defend tin ni- sei ves from God's judgments than from fierce lions which attack. Tear] to pieces. Go away] leisurely back into its cave with its prey. 15. Acknowledge] i. e. feel the guilt and punishment of sin ; repent and return to God. The Heb. includes the idea of suffering. Afflict-] awakens the need of mercy, and urges to God. Seek] most earnestly and urgently (cf. ii. 9 ; Deut. iv. 29, 30). HOMILETICS. National Sins and Divine Detection. — Verses 1 — 3. In this chapter God proceeds in the same method and carries on the same con- troversy as before. The kingdoms are first cited and then accused. All ranks are guilty of idolatry and pollutions, of obstinacy and impenitency in guilt. It is not an ordinary challenge, as of one displeased only, but the judicial procedure and sentence of the Supreme Judge. " Hear ye this." The words set forth national sins, the Divine detection, and open rebuke of them. I. The national sins. All ranks are accused : the priests, the rulers, and the people. Though some were enticed by others, that does not render them wit In ait excuse. The prophet rebukes all, without respect of persons, and shows how justly God was angry with their sins. 1 . The priests were guilty. They used their sacra I office and their high position to ensnare the people. (1.) They corrupted tin law of God. They were the depositaries of this sacred trust; were appointed to expound and keep unsullied the truth of God. They had to teach the statutes which the Lord had spoken unto them by Moses (Lev. x. 11). The people inquired from them, and they gave judgment (Deut. xvii. 9, 11). They were the messengers of the Lord of hosts, and should have preserved knowledge (Mai. ii. 7). But instead of feeding the people they starved them, lead them into error and sin. There was neither freshness nor power in their ministry. The science of salvation, the word and the work of God, were not the study of their life. When minifltera study and prepare to consume it upon pride and self-confidence; when they seek to please the fancy rather than gain the souls of men ; when they grow cold ami careless of their own, then they get dull and pitiless concerning the souls of others. Unto them are committed the oracles of God. These oracles they must consult 70 UOM1LETIC COMMENTARY : 1IOSEA. [chap. v. and declare to the people. Their word and doctrine, their life and example, like the breastplate of Aaron, must be a bright reflection of them. The truth of God must not be mixed with human tradition, nor displaced by commandments of men. To teach the law to others and profane it ourselves is mockery. " I venerate the man whose heart is warm, Whose hands are pure, whose doctrine and whose life Coincident, exhibit lucid proof That he is honest in the sacred cause." (2.) Tliey corrupted the ivorship of God. The spirituality of God is a practical truth demanding corresponding spirituality in worship. God has absolute and sole right to prescribe how he will be worshipped. Eut the history of mankind abundantly proves a disposition in human beings to devise and act for themselves in this respect. In the patriarchal and prophetic periods the worship of God was mixed with idolatry. Heroes and beasts have been deified. The heavens and the earth, the ocean and the air, have been peopled with gods. Even now men are dissatisfied with the simplicity and forgetful of the authority of Divine institutes. Worship is thought to consist in words, forms, and gestures. The body assumes the posture and the lips utter the language of devotion, but often there is neither prayer nor praise. It is sad when the priests of God are guilty of innovation, and teach that "fear towards him was taught by the precepts of men" (Isa. xxix. 13). The apostles were exceedingly jealous of any defect, redundancy, or admixture in the worship of God. But Jewish priests debased the institutions and corrupted the law of God. They had embraced and strengthened the idolatry by which they were surrounded, and by apostasy had seduced the people. Their teaching was a snare and their lives a curse. (3.) They despised the reproof of God. " Though I have been a rebuker of them all." God by his prophet and by his providence had sought to correct them in vain. Eebuke after rebuke had been given, forbidding idolatry and urging amendment, but Israel Avas immersed in sin ; kings and priests revolted more and more. God warns his Church and his servants, and gives smaller corrections to reclaim them ; but if these are despised, the sin becomes more aggravated and the punishment more severe. Apostates and revolters are often given up to gross superstitions, cruel rites, and deeper courses. They may have ability to adorn and defend their crafty designs, but they will be caught by their own deceits. The rebuke of the formalist is solemn ; but to immoral teachers, who make grace a cover for sin, and soundness of creed for rottenness of life, God speaks in thunder. Scribes and Eharisees were openly reproved for rejecting the law and misleading the people. " Unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth ] seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee." 2. The rulers ■//•< re guilty. "Give ye ear, 0 house of the king." The priest had to teach and the king enforce the law; but king and priest were alike guilty for corrupting it. Eoth had been crafty and cruel in carrying out their designs, by patronizing idolatry and leading the nation from Jehovah. Monarchs fulfil a high vocation as representatives of God and his law. They should care fur the purity of religion and the administration of justice. If they neglect and violate the law, pervert justice, and encourage vice, they are recreant to God, from whom they receive authority and to whom they are responsible. They are not to assume undue authority, but to establish and preserve good and just laws ; to govern in wisdom, equity, and love ; to punish evil-doers and encourage them that do well. Asa removed wickedness from the throne, and Amaziah punished it with death. Nehemiah was a great reformer, and Alfred the Great a witness for truth in an age of darkness. Eut the court of Israel was as corrupt as the priesthood. Instead of being benefactors, they were contaminators to their race. Eriests in their saintly robes and kings in their royal garbs have oft been foes in human forms ; solemn warn- ings to the ungodly and profane. They are the greatest sinners, in seducing others, chap, v.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: H08EA. 71 and must suffer the severest punishment. (1.) They enticed to idolatry ; (2.) They enticed to destruction. "Judgment is toward you." 3. The People were quilt i/. Though ensnared by their teachers and princes, tiny wciv.tn M ,,,,,; Ml| .i for their sin. We are to think and act for ourselves. Neither the enticemenl oi the priest nor the terror of the king can force us to do wrong ; neither the laws nor the lives of superiors can make us bow down to sin. Like the three Hebrew youths, we should not regard the fashions of the court nor the dictum of the prie t, "We must not partake of other men's sins lest we share other men's sufferi Ephraim was duped willingly and therefore inexcusably. "He willingly walked after the commandment " and was " oppressed and broken in judgment " (verse 11). (1.) The people followed bad examples; (2.) Voluntarily corrupted themselves by idolatry. National sins are the sum of individual contributions. God here arraigna and condemns all classes in the threefold summons. The privileges of the priest, the dignity of the prince, and the number of the people, cannot excuse and do not exempt them from Divine judgments. " Daniel Webster," says Dr Thomas, " was once asked, 'What is the most important thought you ever entertained?' He replied after a moment's reflection, ' The most important thought I ever had was my individual responsibility to God.' " " Every one of us shall give an account of himself to God." II. The Divine detection. " I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me." God intimately knows and observes the conduct of men. His knowledge is without defect and his judgment without error. Nothing can be hid or concealed from him. Men may deceive themselves, think God does not notice them, and vail their ways from others, but the omniscient eye of God pene- trates the covering and brings all things to light. By liis word and providence he discovers sin, puts it before us in true colours, and warns us to flee from it. All excuses and plausible pretexts are torn away, and the sinner is exposed in nakedness and danger. "All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." 1. Sin is detected notwithstanding human ingenuity to cover it. Men excuse and plead infirmity and mistake. (1.) Sin is often covered by ignorance. Ignorance itself is a sin when it can be removed. Ignorance in daily calling is "not bliss," for lessened power involves lessened earnings and fewer comforts and conveniences of life. Men always pay for ignorance. They cannot justify them- selves when they sin against light and truth. Ministers will not be able to plead at last, "We knew it not." They shoidd watch for souls as those that must give account. (2.) Sin is often covered by cunning craft. Jewish leaders were crafty in their designs and deep in their schemes. They pretended friendship and goodwill, but they were snares and nets to the people (Ecc. vii. 26). Their rulers with great subtlety laid hold of Israel's love for idols and reverence for their ancestors, and sought to replace the presence of God by the symbols of nature. Around the worship of Baal were gathered the rites of Moses. The services were decked out and adorned with feasts and fasts, instrumental music and songs; upheld by tithes, by civil authority, by prophet, priest, and king. Leaders sought to please that they might ruin ; to flatter that they might devour ; but " God taketh the wise in their own craftiness." 2. Sin is detected notwithstanding State policy to uphold it. In Israel selfish interests were put before eternal; policy before principle; and the welfare of the State must be upheld though the people be ruined. In these modern days expediency is often put before morality, State revenues before virtue, and immorality sanctioned by legislators and teachers. We shall do well to heed what a writer says concerning England. "We may succeed for a time by fraud, by surprise, by violence, but we can succeed permanently only by menus directly opposite. It is not alone the courage, the intelligence, the activity of the men bant and manufacturer which maintain the superiority of their productions and the character of their country ; it is far more their wisdom, their e< »n<»inv. and above all their probity. If ever in the British Islands the useful citizen should lose these virtues, we may be sure that, for England, as for every other country, the v JIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE J. [en at. v. of a degenerate commerce, repulsed from every shore, would speedily disappear from those Beas whose surface they now cover with the treasures of the universe, bartered for the treasures of the industry of the three kingdoms." Religion raises, strengthens, and dignifies a nation. Its industry and civilization depend upon true character and not false policy. Even in war Napoleon said the moral was ten to one to the physical. State policy is often State folly and God-dishonouring policy. " It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness, for the throne is established by righteousness."' III. The solemn call. "Hear ye this." 1. A universal call. A call to all classes in Israel to hear and consider their ways. 2. An urgent C'lll. " For judgment is toward you." The judges are summoned before the Judge of judges and the King of kings. This is a matter that must be attended to. All ranks are guilty when God has a controversy with a nation. 3. A present call. Hear and repent now; delays are dangerous. "Now is the accepted time." Indifference, moral insensibility, are seen on every hand. Ignorance, carelessness, and opposition to the gospel abound. The authority of the caller, and the interests at stake, urge attention to the message : " Unto you, 0 men, I call ; and my voice is to the sons of men." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Kings and priests snares to the people, overcome by " the snare of the foicler." by erroneous doctrine, fraudulent coun- "We are foolish and weak, and apt to be sels, evil example, and subtle edicts, and lured to destruction by cunning foes, by employing exalted position to lead Hence the need of (a) watchfulness, astray. (b) prayer, and (c) dependence upon M n-trappers — their motive, efforts, God. pretences, and punishnient. "Why not Cunning polity. 1. Most impudent, attack openly] Why plot and scheme 1 2. Most guilty. 3. Most degrading. Because subtlety is the nature of sin and 4. Most ruinous. the serpent, and most likely to succeed. Hear ye this. Preachers should " Great ill is an achievement of great rebuke the sins of rulers as well as those powers. Plain sense but rarely leads us of subjects, so that they bear not the far astray." guilt of the souls that are lost, whose Silly people — led astray ; like beasts blood God will require at their hands and birds, always exposed and easily [Lange], HOMILETICS. The Power of Evil Habits. — Verse 4. The prophet makes a fourth charge of obstinacy through affected ignorance of God and long custom in sin. God had been "their God" by covenant and tender care, but they despised and abused his mercy, and " would not? could not turn unto him. They were so habituated to evil practices that they were not only indisposed but ill-affected towards God. They lost all power to return, and were perfect slaves to evil habits. They were possessed by the spirit of whoredom, an evil spirit which impelled and carried them on to sin. I. The spring of evil habits. " The spirit of whoredom is in the midst of them." In their centre and seat a mighty power held resistless and triumphant sway. Sinful habits spring from sinful nature. 1. They Spring from ignorance of God. "They have not known the Lord." They might have known him, for they had the law and the prophets of God. They were wilfully, shamefully ignorant. Some have not knowledge of God — I speak this to your shame. Sin at first was the cause of ignorance, but now ignorance is the cause of sin. Swearing, lying, and murder abounded in the land " because there was no knowledge of God." All sins are seminally lodged in this one. -It leads to error (Matt. xxii. 29), persecu- ciiAr. v.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIOSE.i. 73 tion (John xvi. 2, 3), and to rejection of Christ. Aristotle says ignorance Lb the mother of all misrule in the world. As certain epidemics are generated and become active during night, in places not visited by the beams of the sun, bo mental and moral ignorance spread pernicious influence and scatter seeds of death. That ignorance which keeps men slaves to evil makes them hate the freedom of truth. Sinners dread, decline to know God, lest they be disturbed in their sinful ways. They are ignorant of his beauty and excellency, goodness and love: they despise his mercy and forbearance; providential warnings and judgments fail to convince them of sin and bring them to repentance. Knowledge is the life of the soul — the life of intelligence to hioio God ; the life of power to love him. 2. They spring from an evil heart towards God. The heart of the Jews was alienated and perverse. Love which appealed to their affections could not reclaim them. The heart is the source, the mainspring of human conduct, and when that is defiled the character and the life will be defiled. "As a man thinketh in hie heart so is he." His thoughts and feelings identify him with his moral self, and discriminates him from others. They place him in a distinct relation to God, and morally fix him in " his own place." This " hidden man of the heart " subordin- ates the outer man and the outer world to itself. Habits result from acts repeated ; and from habit results character and its consolidation. Like the gradual growth of an everlasting mountain, character is always acquiring a bolder outline and firmer base. It is the slow and conscious product of man's voluntary nature. Each man makes his own stature, builds himself; Virtue alone outbuilds the pyramids : Her monuments shall last, when Egypt's fall. II. The result of evil habits. " They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God." If their habits of sin had not got the mastery over them they rendered them indisposed to return. But the margin gives another sense. Their doings would not suffer them, and they could not turn inwardly, whde they did not turn outwardly. 1. Habits influence the will. "They will not." The more they sinned the more disposed they were to sin, and the less power they had to do right. This is just the result of habit. By repetition of evil, moral power is diminished. Tho will becomes impotent and the conscience seared. But moral power is required to resist evil passions which prompt to repetitions of acts, hence the less the power to resist the easier the repetition of an act. Thus evil begets a tendency to evil ; goes on repeating and enlarging itself ; binding the will, alienating the heart, and driv- ing men from God. " It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways." "Ye will not come unto me." 2. Habits enslave the life. There was not simply the tendency, but the tyranny of sin. We may calculate the immediate effects of an act, but if the act lead to the habit the ultimate residts must not be overlooked. Drunkenness and sensuality have sprung from repeated acts. Perverted judgment at the beginning of life may disqualify a man for believing the gospel at the close. Men may not mean to plunge deeply into vice, but when the steps are taken and repeated they are fastened with their own chain. Habit is stronger than reason and stronger than taste. "When a man gives himseli up to its power he loses freedom and self-control, and it governs him "with authority." Wicked men allow free will to be inactive; give bridle to desire and passion ; acquire habits of vice; and at last are bound by chains of iron. Augus- tine thus speaks of the force of habit in his Confessions : " My will the enemy held, and thence had made a chain for me, and bound me. For of a froward will was a lust made; and a lust served became custom; and custom not resisted became necessity. By which links, as it were, joined together (whence I called it a chain ) a hard bondage held me enthralled." Most people think lightly of sins believe they can give them up easily, but Saul found his evil passions his torment and captivity. He had convictions of duty, but his very efforts to extricate himself from evil increased his guilt and misery, and he rushed from habitual crime tu 74 JIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIOSEA. [chap. v. endless misery (1 Chron. x. 13, It). "A rooted habit becomes a governing prin- ciple. Every lust we entertain deals with us as Delilah did with Samson : not only robs us of our strength, but leaves us fast bound," says Tillotson. " His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself ; and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. The longer the continuance in sin, the more difficult is the return He "^££££*£J**'***''*+ who commits sin is the servant of sin. At first he will not return, at last he Frame their doings, i. e. take neces- cannot. The heart is hardened. The sary steps to conversion. 1. By con- spirit of whoredom : not single sins that sideration. 2. By amendment of life, are committed, but an evil spirit rising " They might have sought and yet not up and taking possession of the soul, made speed, because of their unsound- The more men sin against God, the ness and formality in their way, but more they lose the knowledge of him, they were either so ignorant, or malicious and the more difficult it is for them to and impious, as they did not so much return ; and so the chastisement of God as endeavour to bend their course that must be more severe to bring them back way " [Hutcheson]. to him \Lange\. Men " know not the Lord," or else The slavery of sin. Men in bondage they would not persistently and suicid- to conscious guilt and innumerable ally turn from him. They may have habits. They are often the dupes of ig- intellectual but not practical knowledge, norance, prejudice, and passion. 1. There A man really knows no more than he is the slave of ignorance. 2. There puts into practice. Eli's two sons is the slave of superstition. 3. There " knew not God," because they loved is the slave of bigotry. 4. There is the and obeyed him not. Ignorance of slave of passion. 5. There is the slave God, affected or acquired, is " the of sensual appetites. 6. The slave of mother" of mischief and misery, not evil habits. " of devotion." HOMILETICS. God Testifying against Man. — Verses 5 — 7. The power and pride of Israel were great. They boasted of their kings, their privileges, and even of their sins. This pride testified against them in the sight of God. Pride never conceals itself, but rises in rebellion and pleads for punishment. Or if God himself be their boast and pride, he would witness against them for their presumptuous sins and self-reliance. " They know not Jehovah ; they do not concern themselves about him ; therefore he himself will bear witness by judg- ments, by the destruction of their false glory (cf. ch. ii. 10 — 14), against the face of Israel, i. e. bear witness to their face." God witnesses against man's sin in the following ways : I. God testifies against sin by the ministry of the word. God has three grand witnesses in the world; the Holy Scriptur », Christian Church, and the Christian Ministry. All testify to his existence, love, and truth. But the ministry is a special agency, a Divine appointment to bring sinners to Christ ; a monument of truth, and the means to spread it. The true cause of man's wretchedness and the only cure must be kept in view. Ministers must proclaim the guilt and the conse- cpient danger of men, their inability to renew and save themselves — must ever testify to the justice of God in punishing the impenitent, and the love of God in Christ. Boldness in the commission must be met by boldness in the reproof of sin. Sinner3 are careless, and must be roused by Divine threatenings. Ministers must reprove and rebuke, curse and condemn all sin ; save themselves and those that hear them. Their testimony against iniquity must be constant and clear. " Do you not know chap, v.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ROSEA. 75 that my life has been licentious, and that I have violated the commandments of God1?" said a dying nobleman to his clergyman, for whom he sent. " You have neg- lected to warn and instruct me, and now my soul will be lost ! " " The Lord testi- fied against Israel and against Judah by all the prophets and by all the seers saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes." II. God testifies against sin by the witness of conscience. Fallen as human nature is, God has not left himself without a witness in its centre and seat. Con- science, the vicegerent of God enthroned within, pronounces sentence, and acquits or condemns. A guilty conscience needs no accuser. It is the harbinger of wrath, and makes " the wicked flee when no man pursueth." " Conscience doth make cowards of us all." The victim of remorse withers beneath an influence unseen and shrinks from an anticipation of judgment to come. Adam tried to hide him- self from God. Cain was terrified at his own guilt. Infidels have often felt that "the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them." "There is no man that is know- ingly wicked," says Tillotson, " but is guilty to himself ; and there is no man that carries guilt about him, but he receives a sting into his soul." Conscience allows no excuse, no compromise. There is nothing but right or wrong in its court. Moral government is administered by moral sanctions, and the wisdom of God is seen in fixing a tribunal in the bosom of every human being. " He that will not hearken to the warnings of conscience must feel the woundings of conscience." III. God testifies against sin by the judgments of providence. " Therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity." Pride always comes before de- struction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Sin ever brings ruin upon churches and nations. Men combine and exalt themselves in wickedness, but in the pro- vidence of God they fall, and great is their fall. The destruction of the cities of tho plain by fire and of the world by flood are solemn lessons in history. 1. Judgment* come suddenly. The festal season on which they prided themselves and offered sacrifices to God would bring no joy nor deliverance. Judgment would be sudden and surprising. Eapidly and unexpectedly the end would come. Invasion wovdd sweep away their garrisons and resources. The month, the moon waxing till full and waning away, would measure the time. Men may indulge in luxury, intem- perance, and vice ; but the day of retribution will carry them away. Cruel devices will be detected, and wicked men " fall " helpless and undone. Easy transitions from one thing to another cause no terror ; but in everything sudden and unex- pected attention is roused and nature startled. God warns, " but evil men " are wilfully ignorant, and " understand not judgment." " Desolation shall come upon thee suddenly which thou shalt not know." 2. Judgments come impartially. There is no respect of persons with God's providence. Special promises and special privi- leges may be given to some ; but they do not escape the general calamity. Judah and Ephraim were alike guilty and alike punished. National judgments are uni- versal, spare neither saints nor sinners, young nor old, rich nor poor. They fall on all ranks impartially. The priest cannot protect the prince ; nor the prince the priest. Those who entice will not be able to deliver the enticed ; nor the enticed excuse for being misled. When God pleads, " it shall be as with the people, 80 with the priest ; as with the servant, so with his master ; as with the maid, so with her mistress ; as with the buyer, so with the seller ; as with the lender, so with the borrower ; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him." 3. Judg- ments come unavoidably. They cannot be warded off by any device or desire uf man. The sentence is uttered and must be fulfilled. God cannot change nor be defeated in his purpose. He withdrew from Israel and would not aid them. (1.) Late repentance cannot ward off judgment. The people had been careless and in- different in their prosperity. Now when judgments are threatened they are alarmed, and vow to God in sacrifice. Many repent of sin, but their sorrow is that of Judas, not of Peter. They are sorry for the consequences of sins, but not for the eins themselves ; confess their wrong, but do not wish to forsake it. They vow 7fi nOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. [chap. r. and resolve, pay homage to God, and wish to escape, hut they cannot Nothing could rouse them when punishment was only predicted, hut when it comes, then they hestir themselves and cry for mercy. They are " lashed from sins to sighs ; and hy degrees from sighs to vows ; from vows to hended knees." Life is often spent in sin, and then offered to God in its dregs and decrepitude. "True repentance is never too late, but late repentance is seldom true." " Ah ! Mr Hervey," said a dying man, " the day in which I ought to have worked is over, and now I see a horrible night approaching, bringing with it the blackness of darkness for ever. Woe is me ! When God called I refused. Now I am in sore anguish, and yet this is but the beginning of sorrows. I shall be destroyed with everlasting destruc- tion." (2.) Outward reformation cannot ward off judgments. Many are penitent, give up some sins, but not all. They make great sacrifices, and put forth desperate efforts to amend their lives. Whatever will shelter them from present calamity they earnestly seek. " They go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord," but do not devote themselves to him. Good works cannot compensate for evil works. Tears may be abundant and sorrow deep, but no art can evade and no power resist the punishment. Superstition and Infidelity have devised means to allay the anguish of a wounded spirit ; but their rites and sophistries, salvos and palliatives, have been in vain. The bitterness of the spendthrift cannot recover his lost property ; nor the sorrow of the sensualist restore the bloom of his cheek. The sinner cannot repair the injury done to himself and others, nor reinstate himself in holiness before God. Justice is immutable, and punishment is certain to follow the violation of moral as of physical law. It is sad to think that many " fall " without deliverance, and seek when it is too late. Sin brings judgments which cannot be averted by formal worship and outward reformation. " I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand." " To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me 1 " &c. IIOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 5. TJie Pride of Israel. 1. to that judgment it is too late to pray. Pride their greatest sin. 2. Pride their It is not too late for other mercy or for continual sin. 3. Pride their destruc- final forgiveness, so long as man's state live sin. of probation lasts ; but it is too late aa Ver. 6. They shall not find him. to this one. And thus each judgment in God is not found — 1. When not sought time is a picture of the eternal judg- earnestly ; 2. When not sought with a ment, when the day of mercy is past for pure motive ; 3. When sought in slavish ever to those who have finally in this life fear ; 4. When sought too late. When hardened themselves against it " [Pusey]. the judgments of God are drawing near Ver. 7. Treacherously. Men cloak fear impels the most reluctant and the their sins and act deceitfully in God's most reprobate to seek God; but the service — 1. When they vow and do not words of Christ prove true — " Ye shall perform ; 2. When they pray and do seek me, and shall not find me ; and not labour ; 3. When the outward per- where I am, thither yo cannot come." fo-mance does not agree with the inward " God waits long for sinners : He condition. In the sanctuary they are threatens long before he strikes : He often one thing, in daily life another, strikes and pierces in lesser degrees and " Measure not men by Sundays," says with increasing severity, before the Fuller, "without regarding what they final blow comes. In this life he places do all the week after." man in a new state of trial even after 1 . He that serves God with the body, his first judgments have fallen upon the without the soul, serves God deceitfully, sinner. Bui the general rule of his 2. He that serves God with the soul, dealings is this ; that when the time of without the body, when both can be each judgment is actually come, then as conjoined, doth the work of the Lord chap, v.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIOSEA. 7? deceitfully. 3. They are deceitful in Israel were transmitted to their children the Lord's work that reserve one faculty who were regarded by God as the off- for sin, or one sin for themselves, or one spring of idolatry. When children the action to please their appetite and many hope of the future, are reared in apo- for religion. 4. And they who think stasy there is little prospect of nation. God sufficiently served with abstaining al amendment. Godless children are from evil, and converse not in the ac- punished like Godless parents, the rising quisition and pursuit of holy charity and generation suffer with the present, may religion [Jer. Taylor]. be cut off, and both may perish with' their The unfaithfulness and treachery of portions and possessions. HOMILETICS. "An Earnest Ministry the want of the Times." — Verses 8 — 11. The prophet is now commanded to warn the people — to sound the horn, and stand upon the most prominent places on the borders of Benjamin. The judgment is certain ; the enemy is near, and the nation must be roused from its slumbers. With intense feeling and earnestness the alarm is given. Hence the title of our subject borrowed from Angell James. I. The nature of an earnest ministry. Life is earnest and happy only in the degree in which it is consecrated to action. Action and enjoyment are contin- gent upon each other. When we are unfit for work we are incapable of pleasure and success. Hence the advice, " Be in earnest." Earnestness in the Christian ministry is not mere activity, noise, and bustle. It is the pursuit of a certain object, and the determination to accomplish it ; an endeavour to realize our aspirations. " This one thing I do." 1. It is specific in design. One thing filled and fired the mind of Hosea. He saw the danger, and longed to deliver his people from it. Amid many inferior designs, the preacher has one chiefly in view. His mind is not intently employed nor his heart deeply engaged on a multiplicity of objects. He has not energy and time thus to divide. He has selected his object, made up his mind, and cannot be driven from it. His sermons are preached and his efforts directed to the conversion of sinners. When a few Mends stood round the bed of Dr Beecher, one put the question, "Dr B., you know a great many things, tell us which is the greatest of all things." In a moment he brightened up and replied, " It is not theology, it is not controversy, but it is to save souls." ~No earnest minister will be satisfied without this. Applause, honour, and position sink into in- significance. He cries out, " My little children, of whom I travail in birth again, until Christ be formed in you." 2. It is enthusiastic in feeling. " 0 Benjamin," cried the prophet. The heart yearns " when thought " is " enkindled to a high degree." The abstractions of the intellect kindle the affections of the heart. Where there is no feeling, there can be no fervour of spirit. " We want men with burning hearts," said a heathen to a missionary. Ministers are the best orators when they feel. The spring of power is within, and the life that quickens dwells in the soul. Feeble preachers result from feeble Christians. There is often cold orthodoxy without fire. The soul is not poured into duty, and all is routine and form. " The wildest enthusiasm is more rational than indifference," says Faley. It is said of Baxter when he preached, " you might find his very spirit drenched therein." Noise and display may attract attention, just as Eastern mourners wail- ing for the dead stir the sympathies of the multitude. But the man whose soul is profoundly moved is " pressed in spirit " and often of " silent tears." He speaks in words that burn and thoughts that breathe. " 0 that I was all heart and soul and spirit," said Bowland Hill, " to tell the glorious gospel of Christ to perishing multitudes." 3. It is conducted under Divine guidance. We all feel the need of direction in the choice of a sphere and the discharge of duty. But in the ordinary and the special work, in the cottage and in the pulpit, the minister must seek 82 110MILETIC COMMENTARY: ITOSEA. [chap. y. than to put confidence in princes." " Put not your confidence in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help." History gives warning sufficient. Nations that have relied upon human genius, arms and confederacies, have failed in efforts to remedy their evils. Unholy alliance with Egypt and Assyria could not preserve Israel from their doom. Policy without principle, alliance without God, shall he broken. Moral maladies can only he cured by moral means. There is but one physician, all others are physicians of no value. " I kill, and I make alive ; I wound, and I heal : neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand." Destruction Open and Violent. — Verses 14, 15. God, who had been as a "moth" gradually eating away and destroying the nation, would now change his procedure, and attack as a fierce lion, tear to pieces, and none could rescue. If nations take no heed to small judgments they cannot escape great ones. The lion, an image of strength, seizes its prey, and carries it away in safety (Is. v. 29). As the lion withdraws into its cave, so God withdraws his help, and retires from Israel until they repent and seek his face. I. God's judgments are often severe. " I, even I will tear." Here are no soft metaphors. The destruction is most painful and severe. Like a lion or an eagle God tears to pieces ; tears the garment, tears body and soul. Punishment sometimes falls upon men like wild beasts upon their victims, to crush and destroy. The lion is cruel and ferocious ; rends its prey (Deut. xxxiii. 20 ; Ps. vii. 2) ; and carries it in triumph to its den (Nah. ii. 12). This is not an overdrawn picture of danger and the anger of God against presumptuous sins. " Consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver." II. God's judgments are often irresistible. " None shall rescue him." The shepherd can neither defend nor interfere. In a trial of strength God is omnipotent and cannot be overcome. Assyria was no protection to Israel. In national calamity none can plead. At the day of wrath no hope, no refuge can be found without God. III. God's judgments are often irrevocable. " I will go and return to my place." None can ward off Divine judgments ; none can bring back when God retires from men. When God deserts a society or a people, the mightiest and most learned are no defence. Noble institutions, religious ordinances, and great men, wealthy citizens and abundant revenues, are not the chief strength, the real power of a nation. God can consume these like a flower, and no fasting nor penitence can purchase favours once withdrawn. Riches melt, power decays, and happiness turns to misery before the wrath of God. Nothing can revive a nation when God destroys it ; nothing can change his purpose when carried out in his providence. To bo forsaken of God at any time is awful woe ; but in trouble to have his countenance turned from us and against us, to have frowns instead of smiles, must bo hell, and not heaven. " When distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer \ they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Yer. 13. Man cannot have two objects kindness, and the faithfulness of man of trust — God and himself, or fellow- aro helpless. God alone should be our man. Half of salvation cannot bo hope and trust (Jer. xvii. 7). ascribed to one and half to the other. To Ver. 14. When we strengthen our- put confidence in man, and expect him selves in sin by outward helps against to do what God alone can do, is idolatry the providence and corrections of God, wo or departure from God, cleaving to the challenge him to a trial of strength, turn cistern and forsaking the fountain, lean- the " moth " into a " lion," and bring ing upon a broken reed which will fail greater judgments upon ourselves. God and pierce the hand. The power, "the can tear a nation to pieces by sword, CIUP. v.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. 83 famine, and civil discord. " What is stronger than a lion 1" " It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Ver. 15. God's retirement from men. I. The cause. Offended at sin, driven away by men forgetting and forsaking him. Sin separates between God and man, and hides his face from us. II. The design. " Till they acknowledge their offence," &c. . 1. To lead to repent- ance, sorrow, confession and forsaking of sin. 2. To bring back to God. " In their affliction they will seek me early." The desertion is not always final nor total. God withdraws his aid in duty and his comforts in life not to cast off entirely, but to beget penitence and hope, to induce return and amendment of life. " We smart under dreadful desertions. Some of us have had to cry with the Master on the cross, ' My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken nie V We know why he has forsaken us : it is be- cause we have forsaken Mm, and there- fore he has hidden the light of his countenance from us until we could scarcely believe ourselves to be his children at all. We have turned to prayer, and found words and even desires fail us wben on our knees. We have searched the Scriptures with no consola- tory result : every text of Scripture has looked black upon us ; every promise blockaded its ports against us. We have tried to raise a single thought heavenward, but have been so distracted under a sense of the Lord's wrath, which lay heavy upon us, that we could not even aspire for a moment ; we could only say, ' Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul 1 Why art thou disquieted within me 1 ' Such suffering of soul will often be to the erring Christian the very best thing that could befall him. He has walked contrary to his God, and if bis God did not walk contrary to him he would be at peace in his sin; and re- member, no condition can be more dan- gerous, not to say damnable, than for a man who is no longer agreed with his God to believe that all is well, and go on softly and delicately in the way which tends to destruction " [Spurgeon], True repentance, in its first step, leads to conviction of sin, confession of guilt, and acceptance of punishment as due to our sin. Then to seek the face of God. " Without the latter, despair, not repentance, would be the result, as in the case of Judah's remorse. Without the former step, to seek God's face would be presumption." Unsanctified affliction only hardens, but blessed, will lead the chastened penitent earnestly and dili- gently to seek and serve God. True seekers after God. 1. They seek him, sensible of their distance and their guilt. 2. They seek him when they do not enjoy him. 3. They seek him (a) early, i.e. diligently. Former negligence is followed by double dili- gence ; (b) earnestly intent on finding God ; (c) perseveringly, though he has withdrawn from them. They seek imtil they find him. " All these duties re- quired in right seeking of God ought to be especially set about in sad times. Times wherein affliction press men hard on all hands ought to be times of seek- ing God indeed, and ought to put an edge on diligence and duties, otherwise it may draw to a sad account " [Hutche- son\. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER V. Yer. 1 — 3. Inferiors are very apt to be formed up according to the mould and manners of those above them. The ex- ample of kings and princes are seldom unconformed to by their subjects. There is a great power in example ; what is done persuades, as well as what is spoken. And the errors of those that rule, become rules of error; men sin with a kind of authority, through the sins of those who are in authority. Jero- boam made Israel to sin, not only by commanding them to worship the calves at Dan and Bethel, but by commending that idolatrous worship to them in hi3 own practice and example [Caryl']. The common people are like tem- pered wax, easily receiving impressions from the seals of great men's vices ; they care not to sin by prescription, and damn themselves with authority [Harding]. 81 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : UOSEA. [chap. v. Ver. 4. Nothing but the hand of God can hold man from ruining him- self. The heart of man is so set upon sin, that lie would rather lose his soul than his lusts. Tis as easy to stay the motion of the sun, or to turn hack the course of nature, as to stay or turn hack the natural motion or course of the heart in sinning. An almighty power must do the latter as well as the former [Caryl]. Other tyrants can hut tyrannize over our hodies, hut sin is a tyrant over body and soxd. It is the worst and greatest tyrant in the world. It hath a kind of jurisdiction in most men's hearts : it sets up the law of pride, the law of passion, the law of oppression, the law of form- ality, the law of carnal reason, the law of unbelief, and strictly commands sub- j ection to them. 0 ther ty ran ts have been brought down and brought under by human power, but this cannot, except by Divine [Brooks]. Ver. 5 — 7. Our consciences (which are God's) keep a record, write our lives and count our steps. Many cannot read the book of conscience, and so know little that is in it. But a time will come (if conscience be not purged by the blood of Christ) when they shall perfectly read all their sins in this book within ; and if conscience, which is God's deputy, testifieth against sin and marketh it, how much more God, who is the Judge of conscience. God needs not judge upon information, but upon observation. He ■will reprove every man whom he doth not pardon, and is able to set before us in order whatsoever any of us have done [CaryT]. Though repentance be never too late, et late repentance is seldom true Brooks'], Mercy, in this the day of her reign, sovereignly seizes judgment before its time, and works that mighty lever to move mankind. The terrors of the Lord are not permitted to sleep unnoticed and unknown till the day when they shall overwhelm and overflow all his enemies ; they are summoned forth in the interval, and numbered among the all things that work together for good. Though kept like a reserve in the rear, their grim hosts are exposed to view, in order that they may co-operate with kindlier agencies in persuading men to yield, and fight against God no more [Arnot]. Ver. 8 — 11. Brainerd had such intense compassion for souls, and was so earnest for their salvation, that he said, " I cared not where or how I lived, or what hardships I went through, so that I could but gain souls to Christ. "While I was asleep I dreamed of these things, and when 1 awoke the first thing I thought of was this great work. All my desire was for the conversion of the heathen, and all my hope was in God." It is amazing what difference heat makes on both mental and material objects. The only difference between ice and steam is, that the one has less and the other more heat. Now earnestness con- verts ordinary qualities into powerful and elastic forces. It enhances everything it touches, turns bricks to marble, and copper into gold. It changes liking into love, joy into ecstasy, and expecta- tion into hope. It stamps on every virtue its currency, whether in heaven or in earth. Love, pity, kindness are all cold and worthless unless they bear the impress of a fervent spirit [Dulce Domum]. Ver. 11 — 14. Vice is sometimes punished instantly and sometimes gra- dually. This seems to be the method of Divine procedure. "We have slow and rapid consumption in the bodies of men. We have the gradual decay and the sudden overthrow of empires, the seed-time of evil and the harvest of judgment. The changes of circumstances are so various and frequent, so great and sudden, that the same person, the same people, afford an example of the greatest prosperity and the greatest misery. Henry the Fourth of France was de- spatched by a sacrilegious hand in his carriage, in the midst of popular applause and the triumphs of peace. Like Herod, the grandson of Herod the Great, he found but one step between adoration and oblivion. The ruin which God in- fiicts upon the impenitent and presump- tuous sinners is often beyond precedent most sudden and most fearful. What folly, then, to trust in man, when God can easily destroy him ! * S5 chap, vi.] H0M1LETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE J. Ver. 15. To afflictions, instrument- his providence. Afflictions dispose us ally, many have to date the awakening to pray; and we are sure to want and conversion of their souls. " Happy nothing if we find God in prayer " is that condition which forces us to trust [Bishop Wilson], in God only, and to be in the hand of CHAPTER VI. Critical Notes. — 1.] Contains an appeal addressed by Israelites one to another. Some, as Bpoken by the prophet to the exiled and smitten people. 2. Two days.] A proverbial way of ex- pressing the certainty of an event in the time specified ; primarily applied to the conversion of Is. : in fulness only realized in the resurrection of Christ. 3. Then] i. e. the consequence of following hunting and zealous seeking after, would be knowledge in its practical results (ch. iv. 16 ; Jer. xxii. 15,16). Going forth] Heb. rising, applied to the sun (Ps. xix. 23; Gen. xix. 23); setting forth transition from night to day ; the dawn of salvation before the orbed glory of heaven (Is. liii. 8 ; lx. 2). Prepared] Lit. fixed, certain as the morning, an established law of nature, a special appoint- ment of God (Gen. viii. 22). The rain] Reviving and refreshing blessings (Deut. xxxii. 2 ; Is. Iv. 10). The latter] Lit. the crop-rain which fell in the middle of March or April to ripen the grain for harvest. Former] Spring rain, which fell from middle of Oct. to middle of Dec. Eain generally, and these two specially, promised by God (Deut. xi. 14) ; great blessings, without which would happen the greatest calamity in Pal. The blessings of Messiah are compared to rain (Ps. lxxii. 6 ; 2 Sam. xxiii. 4). 4.] Begins a bitter complaint. What] Both in mercy and judgment (Is. v. 4). God was constant and kind, Is. inconstant. Goodness] Godliness, neb. mercy, kindness, all virtues towards God and man ; love which fulfils the law (Bom. xiii. 10). Morning cloud] Evan- escent and uncertain. Dew] Generated by the cold of the night, it appears with the dawn; yet appears only to disappear. The Jewish people a type of many amending and relapsing. God's mercy is firsfc set forth, and then men are upbraided for neglecting it, committing those sins which will be their ruin. Israel's piety was " quickly assumed and quickly disused." 5. Hewed] Cut off, cut down like a tree (Is. x. 15) ; or to hew out a stone into the right shape. Israel was obdurate, and was hewed by the prophet, and hammered with the word (Jer. xxiii. 29). Slain] The word has power to kill and to make alive (Is. xi. 4 ; xlix. 2). " The stone which will not take the form which should have been imparted to it, is destroyed by the strokes which should have moulded it" [Pusey\. Thy judgments] Lit. that thy judgments might be as the light. Penal justice is conspicuous, clear as the sun ; every one should take heed (Zeph. iii. 5) ; lightening (Hender. trans. ; cf. marg. Job xxxvii. 3, 15). 6. Sac] which they brought. Mercy] which they lacked ; a comparison by negatives ; things less worthy are rejected. Moral obedience is better than ritual offerings (Mat. ix. 13). Knowl.] experi- mental and practical, which is more than empty service. Internal is put before external worship ; the prophet, a teacher and interpreter of the law, rebukes apostasy. 7. They] Eph. and Jud., God's professed people. Like men] Lit. like Adam in covenant relation to God, have wilfully trans- gressed, are guilty of a breach of fidelity. Others, like men generally, who break lightly every day compacts with their fellows. God sought to preserve Adam and Israel in intimate relation to him- self. Sin is a violation of the covenant — Israel contradicted their destiny as the people of God. There] "Wherever and whenever sin is committed, the place is known to God and pointed out by the Divine finger. 8. Gilead] A city of refuge, the residence of priests, and the centre or metropolis of the hilly region beyond Jordan, yet polluted and the leader of ruin ! 9.] Even priests acted like predatory bands, to murder and surprise travellers on the way. Destruction was met where safety was sought. By consent] Lit. with one shoulder, as oxen yoked together (Zeph. iii. 9). The sanctity of the place and the privileges of the priesthood did not check them in banding together for mischief. Lewdness] Heb. from a root to form deliberate purpose ; deliberate crime, enormity (Marg. ). " The word literally means, a thing thought of, especially an evil, and so, deliberate wickedness, be- thought of and contrived. They did deliberate wickedness, gave themselves to do it, and nothing else" [Pmey]. 10. Horrible thing] Heb. from a word meaning to shudder, be astonished. Whoredom] spiritual and literal singled out as the chief sin— " In another nation, idolatry was error. In Israel, which had the knowledge of the one true God, and had received the law, it was horror " [Pmey]. 11. Harvest] Not a harvest of joy, a promise of ingathering of Israel, but a ripeness for Divine judgments to be inflicted by Assyrians. When] I would, upon their repentance, have tamed away the captivity of my people. Judgment might have been averted, but will end in captivity. The Heb. is used of restoration also (Deut. xxx. 3 ; Ps. xiv. 7) ; hence many take it in this sense, as in harmony with the beginning of the chapter — " a promise of restoring their captivity in due time, which yet imports a sentence of banishment for sin to be inflicted before " [Hutcheson]. 86 IIOMILEllU COMMENTARY : HOSEA. [chap, vl HOMILETICS. National Amendment. — Verses 1 — 3. Man's miseries are often messengers of mercy. When mild measures did not move Israel, God tried severe. Vengeance came at length, and they were carried captives by a cruel people, brought to a penitent state of mind, and they resolve to return to God. I. Return to God is a necessity. " My people are destroyed for lack of know- ledge." An intimate acquaintance and fellowship with God are a moral necessity. Man cries for God as Father, Friend, and Helper. 1. Man has capacity to turn to God and enjoy h im. He has power to discern right and wrong ; to recognize the character and appreciate the claims of God. We have reason, conscience, and a moral nature. Though fallen and sinful, we have not lost our religious cravings and necessities. "The notion of a God," says Tillotson, "is so inseparable from human nature, that to obliterate the one you must destroy the other." The word of God appeals to our helpless condition, and invites us to return to God. The grace and the Spirit of God are promised to aid us in returning. Our life and enjoyment consist in friendship with God. "This is life eternal, that they might know thee." 2. Man lives in distance from God. Not a mere natural, but moral distance ; an alienation of heart and life from God. In affection and purpose, in thought and deed, man is at variance with his Maker. To be absent from a friend is grief ; to be without food and shelter is sad ; but to be without God is the greatest infelicity. " Having no hope and without God in the world." 3. Man suffers in distance from, God. Sin wounds the spirit and brings judgments upon the life. It vexes and enslaves ; torments the conscience, and exposes to condemnation and death. Like Ezekiel's roll, within and without it has written, " Lamentation and mourning and woe." From its gudt springs fear ; shame from its defilement ; and destruction from its punishment. "It is that which puts thee out of the possession and en- joyment of thyself, which doth alienate and separate thee from God, the fountain of bliss and happiness, which provokes him to be thine enemy, and lays thee open every moment to the fierce revenge of his justice." Man has felt his distance and his misery, but could not heal his diseases and restore himself to God. Bleeding and burdened, the soul longs for restoration to its centre. " Oil that I knew where I might find him ! that I might come even to his seat ! " II. Return to God is en- couraged. " Come, and let us return," says the prophet. 1. Mercy is held out. " He wdl heal us " and " he will bind us up." The Assyrian could not heal, but they are persuaded that God who had smitten them could. He was Israel's phy- sician in the time of Moses, and preserved them from the diseases of Egypt, the death of the first-born, and the destruction which overtook Pharaoh. No sickness baffles his skill. He gives efficacy to medicine for the body, and his grace renews and sanctifies the soul. As Christ drove out demons and diseases from men, so God heals all our infirmities of body, mind, and heart, until sin is eradicated, and " the inhabitants shall no more say, I am sick." 2. The certainty of this mercy is relied upon. " After two days will he revive us." The time is short, but God who promises will fulfil the promise. None need hesitate or despair of God's mercy. It is offered to all, and may be received with faith. A firm persuasion of mercy will draw the penitent to God ; without this he would despair or go from him. But the torn shall be healed, the dead quickened, and the humble and contrite received. " We shall live in his sight." His face will no longer be turned away in displeasure nor anger. The returning sinner, who seeks his face, shall know God's will, feel his love, and rejoice in the light of his countenance. " For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee." III. Return to God should be urged as a social duty. " Come, and let us return." We should not only seek God ourselves, but try to induce others ; in times of sorrow urge repentance, and of chap, vi.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. 87 revival incite to duty. The sympathy of numbers is great. "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord." In business and common themes men unite and take counsel ; should not Christians aid and mutually cheer each other1? Sin has separated men or debases their intercourse; but religion unites them in love and confidence. Jewish doctors say that men are to go in haste and with speed together to the synagogue, but return very leisurely. So wo should " walk in company," and with enthusiasm to God, but never forsake, him. This duty is urged for many reasons. 1. All have need to be stirred vp. The careless and impenitent must be roused from slumber, the inquirer directed, and Christians excited to greater love and activity. " That they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent." 2. As social creatures we can influence one another for good. Example is most potent. Precept points out the way, but example carries us along. Great is the power of goodness to charm and command. The pious man is a king, drawing all hearts after him. "We all love the brave and the magnanimous ; derive inspiration from them ; and incited to action by them. " We live in an age that hath more need of good examples than precepts," said George Herbert. And entering upon the duties of life he resolved : " Above all, I will be sure to live well, because the virtuous life of a clergyman is the most powerful eloquence, to persuade all who see it to reverence and love, and at least to desire to live like him." 3. It should he our aim to stir up others to do good. The humblest and most obscure may do this. Wealth and position are not necessary. A warm heart will create and communicate enthusiasm, energy and zeal will evoke courage and devotion in the cause of God. If we return to God others will follow our example. By prayer and holy life we may persuade men and help on that happy time when " the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of Hosts ; I will go also " (Zech. viii. 21). IV. Return to God will result in great blessings to a people. " Bliss from the Creator and duty from the creature answer to one another," says a writer. We live in love, action, and God. Life is a delight and success in the degree in which it is consecrated to God. The greatest happiness is found in God's presence and service. 1. Quickened life. He " will revive us." " He will raise us up." Spiritual death is overcome by God's grace. The sinner is raised from a death of trespasses and sins ; the saint is revived in heart, hope, and duty. Action begets strength, and faith leads to con- version from sin and deliverance in trouble. Spiritual life is first imparted, then supported and increased. "For in him we live, and move, and have our being." 2. Practical knowledge. " Then shall we know if we follow onto know the Lend." True knowledge is obtained by experiment. Experiment is a test of scientific truth. In Chemistry it is a guide, discoverer, and test. The existence of light, heat, and electricity is indebted to it. Christianity claims to be tested by experiment, and when thus tested it is found to be true. No learning and wealth are required, Love, and you shall know God ; believe, and you shall feel. " If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God." Tins know is (a) experimental, (b) practical, and (c) progressive; beginning in the heart, mani- fest in the life, seen in duty and daily progress. 3. Constant fertility. " He shall come unto us as the rain;" in its refreshing fertilizing showers. The early and latter rain, beginning the good work in the heart, carrying it on in the Christian Church, and reviving it in the nation. Both are required and given ; rain fn mi the first to the last; one shower falling after another upon thirsty pastures and desert ground, filling the pools and clothing the hills with verdure. " He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass : as showers that water the earth." Man's Highest Social Action. — Verse 1. Man as a member of society has much to do with his fellow-men ; heshould con- tribute to the advancement of general knowledge, to the progress of political purity 8S HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ROSEA. [chap, vl and freedom, and to the augmentation of the general health and comfort of the kingdom. But there is a higher work than this for him in society : it is that of stimulating the community to which he belongs "to return unto the Lord." Taking the words in this application they imply — I. That society is away from God. Not locally, for the Great Spirit is with all and in all, but morally. Away from him in its thoughts ; it practically ignores his existence and claims. Away from him in its sympathies : its heart is on those things which are repugnant to his holy nature. Away from him in its pursuits : its pursuits are selfish and carnal grati- fications and aggrandizements. Far gone, in truth, is society from its centre — God. It is like the prodigal in " a far country." II. That estrangement from God is the source of all its trials. Because the prodigal left his father's home he was reduced to the utmost infamy and wretchedness. Moral separation from God is ruin. Cut the branch from the root, and it withers; the river from its source, and it dries up ; the planet from the sun, and it rushes to ruin. Society has left God, its root, source, centre, — hence the terrible evil with which he by his government " hath torn " it. Nothing will remove its evils but a return to God. Legislation, com- merce, science, literature, art, none of these will help it so long as it continues from him. III. That return to Him is a possible work. Were it not there would be no meaning in the language, " Come and let us," &c. With some estranged spirits in the universe a return may be impossible for ever ; not so with human spirits on earth. There is a way, a true and living way, by which all may return ; repent- ance towards God and faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Conclusion. Who are the greatest social benefactors 1 Those who are the most successfid in exciting and stimulating their fellow-men to come back to God, the Great Father of love who awaits their return. He says, " Come now, let us reason together," &c. To bring society back to God is pre-eminently the work of the gospel minister ; to this he consecrates his power, his time, his all [ The Homilist\. HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 3. We follow on, confessing that II. The method of attaining this end. it is he who maketh us to follow him, " If we follow on," &c. 1. We must and draweth us to him. We know, in not be satisfied with present attain- order to follow; we follow, in order to ments. "This one thing I do," &c. know. Light prepares the way for love. 2. We must meditate more. Study the Love opens the mind for new love. works and ways, the word and Christ of The gifts of God are interwoven. They God. " Some have not the knowledge multiply and reproduce each other, until of God ; I speak this to your shame." we come to the perfect state of eternity. 3. We must practise more. Tins a law For we know in part only ; then shall of nature. To get more you must use we know, even as we are known [Pusey], what you have. "To him that hath I. The end in view — to " know the shall be given," &c. Lord." It is objected that we cannot III. The success guaranteed. If we know him. We are only finite crea- follow on to know, "then shall we tures : he is infinite and omnipotent. know." 1. It is not a vain pursuit. We cannot know God perfectly, only in 2. Success is promised. 3. Success is part. None by searching can find out realized. This proved from personal God to perfection. But God has re- experience and the fulfilment of God's vealed himself in his works, word, and word. If probability actuates men in Son. 1. We are capable of knowing pursuits of earth, how earnestly should and loving God. 2. The knowledge of we follow God, who gives such blessings God is a moral necessity. " My people and gain. perish for lack of knowledge." 3. A Whether we consider these words as personal, practical, and experimental an excitement and encouragement ad- knowledge of God should be our aim. " dressed by the godly to one another, or CHAP. VI.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. S9 to their own souls, they remind us of an important aim ; a necessary duty ; and an assured privilege. The aim is " to know the Lord." Nothing can be moral or religious in disposition and act, that is not founded in knowledge ; he- cause it must be destitute of principle and motive ; and the Lord looketh at the heart. Real repentance must spring from proper views of the evil of sin in Christ. Faith is impossible without knowledge. It is not a philosophical knowledge of God as the Almighty, the maker and upholder of all things ; nor a knowledge of him as holy in his ways and righteous in his works. Such views would gender dread and aversion in the mind of the sinner. The grand thing is to know that he is reconcilable, and that he has given proofs of his love in Christ. Neither is this knowledge speculative, but experimental. The necessary duty is u to follow on " to know the Lord. This includes the practice of what we already know. Neg- lect only increases sin and condemnation. It also includes diligent use of appointed means. Hearing and reading the word, and prayer. It means perseverance in this course. Nor shall this be in vain. " Then shall we know," &c. The privilege is sure as the word of God, confirmed by history and experience, can make it. Let this full assurance of hope influence us first in regard to ourselves. Keep the way. Perplexities will be solved and doubts removed. Ye shall know more of him in his word, providence, and grace ; more of him as the strength of your heart, and your portion for ever. Second, in regard to others. Be not impatient if they can- not embrace your views. In grace, as in nature, there must be infancy before manhood. God will enlighten them and finish his work. If their heart be broken off from sin and the world, and they are asking the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, they shall not .err therein. " "Who hath despised the day of small things 1 " [Jay]. God as the morning. I. Prepared as the morning. It is fixed and regulated in its hours — prepared and in readiness. Nothing can hinder its rising. " Seed time and harvest," &c. II. Gradual as the morning. Light comes in no haste. God is never in a hurry. What a dif- ference between the dawn of light and perfect day! Fretfulness and im- patience will only cloud its brightness and darken the soul. III. Silent as the morning. Silent in its progress and influence ; gliding over city and hill, glittering on the dew-drops, and bright- ening the landscape all around. IV. Joyous as the morning. Night a time of fear and danger; the sun brings morning and revives all nature. The birds sing, flowers open, our health and spirits are improved. " Truly the light is sweet," &c. God as rain. 1. Divine in its origin. 2. Refreshing in its nature. 3. Comprehensive in its end. The early and latter rain, as the beginning and end ; the sum and substance of Christian experience and national revivals. " Loth together stand as the beginning and the end. If either were withheld the harvest failed. Wonderful likeness of him who is the beginning and the end of our spiritual life ; from whom wo receive it, by whom it is preserved unto the end ; through whom the soul, enriched by him, hath abundance of all spiritual blessings, graces, and con- solations, and yieldeth all maimer of fruit, each after its kind, to the praise of him who hath given it life and fruitful-' ness " [Pusey]. Clirist the Day-Dawn and the Rain. Looking upon his personal coming, as represented by the morning, and his coming in the Holy Spirit as symbolized by the rain, we have — I. The common resemblances which they have. 1. The same manifest origin. 2. The same mode of operation on the part of God. 3. The same form of approach to us. 4. The same object and end. II. The points of distinction between them. 1. A general and yet a special aspect. 2. Constant and yet variable. 3. With gladness, yet also with trouble. 4. But they tend to a final and perfect union [John Ker\. 90 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. [chap. vi. HOMILETICS. Justice or Mercy % — Verses 4, 5. These words express intense love, parental discipline, and reluctance to punish any more. God hesitates, seems perplexed, and condescends to ask the sinner him- self, to specify a mode of treatment which will answer the purpose. " What shall I do 1 " When justice was ahout to punish it was prevented by repentance. When mercy was about to bless it was hindered by fickleness and relapse. God's kindness was constant, but their goodness was evanescent as the dew. " What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it 1 " Nothing more to bring Israel to himself could he have done, therefore nothing remains but to adopt the treatment mentioned. God knows best what will answer the end in view. I. Justice and Mercy had failed. Warnings had been given and judgments had fallen heavily upon the nation, but that did not answer. Mercy had shone forth in all its splendour, like the noon-day sun, but that prevailed not. Gentle means did not win them. The greater his favours, the more they forgot him and sacrificed to other gods. Then vengeance came, and they were torn by the enemy and carried into captivity. This is a picture of many whom God has blessed with mercy upon mercy. Long health, continued prosperity, and all the world calls good, have been poured out upon them. Their cup has run over. But they have forsaken God and abused his mercies. Now he is changing his ways with them. Health has decayed, business has failed, children have been taken in youth and hope, and all is black and threatening. " His wrath lieth hard upon me, I cannot look up." But do not envy, and misconstrue this chastisement. There is goodness and loving- kindness in this treatment. It is designed to draw you to God and wean you from sin. " It lightens the stroke," said an afflicted Christian, " to draw near to him who handles the rod." II. Mercy was withheld. Their goodness was like the morning cloud and early dew ; which promised only to disappoint. Mercy was ■withheld, from their false and hypocritical conduct. 1. They ivere vain in their 'pre- tences. Professing to worship God and offer sacrifices, when their hearts were far from him. Their religion was outward show and formality, empty sound and waterless as a cloud. Like the morning cloud, full of colour, yet driven away by the heat of day. Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, in origin, principle, and aim, you " shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." 2. They were fickle in their principles. Sound principles are a necessity in life. Without principles a man is like a cloud driven by every gust of wind ; like a ship without rudder or compass, drifted hither and thither by every tide. There can be no rule, order, or government without true principle. " Moral principles," says Hume, " are social and universal. They form, in a manner, the part of humankind against vice and disorder, its common enemy." But the good- ness of some is like the " early dew," sparkling as diamonds for a while, but not to last. Reverence and religion disappear in extremes ; we have the form, but not the power of godliness. 3. They were unstable in their conduct. Repenting and relapsing ; smitten and returning j resolving and forgetting ; ever beginning and never finishing. There was a fair show of leaves, but not any fruit. Most men are good for a time. In visitation from God, at the prayer-meeting or in the class, they are under deep impressions ; but these wear away, and the last condition of these men is worse than the first. There must be no sham, but reality. Principle must be powerful and supreme. Goodness must endure under the burning heat of the sum It is the incorruptible seed which liveth and abideth for ever. III. Justice is the only alternative. " Therefore have I hewed them," &c. Kings and rulers, prophets and priests, past misery and present mercy, seemed not to in- fluence them. What more shall I do 1 Iniquities had not exhausted, but only limited God's love. " How often would I have gathered thy children together, CHAP. VI.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IWSEA. 91 even as a hen gathereth her chickens," &c. There remains nothing but further chastisement in their desperate condition, a just retribution in kind. " There- fore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away" (ch. xiii. 3). 1. TJie word which might have saved shall punish them, (a) God would " heio" them by the prophets. God's work is identified with that of his servants. The word is the instrument for the accomplishment of his will. The word disturbs in sin and produces conviction ; it reproves and corrects, and " like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces," (6) God " slays " them by the words of his mouth. Denunciations of wrath had disquieted them and broken their spirits. The word had been " quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword," to slay their hopes and joys. Men will either be better or worse, quickened or slain, under the preaching of the gospel. " To the one we are a savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life." 2. The judgments which they unheeded shall consume them. "And thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth." They might have been delightful as the morning, but they shall be terrible as lightning, (a) Clear and visible ; palpable to the senses, and a warning to those who see them. They will break out like day-light upon all men. (b) Just and equitable. What they deserved, and what they should not murmur at. They despised the mercy, and now they must behold the severity of God. (c) Terrible and severe ; sudden and overpowering as lightning. Christ comes the first time to save, the second to judge and destroy. Duty is clear. The sinner is without excuse. God at last will be a consuming fire. HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 4. Morning cloud. Evanescent goodness, generated by the chill of affliction, full of promise, but vanishes away. Many in childhood affectionate and beautiful, do not always realize what they promise. Men in sickness and be- reavement vow what they do not per- form. The evening does not accord with " the morning of life." Dawn does not ripen into day. Ver. 5. " Hewed them." Moral statuary. "What sculpture is to a block of marble education is to the mind and religion to the character and life. The word presents us with — I. An insight into human nature. Rough and deformed. Hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. II. An expression of God's design. God, the Great Sculptor, seeks to correct, cut into shape and symmetry. To bring " an angel out of the stone," make " corner stones, polished after the simili- tude of a palace," to prepare " lively stones " for his great spiritual temple (1 Pet. ii. 5 ; Eph. ii. 21). III. A descrip- tion of the word. A hammer wielded by a Divine hand, authoritative and efficient in breaking the rock, the hardest heart, to pieces. Hence (a) energetic in its nature, (6) varied in its effects, to slay men or make them alive. TV. A sug- gestion concerning the ministry. Min- isters have not to soothe men in sin, nor fear to wound the conscience. As hewers of wood and stone-masons, they have to cut and hammer men. They meet with rough stones and obdurate hearts which must be humbled and hammered. Luther said that faithful ministers labour and sweat more in a day than husbandmen do in a month. "With hard blows and sharp instruments have they to work, for men neither receive the image nor submit to the will of God. Judgments as the light. 1. Revealing sin and exposing the works of darkness (Eph. v. 13). 2. Warning men in duty and danger, ignorance and sin. 3. De- stroying rebels, on whom they burst with sudden terror. " In this life also God's final judgments are as a light which goeth forth, enlightening not the sinner who perishes, but others heretofore in the darkness of ignorance, on whom they burst with a sudden blaze of light, and who reverence them, owning that the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether " [Pusey]. 92 I10MILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE J. [chap. vi. HOMILETICS. Mercy and not Sacrifice. — Verse 6. There are two sides of religion, the outward and the inward. Israel depended upon sacrifices, ritual forms, rather than moral life, the knowledge and love of God. If men offer " sacrifice " to God without joining it with " mercy " to men, or offer it in fanatical zeal and unmercifulness, he will reject it. He prefers " mercy " which contains cheerfulness and self-sacrifice. Looking at these words in their connection, learn — I. God desires to give mercy rather than accept sacrifice. Israel would give to God rather than seek the healing mercy required. But God will take nothing from them, desires to impart mercy to them. It is for us, first and above all, to seek pardon ; confess and forsake sin. " The less is blessed of the better," without any contradiction. God requires no sacrifice from us. Our offerings cannot enrich or bless him. Pagan sacrifices were considered feasts to the gods. " If I were hungry," says God, " I would not tell thee ; for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof." He can provide for himself, and will never be suppliant to his own crea- tures. " The cattle upon a thousand hills " are his gifts, are not our own j and faith in the offering without love in the heart represents God as beholden to man. " Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it : thou delightest not in burnt- offerin"." No form of burnt-offerings can purchase Divine favour; no banners and music and incense will be acceptable " without truth in the inward parts." God will have mercy and accept a broken spirit. " A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." II. God stamps mercy with more value than sacrifice. God does not reject all, only heartless sacrifices. They must not be neg- lected nor despised, but offered in the right spirit. Christ commends the scribe for givin" due place and proportion to the ceremonial and moral service. Sacrifice is good for its own sake, required by God and reasonable in man. But " go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice " (Matt. ix. 13). Tho ritual must not be esteemed above the moral. We must not be religious before God and immoral before men ; alive to the letter, but dead to the spirit of the law ; scrupulous in the formalities, but negligent in the moralities of life. He who finds mercy from God, will be kind and compassionate to men. We must " do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God." "The tithing of cummin must not be neglected," says Gurnal, " but take heed thou doest not neglect the weightiest things of the law— judgment, mercy, and faith : making your preciseness in the less a blind for your horrible wickedness in the greater." " To do justice and judg- ment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice." III. Sacrifice must not be sub- stituted for mercy. No amount of offerings can replace the everlasting principles v of morality. But how easy to present the one for " the living sacrifice " of the other. The Corban gift stands in the place of filial piety. The present on tho altar atones for the offence to a brother. Love to God whom we have not seen covers charity to man whom we see day by day. Temple service is honoured above godly life, and sacrifice is offered before mercy. God delights in showing mercy, and "earthly power doth then show likes, t God's when mercy seasons justice." God is better pleased with the relief of suffering than gold and silver offered in the church. Transient enthusiasm, fashionable benevolence, and party spirit must not supersede love to God and man. The first commandment is like unto tho second. One cannot supersede and must not be placed instead of the other. " To love him with all the heart, and all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all burnt- offerings and sacrifices." IV. Sacrifice and mercy must ever be united together. One is°the outward form and fruit of the other. " He who prays as he ought, will endeavour to live as he prays," says Dr Owen. There is a balance of moral as of, chap, vi.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. 93 natural forces. Eeligion unites what philosophy could not — supreme devotion to God and paramount obligation to man. Faith and works, piety and charity con- templation and activity, heaven and earth, are reconciled in Christian life. The life hidden with God is the life that diffuses blessings among men. Without love to man, love to God grows languid. They are inseparable and essential to each other. This union was perfect in the life of Christ, and constitutes the keystone of morality. All true philanthropists have worked in his spirit and carried out his teaching. Howard in the prisons of Europe, Judson in benighted Burniah, and Florence Nightingale in the Crimea, were devoted to God in their sacrifices for humanity. A life of purity is a life of public duty. The man who loves God will not serve his country less. " Allow them to pray to God, they will not fight the worse for it," was said of some. The heat and the light can never be separated from the sun ; benevolence to men can never be cut off from love to God. What God has joined together let not man put asunder. " Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father, is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." Covenant Breakers. — Verse 7. In this verse we have a reference to the fall of man and the first covenant with Adam. God stood in covenant relation to man. Israel was bound by God's good- ness and their own oath. But they sinned after the similitude of Adam's trans- gression. God was constant and faithful, but they were inconstant and treacher- ous, they broke the covenant. Notice — I. The guilt of which they were accused. They " have transgressed the covenant." 1. Out of irreverence to its authority. If it be only a man's covenant, there is something sacred and binding (Gal. iii. 15). But God's word is supreme and of Divine authority. 2. In forgetf illness of their own jvomise and privileges. Israel solemnly took an oath to keep all the words of the law — not to forsake God ; but they sacrificed to other gods, and were base and perfidious in their conduct. Men who break their promise and despise their obligation bring shame and disgrace upon themselves, and deserve not the confidence and esteem of their fellow-men. Truthfulness should shine in every word and deed. II. The spirit in which they indulged. " They dealt treacherously." They not only rebelled, but aggravated their guilt by falsehood and treacherous dealing. They disregarded most singular privileges, thought most sacred obligations of no consequence, and covered most heinous sins in the garb of religious forms. They sinned (a) wilfully, (b) obstinately, and (c) deceitfully. " For the house of Judah and the house of Israel have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the Lord." HOMILETIG HINTS AND OUTLINES. Transgressing like Adam. 1. Violat- have his sin covered. Neither Adam ing sacred obligations. 2. Justifying nor the woman denied what they had sin when committed — charging it upon done ; but both thought they were very God or their own nature, upon circum- pardonable in doing it. Both made a stances or fate. " Man, as man, that is confession, yet theirs was a faulty con- as sinful man, desireth that there might fession. They covered while they ac- be a seal set or a vail put upon all his knowledged their sin, and hid it in their sins. It is as natural to man to be a sin- bosoms while they held it out upon coverer as a sin-committer ; and he had their tongues. Thus did Adam the rather make some poor shift of his own first man, and thus do the sons of to cover it than go to God (whose privi- Adam excuse their sins, and increase lege and glory it is to cover sin) to their guilt and punishment " [Caryl]. U IIOMLETIC COMMENTARY: ROSEA. [chap. vf. H0MILET1GS. A sad Transformation. — Verses 8 — 11. "We have now particular proofs of the charges brought against Israel. Special places, certain persons, and the whole people are faithless and polluted. The best become the worst. I. Sacred places become polluted with sin. Regarding Gilead as a city of refuge, or the country beyond Jordan, it "is a city of them that work iniquity." God had hallowed the place, and made it a city of safety ; an institution of heaven, designed for special good. But this place of justice and protection, the glory of the land and the centre of distinguished privileges, was polluted with crime. Its in- habitants had stained its name and filled it with blood. Cities are blessed or cursed by the character and conduct of the inhabitants. Wealth and population, genius and prosperity, fade away by vice and debauchery. Great cities may bo tilled with great sins ; exalted to heaven with privileges, they may be cast down to hell for abusing them. Rome and Paris have been by-words, and Nero and Robes- pierre have left a stain in history. " By the blessing of the upright the city is ex- alted ; but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked." II. Ministers of religion become abettors of murder. The priests, who should have been ex- amples of virtue, fostered abominable sins and were guilty of murder. It was their duty to save life, but they killed both body and soul. They were — 1. Gruel in their designs. They sought to lie in wait and murder pilgrims on their way to the city. 2. Crafty in their designs. They plot " as troops of robbers wait for a man." 3. Deliberate in their designs. They thought of their schemes, and deliber- ately adopted and carried them out. 4. Confederate in their designs. " By con- sent." They were one in sympathy, agreed in sentiment, and banded together in purpose. They were taken from the lowest of the people, intruders in office, and were a curse to the land. Of all societies of men, none are more vile and mis- chievous than ministers corrupted by office or evil. The sweetest wine becomes the sourest vinegar, the whitest ivory burnt becomes the blackest coal ; so the best men, the noblest institutions, may be transformed into the most disgraceful and criminal. " Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things : they have put no difference between the holy and profane." III. The noblest design perverted to destruction. The way to the cities of refuge, by God's command, was to be prepared (Deut. xix. 3) ; clear and kept open without hindrance or danger to fugitives ; but it was filled with robbers and tracked with blood. Those who fled for life met with death. "What power in the human will and in human conduct to corrupt the ordinances and hinder tho designs of God ! Means of grace perverted to motives of crime, and sacred places changed to scenes of corruption. The devil gets into the church, and the foulest crimes are committed in the garb of religion and a good name. In Christendom now we see religion made the tool of priests and governments : its sanctions brought to support schemes of aggrandizement and oppression ; and plans that display God's wisdom and benevolence employed to prostrate our nature, to pollute the land, and make it "desolate and a perpetual hissing." IV. A chosen people degraded with punishment. All these crimes were done " in the house of Israel," an elect nation. Whoredom was widespread, and the whole land was defiled. 1 . The enormity of their sin teas great. " An horrible thing," enough to make one shudder ; " a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth shall tingle." Ordinary sins are evil, but the sins of Israel were gross abominations. Sins against bght and privileges, the warnings of prophets and tho judgments of God. Heathen nations could not commit such crimes, the greatness of which can only be estimated by God. But ancient Israel and modern Churches, pre-eminent above other peoples, exchange God for vain idols. Holy heaven is amazed at the monstrous folly of CHAP. VI.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: UOSEA. men. " Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods ] but my pcoplo have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. Be astonished, 0 yo heavens, at this, and be ye horribly afraid ; be ye very desolate, saith the Lord." 2. The 'punishment of their sin was disgraceful. The people of God were bereft of their glory and defence ; carried captives and humbled by a foreign foe. The seed was reaped in an awful " harvest " of punishment by both Ephraim and Judah. God is no respecter of persons — the highest and the lowest, the priest and the peasant, are alike judged for their sins. He makes them " base and contemptible before all the people." Sin sinks the most exalted to the most degraded. It is a blot in the escutcheon of the mightiest nation which no worldly glory can efface. " Kighteous- ness exalteth a nation : but sin is a reproach to any people." HOMILETIG HINTS AND OUTLINES. The substance of these verses may be summed up in few words. 1. Man has a tendency to abuse the best and highest things. This is proved from history, Scripture, and observation. 2. When the best and highest things are abused they become the worst. Moral order and dis- tinctions are confounded. A downward course is begun. Conscience must be quieted, moral feelings be suppressed, and bold extravagance required to cover and defend sin. 3. Abuse of the best and highest things greatly increases the guilt. When men check religious im- pulse and resist good they go at a faster rate than merely doing wrong. The effect of sin must be measured by the power of moral sensibility. Perfection of guilt and punishment is gained by using the truth and ordinances of God, to do the bidding of selfishness and lust. I have seen an horrible thing. God dis- cerns sin when covered by craft and counsel, by excuse and ignorance. The smallest sins and the most horrible crimes are detected by him, and will bo discovered to the perpetrators. Men may cover their ways and hide their sins, but they cannot prosper. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER VI. Ver. 1 — 3. Conversion. In con- version the sinner has a deep sense of his distance and desert, a full persuasion that God will forgive and restore him, and perseverance in seeking God. He will strive to return and carry out his resolution like the prodigal, in confession of sin. " I will return to my home ; my father will forgive me," said a wandering disobedient son. He was forgiven, and restored to parental favour. Morning. The morning breaketh forth in crimson, and the beauteous flowers of the field spread wide their odorous cups to drink the blooming influence of the rising genial sun [G. S. Green]. Rain. What would nature be with- out rain? We are entirely depend- ent on the grace of God. But under the influences of his word and Spirit we revive and grow as the corn. These influences are always needful ; but ob- serve, there are two seasons when they are peculiarly experienced. The one is connected with the beginning of the Divine life — this may be called the former rain. The other with the close of it — this may be called the latter rain [Jay]. Ver. 4. Transitoriness. When Da- guerre was working at his sun-pictures, his great difficulty was to fix them. The light came and imprinted the image ; but when the tablet was drawn from the camera, the image had vanished. Our lamentation is like his, our want the same, a fixing solution that shall arrest and detain the .fugitive impressions. He discovered the chemical power which turned the evanescent into the durable. There is a Divine agency at hand that can fix the truth upon the heart of man,— God's Holy Spirit [/. Stoughton]. Ver. 5. I presume the Lord sees I require more hammering and hewing than almost any other stone that was ever selected for his spiritual building, 96 1I0MILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE J. [CHAP. VII. and that is the secret reason of his deal- ings with me. Let me he broken into a thousand pieces, if I may but he made up again, and formed by his hand for purposes of mercy [R. Hall]. Ver. 6. The outward service of ancient religion, the rites, ceremonies, and ceremonial restraints of the old law, had morality for their end. They were the letter, of which morality was the spirit ; the enigma, of which morality was the meaning. But morality itself is the service and ceremonial of the Christian religion [Coleridge]. The artist may mould matter into forms of surprising beauty, and make us feel their elevating and purifying influences : but what is the marble Moses of a Michael Angelo, or the cold statue of his living Christ, compared to the embodiment of Jesus in the sculpture of a holy life 1 "What are all the forms of moral beauty in the Pharisee of religion, compared with the true and holy life of the heart of the devoted Cliristian? [Bishop Thompson]. Ver. 8—11. Best and worst. The best things when abused become the worst : there is no devil like a fallen angel ; no enemy to the gospel like an apostate Christian ; no hate like the " theological hate ; " no war like a re- ligious war ; and no corruption like re- ligious corruption. The reasons are not far to seek. The best things are the strongest : they can do most always, most evil when used in an evil way. Bad men know this : Simon the magician was not the only one that has cast a covetous look at Christianity and said, " Give me also this power " [A. J, Morris]. CHAPTEE VII. Critical Notes. — 1.] Exposure of -wickedness continued. Healed] politically and morally. The danger of a wound only discovered when probed and healing attempted. Spoileth] Heb. strippeth off a garment : plunder extensive and without resistance. Falsehood] Deception toward God and man, " Falsehood was the whole habit and tissue of their lives" [Pusey']. 2. Consider] Lit. say not to themselves in serious reflection. Rem.] Notice and punish (Deut. xxxii. 34 ; Ps. xc. 8). Beset] as fetters and witnesses against them (Ps. ix. 16 ; Prov. v. 22). 3. Lies] People conformed to wicked laws and seductive rites of kings and princes ; flattered and pleased them with applause and immoral- ities (Acts xii. 13). 4. Oven] " In this passionate career the nation resembled a furnace which a baker heats in the evening and leaves burning all night while the dough is leavening, and then causes to burn with a still brighter flame in the morning when the dough is ready for baking" [Keil]. 6. Day] Birth or coronation day, probably a feast day. Bottles] Lit. with heat through wine ; bottles, not glasses, drunkenness, excess, and debauchery. Hand] In token of fellowship, health-drinking. Scorners] Ridicule of sacred things, derision of God, natural at intoxicating feasts (Dan. v. 3, 4). 6. Ready] Lit. applied (marg. brought near) their heart to sin. For] The reason for the open sin ; their heart is ready, and only waiting for the spark to kindle it. 7. Devoured] Results of their con- duct stated. Judges and kings, inflamed by the passion, here consumed and fell into the abyss, tho six last kings in succession (2 Kings xv. 10, 14, 25), b. c. 772. None sought help from God in national calamity. 8. Mixed] by leagues and adoption of idolatrous customs. The Heb. indicates a mixing which disorders and involves confusion. A cake] burned at the bottom and sad at the top, — an image of worthlessness. One side scorched and black, the other unbaked and doughy ; the whole spoiled and only fit to cast away. 9. Gray hairs] Symptoms of age and declining strength. " Thy gray hairs are thy passing bell " [Pusey]. Wisdom is not always found witli age (Job xxxii. 7 ; Prov. xxiii. 35). Israel indifferent, though ripe for destruction. 11. Dove] A type of simplicity (Matt. x. 16). Silly] Simplicity. Without heart] Lit. without understanding, easily taken in the net (Ezek. xii. 13). 12. Congregation] t e. the threatenings of the law read to them by teachers in assemblies (Lev. xxvi. 14 ; Deut. xxviii. 15). 13. Fled] As birds from their nests (Prov. xxvii. 8 ; Is. xvi. 2). Re- deemed] from Egyp first, and constantly afterwards, " habitual, oft-renewed deliverance. " / and they both emphatic, /redeemed, they lied. God's mercy overflowed man's ingratitude. 14. Cried] in anguish, not in penitence. Howled] in deep affliction and despair. Assemble] Crowd together in idol temple to deprecate famine and depart from God. Rebell Lit. withdraw themselves. Against] From me ; they cast off all allegiance to God. 15. Bound] Weakened and relaxed, an image from surgery {chastened, marg.). " Instructing the arms, according to the analogy of Ps. xviii. 35, ia equivalent to showing where and how strength -is to be acquired. The Lord has not contented him- chap, vii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. 97 self with merely instructing, he has also strengthened their arms and given them power to fHit and victory over their foes (cf. 2 Kings xiv. 25, 26)" [Keil]. 16. Deceitful] Which cannot carry the arrow; too slack or ill-constructed, which the archer fears will miss its aim. EageJ Blasphemy against God. Derision] Egypt, on which they depended, will ridicule them for their boasting and failure (Is. xxx. 35). HOMILETICS. A sad Discovert.' — Verse 1. The exposure of moral depravity is continued. The efforts of God to heal are frustrated by the disease. Greater iniquity is discovered. The grace of God is turned into lasciviousness. I. A disease malignant in its working. 1. It was secretly hiddm. It broke out in one place when the physician was curing another. "When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered." Sin is never hid from God. It lies concealed in the heart of man, and only waits for a chance to break out in acts. " Who can understand Ins errors 1 cleanse thou me from secret faults." 2. It was openly violent. The thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without. They were infested with thieves within and spoiled by foreign invaders from without. Wounded afresh day by day. No place was secure and free from sin. Secret sins indulged in become stronger and more violent in their manifesta- tions. Spots break out in the character and errors in the life, like some malignant humour in the body. The body is robbed of its beauty, the mind of its vigour, and the life spoiled in its influence and end. II. A disease complicated in its symptoms. Within and without, politically and religiously, the disease was spreading. 1. There was falsehood toward God. " For they commit falsehood." Falsehood in their worship and profession, in their principles and practices. They said they were willing to be healed and to be ruled by God : " neverthe- less they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues." 2. There was treachery toward man. Take away the fear of God and there will be no regard to man. " He cannot be faithful to me who is unfaith- ful to God," said the father of Constantine the Great. Religion is the basis and cement of society. If we throw off fidelity to truth and God, what is there to bridle passion and check corruption ] Treachery destroys all principles of confidence and security by which society is bound together. The Romans even disdained to practise it towards their enemies. How disgraceful for a Christian people to be guilty of it. "Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother1?" III. A disease incurable in its nature. " When I would have healed " — by the teachings of the prophets and the chastisements of Providence — " they would not hearken nor be amended." The disease defied all remedy, was more irritated by it and laid open in its extent and malignity. Many distempered churches and afflicted nations neglect the hopeful crisis, then go from bad to worse, and never get cured. Their wickedness is incorrigible and their disease incurable. When once inwardly rotten and corrupt, the foulness will break out and be externally visible. No earthly physician can sew up or heal the wound. Death in the body can never be cured. There is no death so sad and momentous in its results as the deatli of things which die within. " The greatest epoch in a man's life is by no means the day of his physical death, but the day in which he died to something more import- ant to him than the whole world." " We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed ; forsake her." Divine Remembrance of Sin. — Verses 2, 3. God saw the wickedness of Israel. All things are naked and opened before him. The manifold and intricate ways of sin, with their surroundings and consequences, are known to him. " They are before my face." 9S JIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. [chap. vn. I. God remembers the sins of men. " I remembered all their wickedness." These words are full of awful truth, confirmed by Scripture and every-day experi- ence. God La 01 rmi present ; beholds us everywhere; and we can never sin with security. If I wished to escape inspection, " whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" God is omniscient, having infinite and intimate knowledge of the affairs of men. He needs no light to discern sin, but the light of his countenance. Our open transgressions and secret sins are before his face. " Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of tliv countenance." But this knowledge is remembrance. Not that God ever forgets. Though punishment does not always immediately follow transgression, yet the sin it self is not forgotten or buried in oblivion. God sees and knows it. Men may wink at sin and forget it, but God never does. God's remembrance is — 1. Minute, — even the most secret things are known to him. 2. Constant, — " remember" continually. 3. Individual, — " their wickedness." 4. Universal, — " all their wickedness." III. Men think that God is indifferent to their sins. " They consider not in their hearts." They forget God, and think that God forgets them. " They say, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it." 1. Men forget God in their thoughts. "They consider not." If they acknowledge him in words, they do not wish to have him near to them. They do not speak to their own hearts, nor listen to the voice of conscience within. The young and old, the rich and poor, the gay and busy, shun acquaintance with him — put him in the background of life, and curtain him out of sight lest he should trouble them. They desire not the knowledge of his ways, wish to remain ignorant, and say, "Depart from us." A French philo- sopher even declared, " that the first duty of an intelligent and free man is to chase incessantly from the mind and conscience the idea of God." Practical atheism abounds now in the world. Men abandon faith in the unseen and spiritual, and virtually say, No God. " The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God, God is not in all his thoughts." 2. Men disregard. God in tin ir ways. If God is not in our thoughts he will not be in our ways. Conduct results from thoughts, as fruit from a tree. Thought may not always be embodied in deed ; may inadequately be represented by a man's life ; but the connection of one with the other is like cause and effect. " For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." " There are many devices in a man's heart " which lead him to act independ- ently and forgetfully of God. Scientific men talk of " generative powers," " vital energies," and "eternal laws." We have the designs of Balak and Balaam, of 1 la man and Herod. Men take no account of God in their daily duties and avocations, their plans and pursuits. Self is their oracle and self their counsellor, u for they have perverted their way and forgotten the Lord their God." III. When men dis- regard God in their ways, they become more wicked in their lives. Due re- gard to God is essential to the order and harmony of society. What a desolation would happen to a world without the knowledge of God! The French lie volu- tion is a lesson to all nations in this respect. The results of idolatry have been sad in the extreme. Even among the chosen people, amid light and privileges, when God was forsaken, every barrier was removed. Falsehood and injustice, cruelty and sensuality, increased more and more. They gave full play to passions and lusts ; perpetrated sins without fear or shame , and indulged in unbridled folly. Two things are specially pointed out. 1. The highest ranks were corrupted. " They made the king glad with their wickedness." Those who should have been models of truth and virtue, encouraged the people to sin by their example and influence. Their unjust laws and customs were eagerly obeyed \ they were pleased with the flattery, made glad with the homage of the people. In pomp and unbounded arro- gance they proceeded further in sins, like Herod; and not only did the same, but had pleasure in them that did them. 2. The lowest ranJcs were servile. "And the princes with their lies." An unhappy complaisance was the ruling character of Israel. Their consciences were versatile and accommodating to the circum- chap, vil] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIOSEA. 90 stances of the day. They approved and followed whatever was commanded by those in power; acquiesced in legalized idolatry, and preferred their kings to their God. They pleased the king, hut they were not sincere. They flattered the prince, hut they lied in their hearts. They conformed to the customs, hut cursed the persons of their rulers. Even now, men how in homage to those who crush them to poverty ; lose their manhood hy worshipping the rich and the mighty. " It is the voice of a god, and not of a man." Wicked sovereigns and wicked people are a curse to each other. When kings and princes are corrupted tin' people will be corrupted. Ahab preferred falsehood to truth, and was surrounded hy lying prophets. " Lies will be told to those that are ready to hearken to them." The sinful ruler is a tool for all kinds of wickedness. He drives the godly from his presence, and ever finds those that minister to his folly. "If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked" (Prov. xxix. 12). Encircled in Sin. — Verse 2. If the sinner pays no regard to reason and the All-seeing eye of God, he cannot hide his sins. They will chain and imprison him, go with him and encircle him at all times. His sins become a constant torment and a deadly punishment. " Now their own doings have beset them about." The sinner is beset — I. By the sting of conscience. He seeks to hide his sins, but conscience de- tects them, brings them to remembrance, and accuses him of guilt. The conscious- ness of sin haunts him continually, and his sin is ever before him. II. By the force of habit. Sin by repetition grows into habit. Habit becomes a ruling power, and cannot be given up easily. " A rooted habit," says Tillotson, " becomes a governing principle. Every lust we entertain deals with us as Delilah did with Samson ; not only robs us of our strength, but leaves us fast bound." III. By the influence of example. The doings of men live before them in their effects upon others. They cannot die, but they encircle them in the bands of associates and companions. Example is repeated and imitated by others ; goes forth with self- propagating power, and may descend from one generation to another. "The evil that men do lives after them." IV. By the consequences of natural law. Punishment follows sin by a natural law, the law of causation. Even now men are encircled by their own doings, in loss of health and position ; in decay of in- tellect and disorders of mind ; in the torments of conscience and the tyranny of habit ; in misery, despair, and death. In the future, punishment awaits the sinner. " Is not this laid up in store with me and sealed up among my treasures ? " Un- less repented of, and washed in the blood of Christ, sins are destined to be cited against the sinner. In time and eternity " his own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins." Sin a Furnace op Fire. — Verses 4 — 7. The passion of Israel for idolatry is likened to a furnace, heated by the baker, and left burning during the process of fermentation. There is little or no cess- ation to their indulgence. All are guilty, and fan the flames which consume them without reflection and return to God. Keeping up the figure, sin is like a furnace, I. In the method hy which it is kindled. Man is capable of warmth and enthusiasm. We are made for fervour. We feel the glow of friendship and the power of principles fondly cherished and firmly defended. We have pn iperi tea not simply attributed to matter, but possessed by the Seraphim of heaven and buted to God himself. " The zeal of the Lord of Hosts." We arc more influi by evil than good. The heart, with its affections, is kindled into a passion ; the temperament warmed, and men are "set on fire" with lust, and set on fire of hell." Like "an oven heated by the baker," they burn with hatred, envy, and adultery; " burned in their lusts one toward another." In whatever, 100 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: 110SEA. [chap. vii. light we look at sin "it is a fire that consumetli to destruction, and would root out all mine increase" (Job xxxi. 12). II. In the fuel by which it is fed. The same material that kindles must keep alive the fire. It is heated and fed by lust; by constant and unnatural excitement. Ecspites only ferment ; the flames slumber to break out into greater fury. Anger, ambition, and filthy lusts fill the soul, and the fire burns upon the altar and never goes out. Certain .sins are mentioned in the text. 1. Prevalent adultery. They are all adul- terers. " Given up to vile affections, and punished with impurities of heart and life." "It is better to marry than burn" (1 Cor. vii. 9). 2. Excessive drink. The princes made the king " sick," heated him " with bottles of wine." Intem- perance in any is degrading, but especially in men of place and power. Priest and prophet "err through strong drink" (Is. xxviii. 7; lvi. 11, 12). The glory of Benhadad (1 Kings xx. 16), of Belshazzar, and of "the princes of Israel," was covered with shame. Philip of Macedon, when drunk, unjustly condemned a woman. She boldly said, " I appeal to Philip; but it shall be when he is sober." Eoused by the appeal, the king examined the case, and reversed his judgment. " It is not for kings, 0 Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine ; nor for princes strong drink : lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted" (Prov. xxxi. 4, 5). 3. Impious scorning. "He stretched out his hand " in friendship, and associated " with scorners." The king jested with drunkards, praised idols, and scoffed at God. Atheists and scoffers, wine and mirth, are often found together. " Hypocritical mockers at feasts " give license to their tongue, and lose control over their conduct. " Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging ; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." III. In the results which it produces. These are innumerable. The temptations to criminality are fearful. Every kind of " wickedness burnetii as the fire " (Is. ix. 18). " Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals and his feet not be burned 1 " 1. It influences the heart. " For they have made ready their heart." It hardens and encrusts it; disposes it to prepare, practise, and "perfect evil. The heart is brought nigh, stirred up to sin, though the occasion for it be taken away. This oven, once heated, gives no breathing time, no real rest. Corrupt passions burn with intense heat, until extinguished and overcome by the grace of God. 2. It consumes its abettors. The fire "devoured their judges ; ail their kings are fallen." Jeroboam and other kings corrupted the people to establish their own authority ; were flattered and slain by those who flattered them. Their sins returned to their own bosom. The flames, like the furnace of Nebuchad- nezzar, devoured those who were thrown into them and those who kindled them. It is ever thus with sin. The heathens taught that " the artificers of death perished by their own art." " Kindle not the coals of a sinner, lest thou be burnt with the flame of his fire " (Ecclus. viii. 10). HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. for. 5. The day of our king. Birth- anti-religious carousal ; making them- daya and coronation-days of rulers; selves like the brutes that perish, and national fasts and feasts spent in drunk- tempting their king first to forget his enness and rioting — scenes of revelry, royal dignity, and then to blaspheme scenes of debauchery, scoffing, and mur- the majesty of God " [Pnsey]. der. Drinking healths and taking lives ! Drink, debauchery, and scoffing a Kings falling in feasting and mirth ! triple association in feasting without What a portrait history gives of human God. "Fools make a mock at sin." folly and God's providence! "Their Ver. G. Their heart like an oven. holy days, like those of so many English Men who are wicked and vile may seem now, were days of excess. Their festi- to be lying by and doing nothing, yet — val they turned into an irreligious and- 1. Their hearts are bent on their course; chap, vii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. [01 their oven is heating while they sleep. None that calleth on me. God can 2. Their designs are still going on ; the correct the evils and subdue the Bedition heat is tending to burning as a flaming of a nation. But mark the stupidity and fire while the baker sleeps. 3. Iniquity perversity of sin which make pen])],. in- that is hatched, through abundance of sensible in danger and neglect Odd in lust, is most violently executed, when trouble. Not even distress, in which opportunity offers ; and the more vio- generally men betake themselves to God, lently that it hath been long delayed awakened any sense of sin in them. \Hutcheson\. "Those are not only heated with sin, Ver. 7. Kings are fallen. Those but hardened in sin, that continued to who murdered others are murdered live without prayers, even when they themselves. Plots of sin recoil on those are in trouble and distress." who originate them. HOMILETICS. The Christian Church endangered and injured by Worldly Association. — Verses 8, 9. From the internal corruption, the prophet passes on to the foreign policy of Israel, and unfolds its disastrous effects. God separated the nation to be his peculiar people ; to train them up in virtue ; and make them a blessing to the world. But they mixed themselves with other nations in social customs and political leagues. In the application of these words learn — I. That the Christian Church is in danger of unlawful association with the World. " Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people." We are not to shut ourselves out from all intercourse and innocent association with the world. Family ties, business and spiritual engagements, bind us to it. But we must not " be conformed to this world," in its evil customs and pursuits, its principles and spirit. We have no need to go out of the world literally ; but keep ourselves from its evil ; separate ourselves from its frivolities, and be Christians entirely. 1. Tlie Christian Church is endangered by outward 'proximity to the world. The world is near, present with us, and appeals to our senses. It influences more than things spiritual and unseen. Its wondrous forms and fair pretences gradually get hold upon and eventually overcome the careless professor. Demas-like, he forsakes God, having loved tins present world. Its pursuits and demands engross our atten- tion. Before we are aware we are brought under its spell; walking according to rules, and governed by "the prince of this world." 2. The Christian Church is endangered by the inward tendency to love the world. There are snares and dangers within us, from natural cravings and corrupt desires. We are fond of its company and eager for its rewards. Its attractions are strong, because resistance is weak ; its trifles realities, because we prefer toys to eternal treasures. " Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world." II. The Christian Church is injured by association with the world. Contact with it wears away seriousness of mind, in- disposes for religious duties, neutralizes religious influence, and expels religious sentiment. Professors who needlessly mix up with sinful practices and company arj sure to suffer in their character and condition. The text specifies — 1. Moral deterio- ration. "Ephraim is a cake not turned." They had been mixed up and steeped with heathen idolatries and vices, and had become worthless. The fire of Divine judgment made only an outward impression upon them, and they were more hope- lessly spoiled by their conduct. Burned on one side and dough on the other, perfectly useless. Many Christians now are utterly worthless in their lives and ex- amples. Many societies have lost their prominence and savour; sunk into degrada- tion, and do not answer the end for which they were created. Inward corruption will never overcome outward temptation. If individuals, churches, and nations do not contain power to prevent deterioration and impart life, they will become m U0M1LETJC COMMENTARY : HOSE A. [CHAP. VII. morally insipid, and fit for nothing but the fate which history and Scripture declare awaits them, 2. Social injury. " Strangers have devoured his strength." Foreign ] mwcrs, Assyria and Egypt, whose aid Israel had invoked, robbed them of money, wasted their treasures, and diminished their numbers. Like Samson, bereft of his strength by sensual pleasure, Israel was stripped of social privilege and power. Sad to think of many socially and individually ruined by unlawful connections and sinful lusts. Intellect and memory, dignity and manhood : the health of the body and the happiness of the sold " devoured " by strangers to God and his people! " Evil communications corrupt good manners." 3. Unnatural decay . "Gray hairs are here and there upon him." Loss of inward strength and outward beauty will soon bring age and decay. "Men get old before they are young." A general laxity of morals may sap and undermine our commerce. The body politic may be covered with marks of hoary age and ripening for destruction. Christian churches may decay through discord, worldliness, and pride. Families and indi- viduals may fall by sin and die while young. Gray hairs are forerunners and fore- Warners of death. 4. Religious insensibility. " Yet he knoweth it not." To be insensible of disease and decay is the worst symptom of all. Men hide from them- selves tokens of death, and it comes upon them unawares. They think that out- ward forms, orthodox creeds, and the course of time will recover their strength. They are insensible and stupefied in sin, and sleep quietly amid dangers and death. "They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick : they have beaten me, and I felt it not ; Avhen shall I awake 1" (Pro v. xxiii. 35 : Is. xlii. 25.) HOMILETIG HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 8. A cake not turned. Soft and pliable under Divine chastisement, hard- ened and cold in sin- — -half-heartedness. half-baked and half-burned, displeasing to God — hypocrisy, hot in forms, dead in spirit, rejected by God. " Such were the ] ten] de ; such are too many so-called Christians ; they united in themselves hypocrisy and ungodliness, outward per- formance and inward lukewarmnessj the one overdone, but without any whole- some effect on the other. The one was scorched and black ; the other, steamed, damp, and lukewarm; the whole worth- less, spoiled irremediably, lit only to be casl away." " Thou art neither cold nor hot: 1 would thou wert cold or hot. So then because t hou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." Ver. (J. Gray hairs. I. Gray hair* arc a sign of decay. God for wise pur- poses gives distinctive features to human life. Nature teaches us to reverence ago in the pages of an old book ; in the leaf- less branches of an old tree ; in the silent, deserted halls of an old roofless ruin; still more in one whose head is white with the snows of fourscore or a hundred winters. Gray hairs are associated with — (1) Parental honours, (2) the ripe wis- dom of age, and (3) the piety of vener- able men. II. But in the text they are signs of decay, premonitory symptoms of dissolution : and teadi that men live in ignorance and act in disregard of signs that should warn and alarm them. 1. This appears in the history of States. In the kingdom of Israel, in England, ille- gitimacy, drunkenness, continental mor- ality, Sabbath-breaking, and irreligious customs are signs of national decay ; which, but for thousands of good and earnest men, who know it, would bring death upon us. 2. This applies to the false security of sinners. 3. This appears in men's insensibility to the lapse and lessons of time [From Dr. Guthrie"]* I. Explain the ignorance here mention- ed, or show how it is that many a man is backsliding and declining in grace, and yet knows it not. This is often caused by a want of acquaintance with one1 s own soul. Some there arc who do not want to know any evil tiling of themselves. Many see not the gray hairs because they do not look into the glass to see them. There are some who look into the glass chap, vii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. 103 to see -whether there are gray hairs com- the suspension of communion with Ghd. ing, but they use a false mirror, one III. Recommend certain remedies for this Which does not truly reflect the image. decay. Inquire whether you be a child II. I am to hold up th6 looking-glass. One of God or not. Next remember what of the gray hairs which marks decay is will be the result of decays in grace. I a -want of holy grief for daily sin. A recommend to every believer a dm'/// second gray hair is the absence of lament- self-examination. Then with repentance ation in the soul when Jesus Christ is join much supplication and reman d faith dishonoured. A third gray hair in the and daily watchful activity [Spurgeonl. Christian, a very plain one, and marking Ver. 10. Pride prevented humility and that the disease is gone far, is the indulg- confession. 2. Eeturn to God, who had ence of certain minor sins. Covetous- afflicted them. 3. Testified against tin 'in ness is a very common gray hair upon in their stupidity and rebellion against the heads of professors. With some it God. " Men complain of their ' fortune,' is not quite covetousness, but worldliness. or ' fate,' or ' stars,' and go on the more Another gray hair is pride. Neglect of obstinately to build up what God de- prayer another. It is a gray hair when we stroys, to prop up by human means or have no delight in listening to the word, human aid what, by God's providence, And another is, want of love to God. is failing ; they venture more desperately, Want of love to perishing sinners is a sad in order to recover past losses, untd the gray hair to be found, I fear, in some min- crash at last becomes hopeless and final" isters, as well as in the people. Another is [Pusey]. HOMILETICS, The Silliness of the Sinner. — Verses 11 — 13. Ephraim was stricken and afflicted, stupefied and insensible, because -without heart or understanding they revolted against their best interests. Like a silly dove, simple, and liable to be befooled (Job xxxi. 27) ; easily seduced, and trusting to its rapidity of flight instead of taking the nearest shelter. Israel negotiated with others, depend- ed not upon God, and was caught in the net. Looking at sin generally — I. The sinner is silly in boasting- of knowledge without wisdom. There is a great difference between knowledge and wisdom. The knowledge of this world and the wisdom from above are not always found together. The world may consider men wise and cunning, but a wicked man is not a wise man. Sin is folly, and folly denotes insipidity, which is opposed to wisdom derived from tasting or experience. There is no true knowledge without godliness. There may be intellect and useful learning, but men are brutish and foolish through sin. " The ox knoweth his owner," — we know not our owner, — " and the ass his master's crib ; " but we are insensible of our dependence upon God; "do not know" nor consider. "We "lack wisdom." Some are totally ignorant. Others, gifted with genius and erudition, " think highly of themselves." All are liable to be duped by their own fancy or snared by their own understanding. "Ahead full of vain and unprofitable notions, meeting with a heart full of pride and self-conceit, disposes a man directly to be an atheist," says Philip Henry. Men are silly for boasting of knowledge, and ensnared by leaning to their counsels. "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom : and to depart from evil is imderstanding " (Job xxviii. 28). II. The sinner is silly in depend- ing upon human and forsaking Divine aid. "They call to Egypt, they go to As- syria." 1. They called not upon God, who could help them as he had done in the past. 2. They called to Egypt, delusive in promising and disappointing in execution. 3. They go to Assyria, a powerful oppressor; sought each by turns to help against the other. Thus men, troubled and oppressed, seek relief from one thing and then another, only to display their folly and bring on their ruin. " What else is almost the whole history of Christian states \ " asks a writer. " The ' balance of power,' which JOi IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY : HOSEA. [chap^ii. has been the pride of the later policy of Europe, which has been idolized as a god, to which .statesmen have looked as a deliverance out of all their troubles; as if it were a sort of Divine Providence, regulating the affairs of men, and dispensing with the interference of Godj what is it but the self-same wisdom which balanced Egypt against Assyria 1 " Men flee like a bird from their nest and security (ver. 13), only to be caught in the net of " destruction." III. The sinner is silly in not discovering his danger. The dove has neither courage to stay in its resting-place when fright- ened, nor sense to discern its peril when it flies away. Instead of remaining in pro- tection it flies away and is caught in the net. So men in sin rush from God into risks, seek no place of safety, and have no sense of loss. As " the ox goeth to the slaughter," unconscious of its fate, and dreaming of pasture ; " as a fool to the cor- rection of the stocks," careless and unfeeling ; "as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life," so blindfolded and silly men go to their fall. They soar upward, "as the fowls of heaven," in freedom, independence, and pride, but the net is " spread upon them." They are humiliated and over- whelmed. 1. The danger may be seen. It is open and exposed. The net is spread out to surround them and hold them down. But " man also knoweth not his time ; as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them." 2. The danger is not icithout warning. " Their congregation hath heard." In the law and by the prophets, by judgment and mercy, God had forewarned Israel. So men now sin against light and truth, in the face of God's word and God's providence. If you add blows to reproofs, so incurable is the folly of some that they will not grow wiser and better. " Yet will his foolishness not depart from him." The Fowler of Eetribution. — Verse 12. As they go to Egypt and Asshur for help, God will spread his net over them like a bird-catcher, and bring them down to the earth like flying hirds, i. e. bring them from the open air — freedom — into the net of captivity or exile. Here the work of retribution is spoken of as the work of the fowler, and includes two things — entrap- ment and abasement. /. Entrapment. The literal reference here is 2 Kings xvii. 4. The retributive providence of God employed Assyrians to ensnare Israel. This entrapment of providence was seen in the case of Joseph's brethren and the cruci- fixion of Christ. Popery confined Luther in Wartburg Castle, where he trans- lated the Bible, which shattered the whole system. Anglican bigots imprisoned Bunyan in Bedford jail ; there he produced a book which has giveu him immortal fame. The net that entangles sinners is not made in heaven, but on earth, by themselves. Righteous providence permits them so to be ensnared as to render that enthralment painful and lasting. II. Abasement. " I will bring them down," &c. However high they may tower, retribution has missiles to bring them down. Men in worldly prosperity, pride and ambition, soar like eagles above the rest. An ancient philosopher, when asked what Jupiter did in heaven, replied, " He pulls down the haughty, and exalts the humble." Eead the words — " The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee," &c. (Obad. 3, 4). Ponder well thy condition, sinner. Eetri- butive justice is upon thee wherever thou art and whatever thou dost. If down grovelling in the earth, working out thy sordid soul, it has nets that Avill ensnare thee there. If high up in the heavens of worldly prosperity and haughty ambition, proudly exulting in superiority, it has shots that will reach thee and bring thee down to the dust [The Homilisi\. Man's "Weal and Woe. — Verse 13. There are but two conditions in which men are found, near to or distant from God. There can be no neutrality in religion. We must either be for or against God. If to depart from God be woe ; to be intimate with him, to know and love him, must be man's weal, moral health, wholeness, and happiness. Hence — chap, vii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. 105 I. God is the chief good of men. "Who will show us any good?" is tho cry of the " many " in disappointment or unbelief. Man wants good : hates evil as evil, because it brings woe, suffering, and death. He wishes to find that supreme good which he craves for, which alone will satisfy his heart. This is not found in the creature, in the pleasures of sense and sin. God alone can satisfy the soul. He is the chief, the only good of men. But the siimmum bonum, the well-being of man, is not mere happiness, it is right character, the perfection and harmony of being. Happiness and joy are secondary and incidental to this. The only blessedness is the blessedness of the godly. We have not found this until restored and reconciled to God. To seek the chief good of man without God, without conformity to his will, is to subvert supreme reason, break down the eternal laws of the universe, and seek the impossible. " Fear God and keep his commandments ; for this is tho whole of man " — not his duty merely (duty is interpolated), but his health and happiness — the sum of all that God requires — the end and perfection of his being. II. Departure from God brings misery upon men. " Woe unto them, for they have fled from me." 1. Forsaking God involves misery. " Woe unto them." Those who sin against God wrong their own soul (Pro v. viii. 32) ; rob it of happiness and vigour, and are tempted to soul-murder. They forsake their own mercy (Jon. ii. 8) ; the God of my mercy (Ps. lix. 17), the personal knowledge of whom is the con- dition of happiness. Estrangement from God involves misery and deep distress (Jer. ii. 13 ; xvii. 13). Therefore the laws of God are (a) the expression of benevolent design, (b) in harmony with our moral constitution, and (c) should be constantly obeyed. 2. Forsaking God involves destruction. " Destruction unto them, because they have transgressed against me." God is not only the happiness, but the pro- tection of the soul. " Salvation is of the Lord," and those who forget or forsake him bring present woe and future destruction upon themselves. God has con- nected our safety with the keeping of his law. Obey and we shall be saved ; but disobedience to all laws, physical and moral, will result in pain and death. Sinners die because they will die : put from them that which will be their life, and love that which will be their death. " They that hate me love death." God's Ways and Man's Ways. I. God's ways towards man. God's ways to train the believer and save the sinner are manifold and wonderful. There are three specially indicated in the text. 1. We have love. The prophet speaks not mechanically. The man's soul is touched, and we see the sympathy of God in his pleadings and expostulations. With melting overtures he pours out the tenderest feelings of Divine love. " How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?" &c. It is not a love cold and indifferent to the sins and sorrows of men. Some men with a selfish stoical heart behold the misery around them without the slightest feeling. Some are annoyed, and others endeav- our to shun it. But few are pained at the sight, try to bear or remove it. God's love is wounded with the sins of his people, bursts forth into deep emotion. His " soul was grieved for the misery of Israel." Like a father's pity and a mother's tender care, this love is heard in the cry, " 0 Israel, return unto the Lord thy God ; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity." 2. We have law. " They have transgressed." Sin is the transgression of the law, ''for where no law is there can be no trans- gression." Law is found in all departments of the universe ; is essential to order and good government. God has expressed his love in law, and entered into human history with authority and redeeming grace. Love is the natural, the parental feeling of God. But positive law is required to direct and control the actions of men. " Thou shalt not " is a necessary part of education ; a boundary line be- tween right and wrong — an essential condition of a happy life. God has written the words on the shore of every sea, in the constitution of every moral being, and in the history of every nation. Passions must be curbed ; order must be pre- 106 UOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. [chap. vii. served, lest confusion and death should spread in God's dominions. 3. "We have providence. Love may exist in the heart and not l)e displayed in outward act.' Providence is God's love in action, written in facts. Divine agency is dis- played in human history, delivering men from sin. God had redeemed Israel from captivity ami bondage. He made known to them what he promised to he, and what lie was by what he did. Thought and character are known best when expressed in deeds. A mother's love is not known simply by word ; but when she cares for her child, walks with it, and delivers it in danger, then she gives life and meaning to her words. So God fulfils his promise, honours his law, and redeems his people. The name Redeemer should therefore be above every name, should quicken and inspire our hearts with love. In the death of Jesus we have love his- torical and supernatural ; redemption and moral influence spreading themselves through all time and reaching to all people. God's providence in Israel and God's love in Christ have become history and action in the past, energy in the present, and promise for the future. " He saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known." II. Man's ways towards God. Such treatment from God ought to excite gratitude and service. The truths of the Bible and the blessings of providence should not be entertained as mere external verities, but should become living and abiding sources of thought and feeling ; motives to action and praise. The mercies we receive should be specially acknowledged. " Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and forget not all his benefits." Israel were guilty of three glaring sins. 1. There teas apostasy from God. "For they have fled, from me." God had made them a peculiar people, gave them a special covenant, and took them into intimate relationship with himself; but they forsook him, and were guilty of religious defection. It was not a partial, but a complete falling away. They turned from God in their hearts, and wandered from him in their ways. They ./Zed in fear and anger, as if God was a cruel and inveterate enemy. God called unto them, but they refused to come : he sought to reclaim them, but they wandered further from him. The instinct of the bird teaches that its only place of safety and rest is the nest. Seldom does she return without injury or in- convenience to herself. So man, wandering from " the precincts," remains not under " the protection " of God. To leave his place and duties in society exposes him to temptation. He has no true rest, and only changes imaginary for real troubles. The discontented man, the unsteady professor, departing from God, wanders from his proper place and position. Man is a fugitive, wandering from his home, broken away from the law of holy and blessed allegiance. Sin has separated him from God. Where art thou? was the significant question put to rouse our first parent to a sense of guilt. Like a kind father, God calls now to men, holds out his arms of love to embrace them in return. " But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people." 2. There was rebellion against Chd. It was no ordinary crime of which they were guilty. To apostasy they added open rebellion. " They have transgressed." Once depart from God, the way is open for all sins and temptations. When Israel had tied from God, they sinned wilfully and presumptuously, with a high hand and a stiff neck. They broke the law and thwarted the design of Divine love. Many now have no determination, no decision for God : changeful as the waves and fickle as the winds. Their heart is not right, neither are they stedfast in his covenant. They detract from the authority of God, and continually break the bonds of law; they set up self and refuse to yield to God ; and, like a refractory horse and un- tamed bullock, constantly reject the bridle and draw back. " A stubborn and rebellious generation." 3. There was contradiction to God. " They have spoken lies against me." Oft as he redeemed them so often did they traduce him. Their whole life was a contradiction to his will, character, and conduct. They spoke lies in their lips and profession, added insult to ingratitude. They belied his prophets, and set up false gods in opposition to the true. They denied the pro- chap, vii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. 107 violence and power of God, robbed him of the glory of their deliverance, and ascribed all their blessings to idols. " Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues." Thus Israel treated God for his kind- ness, and provoked him to anger by their sins. Well might God say, "Id y thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Spoken lies. 1. Men he in thought, and career he has "belied the Lord." When they have hard or slight thoughts Yet this lying to God is — 1. A common of God — when they think that prosperity sin. 2. A hateful sin. 3. A dangerous is given by idols, is gained by their own sin. skill. 2. Men lie in word. When they The visible Church doth lie against declare that God does not see them and God, having been delivered of him, will not punish their sin. 3. Men lie either when she denieth him in her mivorship. When they represent God in practice (Tit. i. 1G ; Ps. xiv. 1); or when graven images, offer prayers which do being delivered she doth belie her those not come from the heart, and defraud professions and promises she made in God of his due. 4. Men lie in conduct, trouble ; or, when she cleaves still to When they profess one thing and are false doctrine or corrupt religion, pre- really another — when they substitute tending it to be the truth, and constructs error for truth, and deny the Holy of God's delivering her, as if it Avere a One. testimony that he favoured her way ; or Sin is emphatically a lie. The sinner is when in her prosperity she forgets God, antagonistic to God and his ways, a ascribing all her deliverances to her idols, contradiction to God in his character as all her afflictions to him, as chap. ii. and condition. In his whole conduct 5; Jer. xliv. 17, 18 [Hutcheson]. HOMILETICS. The Howling of Distress. — Verse 14. If the sinner will not take warning, but madly rush on, he must take the con- sequence of his folly. But when sorrow and punishment come upon him, he frets and cries to God in distress. When Israel suflered, they wept for then sins. God reproves them ; they should have turned to him before. It is often too late to re- pent when the deed is done. I. Men are often in great distress. Suffering of some kind we cannot avoid ; it is incident to our mortal state. The ills that flesh is heir to are many. But sin brings suffering ; neglect of Divine warnings brings Divine chastisement. 1. Mi a often lack the necessities of life. " Corn and wine" are not always given, often in justice withheld, and then famine results. The Irish famine through failure of potatoes created great distress. The luxuries and the necessities are taken away to humble our pride, punish our sin, and teach us dependence upon God. "The Lord gave " is the language of Scripture ; that of atheism and pride, " My own hand hath gotten me this wealth" (Deut. viii. 17). Heathens even acknowledged God as " the Giver of good things." He has the right to withdraw at his pleasure. God's hand must be seen in losses as well as gains. " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away." 2. Men are often put on beds of affliction. " They howled upon their beds." Active energetic persons are confined to their habitat inns, thrown helpless on their beds, and led to cry for mercy. Many have wearisome nights and days; bitter pains and sorrows; then they cry for mercy in sickness, which they despised in health. Their punishment is greater than they can hear. A sick bed is a place of trial and a school of discipline. II. Men cry to God in great dis- tress. In prosperity and freedom they are right enough. Even beasts do not utter their cry when they have food. L'ut how natural to feel and complain under 108 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. [chap, vu severe suffering ! It is not palatable to reap the reward of our own doings. Hence — 1. Men '•/•//, but it is not the cry of penitence. It is the howling of anguish ; the cry of despair ; mere noise without spiritual feeling. 2. They cry to God. Like the atheist on the iEgean Sea, they may forget or ridicule the idea of God in calm and sunshine. When the storms come they change their creed and cry to their God. Men may live without God, hut they never want to suffer or die without him. " Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble." 3. Their cry is insincere. («) It is not from the heart. " They have not cried unto me with their heart." Their tears were wrung from them on account of distress and not sin. Their hearts were not set on God, and they could not pray unto him. The howling of the ancient heathen or the modern Indian is not true devotion. The prayer from a sense of pain and want is not the prayer of " a broken and contrite spirit," which is acceptable to God. Pleads he in earnest ? look upon his face : His eyes do drop no tears, his prayers are in jest ; His words come from his mouth, ours from our breast : He prays but faintly, and would be denied : "We pray with heart and soul, and all beside. (b) Their cry is public clamour. " They assemble themselves," gather tumul- tuously together, to join in stormy debate or clamour to their gods. They thought more of corn and wine than pardon of sin and peace with God. Men are more anxious for the body than the soul, and when deprived of the blessings of this life fret and murmur against God. 4. Their cry ended in rebellion. " They rebel against me," turn away from God, and then turn round to insult him to his face. This proved the insincerity of their prayer. Sanctified afflictions improve and wean from the world ; unsanctified afflictions harden and lead to ungodliness. The iron when heated by the fire is soft and flexible, but afterwards goes hard and cold. When God slays men, then they seek him, return and inquire early after him. When re- stored they forget their vows and prayers, and live in estrangement from him. " For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works " (Ps. lxxviii. 32, 34). The Ungrateful Return. — Verses 15, 16. God tried all ways with his people, but of no use. He chastised them in judg- ment and remembered mercy. He gave them into the hands of enemies ; they cried in distress, and he delivered them. Whatever God did, they were still the same. Four words sum up the varied methods of God to restore them ; the one result was shameful abuse ending in fresh rebellion. I. God's kindness to man. "I have bound and strengthened their arms." In what- ever sense we take the words, the fact of ingratitude remains. 1. God chastised them. Time after time were they afflicted, but God withdraws his displeasure. Men see the greatness of Divine compassion, but never feel all the power of Divine anger. " He being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not; yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath." 2. God taught them. Taught them to walk hy their arms, as parents t^ach their children (ch. xi. 3 ; Deut. i. 31) ; taught them to war (Ps. xviii. 34) ; gave them victory over enemies (2 Kings xiv. 25, 26) ; " girded them with strength for battle." To him they owed all their military skill, strength, and success. All warlike prowess is the gift of God. The Lord is mighty in battle, and "the Holy Spirit is the great Drill-Master of heavenly sol- diers." God taught and instructed Israel hy his prophets and providence, by his word and worship, and by a peculiar mode of discipline trained them up for his service and honour. 3. God strengthened them. Weak within and wounded without, like a kind physician he bound up their wounds and healed their sores. He strengthened their arms and relieved them in sickness. God often restores individuals and reinstates nations in prosperity and health, hut what thanks has he 1 "0 Israel, thou hast de- chap, vii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: UOSEA. 109 stroyed thyself, but in me is thine help." II. Man's ingratitude to God. Men liko Hezekiah render not again according to the benefit done unto them (2 Clir. xxxii. 25). God intends to do them good, but they hate and forsake him. 1. In wicked thoughts. " Yet do they imagine mischief against me." Eight thoughts of God are essential to right conduct. If Ave think evil in our hearts, evil will be manifest in our lives. " The thought of foolishness is sin." Men think lightly of the responsibility of thought, and declare that thoughts can hurt no one. As the thought is the fountain of the act, God counts it as the act, and holds us responsible for it. Eunyan, unlike many professors, was deeply troubled in remembrance of one sinful thought. Yet how men devise wickedness in their hearts ! One meditates on objects of lust and avarice ; another on schemes of ambition. Some think in envy, and others in malice and revenge " 0 Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall vain thoughts lodge within thee 1 " 2. In evil conduct. " They return, but not to the Most High." The health restored and the life preserved from death should be given to God. God's kindness should beget loving thoughts and constant gratitude to Mm. But the conversion of many is feigned and hypocritical ; a turning point in life, but not return to God in acknowledgment of his majesty, and dependence upon his word. Man changes from one thing to another : turns " from the sins of youth to the sins of age, from the sins of pros- perity to the sins of adversity ; but he himself remains unchanged," says a writer. True turning is upwards, in recognition of God's presence and holiness. The sinner looks forward and round, but forgets God in thought and conduct. The prodigal must come home. The penitent must return not half way, but entirely up to God. To forsake some sins and indulge in others, to denounce earthly things without devoting ourselves entirely to God, is not genuine conversion nor guarantee of amendment. " If thou wilt return, 0 Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me." 3. In blasphemous language. " For the rage of their tongue." The princes were en- raged themselves, and gave vent to their anger against God and his providence to others. The tongue, that unruly member, uttered lies and blasphemy. The nearer destruction approached the more madly princes and politicians contradicted the prediction. " Their tongue is as an arrow shot out ; it speaketh deceit." Tims did Israel and thus do men treat the kindness of God. In evil thought, rebellious con- duct, and abusive language do they manifest ingratitude. Mark the fearful grada- tions of their sin. (a) Surrounded by mercies, they design mischief . (b) Invited to' return, they turn further away from God. (c) Then insults were added to ingratitude and rebellion, (d) Finally their language and conduct drew down God's anger upon them, and were the instruments of their own destruction. To render good for evil is God-like, but to render evil for good is devilish. What should we do with an undutiful, rebellious child nourished up in tender care 1 Could any virtue atone for this unnatural conduct ? Yet God complains. " I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me." Eewarding evil for good is con- demned by the heathen, hateful to God, and will bring destruction to the sinner himself and his house. " Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 15. Mischief. Sin is essentially Subject. Divine dispensations abused, mischief; mischievous in its designs /. God's dispensations with men are and consequences— to God and man. characterized by variety. II. That what- In one sense man can do no hurt to ever the character of the Divinedtspenaa- God, but so bold is he in his sins that tions they are often perverted. Observe— he tries, by robbing God of his glory and First, The force of the human will, abusing his gifts. " Man woidd dethrone Secondly, The depravity of the human God if he could " [Pusey]. heart [The Homilist]. 110 I10MILETIC COMMENTARY : HOSE A. [CHAP. VII. Ver. 1G. A deceitful bote. 1. Mis- directed in its aim. Looked more to selfish and sinful things than things of God. 2. Treacherous in its acting. "When hent, would suddenly start aside and recover its former position. Not to be depended upon. The bow of Jonathan " turned not back " (2 Sam. i. 22). 3. Unfit for zise. Israel boasted of the bow, and sang the song of the bow, and a deceitful bow is made a type of their own unstedfastness and degenerate condition. God can turn man's glory into shame, and cast them away as unlit for his purpose in the earth. " They were turned aside like a deceitful bow " (Ps. lxxviii. 57). Mali's shortcoming, in the matter of repentance and conversion to God, showeth from their want of straightness in not intending what they pretend to, which is also a great sin : therefore it is added they are like a deceitful bow, that is, as a bow which hath a throw in it does never direct the arrow to the mark, however it seem to aim at it ; so, how- ever they pretend true repentance, yet they do not intend it, but only to deceive and flatter God till they might get out of trouble [Hutcheson]. Return. True repentance consists — 1. In decided turning away from evil. Not half turning, nor halting short of God. 2. In decided turning to God. Positive devotion to God, so that he only is served and worshipped. It is not outward reformation, but inward renewal. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER VII Ver. 1. If we had eyes like those of God, we should think very differently of ourselves. The transgressions which we see and confess are but like the farmer's small sample which he brings to market, when he has left his granary full at home. "We have but a few sins which we can observe and detect, com- pared with those which are hidden from ourselves and unseen by our fellow- creatures \Spurgeori\. "Ver. 2. Habits. As impossible as it is for a blackamoor to cast away his skin and to become white, and for a leopard to put away his spots; so im- possible is it for them that ensnare themselves, and accustom themselves with evil doing, to change their custom and do well [Cawdry]. "Ver. 4 — 7. Fire. Some few years ago a noble steamer moored in one of the harbours of the United States was discovered to be on fire. The engines win' instantly started, and the prow of the vessel directed to the shore. But the flames soon rendered the helm use- less, and such of the crew as were on board were obliged to jump into the small boat, and leave the steamer to her fate. Soon the engines worked more fiercely ; the wheels revolved with fearful speed and hurried the vessel through the water. The sight was terrible. At last came one tremendous shock, and all was darkness and ruin. Such is man, when seized and heated by an evil, passion, whether the spirit of pride or of envy. He grows worse and worse, and is consumed in eternal ruin, unless God interpose. Ver. 5. Feasting. Times of festivity require a double guard. " Blasphemy is wit, and ribaldry eloquence, to a man that is turned into a brute " [Laivso7ij. Ver. 8. The World and The Church. Companions may be compared to the river Thames, which is a sweet and pretty river enough near its source ; but in the great metropolis it has kept com- pany with drains and sewers, under the belief that its current was too powerful and pure to be injured by them. It was meant that the river should purify the sewer, but, instead of that, the sewer has corrupted the river [Union Maga- zine]. \ er. 10. Pride is observed to defeat its own ends, by bringing the man who seeks esteem and reverence into con- tempt [Bolingbroke] . " Prido hath no other glass To show itself, but pride; for supple knees Peed arrogance, and are the proud man's fees." iShahspeare. Ver. 12. Retribution. As some eagle pierced with a shaft feathered from CITAP. VIII. J IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY : HOSE J. Ill its own wing, so many a sufferer, even in this present time, sees and cannot deny that it was his own sin that fledged the arrow of God's judgment, which has pierced him and brought him down [Trench], Ver. 13. Woe. The iniquity of a bad man will itself be his ruin. Those wicked devices by which he designed and expected to secure himself becoming the instruments of his destruction. The essence of all wickedness is forsaking God. Ver. 1 4. Cried. Many have been greatly afflicted and cried to God ; been humbled, yet not made humble; humbled by force in their outward condition, but not humbled in their inward temper. "But when the sickness has passed away, the sweetness of the forbidden fruit again comes to mind; and us the dog returneth to his vomit," — to the food which had caused his sickness, — " so a fool returneth to his folly" [Bridge], Ver. 15, 16. Ingratitude. At the battle of the Alma, in September, 1854, a wounded Russian was piteously caJli og for water. Captain Eddington, whose heart was kind and charitable, ran up to him, and stooping, gave him the much- desired beverage. The wounded man revived. The Captain ran forward to join his regiment, when the wretch who had just been restored by his kindness fired and shot him who had been his friend in time of need. So many seek to injure God by returning him evil for good [Biblical Treasury], CHAPTER VIII. Critical Notes. — 1.] Abruptness indicating sudden judgment. Eagle] Swift and alarming (Deut. xxviii. 49). He] Shalmanezer, king of Assyria. House] Not the temple, norland, but Israel viewed as the residence of God and one family (Num. xii. 7 ; Jer. xii. 7). 2. We] Heb. joins Israel with the last clause, " We know thee, we Israel,'' a plea of descent to move God to mercy ; but hypocrisy, the cry of fear and not love. Dead knowledge cannot deliver. 3. Cast off] implies dislike, the breaking of relative bonds. Good] (fob) may include God, the supremely good, and all tho blessings of salvation. Pursue] in retribution for rejecting God. 4. Kings] The self-authorized schism from the house of David. All their princes not from God. Many and violent were the usurpations and dethronements. Knew] Approved (Ps. i. 6; Matt. xxv. 12). Idols] and calf-worship a further sin. They] i- e. the gold and silver, as verse 6 \_KeW\. Lit. that he may be cut off. The whole people destroyed [Piisey]. Though forewarned, yet heedless (Jer. vii. 15; xliv. 8). 5. Cast off] disgusts. Israel had cast off God ; calf-worship would cast off them or be the means of God casting them off. How long] Lit. how long will they not be able innocency to endure (cf. Is. i. 14 ; Ps. ci. 5) ; they were incapable of purity before God (Jer. xix. 4). 6. For] The reason of displeasure. It also] The calf as well as the kings set up, made by Israel, not by God. It deserved not their homage, no creature can bo God ; idol worship therefore folly in the extreme. 7. Wind] an image of labour in vain, from which ruin springs as naturally as harvest from evil sowing; as the wind becomes a tempest (Prov. xxii. 8; Gal. vi. 7). Whirlwind] Intensive form, a mighty whirlwind. Three things first — no stalk, no yield, devoured by strangers. Israel's efforts in every direction were fruitless. 8. Swallowed] up as de- voured by beasts of prey. Vessel] worthless and dishonoured (2 Tim. ii. 20) ; and broken (Ps. xxxi. 12; Jer. xxii. 28; xlviii. 38). 9. Assy-] to gain friendship and alliance. Wild ass] A comparison which shows their folly, not as a paramour burning in lust, but heady, obstinate, and undisciplined; outstripping the swiftest horse in pursuit of lust, hunger, and thirst. " Whilst even a wild ass, that stupid animal, keeps by itself, to maintain its independence, Ephraim tries to form unnatural alliances with the nations of the world, that is to say, alliances that are quite incompatible with its vocation " [Keit], 10. Hired] by presents. Gather] them among the nations. Now] They shall not go as suppliants, but captives ; the nations will oppress and not help them (Ezek. xvi. 37). Sorrow] (not, as margin, begin). A little] The greater judgment, the deportation, suspended. Burden] Tribute imposed on Israel (2 Kings xv. 19, 20). 11. Many] Israel should only have one altar (Deut. xii. 3, 5). To sin] Altars made by them should be the source of their punishment; they shall go whero there is nothing but altars. 12. Written] Lit. I write. Israel could not plead ignorance; no excuse for men now, with the written word. Great] Deut. iv. 6, 8. Wondrous things (Ps. cxix. 18 ; cxlvii. 19, 20), a great many things, expressing the care and condescension of God and the compre- hensiveness of his word. All the greater is that guilt which regards these commands as strange, no concern of theirs, though specially for them. 13. Sacrifices] multiplied with the altars, Slain- 112 IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. [chap. vm. offerings were presented for gifts. Offerings which should be burnt for me they slay and devour. They profaned the sacrifice, and were concerned only about the flesh. Rem-] Sins for which sacrifices were thought to atone. To Eg-] A type of renewed bondage, like that from which they were delivered ; abandonment to abject condition (Deut. xxviii. 68). 14. Forgotten] Deut. xxxii. 18. Israel reared idol temples : Judah increased fortified cities; the sin of both, forgetfulness of God and deification of self as displayed in their buildings. God would destroy all these castles of security (Jer. xvii. 27 ; Amos ii. o). Nothing can protect in judgment but the refuge, the hiding-place which he has provided. HOMILETICS. A Corrupt Church. — Verse 1. Judgment is again threatened upon Israel for their sins. They were corrupt notwithstanding all profession to the contrary. They had forsaken God and cast off all good ; they had changed the civil government, and maintained the golden calf, and were bringing upon them destruction swift and sure. Taking the house of God as meaning the family of Israel, the professed people of God, we have a corrupt Church endangered and warned. I. The sins of a corrupt Church. " They have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law." 1. Tlte covenant was broken. In condescension God made a covenant with them, to which they consented, and for the keeping of which he promised them rewards. They transgressed not the mere command, but their own original contract; revolted from their allegiance ; and in effect declared that they would no longer be God's chosen people. They acted foolishly and deceitfully. 2. The law was transgressed. Divine authority was disregarded. Their sins were malignant and defied the bounds of law. All sin is lawless. When men break their own, God's laws cannot bind them. Those who have no respect for human stipulations will have no regard for Divine covenants. Israel were the professed children of God, yet how grievously they sinned. " God help me, my own children have forsaken me," cried James II. He could bear the defection of a kingdom and the desertion of an army, but burst into tears and wept in agony at the disloyalty of his family. II. The danger of a corrupt Church. 1. Its sins are great. Tho sins of a people who profess much, the defections of a Church which belongs to God, are more aggravating than ordinary transgressions. Israel were guilty of apostasy from God and sins against their neighbour. The Church can have no pretence of ignorance, nothing to excuse or extenuate her sins. She has the covenant, the law, and the gospel. " Woe unto thee, Chorazin ; woe unto thee, Bethsaida," &c. 2. Its danger is imminent. " He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord." Their fair titles and exalted privileges will not keep off the stroke. Enemies are ever prepared to execute judgments. The eagles gather where the carcass is found. The destruction is — (a) near, (b) swift, (c) certain, and (d) violent. Swift as an eagle swooping on its prey does retribution come upon false professors and conven- tional churches (Deut. xxviii. 49 ; Is. v. 26). III. The warning of a corrupt Church. " Set the trumpet to thy mouth." So God bids Isaiah, " Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet." As the sound of a war-trumpet would startle a sleeping army, so God would have religious teachers to rouse a sleeping Church. They are "watchmen," and must warn of coming judgments. There must be no cowardly silence, when the house of God is imperilled by sin and destruction. Augustine prayed, "Lord, deliver me from other men's sins." David cried, " Deliver me from blood-guiltiness." Men are asleep, and the danger is nigh. The trumpet must neither be silent nor give any uncertain sound. " Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning ; if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head." Vain Eeligion. — Verse 2. Israel in the hour of need call upon God, plead their knowledge of him as the covenant people, and depend upon help for the sake of their relationship to him. ciiAi'. viii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : 1I0SEA. ll.j God denies this claim, and will reject all who honour him with their lips merely, when their hearts are far from him. Knowledge without practice is all in vain. God Avill not own those who only profess, who cry, " My God," and do not forsake iniquity. I. The religion of natural descent. " We Israel" the seed of Jacoh, who was called Israel. This was the hoast of the Jews. " We be Abraham's seed." Natural relationship and noble birth avail nothing before God. Yet men boast of their ancestry and pious parents, and trust God will regard them on that account. God has a peerage of his own. The grace of God can create children of Abraham from stones of the wilderness : the outcasts and the heathen. " "Whose son art thou " spiritually 1 The son of God, or the son of the Devil ] " He is a Jew which is one inwardly." II. The religion of formalism. " My God, we know thee." Knowledge is a necessity, and may be acquired by all. The know- ledge of God is within the reach of every one. There is no excuse for ignorance of God. But many profess and use the name of God who do not know him; ortho- dox in their creed, but sinful in their life. " They profess that they know God ; but in works they deny him." They cry, " Lord, Lord," in their devotions, but in their lives are sinful and iniquitous. The religion of many is mere profession and words; a matter of form and ceremony. "We as a nation say, "My God," boast of our morality and knowledge, build temples to God and swear by his altar ; but our conduct contradicts our profession. To know God's will and do it not involves greater punishment ; to possess great advantages and not to use them brings greater responsibility at the judgment-day. " Many," presumptuously boasting of their profession and work, " will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name 1 and in thy name cast out devils 1 and in thy name done many wonderful works 1 " III. The religion of merit. The spirit of the text is a spirit of pride and superior merit. We are Israel and we know thee, and have therefore a claim to thy mercy. God answers the plea in verse 3. Israel indeed ! then why cast off good, and sin against me ! You have no plea to urge and no merit to secure my favour. It was a plea of hypocrisy and fear. There is a fearful tendency in men to cling to good works, and hope to merit Divine mercy through religious duties. They mention benevolent deeds, devotional forms, and social morality, in hope of procuring God's favour. The Papist repeats his prayers, counts his beads, and makes his stated confessions, and feels that he is at peace with his Maker. The Protestant paces the round of religious duties in self-righteousness and pride, and soothes his soul with the hope of heaven. Merit we have none. _ The most holy and devout only do their duty. There are no works of supererogation. Sal- vation is of grace, not by works, lest any man should boast. Therefore, Jew, Though justice be thy plea, consider this, — That in the course of justice none of us Should see salvation : we do pray for mercy, And that same prayer doth teach us all to render The deeds of mercy. Forsaking Good and Pursuing Evil, the Surest Wat to Ruin.— Verses 3—5. These words declare the true position of Israel. They were only Israel in name, and not in reality. They had cast off God, and with him everything good. Tbi v set up their own kings and institutions, did not seek to please, and were therefore disowned of God. Like sinners now, they pursued ways, the ends of which were death, and were so infatuated in their folly, that they seemed to act with a view to be " cut off" and utterly rejected. „ I. The abandonment of good. " Israel hath cast off the tiling that is good. 1. God, the chief good, was cast off. He was forgotten in his law, resisted in his demands, and forsaken in his worship. A thing cast off indicates supreme contempt, 114 ROMILETIC COMMENTARY: ROSEA. [chap. vih. utter abhorrence. "We neither think of it nor care for it. This casting off of God — (a) Is most unreasonable,. It is to forget our highest interests and wound our own souls ; to offend our best friend, and involve ourselves in the greatest misery, (b) Is most ungrateful. "Is not God thy father that hath made thee1?" Should we, then, despise a father's love and reject our greatest benefactor? " Hear, 0 heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken. I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me." 2. All good was cast off. It is good to draw neas to God (Ps. Ixxiii. 28), and is best for us to do so, and therefore perilous to forsake God. It is our honour, peace, safety, and riches to love and worship him. Those who are far from him, those who reject him, cast off all that is good. They despise good in this world and in that which is to come. How sad the condition when men say, " Depart from us ; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? Who is the Lord, that we should obey his voice 1 " II. Evil pursued. Forsaking God opens up the way to the pursuit of evil. Spiritual good is the only safeguard of the soul. Cast off this, and you open the way for the ravages of sin. Israel had committed two evils. 1. They toere guilty of civil apostasy. In founding the kingdom by Jeroboam, and in suc- cessive rule, they had set up kings without Divine authority (1 Kings xi. 27 — 40). They rebelled against the royal house of David, encouraged successful conspiracies, and sought their own selfish ends. Men now in family affairs, national politics, and religious life, set up their own and consult not God's will. They do not acknowledge God in all their ways ; they act without his license and approval. As they begin, so they continue. They made and removed princes, as the Roman armies did em- perors of old. In the " vicissitudes of families " and nations we have the rise and the fall of the mighty ; the misfortunes of all who live and rule without God. Self- will will ever bring self-destruction. But God, whose power we cannot resist, and whose wisdom we should not dispute, will accomplish his own will in the affairs of men. 2. They were guilty of religious apostasy. " Of their silver and their gold have they made them idols." 1. This idolatry was encouraged by nobility. The kings and princes whom they set up patronized their customs and pleased their minds. They were ambitious in their aims, thought themselves absolute and free in their rule, and sought to gratify their own lusts. 2. This idolatry was supported by wealth. The gold and silver which God gave were devoted to the making of the calves or the support of their worship. One sinful change brings another. Civil rebellion must be upheld by ecclesiastical defection. Usurp the throne of men, and the next step is to set up idols on the throne of God. Withhold talents and wealth from God, or be niggardly in maintaining the true, and you will be lavish in up- holding a false religion and a selfish scheme. Men employ their wealth against God; are constantly setting up their own kings, casting off Jehovah, and ungrate- fully abusing the gifts of his providence and grace. III. Certain ruin results. The course men pursue will determine their fate. Fallen angels cast oft' allegiance to God, and were driven from him. Many devout men, once true worshippers of i rod, have fallen into sin and idolatry. The gods you make will govern your life, fashion your character, and determine your destiny. Forsake all good and cast off God, you imperil your soul. Such conduct is rubious and most destructive, attracts ( rod's vengeance, and brings down his wrath upon the sinner. If they forsake him he will turn his back upon them, and " woe unto them when I depart from them." " Woe " in trial and distress, " woe " in the hour of death, " woe " in the eternal world. " Woe unto the wicked, for it will be ill with them." 1. Tltis is the fulfil- in <■ id of God's word. God denounced a curse upon them if they forsook him (Deut. xxviii 15, 25). 2. Tins is the natural retribution of Divine providence. All the idols of men — wealth, ambition, and beauty — will fail them in the hour of need. They will be " cast off" by the gods in whom they trusted. " Thy calf, 0 Samaria, hath cast thee off." But " the Lord will not cast off his faithful people, neither will he forsake his inheritance." CHAP. VIII.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: I10SEA. Wo HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Yer. 2. Cry, My God. Men are ready enough to cry to God in affliction, when they forget him in health. Trouble drives the stoutest sinners and the most corrupt Church to prayer. " But religion, which is the best armour, is the worst cloak ; and will serve hypocrites as the disguise Ahab put on, and perished" [Trapp]. Ver. 3. Casting off God. First, the good God, who is good, original, univers- al, all-sufficient and satisfactory, pro- portionate and fitting to our soul. He both is good and doeth good (Ps. cxix. 68), and that both naturally, abundantly, freely, and constantly (Ps. lxxxvi. 5). Israel cast, or rather kicked him off, as the word signifieth. So do all gross hypocrites ; they are rank atheists, practical atheists, though professed Christians. Secondly, they reject Christ as a Sovereign, though content to have him a Saviour. They will not submit to the laws of his kingdom, nor receive him in all his offices and efficacies. Thirdly, hypocrites reject the good Spirit of God, the fruit whereof is all godli- ness, righteousness, and truth (Eph. v. 9). When God striveth with them, by yield- ing to Satan's suggestions they grieve that Spirit, by grieving resist him, and by resisting quench him, and by quench- ing him oppose him maliciously and do despite unto him, and so cast them- selves into the punishing hands of the living God (Heb. x. 29, 31). Lastly, they cast off the good word and true worship of God; those right judgments, true laws, good statutes and command- ments (Neli. ix. 1 3) ; they put the promises far from them, and judge them- selves unworthy of eternal life (Acts xiii. 46) ; they hate instruction, and cast God's words behind them (Ps. 1. 17). In a word, " he hath left off to be wise, and to do good ; he setteth himself in a way that is not good ; he abhorreth not evil " (Ps. xxxvi. 3, 4) [Trapp]. I. The thing cast off—" Good"— God, Christian worship, the Scripture. De- spising them, throwing them away as worthless, putting them out of sight as obnoxious. Many boasters of the law did this practically. In these days many cannot endure practical duty and respon- sibility, contemptuously treat and despise the law of God, as Moses indignantly dashed it on the ground. II. The spirit indicated. 1. Pride. 2. Contempt of Divine authority. 3. Indifference to Divine truth. 4. Atheism of heart. 5. Deadness of conscience and all moral feeling. III. What this leads to. Sooner or later it leads to (1) open trans- gression, and (2) outward rejection. If men cast away the thing that is good there is no wonder when evils pursue and overthrow them (Ps. cxl. 11; Prov. v. 14). When men once begin to turn their back on their own happiness and on the way of God, they will still grow moro averse from it, till they become to abominate and abhor it ; and this lills up the measure of their iniquity. God will not let sin thrive in their hands, but will send on judgments, and let them feel their loss in their strokes who would not see their prejudice in forsaking what was good [Hatcheson\ Ver. 4. Set up kings. Such were all their kings except Jehu and his house. During 253 years, for which the king- dom of Israel lasted, eighteen kings reigned over it out of ten different families, and no family came to a close, save by a violent death. The like self- will and independence closed the exist- ence of the Jewish people [Pusey]. In the government of nations and the choice of rulers, in family duties and in individual life, God should be consulted and pleased. For he can put down what we set up, and set up what we put down. Ver. 5. Cast thee off. Rejected by one's own God, disappointed in one's own choice ! If Samaria had been firm and faithful to the God of Israel it would have been of great service, a powerfid help in need; but the calf was a broken reed, a miserable comforter. So this will ever be the case. Beauty and fame may fade like flowers. Riches take unto themselves wings and fly away. 110 1IOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIOSEA. [cuap. virr. Idols mil be shivered to pieces, and the „ 0 Cromwell> Cromwell, men who trusted on them disappointed Had I but served my God with half the zeal for ever. All fail and nothing abides, I served my kin£, he would not in mine age save God, the only true and permanent Have left me naked t0 mine enemies." good. HOMILETICS. Idolatry; Its Origin, Effects, and Destiny. — Verses 5, 6. These words describe the cause and nature of Israel's sin, and justify God's anger against them. I. Idolatry in its origin. Idols are the device of man. " The workman made it." Man in bis natural and primeval condition had a knowledge of God sufficient for the condition in which he was placed. But sin alienated him from God and robbed him of fellowship with God. There is a natural tendency in man to embody in living forms (eidola) the image of God, to imagine and honour other gods. Dissatisfied with the law, and forgetful of the claims of the true God, ho has wandered in the conjectures of reason and the creations of fancy ; in the beasts of the field and the fish of the sea, in all the lights of heaven and in all the elements of nature, he beheld the movements of a false deity ; and associated vague notions of power and wisdom with the realities by which he is surrounded. Hence the creation of gods many and lords many. They are things made, the work of men's hands. "They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but theysee not; they • ■ars, but they hear not." They are not gods, but vanities, and have become a crime and a curse to heathendom. " They that make them are like unto them, so is every one that trusteth in them." But " from Israel was it also," who boasted of the knowledge and law of God. Israel knew her sin, and felt that calf-worship was not the worship of Jehovah. This rendered her inexcusable and aggravated her guilt. Now am< >ng people to whom the oracles of God are committed, even in the Christian ( Jhurch, we have idolatry. Men cut and carve gods of their own fancy. The wife of their bosom, the child of their loins, may be a god. An image of gold or of clay; — business, fame, and success, may be set up, take the place of God in our affections, and unduly absorb homage and attention due to God. " Little children, keep your- selves from idols." II. Idolatry in its effects. 1. It is dishonouring to human mil ure. Man assimilates himself to the moral character of the object which he wor- ships, becomes like the thing which he loves. He looks upon his God as the stand- ard of virtue ; abandons everything in life which offends ; and desires favour by conformity to the will and character of his deity. The history of idolatry confirms this truth. When men have bowed down to the brutes, they have lowered themselves in the depths of vice. The more they worshipped the more they resembled the objects of their worship. Medhurst says that in China the priests teach this doc- t tin.- of assimilation. "Think of Buddha and you will be transformed into Buddha. If men pray to Buddha and do not become Buddha, it is because the mouth prays, and not the mind." Our character and conduct can never rise higher than our aims, li' we follow earthly objects we become earthly and grovelling. The pleasure-seeker becomes lightand frivolous ; the mammon-worshipper sordid and mean. " .My people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit." 2. It is dis- pleasing to God. " Mine anger is kindled against them." God here speaks after the manner of men to remind us of his claims. As men who incensed will execute their displeasure, so Grod will punish idolatry. It forbids his worship and denies his existence. It is degrading to his creatures and calamitous to the universe. Its tem- poral consequences have been awful to its votaries. What then must be its eternal % " They that make a graven image are all of them vanity ; and their delectable things shall not profit ; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know ; that they may be ashamed." 3. It is a' hindrance to moral jjarity. "How long chap, viii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSi; I. 11 7 •will it be ere they attain to innocency 1" God is the fountain of all goodness, and his will the standard of all virtue. When God's will is rejected there is no rheek to moral pollutions, and no motives to moral purity. The knowledge of God is essential to holiness and progress ! inseparable from the welfare of men : ami necessary to extricate a fallen world from the evils of idolatry. (1) Purity of heart is necessary to purity of life. This is only gained by the love and worship of a pure object. A sinful object defiles physically and spiritually. God is opposed to sin, revealed as our example, renews the heart, and satisfies the conscience in Christ. "I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect." (2) Purity of tin; object worshipped must therefore have sufficient influence to beget holy lift'. Tin; mere representation of God, the presentation of a holy object would not touch the heart, change the opinions, and draw men from evil practices. A display of power and persuasion alone can overcome evil habits, wean men's affections from idols, and fix them on God. God has interposed by his Son and his Spirit, and sinners are converted from the error of their ways. We have one true and living God made known to us as the object of supreme love and regard. " Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." III. Idolatry in its destination. " The calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces." In origin it is a thing of nought, the work of men's hands and ingenuity. In its end it shall be nought. Idolatry is a nullity, and is doomed to destruction by its inherent weakness and God's pur- pose. 1. Idolatry is doomed to destruction by its own weakness. With all its splen- did rites and forms, its ancient priesthood and prevalence, it is coining to nought. It cannot satisfy the heart and the conscience. The heathens are closing their temples and pagodas, breaking their gods and forsaking their worship. Inserted by devotees, and their altars bereft of gifts and offerings, idols shall pine away and idol-worship perish by mere inanition. Idolatry in the old Roman Empire was thus destroyed, and this will be the process everywhere. Its seat is in the soul, and out- ward force cannot overturn it. But the gods of the heathen will be starved /<* death, by the failure of their revenue and offerings. " The Lord will be terrible unto them : for he will famish all the gods of the earth ; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen." 2. Idolatry is doomed to destruction by the power of the gospel. God has purposed to send the gospel to all the nations of the earth. "As I live, saith the Lord, all the earth shall be filled with my glory." Nothing can frustrate this design nor rob the nations of this glory. What a conception ! What is there in patriotism, philo- sophy, or philanthropy, to equal it 1 The mighty scheme, as a mere system of Bocial government and social culture, stands forth in peerless grandeur. But how blessed that day when " a man shall cast his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats : to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake, terribly the earth." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 5. "How long." The hardness as could not abide it : they were inye- of heart and the stubborn holding out terate and incurable, their diseases in- of the sinner a matter of astonishment grained, and not easily stirred by any even to God. Continuance in sin and potion. Secondly, that God is most aggravation of guilt only make the case patient, who though he thinks overlong worse. God's patience will end, and of the time that men continue in sin, God's anger will be the hotter. By this and therefore cries, How long 1 &c, powerful expression three things are yet bears with their evil manners and intimated. First, that these Israelites inviteth them to better. Thirdly, that were refractory and desperate ; not only he will at length break oil' his patience unclean, but enemies to innocency, such and proceed to punishment, since there 118 IIOMILETIC COMMEXT.t/i}': HOSE J. [chap. vin. is no other remedy (2 Chron. xxxiv. 16 ; Prow xxix. 1) [Trapp], Tlie attainment of innoceney. I. The thing to he attained — " Innoceney." Man was originally innocent in body and sold, created in the imago of God. But this holiness he lost through sin and can never perfectly, only comparatively at- tain it in this world. Sinless perfection is a delusion (1 Jn. i. 8). II. The method of attaining it. " How shall man be just with God 1 " Our guilt is removed in Christ, our natures renewed by grace, and the Holy Spirit imparts Divine enlightenment and transforms into the Divine nature. Believers in Christ are justified before God. Their faith works by love, and overcomes sin and the world. All men may secure this privilege. III. The reason why men do not attain it. 1. Some despise and do not feel their need of it. 2. Others despond in seeking it. God is able and willing to save. Examples of men most degraded and abandoned en- couraged. " How long," then, before you accept the proffered mercy and find peace with God ! Ver. 6. Not God. Such is the be- witching nature of idolatry, though men pretend that they worship God in the image, and the deceitfulness of tho human heart ; that they are gradually led to deify their idol. God therefore proves that it is not God (Ex. xxxii. 4, 5 ; 1 Kings xii. 28). Whatever estimation men have of images, or whatever excellency or Divinity they conceive in or represented by them, yet it is sufficient to refute them, that themselves, who are but vain and empty things, gave all the excellency they have ; for the workman made it [IJutcheso?i\. The workman was rather a god to his idol, than it to him ; for he made it ; it was a thing made. To say that it was made, was to deny that it was God. Hence the prophets so often urge this special proof of the vanity of idols. No creature can be God. Nor can there be anything between God and a creature ; and that which is not a creature is God. God himself could not make a creature who should be God [Pusey]. Broken in pieces. Deifying any crea- ture makes way for the destruction of it. If they had made vessels and ornaments for themselves of their silver and gold, they might have remained ; but if they make gods of them, they shall be broken to pieces [Mt. Henry]. HOMILET1CS. A Picture of Ungodly Life. — Verses 7, 8. Israel is still threatened. Their continual labour is all in vain. They reap no reward, will be grievously disappointed, and not only the harvest, but they themselves will be devoured. Such will be the result of their ungodly conduct. I. Laborious in its efforts. " For they sow the wind." 1. Effort is put forth by all men. They live and labour for good — seek to gain happiness and have a seed-time in life. 2. Painful are the efforts of the ungodly. They "plough iniquity," and practice it day by day. " They sow the wind," most earnestly and persever- ingly, in hope of profit. Sinners are sore labourers. They put themselves to trouble and expense to make and worship their idols, to pursue their aims, but all in vain. They are labouring for the wind (Ecc. v. 16) ; "emb acing a shadow ; grasping tho air; wearying themselves for that which hath no substance nor true felicity in it." II. Disappointment in its results. " It hath no stalk : the bud shall yield no meal," &c. First no ear, or if an ear, no yield, or if it advance thus far, the enemy will devour the produce. 1. Vanity is reaped. He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity (Prov. xxii. 8). There is a harvest in sin, and men reap what they sow (Gal. vi. 7, 8). Vanity, emptiness, and vexation result from sin. Satan is a hard task-master. His service is slavery and the wages miserable. " Where- fore do ye spend money for that which is not bread ] and your labour for that which Batisfieth not]" 2. Divine retribution is reaped. "They shall reap the whirlwind." The wind sown and penned up in ungodly life, will be reinforced in CHAP. VIII.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIOSEA. 110 strength and burst forth into a mighty tempest. Men sow and cultivate what at last will make them the sport and mockery of its resistless violence. They will be carried away with their own folly like chaff before the wind. The whirlwind will overthrow their dwellings, wreck their hopes, and drive them away in their wickedness. Sennacherib in olden time reaped the whirlwind (Is. x. 5 — 12, 24, 25 ; xxx. 31). Napoleon, robbed of empire, shorn of greatness, and driven into exile, reaped the harvest of his own sowing. Spain with its Inquisition, and France with its Black Bartholomew, countries remarkable for persecution, reaped the whirl- wind in bloody revolutions and civil wars. The ungodly are consumed by Divine judgments in this life and by Divine wrath in that which is to come. " They that plow iniquity and sow wickedness, reap the same. By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed." III. Destructive in its end. "Israel is swallowed up." Not mere disappointment, but destruction will be the result of sin. Israel were carried away, the whole nation were swallowed up by foes. They lost their privileges and honour. Their land was devoured and eaten up by strangers. They were dishonoured by God, and despised by men as a broken vessel. Sin and idolatry in gross or refined forms will bring misery and degra- dation. They undermine the foundations of moral life, beget more place for vanity and more thirst for pleasure. Those who do not love and serve God will be given up by God. There will come, though long delayed, a terrible day of wrath, a harvest of whirlwinds to consume their glory and destroy their hopes. " Be not deceived : God is not mocked : for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 7. " They have soion." 1. Human life a sowing time. " Behold a sower went forth to sow." The relation of men one to another like that of seed and soil. Men are sowing by thoughts, words, and deeds. In each a permanent influence, a germ of imperishable hfe. 2. The kind of hfe — moral seed. Some sow good seed, others worthless seed. The pleasure-seeker and the man of the world, the hypocrite and the false pro- fessor, are sowing " the wind." 3. The accompaniments of life — the harvest. The harvest is good or bad, the same in measure and quality as the sowing. Men reap to-day what they had sown yesterday, will reap in eternity what they sow in time. God's laws are un- changeable and will never be reversed. l( For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption ; but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting." Not only may men expect to reap as they sow, but sinful and vain courses will bring further disadvantages, and raise violent tempests, either in the undertaker's conscience, or outward con- dition, or both \ for " they have soion the toind, and shall reap the whirlwind" [Hutchesori]. Ver. 8. Sinful courses persisted in may consume the Church, deprive of re- ligious ordinances, and gratify the wishes of the enemy, who greedily devour God's people (Ps. xiv. 4). When professors decline in religion and despise God, then God will despise them before others. So long as Israel was consecrated to the Lord those who sought to injure her were injured them- selves (Jer. ii. 3) ; but when they made leagues with idolaters they were swallowed up by them. " For them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." Dishonoured vessels. 1. A uades» vessel. Empty of everything good, filled with everything bad, and taking the place of vessels more useful and worthy. 2. A broken vessel. Broken in credit and reputations, broken to pieces in hopes and fortunes ; broken by their own conduct and by the judg- ments of God upon that conduct. 3. A vessel put to some vile purpose. Israel given to idolatry. Men dishonouring 120 EOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIOSE.L [CHAP. vm. body and soul by sin, making them of them ; despised and mingled among objects of loathing and disgust before them, yet not united with them ; having others. " There are not only vessels of an existence, yet among that large whole, gold and silver, but also of wood and of the nations, in whom their natural exist- earth : and some to honour, and some ence has been at once preserved and to dishonour" (2 Tim. ii. 20). All lost; everywhere had in dishonour; men are vessels of mercy, or vessels of the Heathen and the Mohammedan wrath fitted to destruction (Koni. ix. have alike despised, outraged, insulted 22). them; avenging upon them, uncon- Such has been the history of the ten sciously, the dishonour which they did tribes ever since ; swallowed up, not de- to God \_Pusey], stroyed ; among the nations, yet not HOMILETIGS. The Folly of Worldly Alliance. — Verses 9, 10. A fourth sin is laid to the charge of Israel in seeking aid from Assyrians. This sin is reproved by two similitudes — a wild ass loving its freedom, and a harlot suing for paramours. It is folly to seek help in civil defection and religious apostasy. I. The alliance is unnatural. 1. It is against the habits of nature. The wild ass, taken in its love for solitude, or its headstrong perversity in pursuing its lust, reproves this conduct. Israel was a holy people, separated from others for a special purpose, and intended to be the people of God. " Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations." God's people should never mix up with worldly men. Their name and their nature should separate them from sin. They stand upon a moral elevation ; to trust to worldly alliance and hire foreign aid is to sacrifice their principles and degrade their nature ; to acknowledge the superiority of the world, and sink themselves below their true position. The sympathies and aspirations of the new man are with God and not the world. " If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 2. It reserves the customs of men. " Ephraim hath hired lovers." The ordinary way is for lovers to hire her (Ezek. xvi. 33, 34). When Churches are deserted, and professors are for- saken by God, they often go further wrong than others, more bent on Avickedness than ordinary transgressors. What folly to purchase the aid of an enemy ! what value is that affection which can only be enlisted by gold and hire 1 The world should be taught to admire the Church as a wise and understanding people ; but when they despise their own dignity, they pay dearly for the alliance of "the nations." "The contrary is in thee from other women, in thy whoredoms, whereas more followeth thee to commit whoredoms ; and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary." II. The alliance is unfaithful. As a man should cleave to his wife, so Israel should cling to God. But how loathing and immodest to forsake God, to whom we are bound by marriage covenant, and tempt and hire other lovers ! Such was the baseness of Judah, and such the unfaithfulness of many now. When God likens the idolatry of his ancient people to adultery and harlotry, the Christian Church of the present age should take the warning and remain faithful to God. III. The alliance is destructive. " Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them." The sin of Israel brought its own punishment. They sought to secure themselves by hired kings, sent presents to them and made leagues with them against Cod's will : but their policy deceived them. God would gather those very nations, not to help, but to destroy Israel. When nations rely on hired levies, and Churches have recourse to .ungodly powers, to save from anticipated judgments, God in just retribution makes these very powers the instruments of CHAP. VIII.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. 121 his purpose. Providing for their own glory and safety makes them easier prey to their enemies. There is no security hut in God himself. " I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated ; I will even gather them round about against thee." HOMILETIO HINTS AND OUTLINES. Yer. 9. A wild ass typical of the sinner. 1. In its disregard for its owner. " Neither regardeth he the cry- ing of the driver " (Job xxxix. 8). 2. In its obstinate course. It is most un- ruly and stubborn, intense in its thirst and swift in its pursuit. Self-will, frowardness, and intractableness the com- plaints against Israel. Men now throw off God's yoke, seek to be free and un- controlled, to pursue their folly without restraint. " The heart of man is fully set in them to do evil." 3. In its constant danger. " The wild ass is the lion's prey in the wilderness" (Eccles. xiii. 19). Men who rush from God are exposed to danger from themselves and others in time and in eternity. Apart from grace, man after his hard and impenitent heart treasures up wrath against the day of wrath " (Eom. ii. 5). Ver. 10. Sin and sorrow. "Now will I gather them," &c. 1. The be- ginning of sin is the beginning of sorrow. Men do not believe this. It may be contrary to their experience and observ- ation, but the fact is declared in God's word, and written in our moral nature and constitution. Now " they shall sorrow a little." 2. The end of sin will be the greatest sorrow. Israel sorrowed "a little" under the bondage and heavy taxes of Assyria, but their future punishment was the greater calamity. Now sorrow is a little, a drop before the storm, hereafter it will be a tempest. God suspends the greatest judgments to prove his compassion for men, give time for repentance, and op] » ir- tunity to return to him. Here only we have " the beginning of sorrows ; " what then will be the end " of them that obey not the gospel of God 1 " HOMILETICS. Aggravated Guilt. — Verses 11 — 13. " The prophet had first shown them their folly in forsaking God for the help of man ; now he shows them the folly of attempting to secure themselves by their great show, pretences of religion, and devotion in a false way. God had appointed one altar at Jerusalem. There he willed the sacrifice to be offered, which he would accept. To multiply altars, much more to set up altars against the one altar, was to multiply sin. Hosea charges Israel elsewhere with this multiplying of altars as a grievous sin (x. 1 ; xii. 11)." I. In multiplying altars. " Ephraim hath made many altars." Opposing the commandment of God (Deut. xii. 5), strengthening the habit of sin (1 Kings xn. 30), repeating their own folly, and increasing their own punishment. " Altars shall be unto him to sin." II. In despising the law. God had given the law, written and expounded it by Moses and the prophets, and continually renewed the knowledge of it, so that they had no excuse for their sin. God has written tho law for us by his providence and gospel. His agency is ever fulfilling it ; yet men deny it, count it a strange thing, a word with which they have nothing to do. The excuses which men make for rejecting it are not pleas, but sins id the sight of God. III. In offering lifeless sacrifices. " They sacrifice flesh for the sacri- fices of mine offerings." 1. It teas mere external worship. It was mwee flesh, not a true sacrifice. External worship without internal ceremony, withodi sanctity, is like a dead carcase, not a living sacrifice. The Lord accepts it not. 2. It was mere selfish worship,—" and eat it." Sacrifices which should have been burnt 186 HUMILETIC COMMENTARY: ROSEA. [chap. ix. it- It' was to refuse to conceive them." Cf. the threefold stages of failure (ch. via. 7). 12. Bereavel than, though they should rear children (Job. xxvii. 14). A man] Lit. from man. Woe] j.i, (or woe. G of ill erfl (1 Bam. iv. 21; xwiii. 15, 16). Loss of children G d beyond description. 13. Planted] Ephraim chosen, and carefully put in soil .1 nourish, 1: rral oity strongly buflt and pleasantly situated. The image sug- gated from I i fruitful tree (Esek. xwi. 27, 28). Children] brought forth only to he slain. 11 (Hi erwhelmed, the prophet deliberates; prays in compassion, lei this never happen ; then li ives it with God. Miscarrying] Barrenness, usually counted misfortune (Job iii. 3; Jer.xx. it will be their calamity. 15. Gilgall where they rejected God and - in. viii. 7 : of. 1 Sam. \i. 11. L5). " Hated] Punished their sin (Mai. i. 3). 16. Smitten) Under the in • n peats the sentence of God. Smitten from above, by blasting und mildew Am. it. 9). Boot] withered, and fruit impossible. Though] Before they are entirely flay t!r beloved (lit the desires) fruit of their bodies. 17. My God' not thi ir'-; supporting inv authority and directing my course. Will cast] Lit. despises them, and banish i them among the nations (Deut xxviii. 65), a' monument of his auger anda warning to ull people (Bom. xL 20, 21), IIOMILETICS. 'I'm: Sinm:i;'s Life a Joyless Life. — Verses 1 — 4. Israel is forbidden to rejoice like other nations. They had forsaken God, and Binned wilfully against light and warning. Their prosperity was attributed to Avr<>i Thejudgment of God was threatened against them. Other people might enjoy the results of their labours, hut they would be deprived of the fruits of it 1 1 and the services oi religion. Thus God breaks into the mirth and festivity of the sinner. There is no cause of joy in his present condition or future prospects. I. His present condition affords no joy. "Rejoice not, 0 Israel, for joy." All men seek to be happy. The wicked even have a kind of joy, a superficial, lived pleasure. But true joy is the good man's portion. "I have enjoyed almost a fearful amount of happiness," exclaimed Dr. Arnold in reviewing the 1. The sinner forsakes Ghd, the fountain of joy. " Thou hast gone a whoring from thy God." All true joy springs from him, and is enjoyed only in him, in living for him. What joy bo pure as " the joy of the Lord"1? Carnal joy is a Bash, which leaves the mind in deeper darkness and greater misery. Joy in G"d is like the light of the sun, healthy and lasting. It may be overclouded with mists and .stains, but breaks out in greater splendour and sweetness. In • only "is fulness of joy" (Ps. xvi. 11); pleasures which fy ; enough to fill every soul with "joy unspeakable and full of glory." Joy is forbidden, withheld from the wiekod. The sense of sin robs them of peace (Is. xlviii. 22) j their].: security nor advantage to them. Living in distance from God and at enmity with him, gloomy feelings damp their joy and act as an alloy to their comforts, " In the b ion of an evil man there is a righteous doth sing and rejoice." 2. The sinner fails in Ms efforts ■ ire joy, " The floor and the winefat shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her." Israel doted on prosperity which could to it sustain them. The the earth would Tail, and all their efforts would end in bitter disappoint- ment. The sinner turns away from < tod, and becomes restless and dissatislied. lie to hire himself to sin and degradation, lie tries first one thing and then another, but all plans and policies utterly "fail them." Men have recourse to every mean shift, submil to the Lowest drudgery, and sutler the greatest hardship in pur- suit of -in. Like the prodigal, they become wanderers, spendthrifts, and slaves. Jlut the solemn pan They are arrested, alarmed, and astonished. Their pleas e them, and hopes vanish like vain shadows. God curses the bless- i md frustrates the efforts of the sinner. "Doomed to disappointment as !," many continually exclaim. "The wicked man travelleth with pain all his days." II. His future prospects afford no joy. Israel was to be deprived chap, ix.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY; UOSEA. U7 of inheritance, carried into bondage, robbed of sacrifices and public service. All their religious efforts would be rejected and turned into defilement and mourn- ing. It was a sad prospect to be driven from the house of God and a land of plenty! What brighter future has the sinner before him as long as he remains from God] 1. The sinner's ft// arc will be one of bondage. " Ephraim shall return to Egypt." They knew how hardly Egypt had dealt with their fat I and how treacherously with them. They had been warned not to go, bul determined to go. Against their own will God would send them into banishment and distress. The sinner will beheld in bondage by lusts which he indul driven by former habits into greater misery ; and find what he thought a p] refuge to be a place of exile. Captivity and exile were additions to the scarcity of home. Future miseries will succeed present distress to the unbeliever. Be canni it expect freedom and joy in the service of sin and Satan. The prospect will be no better than the retrospect, and the future worse than the present. " I know that it shall be well unto them that fear God, which fear before him. But it shall not be well with the wicked" (Ecc. viii. 12, 13). 2. The sinner' 8 future "-ill l„ one of bitterness and sorrow. It was hard when Israel had to " eat unclean things,'1 things forbidden by their law, when they were forced to eat or starve, when their bread was polluted and their sacrifices " as the bread of mourners." Sin brings bitterness now and hereafter, (a) Bitterness in the spirit of the sinner, {b) Bitterness in his /or> lorn condition. From affluence and privileges he comes to poverty and want. His experience and his prospects are bitter, bitterness and sorrow past, present, and future. " Let us live on the past," exclaimed Napoleon, but the retrospect was a course of selfish aggrandizement. La thoughts of the future he sickened and pined for death. "I am no longer the Great Napoleon. How fallen I am !" " Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee ; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart." 3. The sinner's future isill be ont of exclusion from God's inheritance. " They shall not dwell in the Lord's land." God had chosen Canaan to be the residence of his glory and the possession of his j lei iple. But as sin drove man from Paradise, so idolatry drove the Jews out of Canaan. They were disinherited, deprived of God's favour and protection. This is a warn- ing to all who live in the bosom of the Church and under the sound of the gospeL Many professors forfeit present enjoyment and sin away precious \ >ri vU> Sinners cannot enter the kingdom of God on earth, and will be excluded from heaven at last. We cannot dwell with God unless we are subject to his authority and obedient to his will. " If thine heart turn away so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away and worship other gods, and serve them; I deno unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it." HOMILETIG HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 1. Israel ever wished to joy as abused their plenty and ascribed it to other nations. When they cried for a their idols ; therefore shall they be out king, they forsook God and sought to short either in their store, as Hag. iii. exult in their own ways. But the greater 6, 10; ii. 16, or in their strength, as the privileges, the greater the guilt in Hos. iv. 10 ; viii. 7. Oneway or other despising them. Other nations were their hopes shall be frustrated, tin idolaters, but Israel's sin was " whoring ture shall lie to them and not answer from thy God." their expectation [Trapp]. There is always a snare in the ways Shall fail. Lit. ".shall lie to her. of sin, always a song in the service of Israel had lied to God (Hos. vii. 13). God [Bridge]. So the fruits of the earth would disap- Yer. 2. Not feed them. Punishment point and requite her. Men n ap as they attendeth sin at the heels. They had sow. The punishment as the crime. 128 lloMIl.ETIC COMMEST.IEY : HOSE A. [CHAP. IX. " When tli-- hi. •—in.'-; of God have been abused by sin he in mercy takes them away. Be i uts them offJ in order to anon thai he alone, who now withheld them, had before given tin-in. Winn they thought themselves most Becnre, when tic i i "ii tin1 floor, and t: in tin- press, then God would deprive them of them." Jn; // in the /'ii/>/. 1. Thf Assyrian captivity was a mark of i .:••. the 1".-- of liberty ami a enemy. Men are only free through God, and only remain ; v Berve him. By apostasy nations lose their independent existence and individuals their freedom ami enjoyment 2. This captivity a l's former condition l's people. They ignored the law, and God abandons them. Tiny are Mno1 myj pie." ■">. This captivity was the loss of their possession. No -i •euro to those who for- 1 Sod I. With tin- [OSS of tile land there is peculiar distress, the loss of Bacrifice, ami tin- aanctincation of life connected with it. Thus men arc exiled in lands of impurity, tall into bon ami deprived of the means of Berving 1 That which they are now able to : wish to do, is n.it acceptable to 1 ami will occasion hitt.r Borrow. Is of "in- punishmenl are sown They shall '"/ unclean things. Learn — 1. Sin brings want. Like the prodigal, they were necessitated to eat nnclean things, the husks of swine, because they had nothing else. 2. Sin brings disgrace. Perhaps the Assyrians despised them, forced them to eat meats forbidden by the law, in scorn to their religion and the profession of it. Those who willingly slight the word will'never be honoured to hear witness to it, or if tested for its principles, will renounce their profession of it. A French Pro- testant Bishop in the sixteenth century, regarded as a pillar of the Reformation, recanted and brought disgrace upon him- self and others. His apostasy staggered many ( 'hristians, and was a misfortune to his country. When we forsake God we an- ht't to the mercy of the ungodly. 3. Sin leads to conformity to tin' world. 1 i i. 1 voluntarily might conform to heathen customs, as they were not humbled by any affliction. Driven from the land, deprived of their own ritual, they adopted the religion of Assyria, and God left them, gave them up to their own course. They would then appear outwardly what they were inwardly. Men who have only outward profession will soon cast oil' that when tempted or thrown into the world. " lie not con- forme. 1 to this world : but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind," &c. Ih'MlLETICS. Tin: SOLHMH J>.\v.s of Life. — Verse 5. 1 • el had sinned away their privileges, and deprived themselves of sacrifices and What would they do " in the solemn day " when it was impossible to re- joice before the Lord (Num. x. 10) I In captivity they would not be able to cele- ik The temple would he in ruins, and they would be exiled into " The more solemn the day, the more total man's exclusion, the I" main!. I God's withdrawal." There are solemn days in our life which we I [ow shall we meet them I I. The day of affliction is a solemn day. " Man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward." Suffering is the law of our being, and co-extensive with our m born to live we are horn to trouble, and our days are ..I trouble." No wealth can purchase, no power effect, deliverance from the common h-t. I; of fortune, poverty and want, disquietude and fear, prey upon the mind. Inward consumption ami outward accidents lav men on beds of I : amusement, nor enjoy company of pleasure'; nul out from < Ihristian fellowship, ami deprived of all the meansof grace; u - the hud of languishing" and sorrow. When the world deserts them, chap. IX.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY ': HOSE 'A. 129 and remembrance of the past distresses them, what will they '1" 1 When a < 'In i-t iaa is sick God gives ease and health to his soul. "Thou wilt make all his bed in sickness." But " in the day of adversity " what will the sinner do ? II. The day of death is a solemn day. " What man is he that liveth, ami shall not Bee death 1 shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave1?" Neither by wisdom nor strength can we avoid the common doom. Death spares no rank not condition, calls with impartial step at the cottage of the poor and the palace of the prince, " There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit ; neither bath he power in the day of death ; and there is no discharge in that war." Charles V. was advised to retire from danger at the battle of Tunis, hut refused, ami that an emperor was never slain with great shot. William Rufus declared that kings were never drowned. But the hero of athousand fights can claim no exemp- tion here. What a solemn day is this day! What will you do when the physician's skill is of no availl when millions of money would not buy an inch of time ! when there is no help from earth or heaven1? The wicked may strengthen himself in wickedness, but he can neither outwit nor overcome his enemy. His "covenant with death and with hell shall be disannulled." "The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death." III. The day of judgment will be a solemn day. " It is appointed unto nun once to die, but after this the judgment." "We must all appear before the judgment- seat of Christ." That will be the most solemn day, when the eternal destinies at men are fixed by the Great Judge. Every work, great and small, public and private ; every secret thing, good or bad, the hidden thoughts of the heart and the forgotten sins of youth; " every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account th< re- of in the day of judgment." Simeon, a holy bishop, was saluted on his way to martyrdom by Urthazanes, a Persian courtier, and an apostate. But the courtier was frowned upon by the bishop, and cried, "How shall I appear before the great God of heaven, whom I have denied, when Simeon, but a man, will not endure to look upon me 1 If he frown, how will God behold me when I come be- fore his tribunal ] " This led to his reclamation. How will you appear before the Judge ] What will you do in that solemn day ? Will you call to the rocks and to the mountains to fall upon you and hide you ? Make your peace with God, and pre- pare to meet him, " that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." ** At his call the dead awaken, Rise to life from earth and sea ; All the powers of Nature, shaken By his looks, prepare to flee : Careless sinner, What will then become of thee ! " A Sad Picture. — Verses 6, 7. Israel fled to Egypt because of the destruction of their own land hoping to find help in time of need. But they were disappointed In Egypt they found thea graves (Ex. xiv. 11) ; they were gathered and buried together (Jer. VUL Z^JoD xxvii 15). Their tents were overrun with nettles, their treasures of sihe wen m ruins,' and the land desolate and without inhabitants. A sad picture of the coi qT£££k refuge turned into destruction. - Memph* shall *£*«£ Men run away from one trouble only to get into another Wealthy ">' ' ; . L world are tried and fail. Places of refuge prove places of death I . «• and gathered only to be buried. Those who flee from God exp, feu • . « ' certain to meet their death. They flee from the smoke only to h 11 , ' ■ They seek good and find evil. Calamity sooner or later o ■-■. fa « » . and impenitent from which they cannot escape. They choose death an linmiETIC COMMENT ART; JIOSEA. [chap. ix. their choice. "Theeyesof the«wicked Bhall fail and they shall not escape, and their hope the giving up of theghosl " (Job xi. 20). II. Fruitful land turned into desolation. 1. Silver, once treasured, had gone. 2. Kettles and thorns grew amid their habitations. •'*. The land wis BwepJ of its inhabitants. What a scene olation ami Badness] Sin has cursed the ground on which we tread, and drained many a nation of its prosperity. The cities of the plain were destroyed ■ the garden of the Lord" turned into barrenness (Gen. xiii. 10). "Where is ,iv ■•! Greece, once si. famous for arts and sciences? "What will become of it, glorious, ami free,*1 if she forsakes God, her defence? God can empty out si ires, demolish our temples, ami diminish our people. Let us take warning. " Be turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the water-springs into dry ground ; a fruitful land into harrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell .n." HOMILETICS. Days of Visitation. — Verses 7 — 9. 1 lei's sin is one, hut the tpndencies and the manifestations are many. God had shown them what little cause for joy they had, warned them of the coming . and now, list they should slight the warning, declares that retribution is •• Tin .lays of visitation are come." I. Days of retribution for guilt. "The days of recompence are come." lien deny such days, and Beek to delay them, hut they come. They come to re- compense, to reward men for their ways, and ti.v their doom. "For the Lord God ), and Christ himself were called mad. CHAP. IX.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: EOSBJ, 131 For ages the early Christian teachers were considered under the influent phrenzy or madness. True prophets have never been underst 1; often called fools and fanatics by those who pretend to higher revelations ami superior wisdom. False teachers commend themselves, glory in appearance, and condemn others. Real prophets proclaim their message, are " beside " themselves to God and " ober" to men. They are contradicted in words and blackened in character ; but I tod and time defend their cause. The flatterer will be unmasked, the conl rasl bi I wi • □ the false prophet and the true "watchman" shall be manifest, and it shall be Been that one walked "with God" and the other was "a snare" to the people " in all his ways." " Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit and I nothing." 2. Character in private individuals is discriminated. Christians have often to bear reproach and maintain a dignified silence ; but clays of God's \ imita- tion, times of persecution, defend their character, and rank them in their position, The wicked tremble and fear, the false professor forsakes God, but the righteous suffer and are glorified. Days of retribution sift character and conduct. Men are forced to confess that the wicked have not the best of it — that there is a God to recompense truth and justice, and reverse the judgments of men. " Then shall ye return (to a better state of mind), and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth hini not." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 7. If we apply the words to religious teachers — 1. It is an unrea- sonable charge. Wise men have grounds for their judgment ; but it is most un- just to condemn without a cause. These men are servants of God, pure in their life and noble in their aim. 2. It is a common charge. In every age when selfishness reigns supreme and scepticism abounds, men of deep convictions and unwearied zeal for God have been re- garded as fanatics and madmen. But what appears insanity to some are "words of truth and soberness" to others. 3. It is a dangerous charge. Those who deal plentifully in terms of folly may have them flung upon them- selves. Events may reverse the judg- ments of men, and those who call others fools may prove to be the greatest fools themselves. " Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged. : and with what measure ye mete," &c. The great hatred. 1. Against God. The carnal mind at hostility with God. The question at issue, the casus belli, who shall govern — God or the sinner? Many think they can adore and love God as Creator and Benefactor, while they rebel against him as Lawgiver. Many may love Cromwell, the Queen, or any ruler, for piety and courage, yet condemn the government as harsh and despotic. God's moral government ad- mits not of this distinction. His nature and office, his person and his throne, are inseparable. No neutrality in human affection and conduct. Either at peace or at war with God. 2. Against God's Law. The law demands supreme and universal obedience — not only taki nizance of external actions, but touches the inward springs of all action, weighs the motives and thoughts concealed in the heart. Its rigour never relaxes, its demands never cease. Hence the en- mity and resistance. 3. Against (iod's servants. Ahab said of Michaiah, "I hate him" (1 Kings xxii. 8). They hated so intensely (ver. 8) that their whole soul was turned into hatred : they were hatred, as we say, personified ; hatred was embodied in them, and thi y ensouled with hate. They were also the source of hatred against Cod and man. And this, each false prophet was in the house of his God I for God was still bis God, although not owned by him. God is the sinner's God to avenge, if be will not allow him to be bis God to convert and pardon [Pusey]. Ver. 8. Watchmen and fowlers. 1. Watchmen walking with God, warning of danger, and urging the people to duty. 2. Watchmen neglecting then- duty, and ,.-._. WOWLETIC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. [chap. ix. sleeping al their port S. Watchmen ment 4. DayB which epitomize Israel's turned into fowlers, predicting peace, history in guilt and judgment (Kom. i. llati- -rin,' the people and leading them 32). truction. "8onofman,] have Sins and punishment. 1. Contempt made thee a watchman unto the house of God and his law will draw men into rael; therefore hear the word at bominable wickedness. 2. When men my mouth, and give them warning from have plunged into deeper wickedness they cannot recover themselves. 3. in'-. Y . :> i> rl>i corrupted. Sin cor- There is no wicked course into which rapte-^(l) the understanding, (2) the men have fallen which the Church, tions, and (3) the life Sin corrupts departing from God, may not fall into thing it 1 The touch and again. 4. Whatever patience God may the taint go together. It leads from had have, sinners of one age who fall into to worse, and makes men totally and guilt will be visited by the same mea- entirely depraved, if not forsaken. sure as another. As God spared not in Days of Gibeah (Judges xix.). 1. the days of Gibeah, so now "he will D • lewdness. "-'. Days of remember their iniquity, he will visit great shame. 3. Uays uf great punish- their sins." HOMILETICS. Honoured and Dishonoured. — Verse 10. These words indicate the great honour that God put upon his people, the great worth which they had in his Bight when he chose them, and the great care that he took with them in training them up for his purpose and good pleasure. But they despised this dignity, consecrated themselves to Baal-Peor, and became as aboniin able as the idol they loved. I. God's grace honours a worthless people. What refreshing grapes and the ripe figs are to the weary traveller, such was Israel at first to God. 1. By nature we are in a helpless condition. Education, wraith, and outward distinctions avail ool before God. farae] was found in the wilderness; in a barren, wild, and solitary place. 2. Ood in love seeks men In their helpless condition. God could not have found Israel, unless he had Bought. " 1 have found him in the wilder- (Deut. xxxii. 10). God goes after men like the shepherd after the lost sheep until he finds them In love and kindness he restores and exalts them; makes them holy and acceptable in his sight. They are not found until restored. •■ 1 i ui wander, bul cannot find my way back," was the confession of Augustine. '• I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant." 3. When God finds men he trains and cultures them for himself . Grapes and figs indicate continual > it< 1 kindu I rael were planted and trained for God. Their " first ripe " buds and future prosperity came from him. He gave, them riches and wealth, ad odour in the Bighl of others. They were precious in his sight and honourable (Is. \liii. I). God honours nations, Churches, and families now, pre- - them carefully, and prefers them constantly if they obey him. "The vine- II f Hosts is the house of Israel, and the menof Judah his pleasant plant " (I-. v. 1, 7). M'H are dignified, nations are honoured, not by wealth, fleets, and nut ward BplendouT God's presence makes them glorious, God's grace roots th'-m, causes them to blossom, bud, and till the world with fruit and sweetness (Is. xxvii. 6). II. A people honoured by God's grace may dishonour themselves by idolatry. " But they wenl unto Baal-Peor, and separated themselves unto that shame," - and that was a most shameful and abominable idol. They joined the Moabitesin tripping, in sacrificing, and eating to a god," the filthiest and foulest of the heathen chap, ix.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. gods (^"um.xxv. 2, 3; Ps. cvi. 28). They separated themselves, as Nazaritea, oj devoted themselves to shame. The very people whom God exalted and bl< 1 forsook him, sank below others, and dishonoured their own nature (Jet. ii. 21). Is England free 1 are Christian Churches free from idolatry, debasing m its influ- ence and tendencies'? We hate cruel rites and how not to Pagan gods ; bu1 do wa not dishonour God and blaspheme his name among others by formalism, hypocrisy and ungodly lives? We clothe our evil imaginations, our depraved affections, with attributes of power and wisdom, " and change the glory of the uncorruptible 1 1 1 into an image like to corruptible man." III. The dishonour of a people will be according to the nature of the objects they worship. " Their abominations were according as they loved." If history proclaims one truth more loudly than another, it is that man becomes assimilated to the moral character of the objects which ho worships. The gods and hero-kings, Odin and Thor, of the Scythians were blood- thirsty and cruel — turned " the milk of human kindness " into gall in the bosoms of their votaries, and made them revel in slaughter and scenes of blood. Because heathen deities have destroyed themselves suicide has been recommended, and a natural death thought to exclude from eternal happiness. The more men worship such idols the more they resemble them. Hence the notion that the gods did not like the service, would not accept the sacritice, of those who were unlike them. Israel became like their loves — shame was the object of their worship, and they had as many abominable idols as they had loves. Their deities corrupted their passions j their passions multiplied their deities, and corrupted their minds and lives. " Man," says an author, " first makes his god like his own corrupt self, or to some corruption in himself ; and then, worshipping this ideal of his own, he becomes the more corrupt through copying that corruption. He makes his god in his own image and likeness, the essence and concentration of his own bad passions, and then conforms himself to the likeness, not of God, but of what was most evil in himself." Concerning all false gods the Psalmist says, "They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them." Love the world, yon be- come worldly ; love God, you become godly. Love has a transforming power which nothing else has. "Nothing else makes good or evil actions," says Augustine, " but good or evil affections. What a man's love is, that he is." " Love the Lord thy God." Separated unto Shame. — Verse 10. Idolatry is not a harmless mistake, misdirected aim, but a serious evil, the source of all evils. Its consequences are degradation and shame. All sin is shame, and those who separate, devote themselves to sin, separate themselves to shame. I. This shame is a common experience. Adam and Eve were ashamed, and hid themselves in the garden. Men blush now when caught in the act of sin. I hey excuse, palliate, and apologize for their guilt. They were ignorant, tempted, and surprised. They are afraid to confess, and seek to cover their shame. It men do not appear to blush, they feel ashamed. They may be light before men, bi serious before God— laugh in public, and sigh in secret. There are sad bearti beneath cheerful faces. "The conscious mind is its own awful word. 11. Ibis shame is a penal suffering. It is the result of wrong-doing, of broken law. Violation of all natural laws brings suffering— sin brings Buffermg, and thx Mill- ing is shame. It is not a shame to labour, to be poor and afflicted ; but 11 shame to sin, and sin will expose a man to shame. The wicked are often p shame before men. They lose respect and honour, get exposed to contemp a, danger. They will be cursed by God in his providence Ebon tune turns torment, when man turns a fool." "A wicked man is loathsome, and cometh to shame." III. This shame is a threatened punishment. Believers will bave i 134 IIOMILETIC COM.VEXTJRV; 1I0SEJ. [ciiap. ix. fidenoe, and not 1"' ashamed " befoie Christ at his coming. But the wicked will "rise rerlasting aaameand contempt." Once great men of the world seemed wise, and those who denied sinful lusts were fools; hut at the judgment day all things will be unmasked and realities seen in their true light. Shame will then beinfam- md disgraoe conspicuous to the universe. "The wise shall inherit glory; but shame shall be the promotion of fools." IV. This shame is often a penitential feeling. When sin La seen in the light of Divine love, judged by the sufferings of Christ, it is frit to be exceedingly sinful. The penitent regards its pollution, not inishment, feels ashamed, reproached, and self-condemned. The publican and the Psalmist, Ezra and Nehemiah, Job and Isaiah, all felt ashamed for their iniqui- . ind cried to God for cleansing and pardon. This is a painful, but hopeful experience. It attracts the notice of God. "He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned and perverted thai which was right, and it profited me not; he will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light." Tin; Glory and Grief of a People. — Verses 11 — 14. Ephraim had parted with God, the true glory, and now all in. which they gloried should be taken from them. Their posterity should be cut off, their prosperity would decay, and ( rod himself would depart from them. The most powerful tribo of the | pie became the most miserable, and all its glory was turned into grief. I. The glory of a people. Fruitfulness and strength were promised to Ephraim in greal abundance (Gen. xlviii. 19). Moses had assigned tens of thousands to him, while to Manasseh thousands only were promised (Deut. xxxiii. 17). She was proud of her offspring and increase, of her wealth and situation. 1. Posterity is lered the glory of a people. In families "children are an heritage from the We boast of our sons and daughters. In them we love to see our image, hope to perpetuate our name, and secure our fortunes. Like Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, when asked to display our jewels we point to our sons and say, " These are my jewels." in nations posterity are the hope and foundation of the future. From the rising generation, lathers and mothers, leaders and teachers, are to Bpring. As " the child is father of the man," so children are the nation's popula- tion and prosperity in the bud. Hence to our posterity are entrusted the interests : commerce, the defence of our throne, and the glory of our name. In them are the germs of national virtues and vices, feelings and sentiments which will determine the character and decide the fate of this empire. "The worth of a in the long run, is the worth of the individuals comprising it," says J. S. MilL II. Outward prosperity is considered the glory of a people. " Ephraim, I . I vrus, is planted in a pleasant place." Ephraim, like Tyre, was populous and wealthy ; strong and beautifully situated; planted with care, and defended by roty and strength surrounded her. "Thou hast been in Eden, the garden precious stone was thy covering," &c. (Ezek. xxviii. 2, 13). So now nations tru-t to the abundance of their revenues, the beauty of their public build- ings, and the strength o! their fortifications. England relies on its wealth and position, its armies and its fleets, its philosophy and its morality. But our chief strength, our real power, consists in the characters of the rising generation, the en- lightenment of our citizens, and the integrity of our conduct. The nation that has no higher god than pleasure, gidd, or position, is poor indeed. Heathen deities often imaged human virtues, but these are vanities to depend upon, and will cause a people's downfall. Glory i- false glory when attributed to numbers and wealth, to outward prosperity and empire, to anything short of God. God warns us as ho did Israel "If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law — ye shall be few in number — the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring v on to Qought" (Deut xxviii. 58, 62, 63). III. The glory of a people turned into grief. The glory departed from Ephraim in the destruction of their children, chap, ix.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSRi, I ,, the decay of national prosperity, and the departure of God from their midst 1 The loss of children brings grief. " Though they bring up their children v. t will I bereave them." This carriage and abortion, death at the very birth of their offspring, would diminish their number, and weaken their nation, (a.) They would die suddenly. " Their glory shall iiy away like a bird." Swiftly cut nit, . family, by tornado, whirlwind, or accident, (b.) They would die violently. " Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer." If any grew up to manhood, tiny were to be cutoff by the sword, (c.) They were to die hopelessly , "There BhaU not be a man left." They were reduced in every stage from conception to maturity— to die suddenly and prematurely by ruthless hands and sword. Thus Mir beauty of all earthly blessings is quickly blasted (Is. Ix. 6, 8). Accidents and "the pestilence that walketh in darkness, and the destruction that wasteth al uoon- day," cut down the hopes of our life. We mourn like Burke at the loss of his only son: "They who shoidd have succeeded me have gone before me. They who should have been to me as posterity are hi the place of ancestors." "Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them ; for they shall go into captivity." 2. The decay of national prosperity brings grief. Strong and rich, proud and secure, as Tyre was, Ephraim's glory would fade away like a flower. Riches take unto themselves wings and fly away. Trade may prosper and mechanism flourish; the dew may couch beneath, and the sun shine above; the chief things of the ancient mountains and the precious things of the lasting hills may abound (Deut. xxxiii. 13 — 16); but the greatness of a nation depends not on the wealth of its population, nor the extent of its territories. Idleness and love of pleasure, idolatry and forgetfulness of God, will cause inevitable decay. The fatal weakness of Athens were free men, outnuniheivd by slaves, citizens, corrupt in morals, and women unchaste in conduct. The decline and fall of Rome may be traced to the general corruption of the people. Ephraim fell into sin, and her glory departed from her. 3. The departure of God /', people brings grief " Woe also to them when I depart from them." The lose of chddren was grievous ; the decay of present prosperity and future hope sail enough ; but God's departure was the source of all evd to them. When God withdraws bis presence and providence nothing can sustain a Church or people. When Cain was cut off, and Saul forsaken by God, they became more wicked and miserable. When the ark of God was taken Ichabod was pronounced, for the glory had departed from Israel (1 Sam. iv. 21, 24). Pestilence and famine can turn a nation's glory into grief. Withdrawment of Divine favour can change the pride of the Church into shame, and the hope of the family into grief. God's favour is the sublimest of all joys, all triumphs, and all delights. But woe unto any with whom God is angry and from whom God departs. Present afflictions only foreshadow future judgmenl -. Their sun will set, and darkness cover their lands. "I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, A™ not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us " (Deut. xxxi. 17) 1 HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 12. Bring up their children, reserved! "This is a sore vanity:" How soon could our God insensibly but the best remedy of it u submission waste the most populous nations ! Nay, and confidence in God, and a how often does he thus decrease them ! tious performance of our duty : espec and what awful instances of this has our ally in training up our families in eventfid age exhibited ! What an alloy fear of God, and in seek i Qg I, a 1 1 it is to our comfort in our beloved well as ourselves, "first the «ngdomol children to reflect for what purposes God and his righteousness, and sett they may possibly be brought up and them a good example. BttteJj it is ur 13»; EOMILBTIC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. [chap. ix. more deniable to be written childless, millions yet unborn. Think how much than to bring up children in the Bervice depends upon early training! of Bin and Satan [Scott]. God's departure. They had departed The destiny of the rising generation and turned away from or against God. and the rate of the nation is in the It had been their characteristic (ch. iv. "Home BohooL" The great German 1G). Now God himself would requite robe! declared thai the great them, as they had requited him. He motto of the people should be, " Lei as would depart from them. This is the live for our children." If Simon had last state of privation, which forms " the thoughtof what Judas might have been, punishment of loss" in hell. When would not this have affected his treat- the soul has lost God, what has it [Pusey]? mint of the boyl What if the mo- Woe unto them. 1. In personal be- ther of Napoleon, and of his brother reavemont. 2. In national distress. kings and sister queens, had foreseen 3. In the hour of death. 4. Intheday whal became of those around her hum- of judgment. "It shall be well with ble fireside in < lorsica I We do not know them that fear God. . . But it shall not whal part our children may play in life, be well with the wicked " (Ecc. viii. 12, what joy or sorrow they may cause to 13). HOMILETICS. Great "Wickedness and Great Punishment. — Verses 15 — 17. In the last part of this chapter God accuses Israel of idolatry, condemns their princes for abetting it, and threatens to cast them off for ever, for "the wicked- of their doings." Notice — I. Their great wickedness. The expressions indicate — 1. Their wickedness began with forgetfulness of God. " They did not hearken unto him.'' They re- belled against God, would not do what he commanded, nor abstain from what he forbade. God makes himself known by judgment and mercy; but men disregard his voice, ami pursue their ends. 2. Their wickedness was encouraged by their rulers. "All tlnir princes are revolters." Political power had no check upon the general corruption. Not one rebuked offence, recalled to virtue, or warned of danger. All had departed, were alienated in heart anil mind from God. Judges turned aside, and persisted in sinful ways. Princes committed " the sin of Jeroboam, who made [ 1 to .sin." "He who knows how to dissemble knows how to reign," is the ; many. Hut the words of Louis IX. of Prance are more becoming a prince. " If truth be banished from all the rest of the world, it ought to be found in the breasl of princes." 3. Their wickednesswas malicious in its design. "The wickedness of their doings." Their sins were no1 infirmities, but presumptuous, daring evils; uol common sins, but the wickedness of their wicked works, the essence of wickedness which excited the anger of God. All sins are evils; but some are "presumptuous sins," sins of greater rebellion and mischief than others. Sins againsl lighl and truth, against Divine warnings, and in religious privileges are more wicked than others. Men sin from choice, with eagerness, deliberation, and design. "God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness." 4. Their wickedness was corrupt in its practice. Gilgal was the centre and scene of their corrupt practices. Bere God gave their ancestors the first-fruits of Canaan, renewed hi< covenanl with them, and rolled away their reproach. The service and sanctuary of God once made the pine holy. Now it is a place of idolatry, chosen as a pre- text to cover tlnir sin and to make it acceptable to the people. The nature of the place adds to the guilt of the sin. Sins in England are worse than sins in heathen lands, and -ins in the hou.-e of did are more ahominable than sins in the world. Provocations turn God's former Loving-kindness into anger, and the place of sanctity may become the place of rejection. " In the land of uprightness they will deal un- chap. IX.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE I. 187 justly" (Is. xxvi. 10); " the faithful city is become an harlot" (Is. L 21). II. Great punishment. Great must be that wickedness which provokes God to • and reject his people. The judgments were national, and involved every individual in the loss of outward privileges and position. 1. Exclusion from the how of Ood. "I will drive them out of mine house." He will drive them from the privileges of his house, and drive them out of his land (ch. viii. 1). God will disinherit them, and they shall never he restored to the kingdom. God deprives sinful nations <>f their prestige and position, removes their candlestick for their ingratitude, and re- jects them for their wickedness. Unfaithful professors will he. driven from his house and robbed of the means of grace. 2. Smitten by the judgment* of God, "Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit." Their national prosperity was smitten, by visitation from God, by blasting and mildew (Am. iv. 9). If a tree be cut down it may sometimes sprout again (Job xiv. 7) ; but there was not hope for Ephraim. Root and branch shoidd wither away and die. Nations have nourishing trade, and nobility grand mottoes; but God can destroy their prosperity, pluck them up by their roots, and leave them without power to revive, inwardly or outwardly. He can overturn a people as easily as men uproot a tree. " Utrecht planted me, Louvain watered me, and Caesar gave the increase," was the inscription on the gates of the college, built by Pope Adrian, But to reprove his folly, some one wrote underneath, " Here God did nothing, vi o cannot nourish without God. God shall destroy thee for ever ; he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling-place, and root thee out of the land of the living. 3. Rejected in the providence of God. " My God will cast them away." This is the climax — hated, forsaken, and cast away. They became objects of aversion to God, and "wanderers among the nations " of the earth, (a.) [ney were divorced from God. "I will love them no more." They were not any longer his people, and shared not his love. God put the spouse out of his house | b. ) They were forsaken of God. They first forsook him, and he forsook them. Cam was a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth. If God scatters his own elect, because they did not hearken unto him, what impunity can any Christian nation or indi- vidual professor have, if they neglect Divine warnings, and do not bring forth fruits according to their high calling? " If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations " (Neh. i. 8). "And among these nations thou shalt find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest : but the Lord shall givethee then a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind " (Deut. xxviii. Oj). HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 15. TJie great wickedness— idola- by the same shall he be punished" try. 1. Turning places of worship and (Wisd. xi. 16). renown into scenes of corruption. 2. Ver. 16. Men, Churches, and nations Masking present error under the garb of like trees. 1. Planted and intended to former custom. Plato was reproving a flourish, watered and oared foi bj I boy for playing at some foolish game on 2. Sin brings judgments which smite one occasion. " Thou reprovest me," the root and wither the oranchea said the youth, " for a very little thing." corrupts and cuts off the orwprmg. It " But custom," replied Plato, " is not a leaves men to mourn with Kdmuii.I little thing." Bad custom, consolidated Burke at the loss of his only a m : ' 1A into habit, becomes a tyrant and a curse. storm has gone over me, and 1 am 3. Originating God's anger, and 4. Ter- one of those old oaks which Uie I. minating in man's rejection. "Bind cane scatters around me. Lamstnppea not one sin upon another, for in one of all my honours ; I am torn up Dyuie thou shalt not be unpunished " (Ecclus. roots; I lie prostrate on the eann. vii. 8). < Wherewithal a man sinneth, Men give themselves deadly wounOB. 138 1I0MILETIC COMMENTARY : HOSE A. [CHAP. IX. ]' n are coned as the Bg-tree, smittt ii as the vim', and beaten to the ground. "Fur the Loid ahall smite Is- rael, as a reed is shaken in the water," &c. (1 Kings xiv. 15). ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER IX. Ver. 1 — 4. Joy. The joy <>f the un- godly La superficial, bul for a moment, aol to 1"' compared with the rejoic- l the godly. It is like water taken fr. .in the surface, insti ad of the deep well, and will end quickly and abruptly. " Be that makes this mirth ami he that likes it— both are fools, and their pleas- antness will s«»oii have an end " [Pemble]. y,.r- 5 — 7. "While the sun shines upon the earthly horizon the evil days are put to a distance. We scarcely ad- mit the possibility of a change of scene. We exclude the prospect of dark days as an unwelcome intruder. The young revel in their pleasure, as if it would never end. But oh ! the folly, the pre- sumption of creatures born for an eternal nee, and to whom the present life i- but the preparation time for a never- ending one, and to whom death is but the door of eternity, so wilfully shutting their eyes to this near approach, deter- mining to live for this life only, and to ]• • eternity take its chance [Bridges]. In the day of prosperity there is a for- getfulness of affliction ; and in the day of affliction there is no more remem- brance of prosperity (Ecclus. xi. 25). Ver. '.', 10. Corrupt. " 0 Lord,abhor me not, though I be most abhorrible," •he dying Thoe. Scott " My re- pentance needs to he repented of; my bing, and the very wash- ing of my tears Deeds .-till to be washed tgain with the blood of my Re- deemer'1 \Bp. Beveridge], There is no vice that doth so cover a man with shame as to be found false and perfidious [Bacon]. The disposition of a liar is dishonourable, and his shame is ever with him (Ecclus. xx. 26). Ver. 11, 12. Children. " Better is it to have no children, and to have virtue : for the memorial thereof is immortal; because it is known with God and with men" (Wis. of Sol. iv. 1). " Our chil- dren that lie in the cradle are ours, and bear in them those lives which shall yet make them to appear, the boy like the father, and the daughter like the mo- ther " [Beecher]. Glory or shame lies in the future of your child, according to your conduct and training. Ver. 13, 16. Root. Any number of depraved units cannot form a great na- tion. The people may seem to be highly civilized, and yet be ready to fall to pieces at the first touch of adversity. Without integrity of individual charac- ter they can have no real strength, co- hesion, or soundness. They may be rich, polite, and artistic, and yet hovering on the brink of ruin. If living for them- selves only, and with no end but plea- sure, each little self his own little god, such a nation is doomed, and its decay is inevitable [Smiles], This is the state of man : To day he puts forth The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow hlossoms, And hears his blushing honours thick upon him : The third day comes a frost, a killing frost ; Anil, — when he thinks, good easy man, full rarely Hi.- .'icitiHss is a ripening, — nips his root, And I hm he falls, us 1 do [Shake*jjr«re]. chap. X.J HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. CHAPTER X. Cbitioal Notes.— 1. Empty] Luxuriant. Lit. poureth out, emptying itself into leaves ; streteh- ing itself far and wide towards foreign alliances (Ps. lxxx. 9, 12) ; outwardb prospermia, but no grapes, sound fruit to God. Bringeth] Lit. sets or prepares fruit from and to itself. Altars) mul- tiplied as his fruit. The greater prosperity, the greater ingratitude and idolatry. 2. Divided ' by themselves between God and idols (1 Kings xviii. 21). He] Emphat. Jehovah, not the enemy. Break] Heb. behead— a bold expression. As victims are beheaded, so the horns of the altar shall bo broken off (Am. iii. 14). 3. Now] Lit. soon. King] Words of despair. Deprived of a king, or in a state of anarchy: forsaken of God for their sin, what could a king do ? To us] Lit. for us (cb. xiii. 10) ? Whatever we have will not avail, if God help not. 4. Words] without substan sincerity, nothing but vain talk (Is. lviii. 13). Falsely] Their covenants lack truth, and easily broken (2 Kings xvii. 4). Judgment] A good and healthy plant to society, springs up and spreads far and wide, like bitter and poisonous hemlock in the field. They prepared the soil for judgment by cultivating injustice. Perverted justice is like rank poison, injurious to community. 5. People] of the calf and idolatrous priest* shall mourn for the golden calf ; their glory can neither help itx If not them. 6. It] Emphat. It itself, as well as Israel, shall be carried into exile. 7. Sam-] The capital and the kingdom itself destroyed. Foam] A straw or bubble on the water, emptv. light, and worthless ; others, like a splinter carried away by the current. 8. Sin] The altars, the buildings connected with image worship. Thorn] The place shall be desolate, wild briars shall grow where the victims were once offered. Altars were graves of idols, and monuments of death. The inhabitants in hopeless despair will pray for swift destruction. Fall] To bury us from impending ruin, to escape more ter- rible doom. Spoken of Jerusalem (Luke xxiii. 30), and of the judgment-day (Rev. vi. '16). 9.] A return to earlier days to prove deeper guilt. Stood] As at the beginning, so now they stand, persut- ing in their sin. Others, though smitten in Gibeah, yet they avenged the sacred character of God's law ; but now none of the ten tribes took the side of God. The battle shall overtake and utterly destroy them, 10. Desire] After the manner of men, God longs to punish in severity, to impress the mind. No longer joy over them (Deut. xxviii. 63), but justice without mercy. Bind] Lit. at their binding, i. e. when God would bind them like oxen ploughing side by side. Two] transgressions. Forsaking God, and revolting against the house of David. " The breach of both tables of God's law, or as Jer. ii. 13 " \_Pusey]. 11. Taught] Trained, accustomed to work. Threshing easier than ploughing; an image of freedom and enjoyment (Deut. xxv. 4; xxxii. 15), of productive labour and prosperity. Now put under the yoke, and employed in servile work. Ride] Not mounted, but drive in harness. 12.] A call to repentance. Sowing and reaping = moral conduct. In] Lit. for right, which must be the fruit. Reap] in the proportion of mercy, not justice; mercy from God and from man ; mercy in both this and the world to come. Fallow] Plough virgin soil, cultivate fresh land (Jer. iv. 3). New soil required, begin anew. Seek] With anxiety and diligence persevere till you find God. Rain] in copious blessings (Ps. lxxii. 6 ; Is. xlv. 8). Righteousness] which he will teach you, and generate by the Holy Spirit (Ps. Ii. 12). 13.] Another reason for reformation. Ploughed] Been at pains to sowwickedness and reaped the fruit of it. Iniquity] itself is the soil which they cultivat! d, the seed and the fruit ; its own natural reward. Lies] A just reward for their idolatry, the frail ini bitter and unprofitable. Thy way] Perverse way (Is. lvii. 10; Jer. ii. 23) ; they trusted to Egypt and their calves, not to Jehovah. 14. Tumult] War (Am. ii. 2). People] Lit. peoples, " not, a- 1 1 I willed them to be, one people, for they had no principle of oneness or stability, who had no legiti- mate succession, either of kings or of priests " \_Pwiey\. Against all Israel and the tribes ooniu eta i with her should tumultuous war arise. Shal-] Shalmanezer king of Assyria. The mother] and children, inhuman cruelty, commonly practised (2 Kings viii. 12 ; Is. xiii. 16; 1's. cxwvii. 8). 15. Bethel] The seat of idolatry prepares this destruction for the people. Wick] Lit, the evil of yon evil. "Wickedness in its second potency, extreme wickedness " [Keil]. Morning] In the nope from alliance with Egypt against Assyria, when prosperity was expected to dawn ; or suddenly and surely 6hall the kingdom be utterly cut off. HOMILETICS. The Abuse of Outward Prosperity. — Verses 1 — 4. Israel is now accused of fruitlessness and selfishness. God hlened them with abundant prosperity, but it was abused. The increase of their wealth only tended to the increase of sin ; the multiplication of images ; the spread of deceit and per- jury. They were good for nothing, a degenerate vine, luxuriaut in leaves, but empty before God (Ezek. xv. 3, 5). uo EOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSEjL [chap. x. I. Outward prosperity used for selfish ends. " He bringeth forth fruit unto himself." Whatever fruit they had was expended on self. " Life," says Carlyle, " begins with renunciation." The worldly man believes that life begins in getting, is enjoyed by keeping, and that he who renounces most will have the least. Men, Uke Israel, sees refuge from trouble and pleasure in life, by living in a world of their own. 1. v considered the source of their prosperity. Man is his own creator and redeemer, self-sufficient and strong, in their estimation. All selfishness is Belf-assertion, a practical repudiation of our helpless and sinful condition. The gospel alone can break down the rule of self, and bring Christ as the object of love and obedience. 2. SI If was considt red fhr end of tin tir prosperity. Israel refused culture. Men are Belf-willed, live nol foi God, but for their own lusts and aggran- dizement. They detesl and will not forgive in others what they indulge in them- selves. Grasping in their disposition, using God's gifts for self, they dedicate wealth and business to self. Everything is expended for gratification, honour, and position Prosperity is abused, the right of our fellow-men and the claims of God are disregarded Men deny their stewardship, and retributive justice takes their unlawful gains. "When ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?" (Zech. vii 6). II. Outward prosperity used in disregard to God. In living for self they had no regard to the claims of their i rod. Reason and revelation teach that God should be the supreme object of affection. But selfishness seeks to rival God and alienate our love from him. 1. This disregard springs from divided allegiance. " Their heart is divided." " They were fearers of the Lord, and they were servers of their gods" (2 Kings xvii. 32, 33). They would give up neither, but tried to worship both. We cannot serve ( rod and Mammon (Matt. vi. 24). One object must be supreme in our mind. If -u-e east oil God, then Mammon will govern, in some form, our thoughts, feelings, and purposes. A divided heart is a faulty heart. God will not have part, but the •whole service. There must lie no halting between God and Baal. ■ Decision must be mad'- now before it be too late. "How long halt ye between two opinions'?" 2. This disregard i.<<-lotli>'ai>l or did. The whole nation was corrupt. I. There was no truth in their words. " They have spoken words." Mere words, empty vain words, without any truth or substance. Great swelling words, full of noise and profession, to gain their point and bear down the prophets ; words foolish as they were bombastic, to veil their deceit and decoy to sin. The mouth should always express the heart. Pythagoras said he would rather his disciples shouM throw stones at random than utter a false word. " Speak fitly, or be silent wisely," Bays Geo. Herbert. "The turn of a sentence," says Eentham, "has decided the fate of many a friendship, and, for aught that Ave know, the fate of many a kingdom.'1 " By thy words thou shaft be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." II. There wus no sanctity in their oaths. " Swearing falsely." Whatever be the form of an oath, the signification is the same. We call God to witness, or notice what we say. The offender therefore sins in the presence of God, and in defiance of the sanctions of religion. His sin implies contempt of God's power and justice, man's wants and confidence. "Perjury, therefore," says Paley, " in its general consequence, strikes at the security of reputation, property, and even of life itself. A lie cannot do the same mischief, because the same credit is not given to it." " Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths." III. There was no faithfulness in their covenants. " Falsify in making a covenant." In their agreements one with another, in their allegiance to their kings, they could not be depended upon. In treaties with foreign nations they concealed their treacherous intentions, and observed them only so long as they were benefited by them. In covenanting with God they promised to be faithful, yet supported idolatry and rebelled against their lawful sovereign. They uttered and acted lies. No considerations can justify the sacrifice of truth, which ought to be supreme in all the engagements and relations of life. Truth is the very bond of society, without which it will dissolve into anarchy and chaos, or cease to exist. A household cannot be governed by lying and perjury; neither can a nation. SirThoa Browne was once askeil, "Do the devils lie?" " No," he answered, "for then even hell could not subsist." IV. There was no justice in their judgments. " Thus judgmenl springeth ap as hemlock in the furrows of the field." An unjusl king sets a bad example to bis ] pie. A corrupt court will make a oorrupl nation, [f the fountain be bitter, the streams cannot be sweet. How sad when judgmenl is perverted by those who should administer it! when injustice like a bitter planl poisons the life, and spreads in the manners of a nation. If men sow injustice, they will reap a harvest, lull and obnoxious, "as hemlock in the furrows of the field." Perm's advice to his children was good : " Let justice have its im- partial course, and the law free passage. Though to your loss, protect no man t it, for yon are no) above the law, but the law above you. Live, therefore, the lives yourselves yon would have the people live, and then you have right and boldness to punish the fa D e ao tricks, fly to no devices to support or ; bul lei your hearts be upright before the Lord, trusting in him above the contrivances of men, and none shall be able to hurt or supplant you." " We will sell justice to none," is an article in the Magna Charta. Want of up- Chap, x.] HOMTLETIC COMMENTARY: IIOSE.l. 1,3 Tightness will overthrow a people, "turn judgment into wormwood" and -.til • but " the king hy judgment established the land " (Prov. xxix. 4; Am- The Vanity op Earthly Glory. — Verses 5 — 8. God was the true glory of Israel. But they had exchanged God foi the golden calves, and turned their glory into shame. A day of visitation wa | h,.ir gods would be taken away and given to others. They would be left in Borrow and shame, in captivity and helplessness. All earthly glory departs from us. God alone abides with us- a rock and defence. I. Earthly glory is unsatisfactory in its nature. " Like foam upon the water." (a) It is superficial It is only the outside, the surface of things. It An,-* QOt belong to the man himself, and does not enter the heart. Honour and appla position and wealth, obstinately remain outside, and only gild the surface. Like flowers in the icy regions, they may cover the ground, when the sod underneath be intensely frozen, (b) It is light. Like a straw in the balance of blessings. It stands for nothing in the sight of God and in the estimation of a true man. It may be admired and envied by the vulgar crowd ; but it is only "vanity turned into a god." (c) It is unsatisfactory. What avads the pomp and grandeur of earth 1 Men have shared all the glory the world can give, and have been willing to resign it for real happiness. Goethe possessed splendid health and power, gained I success and sufficiency than most men, and yet confessed that in the course of his whole life he had not enjoyed five weeks of genuine happiness. The Caliph mentioned by Gibbon, who expended three millions on the palace of Zebra, declared that he had lived 50 years in victory or peace, beloved by subjects, feared hy enemies, and respected by all — that riches, honour, power, and pleasure had wait* 1 on his call, and that no earthly blessings were wanting to his felicity. 1 lut " in this situation I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot — they amount to fourteen." Such estimates may be exaggen- ated, but on all earthly glory is written " vanity of vanities." II. Earthly glory is uncertain in its tenure. " For the glory thereof, because it is departed from it." Kings and princes maybe dethroned; palaces and high places consumed by tire ; children and friends cut off by death; change in condition, disappointment in pur- pose, failure in life, may eclipse all our glory, and leave us in privation and sorrow. (a) It is hard to secure. What intense anxiety and self-denial, what severe toil and pressure, it costs ! If gained at all, it is often at the sacrifice of comfort ami life, (b) It is difficult to retain. When we do secure it, how often, howr suddenly, does it elude our grasp ! It is transitory in its existence, often taken away and given to others, " carried into Assyria for a present to king Jared." If it does not leave us, we have often to leave it, just when we should enjoy it. Notwithstanding anxiety and effort to get it, elation and pride in possessing it, men must leave their glory. Power and personal attire, rank and riches, must all be left behind. " And where will ye leave your glory 1 " III. Earthly glory will leave its devotees in shame. "Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel." This will be the end, the portion of all pursuits apart from God. 1. This shame often reverses the skilful policy of a nation. The special counsel of Israel was that which Jeroboam took, worldly wise, and admirably suited their immediate design. It was artfully devised, long in its existence, and successful m its stroke. The people were separated from Jehovah, and a kingdom founded apart from Judah. But the policy of rulers often becomes their destruction and shame. Success which may uphold a family or a kingdom, ultimately beoomei fatal, " o'erleaps itself, and falls on the other side." " He taketh the wise m I own craftiness." 2. TJiis shame often covers all ranks of the nation, (a) A are dethroned. "Her king is cut off" (ver. 8). Hoshea seemed in a hopeful of regaining peace and prosperity. But these promising appearances were llkfl the 144 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIOSEJ. [chap. x. babble on tin- water, they soon vanished and came to nothing. The king was slaughtered. Whatever we Bet up and adore instead of God maybe carried away by the current of affairs and leave us vexed and disappointed, (b) P)-iests will mourn. "The prieate thereof that rejoiced in it." Their gains and their glory ill taken away with their idolatrous worship. Men who derive credit and emoluments from illicit trades and sinful practices will regret their choice, and turn their joy into shame. (<•) The people grieved. "The people thereof shall mourn over it." They would regret the loss of their idols. They were in "fear" when they saw the judgment of God against them (Ex. xii. 12). Their protectors were destroyed and tiny were undone. Ignorant, deluded people will lament bitterly at the Loss of tlnir idols. " You have taken away my gods, and what have I morel" 3. Tkis8hame often dishonours the whole land of the nation, (a) Its high places are destroyed (ver. . Because they dis- regard < rod. Plans likely to succeed, hindered and rendered abortive by < rod's providence. 1'haraoh counselled against [srael to his own destruction. The de- struction of the wicked caused by their own sin (dob xviii. 7). Take ( isel from God, and consult his word (I's. Ixxiii. L' I ; CTJX. 2 I). It is one of the Baddesi ingredients of n conquered people's affliction when con- querors take occasion to triumph over their religion, because they are subdued [Hutchesori\. Without the grace of God men mourn, not their sins, but their idols [Pusey]. Ver. 7. Kings cut off. 1. God's judgments against human authority. 2. The highest human authority unable to ward off God's judgments. Men of the greatest weight but vain show (Ps. lxii. 9). Only like grass (Jas. iv. 14), and evanescent as spray on the surface of the sea. The kingdoms of the earth are like " foam upon the waters." 1. For their seeming brightness. 2. For their great eminence. 3. For their instability and inability to resist. 4. For their sudden fall and disappearance ]Trappj. Sepa a ted from Godr all seeming power is weakness, all apparent stability is fluctuating and perishing as the foam. " i >ne moment white, thengone for ever.'* Let England beware of all complicity with Romish idolatry, on the false plea of state expediency. For idolatry in any form, whether veneration of images, adoration of the mass, or worship of mammon — another of our national chap.x.] IIOMLETIC COMMENTARY: UOSi;. t. US temptations — is sure to make the great God is the only true basis of solidity est seeming stability to become frailty and permanence [Fausn>/\. and transitoriness itself. The fear of HOMILETICS. Death sometimes preferable to Life. — Verse 8. The high places of Israel were so defenceless, their lot was so severe, and then punishment so great, that they preferred death, entire destruction, to life Present death would be chosen, rather than future miseries, and the shame that 1 1 miseries would bring upon them. Men sometimes prefer death to life. I. In personal distress. Men in disappointment and fretfulness have wished for death. Impatient of life, they have prayed God to take it away. Elijah ( 1 Kin_rs xix. 4) and Jonah (iv. 3) are striking examples. But in poverty and deep affliction it would often be a relief to die. The soldier on the battledield, wonnded and bui'ning with thirst, feels that death woidd lessen his misery. When victims of painful and incurable disease, and bereft of those we love dearest, life seems to us to have lost everything attractive and desirable. Job cursed the day of his birth, and would rather have been shut up in the womb (iii. 11, 20). Bitter sorrows, added to a bitter spirit, make life a torment, not a blessing. Wherefore is life given " unto the bitter in soul ? " Take it away, suggests Satan often, it is better to die than live in such circumstances. If life is a grief, better not have been born, or rid yourself of the trouble by suicide, was the doctrine of heathen philosophy. In times of outward trouble and inward conflict God alone can ''administer to amind diseased." Grace helps a man to live in the greatest privations and to die in the greatest comforts. We are only prepared to die when we are prepared to live. " All the days of my appointed time will 1 wait, till my change come." II. In national calamity. Israel's glory was consumed ; her seats of idolatry, Samaria and Bethel, were destroyed, and there was no way to break through the danger nor escape the judgment. They were surrounded by evils worse than death. Annihilation would have been a blessing. Nations are some- times covered with shame and dishonour. Famine, sword, and pestilence have de- stroyed their population. Their idolized gods are worthless as refuse in the Btreel ; their defenced cities and mighty men are laid in the dust, and the remnant left t.. misery and despair. The chosen people becomes an " evil family," and the splendid nation shall be " for dung upon the face of the earth. And death shall he, chosen rather than life, by all the residue of them that remain " (Jer. viii. 3). III. At the day of judgment. These words predict the awful misery of some at the great day of accounts. The ungodly will seek annihilation, not from the torment of suffering, but from the wrath of God before whom they stand. Opportunities lost and judg- ments despised. Life spent and hope for ever gone ; despair will seize the soul. There will be no shelter, and prayer will be in vain to the mountains and hills 1 ly the aid of death they cannot escape death (Rev. vi. 1 6). " In those days sha men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them." Imitating the Sins and Suffering the Punishment of others.— Verses 9, 10. In the days of Gibeah, grievous sins were committed and punished. But brad had not heeded the warning. They had now no zeal for God, nor fear o fju. gnen . They had sinned and continued to sin in imitation of former days lhe tern hie battle in Gibeah did not overtake some ; now not a mere battle but something tar worse shall come upon them. Though God " doth not afflict willingly, nor gne e the children of men," yet he longs, has determined to punish, and wither heathen nations against them in overwhelming numbers. Those who partake in other men's sins will suffer other men's punishment. 10 1IG BOMILETIC COMMENTARY ': UOSEA. [chap. x. I. We commit other men's sins by patronizing their works. The sins of Gibeah, the calves of Jeroboam, were all upheld and patronized by high and low in I and priests do! only consented, bnt contrived to make the people sin. The people approved and carried ont the bidding of their superiors. All were guilty. We may be afraid t<> resist ami reprove, but if we silently consent and rapport evil deeds, we are guilty <>t' partaking in them. Saul did not stone Stephen, but consented, approved of his death, and accused himself of the deed (Acts xxii. L'u). •• Neither be partaker of other men's sins." II. We commit other men's sins by following their example. If yon sin because another sins, you are guilty of your own a it, and will share in the punishment of their sins. Bad examples are ii"t landmarks to guide, but warnings to caution. Nothing forces you to walk in their steps, for then you would not be responsible and free. Examples draw men, and by imitating them they fall into habitual sin. The eye and the ear are inured. - have fallen into habits of swearing, drinking, and scoffing by the practice of others. Young men indulge in filthy conversation, because incited by their evil companions. Infidelity is a repetition of the first He, and imbibed by others from example. By imitating evil examples Ave establish and perpetuate national sins, in- fluenoe national opinions and customs, and decide national destiny. "0 Israel, thou ht-t sinned from the days of Gibeah." III. We suffer the punishment by committing the sins of others. " The people shall be gathered against them." Israel could not escape. By their idolatry they had bound themselves in slavery. Th- Assyrians, with their allies, would gather against them at God's call. God had mined to punish, and appeared to take pleasure in so doing. In every age, in every Church, those who copy the example and emulate the crimes of antiquity will be bound by their own fetters and delivered into the hands of their enemies. If nations revive in this the sins of a former age, and commit them in succeeding ages, they will till up the measure of their iniquity. The sins of fathers and predecessors will be visited upon their children. 1. This punishment is determined by God. " It is my desire that 1 should chastise them." 2. This punishment will not be avoided by their own defence. They would unite their strength, fix themselves for defence like oxen yoked together in the plough. "As the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you ; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought j and ye shall be plucked from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES, Vet 9. From the days, &c. I. Sin want a weapon to chastise his rebels. mated. 1. By continuance from All creatures in heaven and earth will .2. By Dfiglect of Di- present their service. How ready are vine warning. (") In pre erving some, the Assyrians here to he the rod in his "■,,, (,/) Sow in righteousness. Keturn to the practice of righteousness and obedii ace to the law, which is the ride of righteousness. Abound in works of piety as the fruit, the proof of your penitence. Sow to the spirit (Gal. vi. 7, 8), and not to the flesh. (6) Sow with intelligence. Understand the nature of the work you have to do. Grow in personal acquaintance with God and his word. Abound in wisdom and in knowledge. (<•> Sow with diligence. Put forth constant and earnest, ii..t mere occasional, effort. We must plough, sow, and continue to labour, to reap the benefit. " In the morning sow thy seed; and in the evening withhold not thine hand" (Ecc. xi. C). The exercise of charity and penitence must be ever active j ool fitful impulse, but daily habits; not confined to outward formalities, 1 thorough inward feeling. If righteousness be our aim, God will make it our portion. He will nol reward with ciphers instead of gold, like the world. "The wicked worketh a deceitful work (which disappoints) ; but to him that soweth righteousness mall be a sure reward" (Prov. xi. 18). 3. ' God must be sought. " Seek the Lord." Husbandmen depend upon God, who gives seed-time and harvest. He bould therefore be soughl and served, lie alone gives strength to secure righteou ae . and creates it within the soul by the Holy Spirit (Ps. li. 12). (a) Seek diligently. l>o not leave off, nor desist, but persevere until you find him. (b) Seek earnestly. There are difficulties in the way, reluctance and opposition to overcome. Do ool reel satisfied without a personal acquaintance, nor stop short of attaining the object Though not found immediately, "seek the Lord, till he coiue." II. An urgent reason. "For it is time to seek the Lord." It is always time to seek the Lord. Bu1 the unconverted especially are urged to do-SO. 1. The Scriptures urgt them. " Seek ye the Lord while be may be found, call ye upon him while be is near." " Behold, now Lb the accepted time ; behold, now is the day of salvation." "Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, to-day, if ye will hear his voice." 2. Common observation urges Hum. Much of their time has been spent in sin and chap, x.] BOMILETIC COMMENTARY i H08BJ. l r> ni.i -wretchedness. Life is uncertain, and opportunities are few. Be thai I loses wealth, life, and all. "I have lost a day," cried the ancient Emperor Time lost can never be regained. " Millions of money for an inch of time," cried Eliza- beth, but herdays were spent and coidd not be recalled. >l Redeeming the time because the days are evil." 3. Past experience Urges them. MYe have plowed wickedness," &c. The past had been spent in labour and intense thirst for happi- ness, but they had reaped nothing but sorrow and disappi tint men . /,• - forts were fruitless. They ploughed and sowed, and reaped what they sowed. The bar of their ill-doings were iniquity and the results of iniquity. The sinner nothing with all his tod. He spends his money for that which is not bread, and bis labour for that which satisfieth not (Is. lv. 2). "They that plough iniquity and sow wickedness, reap the same." (b) Their confidena ensnared them. Theyta in their own devices and in the number of their mighty men ; but their valiant men were slain, the kingdom came to nought, and their civd and sacred projects were lying vanities. Men's carnal confidences draw them into sinful courses : whatever fruit they promise, or whatever present comforts they bring, they will end in bitter experience. They are lies, and will deceive. "Ye have eaten the fruit of lies." III. A blessed result. " Till he come and rain righteousness upon you," 1. //" they seek the Lord he will be found. Those who humbly and earnestly Beek God shall not seek in vain. He will "come" to them, annihilating the distance, bast o- ing the meeting, and removing every impediment. "Seek, and ye shall find." 2. If they sow in righteous loorks they shall " reap in mercy." Be merciful to men, and they will be merciful to you. Abound in acts of love and piety towards God, and he will return good measure, pressed down and running over. As children of misery, we all need mercy. If we give it, we shall get it both from God and man. Mercy is its own reward. The merciful shall obtain mercy (Matt. v. 7). .'!. If they turn from sin, Divine blessings shall be given in rich abundance. "And rain righteousness upon you." God will work righteousness within u>. help as to lead a righteous and holy life, and be faithful in keeping Ids righteous promise. Blessings, like showers, shall be given, rich in abundance, and refreshing in their consequence. God will come in Christ as the Lord our righteousness, and granl us abundant mercy. " I will cause the shower to come down in bis seaaon ; there shall be showers of blessings " (Ezek. xxxiv. 26). HOMILETIG HINTS AND OUTLINES. Moral husbandry. 1. Ploughing in xix. 8). 2. By faith, (1) In God penitence or " iniquity." 2. Sowing "in (Heb. xi. 6). (2) In Christ (Acts xx, righteousness "or sin. 3. Reaping " in 21). III. When we are to seek ihel mercy" or wickedness. Now ! "Itistime." 1. Tosomeofyon The activity of the wicked. They these words contain a reproof. 2 plough, sow, and harrow mischief to them- many of you thus- words contain a warn- selves and others. If they would work ing. (1) You will never have a as hard for heaven as they do for hell time. Facilities for BeeJong the Lord they could not lightly miss it. decrease with d\ lay. (2) ^ on may ool Seeking the Lord an immediate duty, have anoth r opportunity. Many have /. Whom we are to seek. The Lord, waited for the "cnnvementseawn, and This implies— 1. That man is removed been visited with " sudden destruction. from God bysin. 2. That man may get (3) To all these words contain a wel i nearto God by seeking. 3. That it is "It is feu," >. fcnol tookte. Yon his duty to do so. II. How we are to seek have long put oil y-t just m tune- theLord. 1. By repentance. (1) The may be onJyjust [The ^Vj- heart broken for sin. (2) The heart The Jrud oj lies. Srn a hem i broken from sin. Genuine repentance promises, appearance, and n - nit-, it accompanied by reformation of life (Lu. looks fair, excites desire, but is rotten, 150 WWILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. {"chap. x. deadly prison 'within. It lies, (1) as a Rain righteousness. The liberality of fact, and (_) ae a doctrine. " Yo shall Divine gifts. Thou, 0 God, didst send not surely die." " Ye shall be as God," a plentiful rain, lit. a rain of liberalities a 1 1 the " father of lies" at first. Men (Ps. lxviii. 9). Goodness free and full eaten the fruit of lies ever since, provided for his people. 1. God the which has " brought death and all our source until "he come." 2. Blessings woe into the world." 1. JsraeVs history plenteous "rain." 3. The Church re- the fruit of lies. They believed not vived. Or, I. God's mercy compared to Qod,rej< I L good and tasted bitter evil, a shower. 1. Direct from above, not 2. Tho world's history the fruit of lies, through human mediums. 2. Given in The race lias eaten the results of sin and freeness. 3. No substitute for it. II. deception. 3. The sinner's history the This mercy is promised (1) To thoso fruit of lies. What is pleasure, gaiety, who repent and return to him. (2) and tho world but lies ] Men are daily To those who pray and long for it. III. fed by lies. " Every sin is a lie," says This shower of mercy is wanted now, Augustino. Its fruit will neither profit to convert the sinner and confirm the nor satisfy. It is not only empty but Church. Seek it in time and we shall mischievous (Is. xliv. 20 ; lix. 4, 5). not fail. HOMILETICS. The Evil of Evils. — Verses 14, 15. Therefore, such the fruit of departing from God, and trusting in idols and mighty men. Tumults from within would prepare the nation for invasion without. The king would be cut off and tho kingdom destroyed by a sudden stroke. Idolatry and the corruption of pure religion will bring judgment upon the Church. Sin is the evil of evils, the source of all sorrows. I. It creates national wars. Nations get angry and disagree. High attitudes and great tones are assumed, and war must support the dignity and maintain the interests of the throne. Insults to flags and ambassadors, petty offences to rulers, the policy of cabinets and the intrigue of courts, have been motives to war. 1. We have aggressive war. Nations are not satisfied with their natural boundaries; for gain and i adizement they must invade the territories of others. Ambition, passion for empire and glory, desire for vengeance and plunder, lead them to unjust and unnatural aggression. 2. We have civil war. " Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people." Nations, one in language and interests, are divided by enmity and tumult. In Israel there was no central principle, no oneness nor stability. Con- fused noise and war sprang from the midst of their own ranks (Am. ii. 2). There were peoples, not, as God willed them to be, one, but many. Foreign wars are dreadful enough, but civil Avars are fratricidal and abominably wicked. France, England, and America have been rent asunder by civil discord, and bled to the core through the evil of evils. II. It creates social revolutions. 1. Kings are de- throned. "The king of Israel shall utterly be cut off." Israel, like the dislocated state of Romo under tho first emperors, was distracted by anarchy and usurpation. There was no legitimate succession of kings or priests, for they made both, but not through God. "Each successor had the same right as his predecessor, the right of might, and furnished an example and precedent and sanction to the murder of him- self or of his son." Monarchs are exalted and dethroned by political factions and civil broils. They rise suddenly from the ranks, crown themselves with honour, and are "cut olf " in their projects. Sin creates wars which mingle royal blood with common gore, and starts revolutions which sweep monarchies and republics to destruction, like chaff before the storm. 2. Subjects are enslaved. Obedience to arbitrary power begets servility and slavery. Subsidies have been given for the loan or purchaso of armies. Men have been hired to slaughter their fellow-men! Tho peoplo havo been reduced to bondage, intellectual, political, and moral degrad- CUAP. X.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : HOSBA. 151 ation. Taxes, laws, and princes have fettered their freedom. Immorality crime have undermined the health, and polluted the character of the people. The rule of the oppressor "is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food " in fertile districts (Prov. xxviii. 3). III. It leads to cruel deeds, [n the wiokedni Israel there was an essence of wickedness, malice within malice. This bronchi - 1. The devastation of land. The day of hattle spoded all the fortress* - of 1 traeL Their strongholds were taken by the enemy, and their lair cities levelled to the ground. Their land was swept by foreign invasion ami domestic strife, filled with violence, and "wasting and destruction within their bord< is" (Is. lx. 18). 2, The murder of its inhabitants. With inhuman cruelty " the mother was dashed to pieces upon her chddren." Neither sex nor age are spared by barbarity. Men like Her,od have been ferocious as brutes. Nations ancient and modern have stained their names with crimes dark as hell. " In Eama was there a voice heard, lament- ation, and weeping, and great mourning; Eachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not." Such are some of the. ravages pro- duced by sin. Wars which ravaged fields and sacked cities ; kings dethroned and palaces plundered; people enslaved and virtue violated; families murdered and hearts broken in agony and despair ; crimes arresting the pursuits of commerce ami arts, extingiusliing the lights of science and religion, and idling kingdoms with pestilence and murder. These and a thousand other evils spring directly or indi- rectly from the evil of all evds. " That sin might appear exceeding sinful." ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER X. Ver. 1. Fruit for self . Selfishness is the universal form of human depravity. Every sin that can be named is only a modification of it. What is avarice, but selfishness grasping, and hoarding ? What is prodigality, but selfishness decorating and indulging itself — a man sacrificing to himself as his own God ? And what is idolatry, but that God en- shrined man, worshipping the reflection of his own image [Harris] 1 Ver. 2. Divided heart. In matters of great concern and which must be done there is no surer argument of a weak mind than irresolution ; to be deter- mined where the case is so plain and the necessity so urgent. To be always in- tending to lead a new life, but never to find time to set about it, this is as if a man should put off eating and drinking and sleeping from one day and night to another, till he is starved and destroyed \_Tillotson\. Ver. 4. Truthful. Above all things speak the truth in words and actions. Let your word be your bond. Every violation of truth is moral suicide in the liar and a stab at the health of human society. " Truth," says Jeremy Collier, " is the bond of union and the basis of human happiness. Without this vir- tue there is no reliance on language, no confidence in friendship, no security in promises and oaths." Ver. 5 — 7. "Earthly >rn is a mere shadow winch eludes our effort, or, if caught, shrinks to nothing in the grasp." It is transitory, a garland which withers on the brow. " Is this all % " cried ( 'asir in the midst of all his glory. Glory is like a circle in the w;it They irould do longer go to Egypt for help, but be taken captive to Assyria. 6. Abide] Lit. to whirl round, turn in a circle, indicating the violence and extent of punishment, often the sense of falling and staving until the mission is fulfilled (Jer. xxiii. 19 ; xxx. 23 ; Lam. iv. 6 , 2 Sum, iii. 29). Branches] Some, villages which are branches, dependencies upon cities ; mighty chap, xi.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIOSEA. 1 , for its swift flight, its rapid and constant speed when flying to its cot. The sinnor makes haste from his danger to his rest. There is no time, no reason for delay. God draws, and he runs. Like the prodigal, he resolves and executes. " I will arise and go." No sooner said than done. Like the manslayer of old, ho has " fd / for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." IV. It is a return through severe discipline. The inward experiences and the outward conditions of the penitent have been most bitter and distressing. But many have been brought through severe trials and strange providences to God. Pain and Bufferings bare punished them for their sins. God has not only roared, but torn them to the astonishment of others. The call has been loud and the impressions deep. In fear and trembling, they have returned to " the lion of the trihe of Judah." V. It is a return to intimate friendship with God. "They shall walk after the Lord." Walking with God includes friendship with God ; for how can two walk together except there be agreement between them 1 It includes obedience, love, and constant activity in God's service. Some turn away and flee from God. They are not near in thought nor deed. But the humbled penitents wish to please God and walk with him. They desire the abiding presence, and seek to dwell in " the everlasting habitations " of God. They follow after him with intense thirst and determined pursuit. The will, the word, and the character of God are their constant rule and delight. Many nations shall say, We will walk in his paths (Mic. iv. 2). Israel's Beturn to God Predicted. God would not destroy all Israel, a remnant should be preserved and walk after him. Hence many take the words as a prediction of the future restoration and return of God's people. I. They shall be gathered from distant places. " From the west," " out of Egypt," and " out of the land of Assyria." No distance destroys God's love, no bondage limits his power, and no enemy can keep his people when he calls them to himself. Many shall come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God (Matt. viii. 11). II. They shall be joined together in great numbers. " As a dove out of the land of Egypt." Doves not only fly swiftly, but flock together. The sympathy of numbers is great in every undertaking, but especially in the service of God, where that sympathy is puriiied and rightly directed. " Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as doves to their windows " (Is. lx. 8) 1 are words which describe the future converts to God. III. They shall be restored to great privileges. 1. Fellowship with God. "They shall walk after the Lord." They would be many days without leaders and sacri- fices, but afterward should return and seek the Lord God and David their king (ch. hi. 4, 5). They would live in loyal obedience to Jehovah, their lawful sovereign, and walk with him in sweet friendship and joy. 2. Security in their own habitations. « I will place them in their houses." They would dwell securely, not in defenced cities, but in their homes, under their own vines and ug-treea ( Mia iv 4). Man, like a bird, needs a shelter. Security and peace are only found in God He can place them in Christ, in the Christian Church, and in his eternal kingdom. " In my Father's house are many mansions. . . I go to prepare a place for you. The True and the False Worshipper.— Fm-e 12. The prophet makes another charge against Israel. Lying and deceit are applied to their idolatrous worship and hypocritical pretences. Fphraim compass,,!, sur- rounded God with lies ; but Judah maintained the worship of God, end walked alter the example of godly priests and forefathers. The words distinguish the true from the false worshipper. . , , . , i v^„^„~, I The false worshipper. He draws near to God with his people and nor God with the lip, but his worship is all pretence and hypocrisy. I. He lu»U> UM *» worship. Israel bed in setting up and honouring the golden calves. All UMI 1G0 IWMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. [chap. xi. prayers, repentance, and sacrifices were lies. When the heart is not right with God, when worship La mere formality and custom, then all prayers, offerings, and pro- ; ofl are lies and deceit. All half-heartedness and unbelief, all counterfeits in religion, an' falsehoods to besiege God and deceive men. 2. He lies to God in daily Be Bunonnds God in manifold, nut isolated acts. Lying is a general custom with him. He keeps up religious forms and assumptions, lives a moral life out- w.ndlv, and "tills up some radical defect with some shallow pretence." But he :■: 1 does not practise ; has the form without the power of godliness ; and ■us a saint, when most lie plays the devil." All his life is a disguise. He is darkness disguised in garments of light; the devil's servant dressed in Christ's livery ; falsehood practised " under saintly show." Thus men worship God in lies, transact business and deceive their fellow-men with fair promises and pretences. O hypocrite, thy boldness strikes at heaven, And makes its fervid saints appear impostors. II. The true worshipper. 1. He is acceptable to God. God looks for attach- ment and fidelity in his people. He is their true and rightful Lord, and will bless all who honour him. Some are accused by conscience, and condemned by God for deceit and hypocrisy; others ore commended and blessed in their approaches to him. Their prayers are heard, their gifts accepted, and their sacrifices are well- ing to God. 2. He walks in the steps of good men. Judah was "faithful with the saints." If we take the margin, he was faithful with God, the Holy One ; far from false and fraudulent dealings by wdiich Ephraim circumvented God. Or take saints as descrihing the priests and Levites, the fathers and prophets, who han led down and defended the pure worship of God. They did not set at nought, but followed good examples. We should be loyal to the kings and faithful to the a whom God has appointed to rule over us. We should hold to the principles and walk in the steps of God's people, the good old way in which our forefathers walked before us. " Whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation." 3. He ti dignified by ruling with God. " Judah yet ruleth with God." Obedience to God's people is co-operation with God's work. Ephraim sought to rule without God,andcas1 off the worship of God. But to submit to God is to conquer; to serve God is to reign over sin and the world, the flesh and the devil. In persevering : we have power with God ; in holy, consistent life we prevail with men ; and in Q 1 - service we have true liberty, real dignity, and everlasting dominion. "The saints of tie' Most High shall lake the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever aud ever." ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER XI. Ver. 1,4. Drew them,. No being ever in which God deals with us. "He yet drew another to him by a display of works in us to will and to do of his good authority and terror. God himself never pleasure" [! authority and terror; By force, hath overcome but half his foe. but by the gospel, which is his scheme [Milton']. of mercy and grace. The. whole of Ver. 5, 6. Shall consume. Guilt Christianity may he considered an in- ami punishment are bound together. finite expediency, devised by the only One should act as a warning to the other. < bill, to dispossess our minds of bad The threat of punishment is a merciful and unworthy thoughts, to fix in our declaration to some, though a terror to trembling bosoms confidence, and thus others. If there are rocks and shoals in to cause us to return to him. Winn we the ocean of life, it is not cruelty to chart wish to influence a man we reason with them down ; it is an eminent and great him, inform his mind — we argue, and mercy [Beecher\ persuade. This is precisely the method " Ver. 7. Baclcsliding. It is not one CHAP. XII.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: EOSEA. 161 of the least miseries of a backsliding state, that every state of departure from God disposes the soul to a greater de- gree of alienation. As it is said of a sheep, that having once wandered from the fold, it never thinks of returning, hut "wanders on still more and more astray ; " so it may be affirmed of the wanderer, that in most cases his back- slidings are multiplied, until frequent disappointments and direct extremities force him to retrace his steps, or the strong hand of the Good Shepherd brings him back. Ver. 8, 9. The perfections of God afford a refuge for the sinner. God is just. Nothing that he does can be un- just, arbitrary, or hard. But naked jus- tice affords no comfort. It may fix the sword to keep the gate of Eden, send the surging sea over Sodom, Gomorrah, and Zeboim, and smite the shepherd and not the sheep with the sword, but it exacts full and perfect obedience to the law, and punishment for every sin. Where, then, can we look 1 Justice no longer appals when satisfied in Christ. It is the love, the mercy of God, which is our citadel. And God will never cease to be merciful to his Church. He is per- petually and gloriously displaying his mercy to men. To destroy them would frustrate the Divine plan and tOD them of hope and consolation. The Eternal One is ever the same. No centuries, no sidereal cycles, measure him whose name is / am that I am. I >ur vanish every moment ; not so with God. His mercy is everlasting his mercy en- dureth for ever [J. W. Alexander]. Ver. 10, 11. Repentance. At length corrected by the filial rod Of his offended, but his gracious God, And lashed from sins to sighs ; and by degrees From sighs to vows, from vows to bended knees; From bended knees to a true pensive breast ; From thence to torments not to be expressed ; Returns, and (from his sinful self exiled] Finds a glad Father, he a welcome child. [Quarlet.] Ver. 12. The hypocrite. His virtues being overdone, his face Too grave, his prayers too long, his charities Too pompously attended, and his speech Larded too frequently, and out of time, "With serious phraseology — were rents That in his garments opened in spite of him, Through which the well-accustomed eye could see The rottenness of his heart [Pollok], CHAPTER XII. Critical Notes.] 1. Feed] To eat or graze. Wind] What is empty and vain ; to hun after nothing, labour in vain. East] A fierce and destructive wind, oppressive and violent (Job xxvii. 21) ; figurative of that destruction which sinners bring upon themselves. Increaseth] i.«. continually, multiplies lies and violence by their sins (ch. iv. 2), by which the kingdom is desolated. To thai they add gifts, to win alliance with Assyria and Egypt," but all in vain. God will visit both king- doms. 2. Jud.] Whose guilt was not open apostasy. Jacob] The ten tribes or chief p,irt of [am 1. God will punish, will visit according to their deeds. The original indicates a purpose to rait 1 1 God spares not the favoured, how shall the deserving escape ? 3.] Jacob was their forefath) r : ibef should imitate his good, not his bad qualities. They are descendants, but their ways contrast with his (Mic. ii. 7). He secured the birth-right and the blessing with it; wrestled with God and pro- vailed in prayer. He wrestled in the womb, and as an adult he wrestled with man and with God, Took] To hold the heel (Gen. xxv. 26). Strength] In his manlv vigour he behaved him* li princely with God (Gen. xxxii. 24—29), and acquired the name of prince. This Btrength givi n ness. 4. Angel] In human form God wrestled, put Jacob's thigh out of joint, but did QOl pn raU Jacob could no longer stand. Wept] and poured out intense desires in supplication, and til •wounded, was not overcome in conflict, but found God and talked with him at Bethel. There] t speaks to us by Jacob, girt with his spirit and might we may prevail. 5. Lord] A name « DiCfl im- plies constancy, by which God is distinguished and ever remembered (Ex. m. Ifi j I - . < xxv\_ ' ' • 6. Turn] Lit. th'ou shalt turn, so turn as to enter into vital fellowship with <.od (Is. x. W). inou] who wishest to be a true descendant, pray and act as Jacob. 7. Merchant, Jlarg. a Luiwnmu, a 11 169 ffOMILSTTC COMMEXTART : HOSE A. [chap, xii •i. unlike brad, to wlmm Oanaaniteswere B reproach (Ezek. xvi. 3). Oppress] Lit. deceive. M. -n whose trade is deoeit, whose balanoesare unjust, cannot love mercy and do judgment. 8. Eph. said, in ■ spirit of disregard to the prophets, and in self-justification, "I am become rich, God prospers ma; this is a proof thai be is not displeased, and that there is no iniquity in me." But tie h rich) I m re not enjoyed on aooonat of sin. Their attitude towards God and man was the very opposite oi right 9. Ij God meats, than delusion by reminding them that he had been their guide, d< fence, an! source of prosperity, from wandering in the wilderness, and to settlement in tents now. • a threat to reduce them to their ancient helpless condition. 10. By prophets] who means untried, speaking in metaphors and methods adapted to rouse the attention (Num. xii. 6, B ; Joel ii. 28). 11. Vanity] The question strengthens the affirmation. All was to no purpose. Warnings unheeded, altars as numerous as heaps of stones gathered out of the Held, and scenes of solemnhistor] srere corrupted and ruined. 12. Jacob] was & fugitive and a servant, in a low con- dition (Gen. xxx. 31 ; 1 Sun. wii. 20); did not marry an idolatress: his honest poverty reproves v-.ur oi -. and his taitli in God your idolatry and unbelief. 13. Israel] as represented tnJaeoh, the individual, and in the nation in Egypt, has been preserved (Num. xii. 6, 8; Deut. xviii. 16, 18), htpi by God, as Israel kept his flock (Ps. lxxx. 1 ; Is. lxiii. 11). 14. Anger] Lit. with bitterness, instead of gratitude and praise, hence punishment. Blood] Blood-guiltiness a grave crime (!■ v xx. 9). Leave] The opposite of taking away or forgiving. Return] Dishonour to God re- payed to Eph. His] For God does not give up his rights, though men set aside his dominion. HOMILETICS. Feeding upon the Wind. — Verse 1. God has still complaints to make against his people. They turn from him, seek satisfaction in idolatry and in creature eon tidence. This is to feed upon the wind and to chase alter the east wind. A course most unprofitable and most injurious. I. This conduct is most unprofitable. In every department of business men look for profit. " What shall I gain by this 1 " is an all-important question. In a 96 of sin, in seeking safety and felicity from the creature instead of the Creator, there is ao gain whatever. 1 . It is labour without satisfaction. The wind will not satisfy the hungry man. Pleasure and mirth, worldly honours and religious form- alities, are empty husks. Men can ordy feed upon bread. Grass for cattle, straw for swine, but '' food for man." Sensitive joys gratify the passions, intensify the mess and increase the speed with which men seek pleasure; but.it is only spending money for that which is not bread, and -labour for that which satisfieth not. L\ If is labour in ruin. The sinner delights in vain things, and pursues, hunts after emptiness and vanity. He spends his strength for nought, bestows the gifts of body and mind upon those who cannot help him, and seeks to support himself in things worthless and unsubstantial. His appetite is strengthened, not satisfied ; his capacities enlarged, not filled; " an aching void," a blank, is left behind which the world cannot GIL The wisest man took an inventory of pleasures and the best things in the world, and gives the sum total as "vanity of vanities.'1 The world's all title-page, without contents. II. This conduct is most injurious. It is not only feeding upon wind, but following after what is must pernicious, * the east windy* the most destructive of all. 1. If inrrrascs injury by increasing Kes. "He daily increaseth lies." Men lie in false speech, false dealing, and false worship. They lie to themselves and to others by rW.lnring the sufficiency of human help, and making covenant with man in forgetfulness of God, All things which prop up the false notions and the false ms of men are lies ami delusion The house built upon this foundation will fall, and great will be the fall of it. 2. It brings ruin instead of shelter. He daily incroaooth "desolation," The Cretians wrere always liars, and must be rebuked sharply (Tit. i. 13). Multiplying lies will multiply sorrows and punishments, (a) This ruin is certain. "He that speaketh lies shall not escape" (Prov. xix. 5). Nol escape by devices of bis own, nor " covenant with the Assyrians." Egypt with- held its aid, and Assyria was turned against Ephraim — everything false is abroken reed, a rotten support. (6) The ruin is great. "He that speaketh lies shall i ii " (Prov. xix. 'J). God is faithful and true; repeats denunciations against lies chap, xii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : HOSEA. 163 and deceit, and warns all of their danger. "I will be a swift witness against I swearers, and them that fear not me, saith the Lord of 1 lusts." What folly tl fore, to expect from the world what it cannot give, what is not in it. What infatuation to be willing to be deceived with the very shadow of profit In labour like this there is no happiness "under the sun." "I have no comfort," said one, "in all this, because I meet death in every walk." As a punishment for this perversity God says, " Behold, it is not of the Lord of Hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for wry \ unity." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. 1. Men are so naturally averse to God If Ephraim first feed upon the wind, and that they fly to any source for help. then fall under the east wind, it must Israel sometimes went to Egypt and needs go hard with him." sometimes to Assyria ; to one or both Ver. 2. A cni/trorersi/ irifh Jmlnh. according to their need. 2. Human J. adhered to the house of David and helps will be of no avail in the day of priesthood of Aaron — did not publicly trouble. Israel's allies could not ward commit idolatry, and was not so guilty off the judgments of God. 3. Men who as Israel; yet God blamed them and deal falsely with God will deal falsely would punish them. Professors may with their fellow-men. If the covenant have true forms and sound creeds, but of God be despised, the contracts with ungodly lives. Men may glory in titles man will not be treated with sanctity, and descent, as Israel gloried in Jacob — A man's word will not always be his be commended for some things, and Badly "bond. 4. Men who forsake God will guilty in others. But God is impartial, find their own ways expensive and and will not spare any sins, but measure ruinous. They get nothing whatever but out judgment according to the d< " wind," and they bring upon themselves and obstinacy of guilt. He admonishes the tempestuous and stormy wind (Jonah Judah, and indicates his purpose to visit and Job, xv. 2). Oil and labour are Israel " according to his doings." " Tho lost, solemn leagues and covenants are justice of God falls more severely on broken, and the more they increase lies those who degenerate from a holy parent the further they run from their own than on those who have no incitement mercies. " An empty body meeting with to good from the piety of their home." ( tempests will have much ado to bear up. HOMILETICS. Imitating the Examples op Progenitors. — Verses 3, 4. The Jews boasted of their relation to Jacob, but did not walk in his ' Their trusting in man was a contrast to his believing in God. The prophet repi them for their apostasy, shows how justly they were accused, and urges them to imitate the virtues, not the faults of their ancestor. We must not live under tho shadow, but walk after the example of good men. _ I. In Jacob we have an example of anxiety for God's blessing. II eacrer to secure the birthright and the blessing connected with it. 1. In the J "he took his brother by the heel " (Gen. xxv. 26). He was to have precedence over the first-born by nature, and there was unconscious striving for DiYine I ■ in store for him. Early indications of piety are encouraging. Some are i from the womb, and preserved from sins of youth and riper age Potential del ment of children demands reverence and care in parents and teacbers. LUtnei a schoolmaster took off his hat and bowed to his scholars when he entered tt school-room and thought of their destiny. The solemn pnssil.iliti.-s ,t the tu should stimulate parents to train up children in the fear oi 1 and 1 he I-*-- of truth. << Even a child is known by his doings." 2. In afUryean ho had pow. r 164 EOMTLEftC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. [chap. xir. with God." Tn the womb ho seized the heel ; in manhood he cherished the same spirit, and became a prince with God One struggle was the beginning of the other. The possession of God's promise was the object of both. Having striven for it in secret, he secured it in public. What he sought in childhood he gained in man- hood. Early impressions are the elementary tissue out of which mature life and tot are developed and organized. In this instance " the child is father of tin' man." Strength with < rod and power among men are the result of prayer and providential discipline. Those who are filled with true ambition, who seek to be great by following the example and serving the God of their forefathers, shall have the precedency. But profane persons like Esau, worldly-minded in their desires, and leagued with sin in their pursuits, will forfeit their birthrights and blessings. "The elder shall serve the younger." II. In Jacob we have an example of power with God. " By his Btrength he had power with God." 1. Power through j -.In greal fear and distress, he was no match for the armed force of his angry brother. Be could neither resist nor flee. He found succour and strength in God. He acted princely, was strong in faith, and prevailed over man. In prayer our own Btrength is increased, and more is given to us by God. We are strengthened with might by the Spirit in the inner man (Eph. iii. 16). The nature of this prayer is briefly described. (1) Supplicating prayer. He "made supplication unto him." Supplication is earnest, constant prayer, and . accompanied with crying (Ps. xxviii. 2; Jer. iii. 21). (2) Wrestling prayer. "There wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day." The word indicates a twisting of bodily limbs; intense energy and exertion to prevail. Jacob's piaycr was a struggle with the angel, physically and spiritually, in faith and determination (3) Prevailing prayer. "He had power over the angel and prevailed." He conquered, received a new name, " for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men ".(Gen. xxxii. 28). Luther on one occasion had wrestled hard with God, and came leaping out of his closet, shouting, " Vicimm, vicimm. We have conquered, we have conquered!" 2. Power through human tears. "He wept and made supplication." Vehement desires and earnest prayers often find vent in Hence " to implore means to ask with tears," says one. His tears were not mere signs of weakness, but of strength; not the relief of nature, but the expression of -pint. Y.-.m wept in anger and disappointment; Jacob inprayerand penitence. The tears of one were music to God ; the cry of the other, complaint to men. He l t\ | f < 'hrist, " who in the days of his flesh offered up prayers and suppli- cations, with Btrong crying and tears, unto him that was able to save him from (hath, and was heard in that be feared." 3. Power through Dunne aid. Jacob's purpose was strong, and his natural power great ; but power to prevail was the gift I kL His physical Btrength was impaired; but though thrown in the contest, he would not give up. "1 will not let thee go except thou bless me." The blessing was all, the injured thigh was nothing to him. From night till break of day he wrestled with human tears and Divine energy. His spirit and perseverance put to shame his degenerate sons. It is folly boasting of ancestral glory without anoe tral virtues. Let us imitate the life and remember the prayers of our fathers. They were girt with the might of faith, and victorious over the Lord of hosts "Outof weakness" they were " made strong," and " waxed valiant in fight " with evil. Their glory is not the glory of the warrior, but the splendour of princes with God. Their new name supersedes the old, as the sun exceeds the fctars. " For by it the el. his obtained a good report." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 3, 4. The wonderful combat. II. The object of the combat. " Bless / The combatants. Jacob a man, and me." In the night of sorrow and in the angel, " the angel of the covenant." the weakness of nature " turn to him chap, xii.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. 16fi that smiteth.' The Messing of the Lord ling -with his brother in the womb the maketh rich. ///. Tlie issue of the cum- other by wrestling with the a 1 ai 1'.- bat. '^ Power over the angel and pre- niel. Jacob signifies a Bupplanter I vailed." Persevering, wrestling prayer rael means a prince with God and the will always prevail. "The father in reason of the new name was, that he had wrestling with his child is willing enough "power with God and with men, and for his child's comfort and encouragement had prevailed " [Jay . to take a fall now and then ; so it was Ver. -1. Bethel. Revelations of God between the angel and Jacob. In this to men. I . God reveals himself by hia blessed story, as in a crystal glass, we word. " He spake." 2. The revelations see the great power and prevalency of of one age are designed for the inatruc- private prayer; it conquers the con- tion of another. " SSpake with queror; it is so omnipotent, that it over- Most important lessons from tins place, comes an omnipotent God" [BrooJcs], Bethel in Jacob's time and Bethel in Jacob was knighted on the held. He Israel's time ; or Bethel in its ruin an 1 had two names, and both of them were Bethel in its royalty, gained by wrestling ; the one by wrest- HOMILETICS. The Memorial Name. — Verse 5. When Jacob felt the power of his antagonist he asked, " Tell me, I pray thee, thy name." To those who neglect what is plain and useful, and pry into things which do not concern them, the revelation is withheld ; but to the earnest petitioner God gives blessings and encouragement. Here the name is unfolded in significance and splendour. I. The name in its absolute perfection. "The Lord." Jehovah, the true and living God, distinguished from idols, and deserving the homage of his creatures. 1. Lord by creation. Greater proprietary right over us than we have over one another. The Lord our Maker. 2. Lord by redemption. This is a greater claim than creation. He had only to speak to make us ; he suffered, gave his Son, to re- deem us. " Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price." 3. L<>rd by choice. His people do not resist his claims, nor serve other gods. They willingly submit to him as their " Master and Lord." II. The name in its universal rela- tion. " God of Hosts." Of all things visible and invisible, of angels and heavenly spirits, of all creation, " the host of heaven and earth " (Gen. ii. 1). This indicates — 1. Supreme government. He has all power, directs and sustains all creatures, and rules all things by his own will. 2. Supreme order. " Order is heaven's first law." He keeps all things in subordination, and by him all things consist or stand to- gether. 3. Constant obedience. He leads his people, his armies, organized and equipped, like Israel leaving Egypt. He reigns over them, enthroned in affection, and renders their service natural, pleasant, and delightful. " A son hononreth hia father, and a servant his master" (Mai. i. 6). 4. Continual triumph. The boata of the Lord are in a state of martial discipline, to contend for the eanae and fight the battles of their captain. The cause of truth is a warfare. Christian life ia " fighting the good fight of faith." The world is a foe to the believer, and nn LJ deadly opposed to holiness. But the Lord God of hosts has omnipotent P°Zer(aJd infinite resources. He will rule until all enemies are put under his feet ^ III. The name in its continual manifestation. " The Lord is his memorial." The name Jehovah expresses his nature, and will ever be what it has been, a memorial to men. God is ever to be remembered in his merciful and unchanging attrihutes {Ex. in. 15) We need no images nor unlawful helps to remind us of God. Hh wrks and ways declare his wisdom, truth, and love. He will he to us what he was to Jacob and Moses, and all his people the same yesterday, to-day, and lur ever, in 166 IIOMLETIC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. [cuap. xii. this name lies a fulness and sufficiency which the exigencies of life will reveal. How little h ave we known of it in prayer ami practical life ! Seek to knowmore, and gel hope, strength, and success in Christian work. " Thy name, 0 Lord, en- dun th for ever, and thy memorial, 0 Lord, throughout all generations." True Conversion to God. — Verse 6. " Therefore " to this God, who rules heaven and earth, Israel had only to turn in troth, and they would find in him what Jacob found. God offers himself to his apostate people, and all may claim a covenant right in him if they sincerely return to him This return or conversion to God is described. I. Induced by the revelation of God's character. " Therefore," if God is good, and able to save, they need not seek help from any other source. 1. Revela- in his word. "Thy God." We may disown, but can never cast off, our relationship to God as dependent, guilty creatures. He claims us in our sin, and does not reject ua when we return to him. He is a God of love, not revengeful and unmerciful. The revelations of his word are suited to quicken our hearts, to i //- righteousness. "They shaU find none iniquity in me." They protest their innocence, and declare none can find any sin in their buying and selling. None suspect themselves less than the self-righteous and the proud. Thej see fraud and deceit in other traders, but not in themselves. They glorify themselves, build up their fortunes, defend them by wickedness, and deceive their own souls. "Thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and without ,. — o~ brief sentence he reviews the past and comprehends the present. 1 tint am hm Lord thy God from the land of Egypt." They were in bondage and slavery, and God delivered them. They depended upon him for food, clothing, and guidani the wilderness. And they were grateful to God once, commemorated hi in feasts of tabernacles ; but now these mercies are all forgotten. They boasted in their wealth, and sought it independently of God. God will fcherrfow teach than 168 JTOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIOSEA. [chap. xir. dependence upon him. 2. Present prosperity is the gift of God. From Egypt up to the present time have "I the Lord thy God" taken an interest in thee. Israel's : of the land and deliverance from enemies, all their glory and wealth, had emu- from God. We haw nothing that we have not received, and we should not boast as if we had not received it. Our skill and fortunes are from God, on whom we all depended. It' we at tribute all to self, and nothing to him, he will claim his own. and rob us of our enjoyments. 3. God who gives prosperity can easily take it away. Be " will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles as in the days" of old. What a helpless people Israel were, when kings and nobles, rich and poor, left their palaces to dwell in booths! How unsettled their residence, and how slight the tenure of their worldly wealth which they held at the command of God ! In God alone is power and stability, true riches and happiness. If we indulge in oppres- sion, pride, and deceit — defend acts of injustice, and trust to unlawful gains, God -will reduce as to poverty and want. " Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminish- ed." Revenues without right can never be kept. When the judgment of God falls upon dishonest trades there will be no shelter. " Riches profit not in the day of wrath." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 8. The shadow taken for the for destruction. " The prosperity of substance. " I have found substance." fools shall destroy them." "In all 1. It is folly to take wealth and time of our wealth, good Lord, deliver worldly honours as substance, for they us." are emptiness and vanity, things that are " Find none iniquity in we." Charac- not (Prov. xxiii. 5 ; xxvii. 4). 2. It is ters innocent before men ungodly in wrong to think that we gain substance the sight of God. Men considered suc- and prosperity by our own industry and cessful, remarkable for business tact, and skill. "J have found it." We say con- held up as examples, condemned and cerning our houses and fortunes, Look punished by God. what "I have built for the house of the Honesty is the best policy. 1. As a kingdom, by the might of my power, matter of policy. 2. As a matter of and for the honour of my majesty." principle. Character is property. A 3. It is selfish to think that all our sub- man may not be rich in this world, yet stance is given for our own use merely, be rich towards God and in the general ••1 have found me out substance." good will of men. " As a man can never Wealth, time, talents, and all are given be truly honest unless he be religious, in trust, to be employed for the good of so, on the other hand, whatever show of others and the glory of God. 4. It is religion he may make, he cannot be deceptive to think that wealth sinfully truly religious in God's judgment un- acquired will increase our happiness and less he is honest in his conversation to- ct our souls. The love of ease and wards his neighbour " [Bjp MantJ. oppression, pride and dishonesty, ripen IIOMILETICS. God's Method of Teaching the People. — Verse 10. Ver. 10 expands ver. 9, and further proves that the people had no excuse for their ignorance and sin. God had taught them from the first, " at sundry times and in divns manners," by the prophets. Prophet succeeded prophet, and precept upon precept, line upon hue, were given to impress Israel, and wean them from their sin. God speaks to men now by his word and providence. I. The ministry of the prophets. " I have also spoken by the prophets." Is- rael at Sinai requested that God would .speak to them through human messengers, and from Moses to Malaohi they had proofs of mercy and condescension The chap, xii.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY : 11 OS E.I. ministry of the gospel is a singular mercy (Is. xxx. 20), and stiffen us not to walk in our own ways as other nations do (Acts xiv. 1G). The prophets wu,. •' },n|y men of God," exalted to dignity and consecrated to office. They had I ttvine teach- ing and Divine authority in their message. To reject them was to despise God, The eminence of their position and the solemnity of their words, aggravati guilt of sinners. God reveals his will and speaks to us in his word, and by his servants now. Time after time, by minister after minister, docs he ur^'e men to repent and turn to him. Fearful will he the punishment of those who disobey his voice. " The Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, hut ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear." it Visions of the night. The prophets were seers, highly privileged, and favoured with visions and dreams of the night, "when deep sleep falleth upon men" (.1-1. iv. 13). These visions were — 1. Continual " I have repeatedly and continually" instructed them by visions. Ezekiel and Daniel, Paul and John, had wonderful visions. " If there he a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream " (Num. xii. G — 8). l'. Multiplied. "I have multiplied visions." No age was left without its vision of the future. There were manifold dreams, and often a repetition of the same. I f men disregard, God speaks once, yea twice, that he may bless them with light and truth. Such communications prove the dignity of our nature, the weakness of our fallen condition, and the connection of our souls with the invisible world. They are only given in secret, and require special strength and preparation to tec them (Dan. x. 7, 8, 17 — 19). III. Similitudes of nature. "And used simili- tudes." All nature is a similitude or parable. Christ directs our attention to the grass of the field and the face of the sky, the earthly and heavenly sides of crea- tion. God himself employed them (Is. liv. 5 ; v. 1), and taught the prophets to 086 them. Christ taught by parables, and his servants cannot do better than imitate. him. The manner as well as the matter of preaching must commend itself to the people. Material signs symbolize spiritual truths. " Things take the signature of thought," and we may find theology " wrought in each flower, inscribed on every tree." Tongues in trees ; books in the running brooks ; Sermons in stones ; and good in everything. This method is simple and attractive, impressive and successful. The great teacher sanctions and commends it, and " the common people heard him gladly." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. The frequency and continuance of a the most wooing, winning, and convino ministry indicate God's care and kind- ing way that maybe. Only in using ness to a people. But the more means of similes, they must— 1. Bong them of grace we have, the more earnest and from things known and familiar, things powerful the sermons we hear, the great- that their hearers are most acquainted er our account if we persist in sin. with and accustomed to. 2. Similes " Ministers must turn themselves into all must be very natural, plain, and proper. forms and shapes, both of spirit and 3. They must not be too far urged speech, for the reaching of thoir hearer's [Trapp]. hearts ; they must come unto them in HOMILET1CS. Sins Reproved by the Virtues of Progenitors, and Punished by the Providence of God. — Verses 11 — 14 Israel did not permit themselves to be warned and taught, gave them* Ives up to idolatry and superstition. Conduct which contrasted greatly with Jacob tnnr 170 llaMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE A. [chap. xii. ancestor. He had become rich by God's blessing on honest toil, but they were pi vcn to wicked customs, which provoked God to anger, destroyed the nation, and banished the people out of the land. I. Sins reproved by ancestral virtues. Jacob is again referred to that they might learn his humiliation and servitude. 1. Jacob's conduct reproves them. Hi- faith reproved their unbelief, and his devotion to God their idolatry. He fled from an angry brother, and served a covetous uncle for a wife, rather than marry an idolata M 0 Sen. xxviii. 5). He laboured with diligence, endured injustice, and trusted in God. But they were dishonest in their trade, and insolent in their be- haviour. Honest poverty is better than dishonestly-gotten wealth. "I have searched carefully through all the traditions of our family," said Livingstone's an- cestor to his children round his death-bed, " and I never could discover that there was a dishonest man among our forefathers. If, therefore, any of you should take to dishonest ways, it will not be because it was in our blood. I leave this precept with you — Be honeet." 2. Jacob's blessing reproves them. He set out with his staff alone, and became two bands (Gen. xxxii. 10). The Syrian ready to perish became a mighty nation (Deut. xxvi. 25). God preserved the fugitive and exalted him tohonour. But Israel, forsaking God and enriching himself, would be dishonoured and driven into exile. God alone is the source of wealth, and honest toil the spring of national prosperity. " Not what I have, but what I do, is my king- dom," says Carlyle. "A faithful man shall abound with blessings : but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent " (Prov. xxviii. 22, 23 ; x. 22). II. Sins punished by God's providence. Israel's ingratitude and corrupt practices brought severe judgment upon them. 1. The desert of their sins, (a) It was found in places of sacred note. In Gilead and G-ilgal, sacred in history and beau- tiful by nature, " only man was vde." Spots of signal blessing may become scenes of pollution and guilt. Home, the house of God and the closet, may be conse- crated to idols, (b) It was prevalent as the stones in the field. In east and west, in palace and eottage, it abounded. Like a malignant disease, it spread around, (c) It was morally corrupting. Their altars were like heaps of dung-hills ; their worship was vanity, and their sacrifices worthless. Endless gifts and innumerable altars only corrupted the morals, and cursed the people. Mere forms will not satisfy the conscience. Moral decay will bring physical decay, and worthlessness will be punished by vanity, (d) It provoked God to anger (ver. 14). The provo- cations were most bitter and grievous. All sin is offensive to God, but sins against light ami truth, sins in religious privileges and in Divine warnings, are exceeding sinful, (e) It was constantly committed. Committed against the goodness of God, in delivering them from bondage, guiding them like a shepherd, and teaching them with a prophet God keeps and blesses men, but they despise his love, and bring condemnation upon themselves. 2. The punishment of their sins. "Therefore shall he leave his blood upon him." (a) The penalty shall not be taken away. His blood shall rest upon his own head ; for he is guilty and deserves death (Lev. xx. 'J ; Josh, ii. 'J ; 2 Sam. i. 10). Blood had been shed profusely, and the guilt of his sin remained upon his soul, and punishment cannot be longer delayed. (/>) The dishonour done to God shall be given to him. Idolatry is an insult to our Maker, robbing him of his glory, and giving it to the likeness of a man or a beast Those who reproach God will be dishonoured themselves. For centuries shame and reproach have been the lot of God's unbelieving people. What a warn- ing to us ! What an aggravation of misery to be inflicted by God who desired to bless ! If "his Lord" turns against the sinner, who can deliver him] Shame and contempt on earth, " shame and everlasting contempt " hereafter 1 "Them that honour me, I will honour; and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." CHAP. XII.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: I10SE.4. 171 HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 10 — 14. Memorials of God's goodness to a people. I. He raised them from meanness to honour. Jacob a poor fugitive, Israel a mighty nation. 77. He raised them from bondage to liberty. " Brought Israel out of Egypt," and gave them freedom to worship God. He thus acquires special gratitude and service. III. He taught them by his projjhets. By Moses (ver. 13) and by the ministry of others (ver. 10). IV. He guided them by his providence. As Jacob kept sheep, so Israel was kept and preserved by God. Special care and kindness were displayed towards them as a flock (Ps. lxxx. 1 ; Is. lxiii. 11). Ver. 11. Certain places and certain altars do not palliate guilt, but testify against it, and prove all forms to be vain and deceitful. Considering the mean- ness of our origin, we should magnify God's grace in present prosperity. The Atheist expects riches from diligence alone ; the slothful without it ; but the true Christian from the blessing of God with it. " The blessing of the Lord, it niaketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it." Yer. 12, 13. Scripture narratives are useful to remind of sin, warn us of danger, and urge us to God. They wt.ro written for our learning (Horn. xv. 4). Ver. 13. "By a prophet of the Lord." God chooses the humblest in- struments to do the mightiest works. "A prophet he is purposely called, and his name concealed: 1. To show that the work was done, not by might nor by power, but by God's Spirit (Zech. iv. 6). 2. To show what God will do for his people by the prayers, and for the sake of his prophets, when they are most shiftless and hopeless. 3. To let this unworthy people see how much God had done for them once by a prophet, how little soever now they set by such." Heirs of grace may sutler humiliation and distress. In Christ the fullest measure was seen. His people must have their portion. Ver. 14. " Let us remember if we will not have God for our God in service, we must have him in spite of ourselves as our Lord to judge and punish us. Let us rather prove his love than his aveng- ing justice " [Fausset], ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER XII. Ver. 1. Wind. Plants can feed upon ashes, the worm upon earth, but man's spiritual appetite requires higher and more nutritious food. Wind will not nourish. To chase after worldly plea- sure, and depend upon worldly aid in time of distress, will disappoint and toss the soul in disquietude and misery. The sinner's labours are a great nothing. " My life is wind." Ver. 2. Recompense. God would have us read our sins in our judgments, that we might both repent of our sins and give glory to his justice [Bp Hall]. Ver. 3, 4. Poicer. We might be like Bartholomew, who is said to have had a hundred prayers for the morning, and as many for the evening, and all be of no avail. " Fervency of spirit " is that which avails much [Bp Hall]. He that has never prayed, can never conceive ; and he that has prayed as he ought, can never forget how much is to be gained by prayer [Dr Young], Prayer ardent opens heaven, lets down a stream Of glory on the consecrated hour Of man, in audience with Deity. Ver. 5. Gnd. When holy Augustine walked by the sea-side, wrapt in the meditation of God and of his ways, lie heard a voice which bade him lad ocean with a cockle-shell. We may sooner drain the ocean with such a shell, or with a spoon, than the perfections ol God with our largest understandings [Caryl]. A king is there when court is, where his train and retinue are ; so God the Lord of Hosts is there spe- cially present where the heavenly guard, the blessed angels, keep their station and rendezvous \Medi ]. Ver. 6. Judgment. The one thing 17.' U0MILET1C COMMENTARY : IIOSEA. [chap. XII. ntlv reiterated by our master; the order of all others that is given oftenest, •• 1 1 i juai toe and judgment." That's your Khle Older ; that's the "service of not praying or psalm-singing. Unless we perform Divine service in every willing act of life we never per- form it at all. The one Divine work — the one ordered sacrifice — is to do jus- tice ; and it is the last we are ever in- clined to do [Ruskiri]. \ . i. 7, 8. Rich. Endeavour to be honestly rich, or contentedly poor; but lie that your riches he justly got, or you spoil all [Izaak Walton]. He that resteth upon gains certain, shall hardly grow to great riches; and he that puts all upon adventures, doth oftentimes break and come to poverty. It is good, therefore, to guard adventures with cer- tainties that may uphold losses \_bacon\ Yc-r. 10. Similitudes. I remember well, how once God preached to me by a similitude in the depth of winter. The earth had been black, and there was scarcely a green thing or liower to be seen. There was nothing but blackness as you looked around — bare hedges, leaf- less trees, and black, black earth wherever you looked. On a sudden God spake and unlocked the treasures of snow, and white Bakes descended, until there was no blackness to be seen, all was one sheet of dazzling whiteness. I was seeking the Saviour, and it was then I found him. I remember well that ser- mon. " Come now and let us reason together ; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they shall be whiter than wool " \_Spurgeon\. Ver. 11 — 14. Vanity. In his re- ligion. His holiness is vain conceit ; his natural light, Egyptian darkness ; his religious forms, " a vain show in the flesh." In outward circumstances. His rank, a bauble ; his beauty, a fading flower ; his wealth but glittering dust. "All is vanity and vexation of spirit." Jacob's life. No kind of studious en- tertainment doth so generally delight as history, or the tradition of remarkable examples : even those who have an abhorrency or indisposition toward other studies are yet often much taken with historical narrations. And such are those which present to us the lives and examples of holy men, abounding with wonders of providence and grace : no attempts so gallant, no exploits so illus- trious as those which have been achieved by the faith and patience, by the pru- dence and corn-age of the ancient saints ; they do far surpass the most famous achievements of pagan heroes. No triumphs are comparable to those of piety ; no trophies are so magnificent and durable as those which victorious faith erecteth ; that history therefore which reports the res gestce, the acts and sufferings of most pious men, must in reason be esteemed, not only the most useful, but also the most pleasant [Barrow]. CHAPTER XIII. Crm-ical Notes.] 1. Eph.] formerly enjoyed groat distinction in Israel. Men listened with fear and trembling to him ("Job xxix. 21) ; he exalted himself, secured the rule among the tribes, and then seceded and established a separate kingdom. By the introduction of the worship of Baal and the custom of calf-worship be offended and died. Two conditions of Eph. are contrasted, prosperity and destruction. 2. Sin] Add tin to sin, i.e. continue in former transgressions. " This seems to be a third stage in sin. First, under Jeroboam, was the worship of the calves. Then, under Ahab, the worship "f BaaL Thirdly, the multiplying of other idols (2 Kings xvii. 9, 10), penetrating and pervading the private life, even of their less wealthy people" [1'itsfi/]. Say of them] Such things as these mentioned. Kin] An act of adoration (Pa. li. 2; cvi. 20). 3. Therefore] punishment shall be swift. Their goodness is fleeting as the dew, and the morning cloud; their prosperity worthless as the chaff or the smoke. 4. Yet] Another contrast between the idolatry of Israel and the mercy of God to them (cf. xii. 10). 5. Know] i.e. cared tor them, and loved them as his own (Ps. cxliv. o ; Amos iii. 2). 6.] A reproof from cattle growing wanton in abundant pasture ; the very thing chap, xm.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : 1I0SEA. 17a against whTch they were warnod (Deut vm. 11; xxx.i. 15). 7. Therefore] brad, the flock in th, field, shall be devoured by mid beasts, fierce as a lion, swift as a leopard, and »rra „ , bear r„|, 1 of her whelps (1 Sam m 34 ; 2 Sam. xvii. 8). 9.] This destruction ,s entirely their oirn^JS God, men are against then- own help and welfare. 10. Where] thy king to save when Assyrians attack cities? Where thy judges who surround the king and help to administer right - God nve md wn deities, and worship crea- Wealth is often lavished on selfish ends, tures inferior to themselves. 1. An and men spare no expense to decorate idol is the conception of man. It and support their own idols. They tax was the device of the human mind, their minds and spend their silver in It represents what the mind has the service of sin. What a blessing if imagined, and is no better, no higher men would devote as much time and than its creator. " Idols according to energy in the service of God as in the CHAP XIII.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIOSE.t. 175 cause of idolatry ! III. Its degradation. " Men kiss the calves." 1. it degrades human nature. When we exclude spiritual interests, inferior matters be- come great, and the same energy of mind that might be employed for good will be expended in evil. The mind contracts its dimensions, impairs its powers, by devoting itself to objects be- low itself, and lowers itself to the level of those objects. But applied to higher objects, it is expanded, elevated, and strengthened. God's service dignifies human nature by giving it useful ac- tivity, wise direction, and Divine influ- ence. 2. It degrades the Divine nature. The conceptions and ideas of a corrupt mind are in harmony Avith that mind. Its worship is " according to the flesh." As man cannot rise to God, God is brought down to the level of sinful man. " And changed the glory of the uncor- ruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." IV. Its guilt. " They add sin to sin." Idolatry is not a mere mistake, nor in- firmity, but a guilty departure from God. 1 . Men sin by forgetting God. We never forget anything in which we take great interest. The carnal mind takes no interest in God, is enmity against God, and is not subject to the law of God. God is excluded from the thoughts and life of the wicked. 2. Men sin by sub- stituting idols for God. Men will worship something. If the true God is forsaken, they make gods of their own. This provokes God to anger, and b misery upon them. Impenitenoe Divine chastisement, perseverance in known sin after Divine warning, will aggravate human guilt, and result in "fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which will devour the adversary." "Kiss the Son, lest he b« angry, and ye perish from the way." Ver. 3. TJie prosperity of the wick. I. I. It is of short duration. It may flourish and make a fair show for awhile; but it vanishes away. It is evanescent "as the early deio," which glistens only to pass away. It is deceptive "as the morning cloud." You admire its beauty and changing hues. But its existence is short ; it is only a temporary substance, and like men's goodness, "it goeth away" (ch. vi. 4). II. It is worthless in its nature. If it continues long it does not satisfy. Like chaff, it is light and unsubstantial ; lifted up, the sport of every wind, and carried along to be seen no more. " As smoke out of the chimney," empty, baseless, and inflated, it disappears for ever. Such the pros- perity of Ephraim, and such the pros- perity built on any wickedness. The wicked may seem to live and flourish ; but they sin, die, and perish eternally. "Virtue makes man upright and stable ; vice, empty and unstable," says an author. "They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away " (Job xxi. 18 ; Ps. i. 4 ; xxxv. 5 ; Prov. xiv. 32). HOMILETICS. God the only Saviour. — Verse 4. The people may be worthless, and driven away like smoke, but God is the same as of old. None else should be their Saviour. They should know and worship no other but Jehovah. . I. This character of God is declared in his word. Since we eannol know God but by revelation, how precious is that volume in which all manifestafaOM -t him are embodied. We are constantly reminded of his attributes and relationa The knowledge of them is of supreme consequence, and repeatedly set before u> that we may not forget. " There is one God ; and there is none other ^god hut he." " I am the Lord, and there is none else : there is no god beside me. shalt have none other gods but me." " Is there a god besides me ? \ ea, thereia DO god ; I know not any." " I am the Lord, that is my name ; and my #°rywW I not give to another ; neither my praise to graven images. II. This cM~cier of God is displayed in his providence. " The Lord thy God from the land of 17G UOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. [chap. xiii. Egypt" Israel are not only reminded of God's revelations previously given, biit of his character displayed in his providence towards them. The events of their history are briefly stated, and their own experience testifies to the truth of God's word. He had guided and provided fur them unceasingly, and saved when there was no Btrange God among them. Men have abundant proofs in their own lives that God alone can save. In sickness and distress, in domestic and national history, the goodness of ( tod has been displayed. The sinner and the saint have been delivered fr„m nd can declare this. " Ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me I " III- In proportion as we know this character of God are we ob- ligated to him. " Thou shalt know no God but me." It is not enough to ac- knowledge God as a Saviour. His claims and glory must not be shared with another. H'' has Datura! and moral rights over us. We owe duties and homage to him. We must evince our belief, and express our regard, by constant obedience to his law, studious efforts to do and delight in his will, in enjoyments and suffer- ing, and t prizing his presence in his word, providence, and grace. We are for- bidden to indulge in atheism, polytheism, and idolatry. We must know and fear God only. We must love and serve him, with all our heart, soul, and strength. No Saviour beside God. — Verse 4. There is no Saviour beside me I. What the words imply. That God is — 1. A powerful Saviour, proved from the nature of redemption and the events of providence. No sins can limit his grace, no enemy bailie his skill. Save to the uttermost (Heb. vii. 25). 2. A con- stant Saviour. Present with Israel in Egypt, the wilderness, and the land of Ca- naan. Present with us in every time of need. 3. An only Saviour. No other could do what he did for Israel. No other can pardon our sins, renew our hearts, and save our souls. There is salvation in none other, " for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." II. What the words forbid. They forbid — 1. The worship of images. We are not to make any likeness of things in heaven above, earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth. God is the object of supreme worship and aifection ; incapable of representation to the senses, like false deities of men. 2. The worship of God by images. We dishonour God when we attempt to worship him "in gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device " (Acts xvii. 29). 3. All hypocrisy and formal- it 1/ in irnrsliiji. Excessive use of forms and ceremonies is forbidden. God is a spirit, and all worship must be in spirit and in truth. Is he the only Saviour] Then let us thank him and trust him more. In private and in public, let us earnestly and constantly look to him. " Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Help in the Exigencies op Life. — Verse 5. God loved and provided for his people in the wilderness. " In the land of great drought" and danger he never forsook them. Hence they should know and follow him. God is with his children now in the exigencies of life. I. Our sinful condition is a wilderness. A barren and unfruitful land, where no water is. Without God the Binneris destitute of happiness and hope. He can neither cjuetich his thirst nor satisfy his desires in sin. But God leads his people from sin to Christ. He knows the anguish and despair of the penitent, and gives joy and peace in believing. II. Our outward circumstances are a wilderness. Whal uncertainty and change I What, disappointment and sorrows! We are often led into solitude and distress, and have to cry unto God. We are often thrown into danger and surrounded by enemies. "They wandered in the wilder- in a solitary way: they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their .soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and lie de- chap, xiil] II0M1LETIC COMMENTARY: HOSE J. 17 7 livered them out of their distresses." III. Our inward experience is a wilder- ness. "We are not self-sufficient. "We do not carry our own resources within us. "We have neither power to defend nor wisdom, to guide us. Day by day we de- pend upon God, and have to live hy faith, hope, and obedience. Hut God knowi our emptiness, and sends manna from heaven. His presence is continually with us, and he provides a table in the wilderness. We are brought safely " through a land of deserts and of pits ; through a land of drought and of the shadow of death; through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt." "Happy art thou, 0 Israel ; who is like unto thee, O people, saved of the Lord!" God's goodness forms a marked contrast to the conduct of our fellow-creatures. We should show pity to one another. But, alas ! we scarcely know a friend in trouble I God's goodness should lead us to know and love him. Does God know that we arc weaned from the world — in love with the means of grace, and ready to follow ami seek him at all times ? Divine Goodness turned into Divine Wrath. — Verses 5 — 8. God knew and loved Israel in the wilderness, commended them in their low estate, but complained of them in their prosperity. When they were delivered from the privations and hardships of the desert, fixed in the land of vineyards and fig- trees, they forgot God in prosperity and pride, and brought upon them righteous displeasure. I. Goodness displayed to the helpless. " I did know thee in the wilderness." When Israel were a helpless and dependent people, they often cried to God in dis- tress, and he heard and helped them. Their situation yielded no supplies, but God permitted them to want no good thing. He gave them water from the rock and bread from heaven ; suffered not their raiment to wax old upon them, nor their foot to swell in travelling; sent them his Holy Spirit to instruct, and ordin- ances to bless them. " He hath not dealt so with any nation."_ We are under the immediate care of God, who provides for us and defends us. Some one says, " Life is a great want, and therefore should be one continual prayer." II. Good- ness displayed to the ungrateful. " Therefore have they forgotten me " (ver. r>). Their luxury, sensuality, and pride, made them insolent and secure. Worldly prosperity often feeds men's pride, and makes them forget the giver of it. They remember God in want and sickness, but forsake him in plenty and ease. " Je- shurun waxed fat and kicked" (Deut. xxxii. 15, 18). Men seek pasture, sell- gratification, and not God. They abuse every gift, because their hmrts are ext against him. Prosperity, which ought to draw them to him, alienates them from him. They are ungrateful in proportion as they should love and praise him. 1 bus selfishness ever tends to hardness of heart and ingratitude. " 1 E a man larks grati- tude," says Pitt, "when there is infinite obligations to excite and quicken it, he will be likely to want all other virtues towards his fellow-creatures, whose utmost gifts are poor compared with those he daily receives from his never-faihllg Al- mighty Friend." " Then beware lest thou forget the Lord which broughl tier tortb out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." Ill Goodness turned to wrath. " Therefore I will be unto them as a Hon," &c. Those who fo el < , > 1 in the gifts of his providence, wax fat and get proud in their prosperity, only Vi pare themselves a prey to retribution. Ingratitude at all times ,s most base. Capt. Speke found in the natives of central Africa the belief that nigra* or neglecting to thank a person for a benefit conferred, is punishable, I titude from man to man be odious, in the sight of God it is withou «c™ and despicable. Its guilt is increased in a fourfold proportion, and must be estimated by the greatness of the giver, the unworthiness of the receiver, ami bj ,« number and excellency of the blessings bestowed. The ungrateful are "*£"*»*« vipers," who sting the bosom in which they have been nursed 1 1- jnarper than a serpent's tooth " is an ungrateful child ! 1. Wrath most « ***. 178 IWMTLETIC COVMEXTARY : HOSEA. [CIIAP. XIII. meet them as a boar that is bereaved of her whelps." God is not overcome and carried away by passion as men. He is not vindictive in feeling, and unjust in his proceedings. But these figures set forth his determined opposition to wicked- tndtne righteous visitation ol judgment upon those who turn mercy into wrath. Bis anger will be fierce as a leopard watching by the way to seize upon travellers ; furious as a bear enraged by the loss of her young; strong as a lion, the most terrible beast of the forest 2. Wrath most destructive. The very vitals are destroyed. " R* >»/ the caul," devour them " and tear them." The indignation, the punishment, Beema almost beyond description. God can torture the soul, and cause his anger to burn against the sinner. "Who knoweth the power of his :, | " Ee should be feared according to his anger, and praised for his goodness (Ps. xc. 11). His mercy should lead us to repentance and gratitude. Those who despise " the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering," treasure up unto themselves " wrath against the day of wrath, and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God." nOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 6. Therefore have they forgotten me. Ingratitude. 1. A common sin. 2. Most annatural. 3. Most unreason- able. 4. Most dangerous. "How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I fed them to the full they committed adultery" (Jer. v. 7). Forgotten me. Forgotten their depend- ence upon me ; their relationship to me ; their duties to mo. If not theoretically, men practically forget God (Ps. x. 4). .Sins often connected with ingratitude, pride, hard-beartedness, selfishness, and idolatry. If men take gifts and feed upon them, in forgetfulness of the Giver, it need not bo thought strange if God withholds them. Prosperity abused will be taken away. " When God gives thee prosperity, do thou enjoy it with a cheerful and thankful heart," says Bp Reynolds. " In all time of our wealth, good Lord, deliver us," is a prayer never outft reason m t imi - "i' ease and plenty. First — Selfish indulgence. " Accord- ing to their pasture, eo were they fitted." God ■' giveth us richly all things to en- joy." But the enjoyment of Christians differs from the excess of the sensual. We arc not to feast without fear; to make provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. .Many mistake and sup- pose everything their own. They are only stewards. The first lesson in the school of Christ is self-denial. Where does this appear in the lives of some] Temperance Li one of the graces of the spirit. This consists not only in avoid- ing drunkenness and gluttony, but in not "filling ourselves according to our pasture." Secondly — Pride. " They were filled, and their heart was exalted." Hezekiah rendered not according to the benefits received ; for " his heart was lifted up." The apostle charges them that are rich in the world not " to trust in uncertain riches," and shows the tendency there always is in worldly success to gender vanity and false confidence. Hence it is said, " Pride compasseth them about as a chain ; violence covereth them as a garment." They think highly of their understanding, as if wisdom grew with wealth. They speak with authority, and answer roughly. Tli irdly — Unmindf ulness of God. "Therefore have they forgotten me." How common for men in the midst of their sufficiency to lose the sense of their obligations to God, dependence upon and need of him ! Hence the prayer of Agar against being rich, " Lest I should bo full and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord]" Hence the caution to the Jews when they entered Canaan, " Lest thou forget the Lord which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt." The admonition was unavailable. This give3 us a very humbling view of human nature. View it, not in the dregs of .society, but as seen in common and re- putable life. It will not appear so innocent, so amiable, so noble as some chap, xiii.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIOSEa. 17'j represent it to be Lord, what is man, snares and discharge its d..ti. « It ut- that thou art mindful of him? Let the said of ^parian, that he wa fact arouse us to caution and circum- better man for being an emperor So spection, if Providence smiles upon us, theprosperity of some, instead ofdestrov- andwe are placed m easy and comfort- ing them, displays and increase* their Able circumstances. Watch and pray, excellency ; they are rich Qol only in lest ye enter into temptation. Seek temporal things, but in faith and ^ood grace which only can help to manage a works [Jay]. full estate properly, so as to elude its HOMILETICS. Moral Suicide and Divine Help. — Verse 9. The prophet once more refers to the cause of their sorrow, and declares God to be their only help when they were ruined and undone. I. Moral suicide. " 0 Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself." Many moral as well as physical evils maybe traced to want of well-trained spiritual power, well exercised self-control, and to absence of life in the soul. Solomon « the influence of sin with the health of a true heart. "A sound heart is the life of the flesh; but envy is the rottenness of the bones " (Prov. xiv. 30 ; xvii. 22). Sin is madness' and not medicine ; death, and not life. 1. All sin is destructive. It is essentially death. It ruins the soul. " The soul that sinneth it shall die." It often destroys reputation and character. It always destroys liberty, peace, and happiness. It is con- trary to the constitution and health of the soul ; hence the misery which is ever felt It wounds the conscience, impairs the judgment, and brings disease and manifold deaths. He who forsakes God and worships idols "destroyeth his own soul. A m -mid and dishonour shall he get" (Prov. vi. 32, 33; v. 22, 23). 2. Voluntary gin is volun- tary destruction. " Thou hast destroyed thyself." The sinner commits moral suicide, and has no one to blame but himself. Circumstances do not force him to sin. Fate, admitting such a thing, does not compel him. God destroys him not ; for he La not willing that any should perish, but that all men should be saved (Jer. xxvii. 13 ; Ezek. xviii. 31). Men are the authors of their own destruction. They may blame whom they like, but the guilt rests upon their own head. Every bait to sin is the temptation to suicide — to self-murder. Sinners die because they will die and not live. They are inexcusable, and make their doom more intolerable, because they choose death rather than life. " He that sinneth against me wrongeth his own son] ; all they that hate me love death." II. Divine help. "In me is thine help." A wise man will call the best medical help he can find in times of sickness and danger. This disease defies the skill of man. There is a consumption of the body which no man can cure ; and there is a consumption of the soul more deadly in its nature. Man may destroy himself, but God only can restore him. 1. ll> Ip the most free. We might have been left to perish in our sin, but God loved as and saved us in our blood (Ezek. xvi. G). God was not desired, not constrained to do anything. Desert there was none. "According to his mercy he saved 08." "By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man shoidd boast." 2. Help the most suitable. As the beauties of nature are adapted to the senses, and food to the taste, 30 the gospel is suited to our wants and woes, our weakness and danger. 3. Help the most efficient. Nothing less than an Almighty Saviour would do for mankind. The wounds are sore and the breach is great, who can heal thee? (bam. ii. 13). "I am the Lord that healeth thee." The blood of Christ cleanses from all sin. The grace of God subdues the proudest rebel and upholds the weakest believer. God is mighty to save. " I looked, and there was none to help ; and I wonderedthal there was none to uphold ; therefore mine own arm brought salvation onto ma ' I. I the most extensive. God can not only help beyond desert, but save to the uttermost iso 110MLETIC COMMENTARY: IIOSEA. [chap. xiii. all that come unto hira. None are excluded, except those who exclude themselves from his help. Everywhere the invitations of Scripture are full, free, and universal. '■ Whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely." "Let him take hold of my strength." I know the grace is only thine, The gift of faith is all Divine ; But if on thee we call, Thou wilt the benefit bestow, And give us hearts to feel and know, That thou hast died for all. HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Themalady is of no ordinary character, disables from duty, and ends in death. It is not a mere slight indisposition — Secondly, God, the sole restorer, work- a trilling attack — a little derangement ing in us perfect soundness, saving us of the system, but a sickness unto and granting us help in time of need, death — an incurable disease. Nothing can destroy us before God The physician is able, kind, and free, but sin, the only real evil ; and sin is "Without money and without price" wholly from us, God can have no part cures are given. Others heal the hurt in it. But every aid to withdraw us slightly (Jer. vi. 14), or physicians of from sin, or to hinder us from falling no value ; but God heals, and we are into it, comes from God alone, the sole healed (Jer. xvii. 14). We hear much source of our salvation. The soul, then, of " the cure of souls," let us not forget must ever bless God, in its ills and its to care for them. God has healed and good ; in its ills, by confessing that itself will heal by his word, Spirit, and grace, is the only cause of its suffering ; in its " Lord, be merciful unto me ; heal my good, owning that, when altogether un- eoul, for I have sinned against thee." worthy of it, God prevented it by his First, Sin, self-destruction. It destroys grace, and preserves it each instant by the health and moral beauty of the soul ; his Almighty goodness [St Bernard]. HOMILETICS. God the only King. — Verses 10, 11. God shows again how he will help them. "When their kings and princes — whom they sinfully sought, and whom God would take away in displeasure — could not save them even in one city, he would prove their King and Helper. I. God is our lawful king. " I will be thy king," &c. God proclaims him- self the source of wisdom and counsel, of power and authority. 1. Man requires a king. Our moral constitution is a witness that we are under authority, made to obey laws, and are only happy in loyal obedience. To satisfy his wants, man has often gone to bis fellow-men, trusting to them, because thought to be great, wise, and even divine. Hence nations and ages have had their heroes, poets, orators, and prophets. But man still cries for a king. No human person can satisfy the to- tality of his nature, remove his guilt and fear, and reconcile the conflict between conscience and heart. God alone is the rest and satisfaction of the soul. No code of laws, no idea of society, though pure and transcendant as that of Plato, can supply the want of a king. God in Christ reveals his claims, and demands our homage and obedience. Ho is our Divine lawgiver and sovereign Lord. "Behold youi king ! " 2. Qod alone should be our Icing. " We are the people of his pas- ture and the sheep of his hand." lie feeds and guides us by his special providence, like a shepherd leading his Hock. He has dominion over heaven and earth, there- fore worship is due to him. He demands obedience, and to refuse is most unrea- sonable and most insulting. " For God is the king of all the earth." II. God is CHAP, xiii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : 11 OS K. I. 181 often rejected by the choice of an unlawful king. "Thou saidst, Give me a king and princes." Israel rejected God and demanded .Saul, ami sub equently chase Jeroboam to free them from the taxes imposed by Ilehoboain. They de- spised God, and looked to man for help. " Nay, but we will have a kin^ over us, that we may also be like other nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles." God is often put in competition with others. Half-prayers and half-allegiance are given to him. Some other god is Bought and served with him. God is sometimes rejected, and an idol set up to govern our hearts and lives. In distress and social pressure we flee to man. Pleasure, fis- sions, and the world rule over us. God is dethroned, and our affections are centered on self, or an unlawful sovereign. The heart can only have one power supreme, one king enthroned at once. Whatever monarch that may be, it dictate! to every faculty and every effort, saying, "Do this," and it does it. Obedience i-; willingly and continually given. As the beginning, such will be the end ; as I he rale, such will be the result. "But where are thy gods that thou hast made theel let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble ; for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, 0 Judah." III. When God is rejected and another king chosen the end will be misery. "Where is any other that will save thee in all thy cities?" God was against Israel and their kings. As tiny began by rejecting God, so they end in rejection by God. Civil commotions, anarchy and murder, were the repeated issue. Not one in all their cities could help them when God had forsaken them. Sinful rulers will be tyrants, and their rule will ever prove impotent and destructive. 1. Sometimes our support* are taken away. "I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath." What God gives or permits us to take to ourselves he can take away. By rejecting God we cannot defeat his purpose. We may have our wish granted, yet be disap- pointed in our choice. The gift and its loss will be a grief to us. What wo inor- dinately desire, what we are determined to have in opposition to God's will, whether granted, withheld, or taken away, will be the occasion of wrath and tribulation to our souls. " Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye t am aside and serve other gods and worship them, and then the Lord's wrath he kindled against you." 2. If our supports are not taken away they are n ndt n d impott id. " Where is any that may save thee]" Kings and princes may be shorn of power. Danger may threaten every city in the nation, and blessings unlawfully gained or ungratefully abused afford no shelter. All courses and carnal policies of men will not avail against God. If we forsake God disappointment will meet us in every condition, and a way which is cursed at the beginning will be more cursed at the end. In anger a king was given ; in wrath was he taken away. There is no help but in God. " I will be thy king.'' Iniquity reserved for Future Punishment.— Verses 12, 13. The nation had accumulated wickedness from time to time. This sin, though spared, was not forgotten, but sealed up and reserved for future ju.l-iii.-ut. be affairs were coming to a crisis, like a woman in travail, and could not be avoided Unless they rescued themselves from the danger the result would be that . ual citizens and political existence would entirely perish. Hence, they should not neglect the means, but earnestly seek God before it was too ate. n I. Iniquity is treasured up by God. " The miqmty o Ep ™» I • Men treasure or seal up what they want to keep Sin is hid by awonde, vidence to be accounted for at a future tune "My transgress,, i * > . ]• > bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity." 1. God does ^.^'^'^ £ numbers our steps, keeps a strict account of our actions, and -tag""* membrance We are not to presume on God's forbearance, and think |„ an l sin K£ pushed it is forgoZ (Ecc. viii. 11). This is to ignore the fata, and treasure up « wrath against the day of wrath (Bom, il 5). 2. CM do,* not Jo, !s_> HOMILETIC COMMENTARY; UOSllA. [chap. xiii. '.niquity without repentance. If sin is not confessed and forsaken, it is stored up. Uniepented Bin is an ever-increasing store, hid from the sight of men, hut of which God will lose nothing, sinners may excuse and defend themselves in pride and Belf-righteousness, bul a day of accounts will come. "Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures? To me belongeth vengeance and II. Iniquity treasured up by God will be punished. " The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him." 1. This punishment is cer- tain, " shall come.'1 There is an order of sequence in moral as in physical law, and we inevitably sutler if we break that order. Kesults are fixed and certain. Punishment may be long delayed, hut cannot he avoided. Delay does not diminish rtainty either here or hereafter. " Evil pursueth sinners." 2. This punishn nu at it distressing. Agony unexpected and inevitable. Sorrows often in this life, and in the life to come the full cup of bitterness. "Avenging deities are shod with wool/1 but they never pause nor mitigate their judgments. We may doubt ox deny the fact, hut we see day by day that " the mill of God grinds late, hut grinds in powder." " Never sin went unpunished," says one, "and the end of all sin, if it he nut repentance, is hell." III. If men do not escape from iniquity treasured up they are foolish. " For he should not stay long in the place." He that lingers between death and life, and vacillates between God and the world, " is an unwise son." If we " stay long," and delay in anything, we never bring forth results. 1 'eeision is necessary. Despatch is better than discourse. Men who halt aie at the mercy of every temptation and fall before the foe. " I never defer till t" morrow what can be done to-day," declared one. But when immortal interests are ;it stake, what folly to hesitate or resist. How fatally " unwise," to put off repentance and return to God. Judgment is impending, to-morrow may be too late. " A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hidcth himself : but the simple pass on, and are punished." Lose this day, loitering, 'twill be the same story To-morrow, and the next more dilatory. The indecision brings its own delays, And days are lost lamenting o'er lost days. Are you in earnest ? seize this very minute ! "What you can do, or think you can, begin it ! Boldness has genius, power and magic in it ! Only engage, and then the mind grows heated ; Elgin it, and the work will be completed ! The Great Conquest. — Verse 14. To preserve his people from despair, God promises to help them. Though like dead men in the grave, he will redeem them, and they shall triumph over death and destruction. Be will never repent of this purpose concerning them. I. The mighty enemies. 1. We h&ve death. " I will redeem them from death." (a) 1 >■■ itli ;i- a spiritual condition. Sinners are dead in trespasses and sins. Sense- Mid helpless in their spiritual condition. But the Holy Spirit quickens, and Christ redeems them from their danger. The sentence against them is blotted out, the curse of -in removed, and they are delivered, raised to newness of life in Christ Jesus. (/>) Death as a reigning power. .Men live in captivity, are held in bondage, all their lifetime through the fear of death. It is a universal and resist- 1- foe, It spares OO rank and pauses fur no request. It rends our hearts with grief, fills our homes with Borrow, and the grave with its victims, (c) Death as a mortnl enemy. An enemy to Christ and his people. Till death is conquered, Christ cannot realize hi, hopes nor his people gain their inheritance. The media- torial glory will never he acquired without this conquest. "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death," 2. We bave the grave. " The power of the grave." Like death, tin- grave has a mighty power, and is a triumphant foe. "The king of terrors " makes this his palace. " The -rave is my house " (Job xvii. 13) ; " cry- chap, xiit.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY. BOSEA. 1 .{ ing, Give, give" (Prov. xxx. 15). It has received its countless millions, and still craves and yawns for more. "Hell and destruction are never lull.-' (o) ' mighty terror, and (b) a final-resting place, it must be conquered to gain the crown and the kingdom. II. The glorious .conqueror, "/will ransom, /will redo God. None hut God could deliver from such a state of misery and death. ' G 1 in Christ conquers death and hell. " He will swallow up death in victory xxv. 8). The Captain of our salvation has entered into the conflict for us, and come out victorious. " He hath abolished death, and broughl life and immortality to light." " He hath destroyed him that had the power of death " ( Beb. ii. 1 1 ), and his victory becomes ours by faith. " I am the resurrection and the life : whoso believeth in me shall never die." III. The wonderful method of conquest. • 1 will ransom." " I will redeem." 1. Christ has paid a price for our deliverance. He hath redeemed us by his blood. " Who gave himself a ransom for all " (1 Tim. ii. 6 ; Matt. xx. 28). He became near of kin, by taking our nature and Buffering in our stead. The first and second death are overcome by him. He is the pi of death and the destruction of the grave. Death the curse is turned into ;t bless- ing ; death an enemy is changed into a friend, and the grave is made the portal to glory. " Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood." 2. Christ does now morally deliver us. The blessing is not a prospective one. It is en- joyed in the present time, as an earnest and foretaste. The Spirit enlightens and grace redeems from the power of sin and corruption. The people of God are free and live without fear of death. The weakest believer confronts his deadliest foe, answers every accusation by pointing to " the salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us." We are not merely conquerors, but triumphant, "more than conquerors through him that loved us." The benefits of redemption have become "powers in the world to come," and powers in the heart and life of a Cliristian. We have read and often seen the glorious victories over death and hell. " is this dying ] How have I dreaded as an enemy this smiling friend 1 " cried l)r Goodwin. "The battle's fought, — the battle's fought, and the victory is won, — the victory is won for ever ! " said Dr Payson. " Victory ! glory ! hallelujah ! " were the words of another. " 0 death, where is thy sting 1 0 grave, where is thy victory 1 " 3. This proceeding of God ivill never be reversal. " Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes." God is unchangeable in his nature and promise. "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Bom. xi. 29). Be never revokes what he once gave to his people. Though they sin and fall into danger, he will love and deliver them still if they call upon him. " My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips (Ps. lxxxix. 34). Alterations and after-thoughts belong to us. God dwells upon his covenant, and repeats it continually, that we may love and obey it. Earthly Fountains of Enjoyments Fail. — Verses 15, 16. The prophet had spoken of the blessings of the righteous, now he pictures the desolations of the wicked. The pomp and luxuries of sin, the glory and vanity of the world, shall perish, and leave not a wreck behind. Its springs of joy shall be dried up, and its fruitful scenes made desolate as a ruined city. I. Earthly prosperity is a fountain which fails. "Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come," &c. Men may be planted a lav. .ar- able circumstances, grow and flourish for awhile, 'but the "wind of the I,, rd comes, and their leaves wither. Cities maybe populous and powerful, but UM enemy can destroy them. " Samaria shall become desolate." All fan seenet and national fruitfulness can be laid waste as the wilderness. "The treasure ol all pleasant vessels " can be taken away, and the infant of days, wit .the women of beauty, be " dashed to pieces" by deeds of barbarity II. Earthly pleasure is a fountain which fails. " His springs shall become dry. lhe pleasures ri the 184 IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ROSEA. [chap. xiti. world axe soon exhausted. They are shallow and deceitful ;"asa stream of brooks they pass away " (Joh vi. lf>). As rivers roll their hasty current to the sea ; so the sum of sinful pleasures ends in endless sorrow and desolation. III. Earthly joy is a fountain which fails. The joys which spring from domestic prosperity and js in busmesa are soon cut up and withered at the root. "Joy hath passed me like a ship at sea," said David Scott the painter. "Folly" is always "joy to him that is without wisdom." "No joys are sweet and flourish long, but such as have self-approbation lor their root, and the Divine favour for their shelter," says an old divine. If our prosperity springs from Christ, and is rooted within us, nothing can destroy it. But if it is centered in the world, and enjoyed without God, then it will bo cast up by the roots, and consumed by the blasts from heaven. IIOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. 1. Often the most outwardly prosper- ous, by abuse of prosperity, ripen most for the judgments of God. Godmaybe preparing th ■ wind "from the wilderness." l'. When these judgments do fall upon them, they arc the most destructive. A very great wind, " the wind of the Lord : " " an east wind shall come," which is most terrible. and tempestuous. 3. Nothing will be left to defend them. Adults shall "fall by the sword," the beauty of the present, and the seed and hope of the next gener- ation shall be cut off. Without fruit- fulness in good works, springing from the Spirit of Christ, all other fruitful- ness will be fouud as empty as the un- certain riches of the world ; the wrath of God will wither its branches ; the springs that watered it will become dry, and it shall be spoiled, and come to nothing. " In short, ' tribulation and anguish ' be- long to those who have rebelled against God, and are fixed immoveably on all who impenitently persist in rebellion ; and their woes will be far more terrible than any that are experienced in that cruelty and carnage which sometimes attend the storming of populous cities. From such miseries and murders, and from sin, the fruitful parent of all sorrow, ' Good Lord, we beseech thee to deliver us'" [Scott]. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER XIII. Yet. 1 — 3. Humility. The more God honoureth men, the more they should humble themselves. The more bounty God shows, the more humility he requires. Humility teaches us in our works to draw strength from God, not from ourselves j in our graces to ascribe their g Iness to God, and their weakness to ourselves \Reynolds\. Praise is a comely garment. But though thyself doth wear it, another must put it on, or else it will never sit well on thee. Praise is sweet music, but it is never tuneable in thine own mouth. If it cometh from the mouth of another it Boundetb most tuneably in the ears of all that hear it | ,l< rmin\ "When people once fall into the habit of admiring and encouraging ability as such, without reference to moral charac- ter, they are on the highway to all - Sorts of degradation. Kiss. Read the first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, and see if there is one exaggerating touch. That el i a pter is a terrible but true picture of the lower strata of humanity. What were the deities in heathen times ? Jupiter was a monster, Mercury a thief, Mars a sort of cannibal, who drank the blood of his victims. Such the gods of the heathen ; and like gods like people. Ver. 4. Thy God. The claims of God are enforced by reference to that particular event by which the Hebrews were separated from the nations, to re- mind them, and the world by them, that the character of God is displayed in the agency of his providence, and that in proportion to our knowledge of that character are our obligations to him. Each individual is here addressed, that each may feel that he has means of CHAP. XIII.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: II OS K. I. Is.", knowing, and constantly surrounded with motives for personally loving God. Ver. 5. Know thee. This cannot mean a mere acquaintance with their condition and circumstances j for what can be hid from him whose understand- ing is infinite 1 But it intends two things. First : He knew them so as to provide for them. Secondly : He knew them so as to approve of them and ac- knowledge them. The word knoio has this meaning often. " The Lord know- eth the way of the righteous " [Jay]. Ver. 6. Pastures. A curious instance of a change of instinct is mentioned by Darwin. The bees carried to Barbadoes and the Western Islands ceased to lay up honey after the first year. They found the weather so fine, and the materials for honey so plentiful, that they became exceedingly profligate, and ate up their capital, worked no more, and amused themselves by flying about the sugar-houses and stinging the negroes [Bib. Treasury]. Ver. 8. Bear. "When the female is robbed of her whelps she is said to be more fierce than any other animal ; hence many sayings refer to her rage, and are applied to the fury of violent men. " I will tear thee to pieces as a bear which has cubbed ; " " Begone, or I will jump upon thee as a bear." When a termagant goes with her children to scold, it is said, " There goes the she- bear and her whelps " [Roberts] Ver. 10, 11. King. Edward the Black Prince, having conquered and taken prisoner King John oi Prance, nobly condescended to wait on hi captive the same night at supper. Christ having first subdued his people by his grace, waits on them afterwards to the end of their lives [ Whiteerou], Under which king, Bezonian ? speak or die. King Jiinri/ 1 1'. Ver. 12. Boiiml up, as indictments drawn up and tied together against the day of trial ; or as bills and bonds tied up that they may be ready against the day of account, when all must be paid [Poole]. Ver. 14. Triumjyh. In tin's world, he that is to-day conqueror may to- morrow himself be defeated. Pompey is eclipsed by Caesar, and then falls by the hands of conspirators; Napoleon conquered nearly all Europe, ami was then himself conquered. But the Christian's conquest of death is absolute. The result is final. He has vanquished the last enemy, and has no more battles to fight [Foster] Ver. 15, 16. The world has delusive charms to flatter with a face of substan- tial bliss, when in reality it is a fleeting shadow [ Wilson]. I am more and nn >re convinced of this world's tastelesaness and treachery — that it is with (Jod alone that any satisfying converse is to bo had [Chalmers]. "We should not stoop so greedily to swallow The bubbles of the world so lighl and hollow ; To drink its frothy draughts, in lightsome mood, And live upon such empty, airy food. CHAPTER XIV. Critical Notes.] The guilt of the sinful nation and the punishment awaiting J«w besBde- Bcribed: now there iSJ a call to conversion, and a promisethatGodw.il hi, ssalnmda ,tl,. 1. He Heb. intensive, expressing strong desire. Unto] Lit. up to, not merely toward* the Lord (mat is repentance which maketh men to reach quite up to the throne of gl« . • ■ •' £JK 2. Words] Not empty, yet outward gifts not requ.red ; only words and r e t . » • *« J Lit receive the -ood viz. the words of sincere repentance, given by thyself (1 Ctomj KB. " ' • Calves! 7e our Cs shall be for calves. Instead of offering sacrifice we give ^snksgmng and p?aTe Ihe toSSiS Ups (Heb. xiii. 5). 3. Save] f^^^^^^oSP Father- Lrses (warlike power) and the work of our ^ands (.dolat > ar nt, d, r .n ^ «•£ less] Descriptive of Israel's condition wihout ^•^S£3£ ■£ heal all uijury ment to prayer (Ex. xxn. 22 ; Deut. x. 18;. *•} lromiM- ui ^ j [86 imMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. [chap. xiv. v. Freely] Gratuitously and with perfect spontaneity (Ezek. xvi. 60— 63). "The word means impelled thereto by Himself alone, and so moved by His own essential bountifulness, the exceeding greatness of B& goodness, largely, bountifully " [Pusey]. 5.] This love will be maiiil. st in Rest blessings. Dew] Not the early, but constant, refreshing, and enlivening dew (eh. n. 8, 1 ; Pro*, six. 1-; Job xxix. 19; Is. xxvi. 19); thro' which Israel will grow splendidly, deeply root ita If, and spread abundantly. Lily] A beautiful and most productive plant. 6. Smell] like Leb., rendered fragrant by its cedars and spices (Cant. iv. 11). " The rooting indicates stability, the tprtad ranch*, propagation and the multitude of inhabitants ; the splendour of the e/i'M, beauty and glory, and that constant and lasting; the fragrance, hilarity and loveliness" miller]. 7.] Hence Israel compared to a tree. Return] Those forced to leave shall return and dwell in safety. < >t her- take His shadow, the shadow of the Almighty (Ps. xvii. 8 ; xci. 1). Revive as the corn] Enjoy a second lit'.' and great increase. Others, will revive, t. e. cause the corn to grow, culture it tor support. Scent] The fame of Israel (Cant. i. 3), like wine of Leb., celebrated for aroma and flavour. 8.] God speaks now. Idols] Eph., I have no longer to plead with thee, on account of idols, 1 have nothing more to do with them, and thou hast not. I have answered and observed lii m, i, ano can d for him, when idols did not. I am like a green fir, green winter and summer alike, and whatever fruit thou yieldest, it is from me. Some represent Eph. speaking, and acknowledging its flourishing condition ; but God reminds him that it is owing to his blessing. Both lenses represent God as the shelter and the life of the nation. 9.] A most important concluding lesson. Wise] Those who are not, cavil at God's word, and his providence to them is a complete riddle. The prudent — " properly gifted with understanding, the form of the word expressing that he was endowed with this understanding, as a gift of God" — shall know and discern. Right] Straight and direct, leading to the object. Ways which lead some to life and others to death, ac- cording to the attitudes which men assume towards God. The just, the righteous, walk in them and live ; sinners deviate from them, stumble and perish. Moses announced to Israel that this would be the result to them (Deut. xxx. 19, 20) ; Paul tells us that such will be the effect of the gospel at all times (1 Cor. i. 18). HOMILETICS. Real Conversion to God Described. — Verses 1 — 3. There is a change in the words of the prophet now. "Wrath and threatening are past, and " Bweel neas and light," like the sun, burst from the dark clouds. Every word of the invitation is full of mercy, urgent upon Israel and upon all who have gone astray. God is still unchangeable and true to his covenant. There is hope for all who sincerely repent and return to him. The character of this return is clearly ribed in the text. I. Its necessity. " For thou hast fallen." This is the first dawn of light upon tin- sinner. God discovers to him the abyss into which he has fallen. 1. He has fallen by iniquity: not a mere stumble, but a fall. All sin is a deep fall. A fall from God into idolatry ; from holiness into guilt; from honour to disgrace. A fall from which we cannot raise ourselves. It is a pit of distress, "an horrible pit and miry day " (l's. si. 2), out of which God alone can deliver us. " Eemember therefnv from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do thy first works." 2. Ho has fallen by his own iniquity. Nations often ascribe their calamity to civil dis- sension, foolish rales, and disuse of military discipline : to the cruelty of the enemy ami reverse of fortune ; but the fall is caused hy opposition to God, and contempt of his word. Individuals Maine their circumstances and their fate ; but sin is their own act and deed. The fall is the result of the' r own conduct. The sinner eats the fruit of his own way, and is filled with his own devices. But though fallen he need not stay in his sin. The way of return is open. The invitation is given. "Return unto the Lord thy God." II. Its nature. " Return (up to) the Lord thy God." True conversion is abandonment of all sin and restoration to all good. 1. Idolatry u abandoned. " Neither will wo say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods." It is folly to trust to creatures which God has made. How much greater folly to adore things which we ourselves have made. The peni- tent renounces all idolatry, anil views God as the Lord his God. Williams gives a graphic account in his missionary enterprises of the conversion of a chief from idolatry. Romatane decreed the destruction of his temples, the conflagration of his gods, and the erection of a house for God. We must hot pride ourselves in monu- chap, xiv.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY . EOSEA. ls7 ments of genius, gains of the world, and external performances in religion. I cration to God excludes every kind of worship to strange gods. " Make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it he heard out of thy mouth " ( Ex. xxiii. 1 :{). 2. Former sins are renounced. Israel were guilty of two things— reliance anon foreign aid and upon their own warlike strength, (a) Unman depend nounced. " Asshur shall not save us." TliL'.y will betake themselves no more to an arm of flesh : for vain is the help of man. Human helps must never take the place of God. All merit and self-righteousness must be renounced. Thebes! pn true repentance is utter forsaking of former sin. (b) Dependence upon self is re- nounced. The horse was a symbol of their own, as well as foreign strength. " .\ horse is a vain thing for safety, neither shall he deliver any by his - th." The strongest self-defences are nothing when most needed. Sennacherib with all his cavalry was no match for the angel of God. We must not look to creature strength, to personal merit, for salvation. " The sufficiency of my merit is to know that my merit is not sufficient," says Quarles. " Some put their trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God." 3. Entire return to God is seen. The true penitent rises up from his fall, feels that he cannot stay in distance, and returns right up to God. Many vow and never perform, resolve and resolve again, but never forsake their sins. Others shed tears, feel desires, and take some steps towards repentance, and con- clude that they are safe. The prodigal started home, did not merely turn his face, nor stop half-way; but "came to his father," up to Iris father's house, quite home. — Many come out of Egypt who never enter Canaan; put on garment-; oi sorrow, who never rend their hearts and return to God. Half-conversions are un- safe ; "almost a Christian " is not enough. Nothing short of actual conversion will do ; an entire change is necessary. Whatever distance we travel, however high we mount in religion, if we come short of Christ we cannot be saved. " If thou wilt return, 0 Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me" (Jer. iv. 1). III. Its method. " Take with you words and ton to the Lord." Words are not necessary to I tod. We do not induce him to bless us by mere words. We may argue and persuade men to grant a thing ; but words without meaning are sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. 1. Take words of confession. God does not require costly gifts ; nor burnt-offerings of goats and bullocks ; but a humble and contrite heart ; a full and free confession of sin. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 2. Take words oj prayer. " Say unto him." God himself supplies the words and directs our hearts. We are sensible of inaptitude and ignorance ; but he bestows the spirit of prayer, and orders our speech before him (Job xxxvii. 19). Method is helpful in everything, and the ordering of words in prayer, words marshalled like military ranks, may Quicken and discipline. "Method is the soul of business." Ask for two things, (a) Take away iniquity. The true penitent is most concerned about sin, desires to 1"' free from its consequences and dominion, to be entirely cleansed and preserved in the future. "All iniquity." We must not have partial zeal, but strike at all sin. great and small. God must take it away from our hearts and lives. We can neither remove its guilt nor destroy its power. God's grace can deliver, renew and - "If the Son make you free, ye shall be free indeed." (b) Receive us Qraowwy. When God has pardoned sin and imparted grace, he accepts our imperfect sei "Give what thou demandest and then require what thou wilt," says Augustine. The gifts are from God and then received by him. " For all tilings come of the.. ■ and of thine own have we given thee." 3. Take words of thankegx ving^ " Bj i will we render the calves, i.e. the fruit, of our lips, giving thanks to his nun- (Heb. xui. 15). Those that receive much from God " will offer the sacrifice oi praise to < • I continually." The expressions of the lips will spring from a grateful heart. service without sincerity of heart is an abomination to God : but a holy lift- perpetual thank-offering. The sacrifices of the law are abolished j but God s good- 188 HOMILETIC COMMENTARF: HOSE A. [CHAP. XIV. Bees lays as under deep obligation to praise him. The penitent feels that he can- not praise too much, and resolves that the language of his lips and the fruit of his life shall bo given to God. " Excellent speech becometh not a fool : much less (In lying lips a prince." IV. Its motive. 1. God will hear prayer. This we may presume, and hence the request. "Take words." But this truth is specially re- vealed and taught in the word of God. The grand fact which distinguishes God from heathen deities is the fact that he is accessible. " 0 thou that hearest prayer ! " We have every encouragement and every motive to pray. " It is tho first thing wherewith a righteous life beginneth, and the last wherewith it doth end. So much of our lives is celestial and divine as we spend in the exercise of prayer," writes Booker. 2. God will have mercy upon the miserable. "With thee tho fatherless findeth mercy." Men without God are fatherless; orphans in a sinful yn n Id. [srael was helpless, and the prey to every oppressor. The sinner forsaking God forsakes his own mercy. Christ does not leave his people orphans, or com- fortless (John xiv. 18). God, " the Father of the fatherless," will have compassion on returning sinners. Men are cruel, but God is kind, and reserves his greatest mercy for greatest need. God governs not as an absolute monarch, but as a tender father. He has greater pleasure in showing his goodness than his power. " The poor com- mitteth himself unto thee : thou art the helper of the fatherless." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 1. Fallen. The holy contrast- ed with the sinful state of man. Fall- en in nature and condition, in pursuit and desire. God calls men to him by his prophets and his providence. " 0 Israel." " It is well to hear when God calls tlirough his deeds ; but it is better to hear his words." Return. l.Tlie object. "The Lord thy God," — not to a strange god. The God of mercy, and the fountain of all good. 2. The reason. " Thou hast fallen. H Thoughts of a fall should make us think of rising from our sad condition. Ver. 2. Take words. The influence of words in prayer — 1. Not necessary to inform God of our wants. 2. A means of stirring up and relieving our own hearts. "Words require more exer- tion than tin nights, and influence our minds by tlu-ir sounds. 3. Exercise a power over others often when uttered — prompts them to kindred feelings and acts, and quickens them with pathos, passion, and thought. 4. When our words accord with our hearts and tho Scriptures wo shall be encouraged. 5. God supplies us with words adapted to our varied feelings and necessities. Come to God with his own words. Plead help in his own promises, and you shall find it. " Men must as well look to their words, as to their feet, when they come before God; and see that their affections in prayer be not without answerable expressions in lips." Say unto him. Mentally and vocally, with spirit and speech. Prayer is not the labour of the lips, but the travail of the heart, and God hath promised to answer his people before they call (Is. lxv. 24). By calling upon his name we neither inform him of what he knows not, nor move him to show us more mercy than he intendeth. But yet prayers are necessary, as a means which God will have used, that he may receive what he of free mercy giveth. Besides, it prepareth us holily to enjoy the things received; and makes us ready either to wait for them or to want them ; and to be content, that he may be glori- fied, though we be not gratified [Trapp]. Prayer to God to take away all in- iquity, contains a confession of sin and expresses our faith, that we place our whole hope of recovering our lost purity and of obtaining salvation in the mercy of Christ. Receive good. What other good can we offer, than detestation of our past sin, with burning desire of holiness 1 This is the burnt-offering. Lastly, we will repay the calves of our lips, is the promise of that solemn vow, most chap, xiv.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: I10SEJ. acceptable to God, whereby Ave bind vidence (Ps. lxviii 4 5 • vxvii \tt\ i \ ourselves to keep in continual remem- description of the 'shWa \ 1 V ' brance all the benefits of God, and to Without the L^SgSSrf render ceaseless praise to the Lord, who a father. 2. A display of Gtaft crcv has bestowed on us such priceless gifts When earthly fathers sleep in the p J. ' 1 ■ v5J'q ^ ,7, 7 a , * G°d watches °ver and provides for Ver. 3. Fatherless. A plea for orphan children. This should be a orphans God takes special care of motive to penitence, prayer and duilv them in his law (Ex. xxii. 22) and pro- trust in God. 7 ' y Health and Divine Favour. — Ferse 4. In response to penitential return to God, he will heal the wounds of his people and bestow upon them the blessings of his grace. I. We have health. " I will heal their backsliding." 1. T7ie disease. " Back- sliding." All sin is a disease ; backsliding is the most dangerous. It endangers present holiness, joy, and usefulness, and imperils the future. It begins almost °im- perceptibly, first in the heart, then in the closet, and then in the Church. Private prayer loses its relish, spiritual enjoyments cease, and then the means of grace are neglected. As a sheep that wanders from the fold never seeks to return, so the backslider "wanders on still more and more astray," till the Divine shepherd brings him back. " If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him." 2. The cure. " I will heal." Apostasy is no ordinary wound, but God can heal it. (a) By the pardon of sin. The blood of Christ cleanses from all sin. (b) By re- moving the effects of sin. Taking away its guilt, power, and dominion ; destroying the bent, the tendency within us to go back, (c) By restoring to all good. God himself and lost comfort are regained. The cure is efficient. It is restoration to perfect soundness. The cure is certain. " I will heal." God is a physician that never fails. Cases helpless and hopeless can be healed by Mm. Christ cured most desperate diseases, so backsliding children may be restored, " For I am the Lord that healeth thee." II. We have Divine favour. " I will love them." 1. Angx r is turned away I "Mine anger is turned away from him." God is displeased with sin, but his anger will be turned away from those who repent. This is a proof and an assurance of his love. The clouds with which a guilty conscience covers God shall disperse, and sunshine beam forth in brightness and beauty again. 2. /.<<'■<' is manifest. " I will love them." (a) Love in its icidest scope. "Them." Whol Moralists and worldly respectable 1 No ! but those who have despised his authority and trifled with former mercies. Backsliders from God. (b) Love in Us gracious nature. "Freely." Spontaneously and liberally, because he will love. Freely, without money and without price ; freely, without inducement and without merit ; freely, without reluctance and stint, (c) Love in its loftiest source, "/will lavs them." God is love — pure, unchanging benignity, the fountain, the fulness of love. A word to the sinner — God loves thee. A direction to the penitent — believe and re- turn to God. To the Christian — " love so amazing, so Divine, demands thy soul, thy life, thy all." Grace Abounding. — Verse 4. This sentence is a body of divinity in miniature. The sense hinges upon the word " freely." Here is the glorious, the suitable, the Divine way by which lore streams from heaven to earth. In the text we have two great doctrine*. I will announce, establish, and apply the first. § I The first great doctrine is this, that there is nothing in man to attract the love Of God to Mm. We have to establish this doctrine. Our firct argument 190 1IOMILETIC COMMENTARY : HOSEA. [chap. xrv. is found in the origin of that love. Our second, that t\\o> whole plan of Divine good- ness is < ntiri ly opposed to the old covi nant of works. Thirdly, the substance of God's love, < learly proves thai it cannot be man's goodness which makes God love him. Remember, further, the objects of God's love, and we shall soon see that it could not be anything in them which constrains God to love them. We are informed in Scripture thai the love of God and bias fruit of the love of Godave a gift. But what practical use of this doctrine 1 It oilers comfort to those who do not feel fit to come to Christ. The text is a death-blow to all kinds of fitness and un worthiness. It invites backsliders to return. The text specially written for them. II. Nothing in man can be an effectual bar to God's love. If anything in man to bar God's grace, then thia would have been a hindrance to its coming to any of the human race, it would have prevented the salvation of those undoubtedly saved, it would mar the sovereignty of God, be a great slur upon the grace of God, and detract . from the gospel. The love of God has provided means to meet the extremes! case. They are twofold — the power of Christ and the power of the Spirit Bpurgeon]. .Reviving Grace. — Verses 5 — 7. The promise of good is continued. The supply is unfailing, and many images are given to exhibit the manifold grace of God and the results of that grace. We have refreshing influence, luxuriant growth, and social usefulness, in a sevenfold metaphor. I. Refreshing influence. " I will be as the dew unto Israel." This is a great contrast to &e desolation of sin (ch. xiii. 15). Spots most barren revive and flourish by God's blessing. The "liquid diamonds of the morn" descend on the mown grass to quicken and refresh it (Ps. lxxii. 6). Drops of dew are "fruitful nourishers of herbs and flowers." Gardens and vineyards parched with heat shall flourish again. This heavenly baptism of dew shall invigorate dying plants, renew vegetation, and beautify the garden of the Lord. " Times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord " shall come, and the Church shall grow in beauty, strength, and fruitfulness. This influence will be — 1. A constant, 2. An efficient, 3. An abundant blessing. "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning : thou hast the dew of thy youth." II. Luxuriant growth. The prophel dwells with delight and at some length on the idea of fruit/illness. This Divine influence is given to promote the growth of the Church. We are i hosen to " bring forth fruit, and that our fruit should 'remain." God is "glorified " when we " bear much fruit." What God promises to give we should earni tly desire to have. 1. Beauty in growth. "He shall grow as the lily." The lily is the fairest of flowers. Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these plants. God seeks to make his people morally beautiful and pure in their lives. The beauty of holiness is comely to God and useful to man. But this beauty tnanent. The beauty of the lily soon decays, but that of "the olive tree" forever. Whal a lustre from the life of one " beautified with salvation"! His outward conducl is attractive in every part, and his inward dispositions of love and humility are well pleasing to God himself Man transformed into God's image is more attractive and more durable than natural beauty "God in the redemption of tin; soul," says Emerson, " has solved the problem of restoring to the most original internal beauty." Beauty is truth, truth hoauty, — that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. 2. Rooted in growth. " Cast forth Ids roots as Lebanon." There must be down- ward as will as upward growth. God's people must not be all foliage and pro- 1 ion. All spiritual growth is growth at the root. The root of the matter must be within, to "spread its branches," and manifest its vigour in every good word and chap, xiv.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: U OS E.I. 191 work. This alone can give stability to principle and character. The seed without root withered away (Matt. xiii. 6). We must he rooted and grounded in love (Eph. iii. 17). If only like a lily, we may he wafted by the wind, and in danger of being carried away. But if firm at the root, we shall be immovable aa oedarsof Lebanon, which storms of centuries could not uproot. "They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot he removed, but abideth for ever." 3. Exparu growth. "His branches shall spread." True religion will manifest itself in open profession. It leads its possessors to come forth from obscurity, and openly cob Christ before men. " His branches," his acts and example, are Been in the family, the prayer-meeting, and the house of God. But like the trees of Lebanon, 1: branches widely spread, to offer shade and shelter from the burning heat and terrible storm. His religion is luxuriant and his heart expansive. Be outgrows the narrowness of a creed and the boundaries of a sect. His sympathies and efforts are world-wide : his outstretched arms aiford grace and protection to all. " It be- cometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branohes thereof." 4. Fragrant in growth. "And his smell as Lebanon." This is twice mentioned, and is worthy of notice. " The scent of Lebanon's wine has a remarkable aroma." Christian influence, like the name of Christ, " is as ointment poured forth." His conversation is refreshing and delightful ; his prayers are sweet odours (Rev. v. 8) ; and his deeds of charity are an odour of good smell (Phil. iv. 18). In proportion as a Christian lives near to God, does the smell of life reveal itself to man. " Thanks be to God which maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place." The Church shall yet revive, and be like " the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed." " How much better is thy love than wine ! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices ! " (Cant. iv. 10). III. Social usefulness. The corn and the vine are emblems of Christian usefulness. They are often unpromising in appearance, but revived by the genial influence of the sun and the rain, and bless others with their fruitfulness. In others restored to God there will be a revival of religion. They shall be for protection and prog 1. The Church blessed shall protect others. "They that dwell under bis Bhadow shall return." Religion is not selfishness. It is intended for others. Mini parents, and Sunday-school teachers have men dwelling under their Bhadow requiring sympathy and instruction. Where can we flee for help, in exposure and penitence, but to the people of God ] If you want to do good to others, and be eminently useful in bringing them to Christ, live to him yourself, an rich and fragrant in the odour of his grace. Live under his Bhadow, and ol " shall return " to dwell with you. Lord Peterborough said of the home of Fenel »n, "If I stay here any longer I shall become a Christian in spite of mj 2. The Church blessed shall contribute to the progress of others. " They shall re\ iye the corn." In whatever sense we take these words, the thought is thie— quickened themselves, they shall quicken and advance others. They revive and cull everything good and useful. God's people help on, and never hinder, the pr. of the world t11-— »«° ^»t^ Moaaincra tn it, than corn and \ from sin fruit as verse, and prayer. Thus the cause of God revives m one piace believers ripen for heaven, and grow more usefid on earth ; God is glorified, ana sinners are saved. HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Dew. 1. The dew falls very quietly Beautiful** the dew; sheddinga glory and gently. 2. The dew falls very over every common thing. ftw«W« copiously. 3. The dew is very refresh- dew ; not in thunder and power Pi «J H I The dew is very fertilizing, trating as the dewj >^»g** 5. The dew is very near [Dr. Raleigh}, into every plant on which it falls, and 199 110MILETIC COMMENTARY : HOSEA. [CHAP. XIV. maintaining its vegetative powers. 1. As dew is the purest water in nature, so the- presence of God is the greatest blessing. 2. As dew is necessary to the growth and beauty of herbs and plants, so the blessing of God is necessary for the beauty of the heart and life. 3. As dew falls most copiously in the night, 80 God's presence is most felt in dark- ness and trouble. Ver. 5. As the lily. 1. In silence as a lily. 2. In beauty as a lily. 3. In purity as a lily. 4. In fruitfulness as a lily. Happy nre the pure, whose heart Freely blooms in every part ; Godly acts are living gems, Fit for crowns and diadems. Learn — 1. That God can make his Church beautiful and pleasant. 2. That beauty and apparent excellency are worth little without root and stability. 3. That no pretence of root and stability should hinder visible fruits of grace. 4. That visible fruits of grace must not consist in profession or ostentation, but in living, green, and permanent deeds. 5. That a Church thus fruitful will be acceptable to God, and useful to others. 6. That it is our duty to seek these things, for God has promised to bestow them. Christian fruitfulness is a manifold and various thing. It is not all of one kind. One life is not meant exactly to be like another life. Each is cast in its own type, and when the life is cast, the type or mould is broken. Of course it is broken, because it was composed in part of circumstances which never were before, nor ever can be again. Let each " planted " soul rejoice to feel rooted in him ! and then let each grow freely ac- cording to his will — not fearing, but gladly daring to branch, and blossom, and fructify, according to the law of in- dividual life. The lily ! the olive tree ! the corn ! the vine ! the cedar ! all these are growing in God's garden ; and there is room and dew for them all [Raleigh]. Types of Christian character found in the vegetable kingdom. The lily in its beauty ; the olive in its greenness ; the cedar in its firmness ; the vine with its clusters ; and the corn with its bounty ; all set forth the variety and completeness of Christian character. HOMILETICS. God in Relation to a Converted People. — Verse 8. These words represent Ephraim in his return to God ; and God in his kindness to Ephraim. God has nothing to do with idols, therefore his people do not put them in competition with him; entirely renounce them ; return unto him, and are accepted ami hlrssed. I. God attracts a converted people. " Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols]" Once he was "joined to idols," and in the midst of Divine chastisement stupidly resolved, " I will go after my lovers." Now he renounces all former sins and depends upon God. The world has no attraction to the true convert. He forsakes his evil ways and companions \ parts with everything which disputes allegiance with God; and makes no idol of opinions, parties, or means. He Ins been drawn to God in love and power. He turns away from the glitter which fascinates to the treasure which enriches. He envies not, he seeks not the worldling's portion. God is all in all to him. "Whom have I in heaven but thee 1 and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee." II. God accepts a converted people. " /" is here emphatic. I have heard the confession and ac- cepted it. God had hid his face before, or observed them only in his displeasure ; now he watches over then and provides for them. 1. God hears their prayers. " I have heard him." Prayer is an indication of a change of heart. Saul was no sooner converted, than he cried, " Lcrd, what wilt thou have me to do 1 " Angels in heaven say of such a one, " Behold, he prayeth." Prayer is the first breathing of Divine life, and then becomes "the Christian's native air." He may be despised, and considered weak in mind, or disordered in imagination, by the world : hut Gud chap, xiv.] JIOMILETIC COMMENTARY . HOSEA. regards and hears him. " Before they call, I will answer ; and while they are yet speaking I will hear." 2. God delights in their character. "Ami observed him." God is everywhere and observes all men. But more is intended here than observation. He is anxious about his people, cares for them ami provides for them. He delights in them, and seeks to do them good. II'1 seesthe penitenl a greal way off, and desires his return. He knows and approves of bis conduct. II acquainted with all the remorse, the contrition, and the resolutions nf the returning sinner. " Is Ephraim my dear son ] Is he a pleasant child? For since I Bpake against him, I do earnestly remember him still; therefore my bowels are troubled for him ; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord." III. God beautifies a converted people. He is "like a, given fir-tree" unto them. The fir i> tall ami stately, beautiful in appearance, fragrant, and useful. Without pressing the metaphor; it pictures the constant shelter, the lasting beauty, ami the perpetual life of God to the soul. Created beauty is a faint image of mora] life. ( Ihristiana are beautified, winter and summer ; are ever fresh and ever flourishing by sap and virtue from God. God is the same to the soul at all times ami in all places : the constant shade and the undying verdure of Ins people. In the restoration "I < i image to man and the godly life of a believer we have the embodiment of "the sublime and beautiful." " He will beautify the meek with salvation." IV. God fertilizes a converted people. " From me is thy fruit found." Before conversion they have neither beauty, enjoyment, nor fruit in life. But God supplies all de- ficiency in them. He affords repast as well as repose. The fir-tree may he a shelter and evergreen, but yields no fruit. Fruit, ami shelter are united in God. "I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste." 1. The fruit they enjoy comes from. God. In pardon ami peace, in the comforts of the Holy Ghost, and the foretastes of heaven : they have the earnest, the first-fruits of eternal bliss. They possess it in their hearts, hut God is the source and giver. The Church is not the fountain of sufficiency ; the creed not the supply of grace. In God is our joy, from God our life, and to God must he our praise. "All my springs are in thee." 2. Thefry.it liny produce comes from Grace in the heart leads to activity in the life. We receive the gifts, hut he im- parts them. We repent and believe, but faith and repentance are produced by him. We obey, but he inclines and helps us. " As the branch cannol hear fruit of it- self, except it abide in the vine ; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I tod therefore is the source of all fruits in this lifeand that which is to come. ~ U ith- out me ye can do nothing." The fruits of the Spirit result from the work ol the Spirit. "The fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God." HOMILETIG HINTS AND OUTLINES. Idols. The language expresses former with God. " I have heard him;" there- attachment, present aversion and rejec- fore the response should be, - J* hat have tion. "What have I to do any more I to do any more with idols withidols?" 1. They have been a source 1. God is & protection to nu people, of pain. 2. A source of shame. 3. A « like a green fir-tree ll.ry -it- source of degradation. The more peni- counter blasts and '1;'''^ ,n \'. y^ tent we are, and the more we taste of to him ; but he shelters 1cm bom he God's goodness, the more useless do idols storm (Is. iv. 0 . 2 ^""« appearand the more do we loathe former his people. Without '" ' , r sins "What fruit had ye in those ren in their souls, and unfruitful wtneu things, wW ye are now ashamed?" lives. Support in penit^ce ;nd du y Those who pray oftenest and secure springs from him. From greatest blessings will see the emptiness fruit found.'- and vanity of everything in competition Human nature, by itself, can M little 13 194 EOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HOSEA. [cn.vr. xiv. bear Emit well pleasing to God as the grace, is a miracle of grace. The pine or cypress can bear fruit for human presence of works of grace attests the age, Ajb Li were a miracle in nature, immediate working of God the Holy were these trees to bring forth Buch Ghost, as much as any miracle in nature fruit, so, for man to bring forth fruits of [Pusey], HOMILETICS. The Ways of God and the Destinies of Men. — Verse 9. In this epilogue the prophet sums up his teachiug, and seeks to "justify the ways of God to man." The dealings of God with men are often mysterious and difficull to understand; but are right in themselves, designed to lead to life, and will influence men according to their treatment of them. I. The ways of God in their aspects towards men. These ways indicate the ways of Providence and the paths of duty; God's treatment of men and his requirements from them. 1. They are right in themselves. "The ways of the Lord are right." No fault can he found with them, (a) They are conformed to the will of God, which is holy and just; the standard of righteousness to the universe. (J) They are the most direct and straight line to a right end. They never deviate from truth and duty. They are more holy and more trustworthy than any code of morals. Invincible in power and unimpeachahle in justice. "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." (c) They are proved to 1"' right by our moral nature. The written word accords with the human conscience ; the law without is confirmed by the testimony within. We have a sense of obligation, approve the right, though we follow the wrong. "We are idled with remorse and delight. The work of the law is written in our hearts, our conscience hears witness, and our thoughts accuse or excuse us con- tinually (Kom. ii. 15). 2. They are difficult to be understood. " Who is Avise?" M ■ tery and majesty, justice and mercy, are displayed in God's providence. We are finite creatures, and should not presume to penetrate "the clouds and darkness round about him." There are "things hard to be understood " in the works as well as iii the word of < lod. We may go forward and backward, on the right hand and on the left, and yet not perceive God (Job xxiii. 8 — 10). " It is the of God to conceal a thing" (Prov. xxv. 2). "Little can we at the beginning of any action guess at God's intention in the conclusion," says Bp Hall. "His judgments are unsearchable, and his ways past, finding out." Some are obvious and plain; written with beams of light and love; and he that runs may read. Others are obscure and beyond our comprehension. "Lo! these are parts of his way-; hut how little a portion is heard of him!" 3. Tet enough maybe Jaioivn for the duties of life. The que: tion indicates thai some know, that all who wish may know, and do right "The prudent shall know them." God's ways are unsearchable to the intellectual ami the theorist, but intelligible to the humble and the obedient. We know a part, and that is enough to practise. Aristotle teaches thai tic end of moral science is not knowledge, but practice. "Those have the he-t knowledge who know their duty," says .Matt. Henry. "Let no man," says South, "pre nine that he can see beforehand into the ways of Providence. His part is to contemplate them in the past, and trust in them for the future: but so trusting, to act always upon motives of human prudence, directed by religious principles." II. The ways of God in their requirements from men. "Who is and prudi nt /" 1. They /•< quire t<> be I: mum. Many have a slight acquaint- v.ith them, but few study them. The wise alone meditate upon them and understand them. The proud and self-conceited often scoff and ridicide. A right ami teachable disposition is required. "He that comes to seek after knowledge with a mind to scorn and censure, shall be sure to find enough for his humour, chap, xiv.] JIOMILETIC COMMENT ARV. HOSEJ. y.,r, but none for his instruction" [Bacon]. True wisdom is to understand what wt have to do, and "knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth " this. A trne heart and a ready mind, a single eye and a right motive, will make the path of duty easy. " If any man will" (is willing, wishes to) "do his will, he ahal] know of the doctrine, whether it he of God." 2. They require f<> be observed. "The just shall walk in them." We are not to speculate, but to obey ; not to stand, but walk in the way; not merely continue, but advance in it. Delay and sloth create difficulty, raise "a hedge of thorns," and harass to the end of the journey. Exertion and hope will make the way plain and prosperous (Prov. xv. 19). Wail not for louder calls and greater opportunities. "Duties arc ours, events are < \>4'<.'' " To wait for God's performance and do nothing is to abuse that Divine provi which will always so work as not to allow us to remain in inactivity " [B/> Hull]. "Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord." Act an honest part. Look before thee as thou goest, Do the duty which thou knowest. III. The ways of God in their influence upon men. "Transgressors shall fall therein." Truth will influence according to the method in which it is received. The best blessings may be perverted by malicious dispositions. "The things which should have been for his wealth become to him an occasion of falling " | Ps. Ixix. 22). "Christ himself is set for the rising and falling of many" (Luke ii. 34). Hence the ways of God influence men in two methods. 1. The righteous walk in them and live. The wise discern their rectitude and desire to secure their end. The righteous walk in them, become like them, and live in them. There is much to discourage and oppose ; but the sincere persevere in holiness, add strength to strength, and enjoy foretastes of heaven. " The righteous also shall hold" (take firm hold) "on his way, and he that is of clean hands shall be stronger and stroi 2. The ungodly deviate from, them and perish. If God's ways lead to life, depart- ing from them must be death. The disobedient stumble at the word and the ways of God. They are offended at the requirements and the providence of God. They transgress, fall, and perish. This is the sum of Hosea's ministry ; the fulfilment of ancient prediction (Deut. xxx. 19, 20) ; and the general effect of gospel preach- ing (1 Cor. i. 18). God's ways are just and true. Those who walk in them shall live, and those who depart from them shall perish. "Whoso readeth, let him understand." ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER XIV. Ver. 2. "Words are the daughters permitted to mount; and thus accoutred, of earth, and deeds are the sons of galloped to the shrine at Godmundham, heaven." where the chief idol si I. hurled his Ver. 3. Gods. At the introduction lance into the enclosure, and profaned of Christianity into this country, a the consecrated shrine The people, general council was summoned to con- encouraged by the example of their sider the new doctrines of Paulinus. All priest, destroyed the sacred temple. present were unanimous as to the utter Ver. 4. "We would always look inefficiency of the gods whom they hopefully at a sinner under correction. worshipped. Coifi, the pagan high- For surely so long as the physician priest, in an eloquent harangue proposed administers the medicine^ I h their overthrow, and casting aside his ground for despondency priestly garments, called for arms, which "Consumption, when it once cornea to Saxon priests were forbidden to wield, be really consumption, is beyond all and for a horse, which they were not doubt utterly incurable by ordinary lOii 1I0MLETIC COVMEXTARY : HOSE A. [CHA.P. XIV. medicine ; and though many remedies may assist the Bufferei and prolong his life, yet, aa a rule, consumption is the herald of death; and so backsliding is incurable by any human humus, and would 1"' tht> forerunner of total apos- wciv it net for Divine grace" \Spurgeon\. Ver. 5 — 7. "How full of beauty and poetry is this passage! There is no book so poetic in its character as the Book of inspiration. Apart from the sublimity of the matters treated and the glory of the doctrines, the style itself is enough to make the book pre- cious to every reader. It is a wondrous book ; it is the book of God : yea, as Herbert says, 'the god of books.' It is a book full of stars : every page blazes with light ; from almost every sentence there beams forth some beauti- ful metaphor, some glorious figure" [Spurgeon], Smell. "Whitfield speaks of one young man who said, " I will not leave my old father's house, for there is not a chair or a table there but smells of his piety." Ver. 9. Providences are sometimes dark texts, which require an expositor (Gen. xlii. 36). They that would judge aright of any one of the Lord's dis- pensations must be careful students of them all. They must not slight any work of his, because all, though they may be many and difficult to us, make but one entire work in God's hand. And every part of that work is a com- mentary, clearing the nature and use of the whole and God's intent therein [Nisbet]. Just are the ways of God, And justifiable to men ; Unless there he- who think not God at all. HO MILE TIC COMMENTARY ON JOEL. INTEODUCTION. The Person, Joel (Jehovah is God), is distinguished from others of that name as "the son of Pethuel." This is the only direct notice of him ; all other incidi nte must be gathered from his prophecy. He was commissioned to Judah, probably lived in Jerusalem, for he was familiar with the temple, priests, and ordinances of worship. The Time. Nowhere expressly stated and cannot he fixed with certainty. He makes no allusion to idolatry. [The temple service seems to he flourishing, and tin- only enemies mentioned are the Phoenicians and Philistines, the Edomites and Egyptians. Amos alludes to the words of Joel, winch must have therefore been written and known before that time. He was probably the earliest of the prophi t>, and delivered his predictions in the early days of Joash, king of Judah, u. c. 870 — 865. His style belongs to an early date, and the time agrees with the state i if tilings under Jehoiada, the high priest who placed Joash on the throne (2 Kings xi. 17, 18; xii. 2—16; 2 Chron. xxiv. 4—14). The Booh: The order of 0. T. books not arranged according to date, but for convenience. Joel is free from local circumstances, political and geographical al- lusions. Its style is animated and finished, proves the prophet to be an accom- plished man. " He has no abrupt transitions, is everywhere connected, and finishes whatever he takes up. In description he is graphic and perspicuous, in arrange- ment lucid, in imagery original, copious, and varied." He was accustomed to think clearly and speak logically. Ewald says that "he was in early times the. highest model, so that his successors all followed his elevated precedent." He had an eye for the beautiful in nature, and in love with its wondrous scenes. He watched the ways of insects and read the lessons of the .stars. Like Christ, he saw the image of the invisible God in creation, and taught us ever to reveal it in our ministry. Its contents most easily and naturally divided into two | Part First. Lessons of Providence; devastation by locusts ; general droi and summons to repentance (chap. i. — ii. 18). The description was held I terrible for locusts. But naturalists and travellers have confirmed its truth, and we have no need to imagine armies or invasions to account for the destruction. " W ben they swarm and descend, all vegetation instantly vanishes ; they spare neither bark 198 IXTRODVCTIOX. nor root, much less leaf and flower. They darken the air, so that the sun and even men at a little distance become invisible. They advance in a close military array, which yields to no obstacle of stream or fire. As they advance a peculiar roaring noise is heard, like that of a torrent or waterfall." No sooner do they settle to eat, than, as Volney puts it, the grating sound of their mandibles reminds one of the ing of an invisible army. In these calamities the prophet saw the providence of ( rod, and a reason for national humiliation. Hence the moral lessons from these natural events. Part Second. Lessons for the future ; deliverance from judgment and promise of t > it ile seasons to Israel; the day of the Lord introduced by the out- pouring of the Spirit; a day of destruction to all enemies, but to the Church a day of Balvation (chap. ii. 19 — iii.). Joel is the prophet of judgment, the prophet of repentance, and the prophet of hope. His truths are spiritual, relate to all times, and belong to all individuals. There is a dreadful judgment before men ; but they need not despair. God will save them if they repent and believe. But how is repent- possible 1 The Holy Spirit will bestow it and aid us to live to God. This relation deepens our responsibility before our Judge. Grace is offered, a renewed life is possible, and if we use our privileges aright, the day of judgment will be to us a day of deliverance and blessedness. Thus these doctrines form an inseparable whole ; revealing God in nature and grace, predicting the Saviour, giving the Holy Spirit, and offering eternal glory to all. chap, i.] IIOMILETK COMMMTJRT: JOEL. CHAPTER I. Critical Notes.] The prophecy opens with lamentation over the land, made desolate by suc- cessive swarms of locusts. Ver. 2—4 contain the spirited introduction. Old men] are rail, ,]' „,„„, to note the unusual course of nature. Inhabitants] of Jndah, whatever part they occupy, and what- ever calamities they have witnessed, are asked to say if in their own, or in the days m their fathers there had ever been a calamity so sweeping and so terrible. Children] must be impr< - d with a sense of national disaster, and admonished by the providence of God (Ex. xiii. 8; Josh. iv. 6 7- Ps. lxxviii. G, 8; ver. 4). The four names of the locusts have been thought to be four different species indicated by the etymology of the words, the guainr (g&zsm); the multiplier farbeh); the licker (yeleq) ; the devourer (chRzil). Some critics say that four is the Bymhol of universality. 5. Drunkards] An appeal to different classes. Wine-bibbers indulging in their favourite liqaoi be roused from stupor to " weep and howl," though usually jolly in national calamity. 6. A nation] Lit. some; four successive empires; symbolically others. The epithets describe their number and savage hostility. 1. Vine] and fig-trees, common and greatly valued in the days of Solomon (1 Kings iv. 25), now destroyed. 8. A virgin] The impersonated nation to lament with the - and despair of a young girl, whose hopes have been blighted, and her beloved taken away by a stroke (Ezek. xvi. 8). 9.] The cessation of temple service would be the greatest sorrow, and would it the nation with a sense of Divine displeasure. Cut off] by locust-, who have i at. n np the m olive, and the wheat, for sacrificial use. Priests] lost not merely subsistence, but appointed offerings to Jehovah. 10. The field] Nature sympathizing in the woes of men; the open uuinclosed coun- try and the land, Heb. rich red soil, fenced and cultivated, feel the loss. 11. J The third to husbandmen and vinedressers. Wheat and barley destroyed before their ey< - ; vines languish and choice fruit-trees perish. 12. Joy] The joy of harvest withered away (Ps. iv. 7 : Is. i\. 3 . 13.] A summons to repentance. Priests] first ; they have been negligent, and must Bet the exami penitence. Sackcloth] Outward garments must indicate inward grief (Is. \\\ii. 11: Jer, i 14. Sanctify] Set apart, hallow days of fasting. Solemn assem.] Lit. proclaim a restraii let young and old cease manual labour to fast and pray (2 Chron. xx. 3 — 18). Elders] in and age. Cry] Not a mere formal fast, but intense and earnest prayer for mercy and help. 15. The day] of anger (Is. xiii. 9) and ill omen; evil in itself , and foreshadowing greater evils ; a transition from invading locusts to the day of judgment upon all ungodly men. Presi nt calamities arei lotbi d in greater terror when regarded as a type of the last judgment. Joi 1 would have the people tl regard them. Hence present suffering should quicken to penitence and faith. Destruction] An aspect of the last day seen now. 16.] Food cutoff, the joy of festivals and Bacrifici a banished. 17. Seed] decayed under the clods. Garners] Storehouses went to ruin and prospects ol future fa were blighted. 18.] From the homestead attention is directed to the fields. Cattle] bewildered because the plains often cropped yield no pasture. Sheep] seem to mourn lie guilt or man, 19.] Beasts cry to God, but man hears not; the prophet is touched and cries for the imp. nit. nt. To thee] beasts even lift their heads in dumb appeal, and to thee I cry, for thou art the only hope (Is. xv. 5 ; Jer. xxiii. 9), amid the insensibility of man, the distress of nations, and the judgments of providence. HOMILETICS. God's Message demands Earnest Attention.-. Verso* 1 — 1. Since the establishment of the kingdom Judahhad seen partial and temporary judgments, Imt none that threatened such destruction as this fearful plague of locusts. Hence the prophet calls attention to it, and urges them to consider its design and transmit its record to posterity. Generations to come must know the judgments of God. I. The message. " Hear this," recorded in ver. 1. The visitation is unparalleled and never to be forgotten in history. 1. // was terrible. Not a mere visit of flying insects, but a succession, plague was to succeed plague, each more destructive than its predecessor. In ordinary providences God testifies againsl .-in. and churches arc made warnings to all generations by the justice ol ' ■• & ' I penal resources are unlimited, and great as afflictions may have been in the] the future may bring upon guilty sinners greater still "Why should ye be ooo EOMILETIC COMMENT JUT: JOEL. [chai\ i. stricken any more 1" '2. It was unprecedented. "Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathersl" Old men who could remember events years ccustomed to extraordinary things in nature, had never seen anything like this. Even in the days of their fathers, in the records of the nation, was there any judg- ment bo terrible in its consequences. Neither the present nor the past generations had known such a calamity. The plague of Egypt lasted only a few days and con- I nf i'. w insects; bu1 for multitude and mischief, this was unprecedented. "Very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be Buch." •"». // was ever to be remembered. "Tell ye your children of it," &c. Four generations were to note it. "Tins shall be written for the generation to come." National disasters live in the records of the past, and present calamities are to be fixed in I he memories of the future. Greece and Rome, France ami England, have each their record written in hitter experience. Woe is pronounced upon those who " n gard aol the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands " (Is. v. 12). II. The hearers. This calamity was so striking that the attention of the present and all future generations is directed to it. 1. Old men. " Eear this, ye old man." "Days should speak and multitude of years should teach wisdom," and none are too old to learn. Men of the greatest age and ripest experience have more to learn in life, especially if their lot has fallen in grievous limes. If our stock of knowledge be not increasing it is wasting. All should hear the voice of judgments. " A wise man will hear, and will increase learning : and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels." 2. All the inhabitants of the land. Lest any should escape, all the people are urged to give earnest attention. What concerns one concerns all. None like to hear evil tidings, but they musl be pressed upon men sometimes. When God speaks, when vital interests are at stake, all should hear. " Hear this, all ye people ; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world.'' 3. GliUdren of another generation. God's dealings with the present age have a relation to the future. The events of one nation are lessons to all nations. Whatever concerns humanity concerns all men. Generation must declare to generation the wonders of God's love and the might of his judgments. Our woes must be warnings to posterity, and our corrections their instructions (1 Cor. x. 6). If the memory of God's love does not stir up to gratitude, the menu try of woe must entreat them to repentance. " Take heed to thyself, lest thou • the things which thine eyes have seen; but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons" (Lent. iv. 9 ; vi. 6,7; xi. 19). III. The purpose. The present generation must hear and the future be taught for a wise purpose. People are aeglij ' tinsin,and bring punishment upon themselves. Hence they must be taught, -1. TJiat God watches over nun's conduct. This fact is constantly impressed upon our minds by God's ways in providence and in creation. Men cannot Bin and defy the visitations of God with impunity. Our children may learn this Lesson, future generations may read it in our history without our experience. 2. That Qod directs the events of history. All events are under his control and are overruled for the fulfilment of his will. Yet men " regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of Ins hands" (Ps. xxviii. 5). Israel forgot God in his dealings with them. Even at the Led Sea, amid the greatest displays of mercy and judgment, they could uot discern him (Ps. lxxxviii. 11 ; cvi. 13). 3. That Qod warns men of their danger. Those who forget God's works are in great danger, and have need of Divine teaching. Israel wasa favoured nation, a standing testi- mony of God's truth and exi itence to idolatrous peoples. Israel's sufferings were a warning to all to avoid Israel's guilt. God designs to educate the world in the knowledge of his love and power. The |es ,,,,-, are given to one man to relate to another, written in the experience of one age that another may be impressed; "that they mighl set their hope in Qod, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandment CHAP. 1.1 IIOMILETTC COMMENTARY i TOEL 201 HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 1. It is a mercy that God reveals his word to the Church, when he is ahout to inflict punishment upon it. This word is not to be sought in wild fanatic spirits, but in chosen servants of God. The word of the Lord that came to Joel. Individuality merged in Divine com- mission. Little known of the birth, life, and deeds of Joel. Some known by personal service rather than personal history — David's mighty men. Others content to live and act in obscurity, and wish to be known only by efforts to save the soids of men. Ver. 2. Hear God's word addressed to all classes. 1. The common dangers of men. 2. The common needs of men. 3. The common privileges of men. Take heed how ye hear. Ver. 3. Tell your children. Parental duty. 1. A necessary duty. 2. A personal duty. 3. A solemn duty. 4. A duty commanded by God (Deut. vi. 7). As far as life and means permit we must prepare for the instruction of the future youth, and transmit the doings of God by succeeding families. The word of God is for this and every age. The doctrines of that word are not effete, but adapted to our wants, and will exert HOMILETK ■>. ^National Calamities. — Verses 4, G, 7. These verses set forth that terrible calamity which was coming upon a land which God once protected and blessed, but which was devastated by a nation of Bavage and innumerable hosts. I. Calamities by diminutive creatures. In one sense nothing is insignificant in the hands of God. " A fly with God's message could choke a kin lemy Taylor. Armed with his vengeance, the meanest creatures become the mightiest In the East so proverbial is the power of the locusts, thai the insects are made to say to Mahomet, "We are the army of the -real Cod; we produce ninety-nine eggs; if the hundred were completed we should consume the whole earth and all that is in it." "In every stage of their existence," Bays Dr Thompson, " these locusts give a most impressive view of the power of God to punisha wicked world AU creatures are under God's control. The lion from the forest and the wind from heaven do his bidding. Hosts of angels and swarms of insects can punial people. II. Calamities in dreadful succession. Whatever tune interv. calamity followed calamity, each destructive, but all together mosl terrible in tneu consequences. Travellers tell us that swarm succeeds swarm, darken tl tend hundreds of miles, and devour every green thing. \ olney says that tl quantity of these insects is a thing incredible to any one who has uol seen it Him- self " The judgments of God are often linked together like a chain, each one draw- an influence as long as the race shall last. 1. God's word explains God's pro- vidence, that- we may knov. the author, cause, and design of our affliction. ■_'. What we learn in the school oi vidence we should transmit to posterity. "That the generation to cone might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children" (Pa. Ixviii. 6). I. What is to be told.' This, Le, the judgments of God upon Israel 11. To whom are they to be made known? (a) Your children, (ft) Their children, and (c) Another generation. Four generations are to keep up the re- membrance. 111. How are they to be known? " Tell, Beb. cipher them up diligently, alter the manner of arithme- ticians ; reckon up the Beveral years with the several calamities thereof to your children and nephews, that they 'may hear and fear, and do no more so" (Deut. xix. 20). Family Religion. I. The fathers1 knowledge the children's heritage. II. The fathers' tall the children's pn ation [Treasury ofDavu£\. EOMILSTIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. [ciur. i. ., n„, other. 5 at each link of the lengthening chain, allowing andtimi to break it through." If men like Pharaoh harden their hearts they will be destroyed. " By executing thy judgments upon them by little and little thou them place of repentance, not being ignorant that they inaughtj L xii. 10). III. Calamities most destructive. 1 /■ ""VI teeth are the teeth of a lion," Ac. Nothing can resist Chey gnaw even the doors of houses," says Pliny. The sharp and ; of the lion and lioness are ascribed to them. "They appear iys a traveller, " since to strength incredible for .so small a creature they add saw-like teeth, admirably calculated to eat up all the herbs in the land." •_'. 1 1 tructive to all vegetation. One feature is presented after another In a -. ttention. (a) All tender herbs were destroyed. What was left Imer-worm was eaten by the locust; " and that which the locust hath left hath the canker-worm eaten ; and that which the canker-worm hath left hath the l hoice fruit trees, such as vines and fig-trees, were destroyed. rine is most prominent as the more noble and valuable tree. It flourished from time immemorial, was mosl fruitful, and a source of wealth to the people. trees of Judea, and to have them destroyed was a calamity not mon t" a people whose common drink was wine, (c) Desolation was extreme. \ md even the hark of trees were not spared. Drooping vines and inju: ?, with their leafless branches and peeled bark, were effects of wasting ir many years. This picture is not exaggerated in the least. It is fear- full-, . md an awful symbol of the desolation of churches and nations caused i. The Christian Church is God's \rineyard. If it yields not fruit, it may be laid waste. Prevailing sins will be visited by corresponding judgments. How ■ musl be that guill which leads Cud to punish his own land ! " I will lay it : it .-lull nol be pruned, nor digged ; bu1 liall come up briars and thorn A Solemu Warning to Drunkards.- — Verse 5. All • died upon to repent The wine-bibbers are to wake up to a piition of the hand of God, to "weep and wail," for the judgment has touched what they up'-* love. Drunkenness is th curse of this land, and the dndrance to the gospi I. In a community educate I, wise, and pious, it is rrce ol powerful mischief j but among the i >f mankind, governed by appetite and not intelligence, it has been terribly destructive. I. Drunkards frustrate the design of nature. Whatever produce of the earth ■ for food is placed at man's disposal. Be should co-operate with God in the of providence, for the growth and incre food. All waste in nature is condemnable. \ le end for which some cultivate the fig-tree and the vine, the . ii and the farm, Lb selfish indulgence. Nature's gifts are abused, and the benevo- lent design of God i nullified and reversed. Drunkards virtually say concerning grain, "To me they shall not be for meat," II. Drunkards render themselves insensible to danger. "Awake, ye drunkards;' All sin stupefies; hut drunk the mind, lulls the conscience, hardens the heart, and tfish animal. This delirium is the mosl solemn feature of the The victim having losl all sensibility and will, has no power to awake, and sleeps quietly Like one " lying down in the midst of the sea, or upon the top of thi I ipefii d. lie may he ''stricken and beaten," but I not M'rov. xxv. 35), mi than the brute who satisfies ': I"- i I ane, enslaved by appetite, and seeks relief from tern] j yielding himself a| lin to bis ruinous sin. ""When shall I 1 will I." rem By day and nigbl oi ad oil work day, and fattens on its prey. chap, i.] BOMILETIC COMMENTARY : JOEL. 203 III. Drunkards will be roused from sottish slumber. " For it is cut oft' from your mouth." Locusts were to destroy the vines, the grapes would cease to grow, and the sweetness and strength " of the new wine " would be taken from than. "Take away my wine, you take away my life," said one. God will deprive men of idolized indulgence, and force fchem In "weep and howl" by his judg- ments. The more inordinately they lust, the more pinching will be their dial " A wilful waste will bring a woeful want." If temporal sufferings do not rouse the drunkard, the epicure, and the sensualist to a sense of their sin and danger, what must be their feelings when weeping and howling will be wit Ik nit hope and intermission'? Let weeping for things temporal beget care not to lose things eter- nal. " For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red : it is lull of mixture ; and he poureth out of the same : but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them." National Lamentation. — Verses 8 — 10. The second appeal is to the impersonated nation, clothed in sackcloth, and weeping for her lord, which death has taken away. The land is desolated, public worship is interrupted, and the temple forsaken by God and man. The nation's hope is cut off, and she is left as " a virgin " to lament in passionate grief and utter despair. I. The character of this lamentation. "Like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth." Between young persons that are married or about to be married there is great love, and therefore great grief when separated by death. Virgin love is purest and most sincere. " She must wee]) or she will die." The affections in youth are strongest and most capable of resentment. " I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals " (Jer. ii. 2 ; Is. lxii. 5). The Church unfaithful to her Lord and Master, the professor who gives his heart to the world, will lose the protection and blessings of Christ, our Divine Head and Kedeemer. The more wedded to the creatures the more bitter their loss. It is not mere conventional grief that God commands, but that of one who has lost all joy and who clothes herself with penitence — Give sorrow words ; the grief that docs not speak Whispers the o'er-fraught heart, and bids it break [SJutkespere], II. The reason of this lamentation. 1. The land is devastated. " The field is wasted, the land moumeth; for the corn is wasted." The cultivated and the open lands were unproductive. The luxuries and the necessities, the corn and the wine: bread that strengthens man's heart, wine that maketh glad the heart, and oil to make his face to shine, were all taken away (Ps. civ. 15). Nature shouts and sings for joy under the benediction of God (Ps. Ixv. 13); the valleys are covered with corn and all is vocal with praise. But under man's sin creation mourns in sorrow and casts off its beauty and f ruitf ulness ; "groanethand travaileth in pain together until now " (Eom. viii. 22). "How long shall the laud mourn and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein " (Jer. xii. 4)] 2. The temple was forsaken. The locusts devoured the vine, the olive, and everything that constituted the meat and drink offerings in the house of God. (a) Forsah n by God; for God was supposed to have forsaken the temple when the altar was not duly furnished. He was offended at the nation, and could not dwell with a sinful people, (b) ForsaA-en by men. The priests could no longer present the accustomed offerings. Public worship was suspended. The temple is the residence of God Divine worship must be kept up in due order and regular time. On the continu- ance of our morning and evening service depends the continuance of God's presence with us. Suspend the one, we suspend the other. Terrible mu>1 he that scourge which robs us of the benefits of Divine ordinances, and drives God from bis own temple; when "joy and gladness are cut off from the house of tie Lord. ' III. HOMILETIC C0MMENTAR1 . JOEL. [cHAr. i. The extent of this lamentation. I. The priests mourned. "The priests, the i ministers, mourn." Some would spiritually lament the suspension of God's True ministers feel deeply the ungodliness of men; set the first example of penitence and confession ; ami mourn greatly interrupted fellowship -with God. Others mourn naturally for the lose of their perquisites and the means of self- indul When the house of God is forsaken ami holy communions "become the ministers of the Banctuary should mourn. 2. 7'//< nation mourned. Priest and people, rich ami ] •, were to lament the judgments that had fallen upon them. Y a had languished, the land was ravaged, and the temple forsaken. Judea ment lik.- a virgin, and all were to bow to the dust in sackcloth and ashes. '• In thai day 'li'l ih'' Lord God of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Y 9, Poverty and Religion. 1. for his goodness in filling our hearts rty the result of sin. 2. Poverty with food and gladness! But cleave bringing Divine judgments. •">. Poverty nol too closely to temporal blessings, prejudicial to public worship. "Want which may he cut off hy judgment, and of livelihood musl exert a very taken suddenly away. God takes from prejudicial influence on the public serv- an ungodly people the means of grati- G 1. Under the old economy tying their lusts, and will bring them there would !»■ of necessity a failure of to repentance by deep afflictions. The tithes and offerings. So now, when prosperity of the Church depends not on people have a hard and constant struggle a grand ceremonial, or crowds of admir- ie bare humus of subsistence, they ing devotees, or the countenance of the will be tar behind others in knowledge State, however desirable these things of the truth, in tie' proper training of may he, but only on the favour of God, children, and in mutual love [Langt ]. whose blessing and whose Spirit will he Ver. 10. What reason we have to withdrawn, if we defile his sanctuary 1 for bountiful seasons, and with superstitious rites \_Robinson.~\ HOMILETICS. Disappointed Hi bbandmjbn. — Verses 11, 12. Tie- next picture i- a group of husbandmen and vim -dressers, pale and sick in ils. Wheal and barley the most important field crops; the vine, : mate, the choice fruit-trees of the laud, were destroyed. The date- palm, " which has neither a fresh green rind, nor tender juicy leaves, and therefore c-ilv injured by the locusts," and all other trees wither away. Joy is turned hame, labour is lost, and mourning results. I. Wasted labour. -The harvest of the field is perished." The husbandman and labours in hope. Be waits - for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the<.,rlv and latter rain.'' Between : time and h irv. st there i- a time of trial, an opportunity for faith. In all true ait, and receive it as the precious gift of God. But unsuc- il labour will shame our skill and faith, and confound our hopes. Sin will . and Cod will blight our harvests. 1. Husbandmen will he disap* anticipation. -. Vim dressers will be robbed of choice fruits. "The ind was chapt, for tbi i irain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their 1 I .3,4). II. Withered joy. " Because joy is withi i withering of joy and enjoyments. 1. 'I'1". ithered. "Withered awayfrom tin' sons of men." The joy that depends upon the creature is uncertain and unsatisfactory. Those that place happiness in the delights of sense may be deprived of ' them. Wine and oil may ciiAr. i.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. •2or, delight, but not satisfy ; they have their vacuity and indigence. All outward com- forts sooner cloy than cheer, and weary than fill. Christ in the heart is better than harvests in the barn and wine in the vat. " It is better," says one, "to feel God's favour one hour in our repenting souls, than to sit whole ages under the wannest sunshine that this world affordeth." u Nature's common joys are common cheats." 2. The joy of nature is withered. Joel again declares the sympathy of nature with man. "The trees of the field are withered, because (for) joy," &c, as if it were impossible for the natural world to rejoice when the hearts of men were sad and sinful. Poets in all ages have taught "that one life beats throughout the universe, revealing itself in subtle and manifold interchanges of sympathy ; that therefore Nature feels with her foster-child man, rejoicing when he rejoices, weeping when he weeps." Scripture shows that sin may turn a paradise into a wdderness, and " a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein " (Ps. cvii. 34). What a picture of demoralization, sensuality, and judgment in the language of Isaiah ! " All the merry-hearted do sigh. There is a crying for wine in the streets, all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone." Ministers of the Sanctuary an Example of Penitence and Piety in the Day of Calamity. — Verses 13, 14. The fourth call is to priests of the temple, who are first to humble themselves in private as a preparation for public confession. A fast must be appointed, and they must lead the princes and people in solemn prayer before Almighty God. "When judgment begins at the house of God, penitence should begin also, for priests are often the first and greatest cause of sorrow. I. They must mourn for sin. " Lament " and howl. In all true penitence there will be a due sense of guilt. Physical evil may cause sorrow, the destruction of vegetation and vineyards may create lamentation ; but moral evil compels us to feel givdty ; and justice cries for punishment. 1. Mourn in sackcloth. "Gird yourselves." Outward garments are of no avad without inward contrition. We must rend our hearts, not our garments. Yet by outward acts we must incite others, testify our abject condition before God, and renounce all carnal customs and delights. " For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl ; for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us." 2. Mourn continually. " Come, lie all night in sackcloth." Day and night was the temple service. So there must not be occasional grief, but lamentation without intermission. Guilt often disturbs the sleep of night, and men lie not at ease, but in sorrow. Instead of going to rest and employing the night in Psalmody, many have more reason to confess their sins and deprecate the wrath of God. " All the night make I my bed to swim : I water my couch with tears." 3. Mourn with others. All classes, the princes, and elders, and all the people, were to mourn universally. Chiefs in authority, and el< lers in sanctity and grey hairs, were to form one band and lament with one heart and voice. The example of old men must stimulate the young to repentance ; and the authority of priests must urge others to the fear and worship of God. All had contributed to national guilt, all were equally exposed, and all must join together in national humiliation. The more public and prevalent, the more pleasing and acceptable to God is national sorrow. " Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up. and came unto the house of God and wept, and sat there before the Lord ' (Judg. xx. 26; 2 Chron. xxx. 3 ; Jon. iii. 5, 7, 8). II. They must sanctify a fast. " Sanctify ye a fast." 1. Universal cessation from labour. The day must be fixed, set apart and solemnly observed. " Proclaim a restraint," let manual labour i and hallow the fast with acts of devotion and fruits meet for repentance. No servile work must be done, the time must be conseeaated, like the Sabbath, not to eating, and drinking, and seeking pleasure, but to supplication and obedience, & Universal worship. The elders and all the inhabitants were to assemble in the house of God. England did well to observe a day of thanksgiving fol the rcstora- HOMTLETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. [chap. i. Lea What a spectacle to continental nations ! Fasting without devotion was only a form of sorrow. Festive joys must give place to re- ligioua worship. Fasting must be connected with the mortification of the flesh, the rition of the spirit, and humiliation in the house of God. Here all were com- irto confess theirguilt and obey theii laws. The house of God is the i ; the place in which he has put his name,and thecentre of Divine influence and < Ihristian friendship. Here the world loses its charms, trials are for- ;i. the mind is elevated, and sympathies "meet and mingle into bliss." "I this house, which thou hast built, to pul my name there for ever ; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually " (1 Kings ix. 3). "What 1 supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, in this ]. use. i hen hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place " (viii. 88 ; 2 Chron. vi. supplication. "And cry unto the Lord." (a) Supplication ■ I. All must not merely be present, but all must join together in prayer. Attendance must lie devout, the time must he spent before God, not in og at men. United prayer has power with God and influence upon men. It is thus that heaven is taken by violence and national calamities averted, (b) Sup- tion must be earnest. " Cry unto the Lord." It is not a listless, irreverent :t a loud earnest cry. No formal customary supplication will suffice ; the i. the routine of life and worship must he disregarded, and the "cry" must he with impassioned earnestness end repetition. Cold prayers are a mockery and never climb to heaven. " So Ion- as the light shines bright and the fires of devotion and desires flame out," says Jeremy Taylor, "so long the mind of a man La close to the altar and waits upon the sacrifice; but as the tires die and desires the mind steals away and walks abroad." We are taken from the fields to th ry in this picture. A train of priests, clothed in sackcloth and worn with vigils, Btand between the porch and the altar, weeping and making supplica- tion t" God ; a large assembly, led by the elders, gather round them, bend their nate -rief. and unite in earnest cry for mercy and deliverance. Priest and peasant, kings and princes, old and young, how in confession, petition, and humiliation before their Maker, and thus own their dependence and set an example "Lei the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and ad let them say, Spare thy people, <> Lord;' The Terrible Day. — 1' rse 15. The prophet urges them to repentance by fresh motives and more calamities. I fallen upon the city and the held, in the temple and the vineyard. i al the truths typified by tie Trouble is not only at but near. Bo great is this trouble that men will civ, "Alas for the I. This day is a day of terror. 1. On account of the evils which attend it. (•i) The chastisement of God's people for their sins. What can people expect but hen they continue to Bin I " In theday of adversity consider." oners for their guilt. All the enemies of God's kingdom will 1,.- destroyed. "Behold, thedayofthe Lordcometh, cruel both with wrath and ball destroy the sinners thereof out • (c) Th( desolationof theland(ver. 10— 12). 2. Onaccownt of the "its which ii " As a destruction from the Almighty shall it come." In every judgment almighty power is seen This aspeel of the .'lav was seen in Vegetation wascon nmed, and the Eaceof aature blackened by fire ; Hock, and berds roamed disconsolate over wasted fields; food wascul off before the I the people, and joy and gladness departed from the house of God. liut bed greater evils, to era beyond description, dis- of Pow< ' Ala* : for tiiat day is great, so that none is like it ; it is even tie: time i d .Jacob's trouble " (Jer. xxx. 7). II. This day is near. chap, i.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. 207 " The day of the Lord is at hand." Sinners put evil days faraway, and think they will not come. "Evil tidings to-morrow," said one in festive joy. The word of God declares that they are present and pressing — that it is folly to delay repentance, and that judgments may fall suddenly upon men to overwhelm them (Ecc. ix. VI ; Is. xxviii. 15). The antediluvians disregarded the warnings of Noah, and wen- swept away by the Hood. Men now cry, " Where is the promise of his coming 1 for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." Some put off the day in a sort of philosophic argument. " The course of nature has remained the same for ages, and therefore not likely to change." Others live in stolid indifference, quench their forebodings of evil, and deceive them- selves by lies. Alas, some change the threatened vengeance into mirthful jest, and ridicule the devout anticipations of the godly. " The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of." III. This day should be regarded by men. Destruction from the Almighty shall come. There is no uncertainty, no delay. In this light the prophet regarded and desired the people to regard the day. Present adversity should quicken us to a profound sense of the moral government of God, to continual recognition of his purpose in life, and to live so that we may escape the dangers of that eventful day. Heed not the sneering infidelity of the times. Go to your beds to-night, enter upon your duties to-morrow, as in sight of the judgment-seat. Live daily under the powers of the world to come. Grow in love for the appearing of Christ. The promise will not fail. " For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. Lor when they shall say, Peace and safety ; then destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.' The Day of Judgment. I. The day of judgment written in the convictions of men. Natural theology teaches a retributive providence. The writings of the heathen are full of ideas of God as a God of justice. Retributive justice was made a separate deity, whose awards would only be full and perfect in a future life. There is a sense of future judgment in the heart. Every sin committed carries with it a monition, a predic- tion of this judgment. The idea is inwrought in the consciousness of mankind, and clearly taught in the writings of ancient phdosophy. Seneca says, "The good man God accustoms to hardships, and prepares him for himself. But the luxurious, win >m he seems to indulge and to spare, he reserves for evils to come. For you are mis- taken if you think any one excepted. The man who has been long spared will at last have his portion of misery ; and though he seems to have escaped it, it is only delayed for a time." "Thus ought we always to believe," says Plato, "those ancient and sacred words, which declare to us that the soul is immortal, that judges are appointed, and that they pass the highest sentences of condemnation when the spirit is separate from the body." Thus it is a dictate of natural religion, that the future state will be one of misery to the wicked. The day of the Lord, is fore- shadowed in our moral constitution. All men fear it and all men believe it. It is a mark of the Divine origin and moral nature of man, which nothing can destroy. " That which may be known of God is manifest in them ; for God hath showed it unto them." II. The day of judgment prefigured in the events of history. The judgments of God, extreme and awful, have even been regarded by the darkest minds as evidences of God's anger against sin, and his determination to punish it. Heathen seers and Jewish prophets bid us regard the inner meaning of calamity and look at it, in some sense as a part and prediction of another. The vicissil of life, the unequal conditions of men, and the providences of God, point to a day when all things will be rectified and each one receive his due. Each particular judgment is a warning of its approach and a pledge of its certainty. Pre-.. at chastisements must be viewed as steps in a progressive plan, realised in the iiual EOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. [chap. i. day ; the beginning and the anticipation of " the -lay of the Lord." The history of the world, through the government ofGod, is turned "into a continuous judgment, which will conclude al theendof this course of the world with a great and universal : judgment, through which everything thai has been brought to eternity by the a of time unjudged and unadjusted will be judged and adjusted once for all, ing to an end the whole development of the world in accordance with its Divine appointment, and perfect the kingdom of Cod by the annihilation of its foes." " All these are the beginning of sorrows." Ill The day of judgment predicted in Scripture. Whal is rendered possible by the creed of the atheist, and probable from tic teachings of nature, is morally certain from Divine revelation. Scripture confirms natural theology in this respect, and teaches distinctly that God designs to hi- minds that he will by uo means (dear the guilty, butreserve them to tin- -lav of punishment. The judgments of Cod are said to have happened as examples, warnings to us to repent of the sins and avoid the dangers which _ht them nn. Earnest and emphatic declarations are given in Old and ]STe\v • Ee hath prepared his throne for judgment. And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shah minister judgment to the people in uprightness." •• Ee hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained." " For we must all stand before the judg- ment-seat of ( 'hiist.-' Great National Calamities. — Verses 16 — 18. As a proof that the day of the Lord is approaching the prophet sets in detail the judgments that were upon the land. Present prospects were cut off, all future hope frustrated, rotten seed, withered fruits, and desolate land, cause man and beast to mourn. I. Human sustenance taken away. " Is not the meat cut off before your |w When the fruits were ripe, the corn ready for the reaper, and the grapes ug to be pressed ; when everything was set before their eyes for their enjoy- ment, they were taken away. Cod ran easily disappoint our expectations. Meat is often cut off from our eyes by sin. True sustenance is in Cod and in his word. Man's life, even bis physical life, is not dependent for its continuance upon bread alone. Cod has but to will to the subject elements, material and spiritual, and any other means will suffice, a< well as bread, to sustain life. " Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word thai proceedetfc out of the mouth of God." II. Festive joy cut off. " Joy and gladness from the bouse of our I rod." Pinched by famine, the offerings for the priest and the temple had perished. Annual feasts and national thanksgiving had departed. The joy, all the deeper because it was '•tie- joy of the Lord," the gladness, all the more pure and sweet because it wras in the bouse of their God," had ceased perforce. Bow sad to be deprived of necessary f 1 and the ordinances of God's house ! When the body is not fed the mind will starve, the morals will suffer. As the brain depends upon the blood for its nourishment, ml depends upon God for its health. He imparts to who love him a joyofexuberanceinallthegood things of life. Xonearepoor but those who >in and despise the warnii: ., idence. "The Lord will not bteous to famish \ bul be casteth away the substance of the wicked." III. National drought prevailed. The laud greatly suffered, cattle and herds were distressed, and groaned out their life through want of pasture. 1. T " tfered. "Howdo the beasts groan! the berds of cattle are per- plexed." Touch after touch is given. Not onlydo men suffer, but innocent cattle groan who depend upon their care. The berds of oxen find the oft-cropped plains destitute of pasture. The sheep, which can feed where herds cannot, wander in their pitiful distress and bleat in vain. -••Thou bidest thy face, they are troubled: av their breath, they ,|i,., and return to their dust." 2. The home- stewls were destroyed. u The barns arc broken down." It is not enough to lose chap, i.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. 209 joy and mirth. The very " seed is rotten under the clods." The prospects of the harvest are destroyed. Vegetation and grass, smitten hy the burning sun, have withered. The husbandmen despair, and suffer their " barns " to break down, and their " garners " to become heaps of ruins. Thus one mischief is heaped upon another. All nature is touched in sympathy and robed in mourning for man's guilt. " Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven" (Hos. iv. 3). HOM1LETIO HINTS AND OUTLINES. The husbandman was called to mourn- the Spirit of God who speaks by the ing for a threefold calamity that lay mouth of his prophet ; for it is to be upon his tillage (Amos v. 16). First, feared that we do not make enough of immoderate rain in or about seeding ; the humanity of God, of his intense de- secondly, locusts and other vermin at light in trees and flowers, in herds and spring ; thirdly, extreme drought after flocks ; of his humane care for them, of all (ver. 19, 20). Thus God followeth his tender sympathy with them. The sinners with one plague in the neck of Psalms arid Prophecies are full of this another (as he did Pharaoh, that sturdy Divine humanity, no Prophecy fuller, rebel), till he has made his foes his perhaps, than that of Joel ; and in no footstools. To multiply sin is to mul- passage of Joel's is that tender, intense tiply sorrow (Ps. xvi. 4) : to heap up humanity more beautifully and gathetic- wickedness is to heap up wrath (Rom. ally expressed than in the verses (18 — ii. 5) \Trapp\. 20) we have just considered [Cox]. Let us here recall the fact, that it is HOMILETICS. Stupidity in National Calamities reproved by Brutes and Good Men. — Verses 19, 20. The fact that irrational creatures suffer with man should make him cautious in his conduct. If the people neglect the warnings of the prophet, they should heed the cries of the brute creation. Both the animal and vegetable world arc included in man's destiny for good or for evil. Should we be silent when beasts implore help 1 I. Some men are insensible to sin in great national calamities. The drought had consumed the pastures of the field, burned the trees of the forest, and dried up the waterbrooks, but Israel did not see the hand of God in this. Man is a creature of emotion, and is bound to acquaint himself with all the phenomena calculated to move him ; to estimate them according to their design, and to carry out the emotions which they produce into final acts. Every object is adapted to pro- duce a certain state of mind. The hand of God in history, the judgments of God in nations, should be read and observed by us. If we discern not the presence of God, if through selfishness and hardness of heart we despise the chastisements of God, we aggravate our sin and unbelief. God has placed us in certain relations to himself and his works as sentient and intelligent beings. "We have capacities higher than brutes, can see and hear God in his dispensations, and live habitually under a sense of duty. But the complaint is often made, "Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider." " For God speaketh once, yea, twice, yet man perceiveth it not." II. This insensibility to sin in great national calamities is censurable. Men ought to feel in distress. If they do not they violate their own nature and disregard the voice of God. 1. Brutes reprove insensible men. "The beasts of the field cry also unto thee." They depend upon God, and he gives them theil meat in due season (Ps. cxlv. 15). When young lions lack and suffer hunger, they "seek their meat from God " (Ps. civ. 21). They enjoy the gifts of nature 14 210 HOMILSTIC COMMENTARY: JOEL, [chap. i. with sensitive pleasure and apparent gratitude. But men are heedless of their groans, stupid in their folly, and turn not to God in their trouble. "The stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times ; and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow observe the time of their coming ; but my people know not the judgment | ." •_•. f ;,„/'.< people reprove insensible men. The prophet stirs them up by hi- own example. U no one rise will call upon God, "0 Lord, to thee will I cry." When others are unmoved (Jod's people arc touched with national calamities. They Bel others an example, and seek to provoke them to repentance and return to 1. I example of penitence. The heart of the prophet was deeply moved for innocenl creatures and for ungodly men. We hear his sighs, see his tears, and dwell upon his words. Be (nines before us, an embodiment of the spiritual and per- sonal duty he teaches. Ee is the prophet of repentance, and sees in the judgments 1 motives to repentance. National sins brought national affliction, and should national humiliation. 2. An example of patriotism. God's people are as keenly alive to the interests and dangers of the nations as others. The Hebrew prophets were patriots and statesmen, to whom nothing that affected the national welfare was alien or indifferent. "May Heaven save my country," cried a British legial il 3 ■ I men see God in everything ; point out the real causes of suffer- the operation of moral under physical law ; and lament the state of the coun- try and the condition of the people. "For the mountains will 1 take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so thai none can pass through them ; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle." 3. An example of prayer. The prophet turned to God, our only hope in distress. In public calamity men write pamphlets, make speeches, and ■ laws to meel and overcome it. But the man of God goes to the root of evil, and points out its only cure, lie holds the principles of Divine life in his soul, believes thai individual circumstances and national events are controlled by God's will, and Bees in present visitations the future results to the wicked and the righteous. God was working out his mysterious purposes, and he prays that the visitations of anger may be turned into corrective discipline. As Abraham prayed for the cities of the plain and bloses for the tribes of Israel, so Joel betakes himself to Jehovah. "0 Lord, to thee I will cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wild I 1. what a change within us one short hour S|m m in thy presence will prevail to make , What hoary burdens from our bosoms take ; What parch d grounds refresht as with a shower'. We kneel, and all aronnd us Booms to Lowei ; We rise, and all — the distant and the near — Stands forth in sunny outline, brave and clear — [Trencli]. EOMILETIO HINTS AND OUTLINES. Then is an order in these distresses. plying their wants. An argument I • he points oul the insensate things againsl cruelty to animals and a motive ted ; then those afflicted, which have to prayer. If God hears the cries of only; then those endowed with dumb animals will he not hear our in ; so that to the order of calamity prayers'! there may be consorted an orderofpity, The double purpose of Divine judg- the creature, then the ments upon a nation— 1. Kestoration things sentient, then things rational of land. 2. Improvement of men. {J'''!']- r> I. A suffering world in sympathy /<■■ ' ' try. I. The dependence of with suffering man. What a 'mystery !""' God 11. The com-, man's sin, desolating the land, blighting n oi God to all creatures— 1. In the trees, and adding to the groans of removing their sufferings, 2. In sup- the brute creation ! The whole creation, CHAP. I.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL 211 animate and inanimate, touched by the fall of man ! What evidences of sin ! What motives to repentance ! 2. A beneficent world in sympathy with re- stored man. A cheering thought that true penitence and restoration to God will give pasture to flocks, beauty to flowers, and freshness to the landscape. "New heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER I. Ver. 1 — 4. The Jewish theocracy is passed away, but God is still the moral governor of the world ; and in perfect harmony with the principles of the New Testament, which teach us not to pro- nounce a man to be a sinner above other men, because on him the tower of Siloam falls, we may interpret the prevalence of natural evils in any country as meant by God to call the attention of the peo- ple to those moral evils which abound amongst them. So that if untimely weather come, or malignant diseases come, or any form of calamity come ; — if people ask one another, " Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers'? Did you ever know such a season, such weather, such sick- ness, or such death 1 " — it is only the province of religious duty to look on such things as the working out of great laws, of moral righteousness ; — to recognize man's sin as the awful fact lying under what man calls his misfortunes, and by timely repentance to secure forgiveness ; and thus turn the visitation into a blessed chastisement [Stoughton], Ver. 4, G, 7. Locusts. The insect that destroyed all the peach-trees in St. Helena was imported from the Cape, says Kirby and Spence. " Wo know," says Burke, " that a swarm of locusts, however individually despicable, can render a country more desolate than Gengis Khan or Tamerlane. When God Almighty chose to humble the pride and presumption of Pharaoh and bring him to shame, he did not effect his purpose with tigers and lions. He sent lice, mice, frogs, and everything loathsome and contemptible, to pollute and destroy the country." Ver. 5. Drunkards. Be sober in diet. Nature is content with a little ; but where sobriety wanteth, nothing is enough. The body must have sufficient lest it faint in necessary duties ; but beware of gluttony and drunkenness. Christ saith, " Take heed, overload not your hearts with these burdens of ex- cess." " Be not drunken with wine." These lessons are fit for England, where ancient sobriety hath given place to super fluity, where many such men are as fare daintily day by day. God grant their end be not like his, who riotously wast- ing here the creatures of God, wanted afterwards a drop of water when he would gladly have had it [Sandys], Ver. 8 — 10. When we bear in mind that in spite of the help given them from this country one fourth part of the people of Ireland died in one year (1847) through the failure of a single article of food, we may have some idea of the distress of successive years. Not all the vast wealth of England would restore the withered joy that would re- sult from the failure of the harvest and the destruction of herbs for a single year. The blight of a fly might consume cereal crops and prove more terrible than destructive war. Ver. 13, 14. Ministers. A country parson lighting against the devil in his parish has nobler ideas than Alexander had \_Adam\ Example works more than precept; for words without practice are but counsels without effect. But when we do as we say, we illustrate, and confirm the rule which we prescribe. " Men believe more by the eyes than by the ears," says Seneca. Ver. 15. Judgment will assign to every one a place according to character; ranks will be adjusted and precedency set right \ virtue will Ins rewarded and vice punished. Thoughts of this day should restrain from vice and urge to virtue, preserve human society and de- fend religion, vindicate the character of God, and justify his providence to men. Ver. 16 — 18. Nature presents two aspects towards us. If we siu and op- 212 HOMHSTIC COMMENT JET: JOEL. [cii.vr. ir. her, she \b stern, implacable, and and is an important means of its im- destracth 1 with storms and provement. The progressiveness of thunder, famine and pestilence; if we creation is made subservient to the moral yield and obey, we Becure her blessings, education and advancement of the human with her laws, and command race. A single alteration throws the her forces. Love and Berve God, and whole into disorder. What a picture, shall be a irith thee. then, for man to be ungrateful, insensi- Ver. 19,20. Animal sensibility forms hie, and rebellious in the sufferings of a perpetual appeal to human sensibility, nature for his conduct ! CHAPTER II. Critical Notes.] This chapter still urges repentance, directs for a meeting of the people, and Win l w that God will have compassion. 1. Blow] Priests must sound an alarm, as if foreign in- nigh. 2. Darkness] Four terms used to indicate the intense calamity (Ex. x. 22 ; Is. viii. 22) . Bwarroi ol locusts literally obscure the sun. People] numerous and most formidable. Like] Ex- fresaive of extraordinary judgments (cf. 2 Kings xviii. 6; xxiii. 5). 3. Fire] They consume. Eden] 'raitfalneSB. Nothing] No herb, plant, nor tree, shall escape. " The word used elsewhere of persons . suggi sts that we Bhonld not linger by the type of locusts only, but think of enemies more terrible, who d< stroy not harvests only, but meu, bodies and souls." 4. Appearance] like horses pp pared for battle rJob xxxix. 20 ; Rev. ix. 7); swiftness and sound like chariots on rough mountain- 6. Pained] with terror. "More terrible than the locusts," says an Arab proverb. Blackness] from anxiety and tear (Lam. iv. 8). Ihb. flames vis. \iii. S), to glow with beat: some to lose colour, (Jer. \\\. 6). 7 — 9] depict their military order and discipline; it is vain to resist (Ex. \. 6). A picture perfectly true to nature, says Jerome and others. 10.] Heaven and earth feel th- ir presence like a b mpest-cloud of Divine wrath, covering all in darkness (Matt. xxiv. 29). 11.] its," b iv Mohammedans, commands and makes the meanest the instruments of venge- ance (Rev. xviii. S). 12. Therefore] repent with heart undivided, and with fasting, for heinous .•■ins di mand extraordinary penitence. Mourning] Lit. beating on the breast, like the publican iriii. 13; wiii. is). 13. Not garments] as customary in great sorrow (Gen. xxwii. '_'!> ; obi. 20). External n ill avail nothing (Ps. li, 19; E/.ek. xxxvi. 26). 14. Knoweth] if the 1' aft eh. ne . ( hmI may restore blessings sufficient to maintain his worship anil sup- :■ want- (Jon. iii. 9). 15. BlowJ Convene the people. 16, 17. J No age and condition 1 ix- !, for ad deserve punishment ; the joy of the bride and bridegroom even must give place to tial mourning. 17.] The priests must take their position, ami pray to God on behalf of his ople. 18. Then] No longer threatenings, but promises. Jealous] of dishonour to them, ind pity hu their welfare. 19, 20.] R newed fertility and removal of the cause of desolation ; ind I- mow inent ot great things (Ps. exxvi. 2, 3) ; expressive of a universal truth. 21. Fear not] a, in eh. L, on account of judgments, but rejoice in the destruction of the hosts. 22. 1 Verdant pasture* and tree, laden with fruit shall be given. Beasts of the field shall no longer 23. Bain] 'the former moderately, lit. according tfl right, i.e. in due measure, not in ex- to injure (Dent. \i. 1 1 ; Prov. xvi 15). The rain] Generically, showers. The latter rain] '" "' '' 0, rain in opposition to drought, and rain a type of all blessings. 24 '-'7 f the rain — abundance of all kinds of f 1; reparation of damage by locusts ; re- demption of Israel from the heathen ; vindication of God and gratitude for his grace. 28—32. Afterward! ird things are only a type of spiritual gifts, a prospect of richer blessings ; and a rrandi r disi mt, a dispensation remarkable for the Holy Spirit, as its sign :""1 ■ '' ' J ■■■- -1'1 'ball he poured out in copious and refreshing showers upon all flesh, Jew M '■ !l ! X1 17), upon servants and handmaids, the most degraded and despised ■ ■' • A : ■ '• "■'•■■' "■ md daughters shall prophesy; dreams to the old and visions to the •; all shall know Divini trly. 80, 81.] These manifestations, fuU of joy to believers, will he in. nacing to unbelievers. 1 his day of the Lord will be attended by convulsions on earth, prognosticate.,,, ,n heaven ; to God's children, to all who call upon him, it will be a day of redemp- tion ; but these will he a remnant only. .Seek to belong to it (Acts ii. 40). chap. II.] HOMTLETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL 213 HOMILETICS. The Alarm in Zion. — Verse 1. In the dreadful calamities described what must be done 1 Jehovah shows that the danger can only be averted by repentance, humiliation, and reformation of conduct. In this verse the prophet interprets present chastisements, and lavs a foundation for intimations which follow. Alarm must be given, the people roused, and called to solemn assembly. I. The place of alarm. "In Zion." Zion was once the seat of Divine government and consecrated by God's presence. The Church of Christ is now the holy mount, the city of the living God, and the school of instruction to the universe. It is the spiritual palace of the Great King, who rules his people by his Spirit, and governs the world by his providence. Here he displays tokens of love and judg- ment. Great everywhere, his judgments are specially great here. It is a solemn thing when judgment begins in the house of God. But he will not permit sin in his own residence. The Church must be conspicuous in its elevation, adorned with holiness, and loyal in obedience. " For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of God from Jerusalem." II. The means of the alarm. In times of old it was the duty of the priests to warn the people and blow the trumpet (Num. x. 8). Ministers now must sound the alarm and declare the wrath of God against the un- righteousness of men. The watchmen of Zion must be awake, sound and " take the alarm they give." They must be " sons of thunder." They must not hesitate nor seek to hide the truth. The blast must wax louder and louder to startle thought- less men. Ministers must never grow cold, careless of their own, and pitiless of the danger of others. AVhen Perkins of Cambridge uttered the word damned, a solemn awe struck his hearers and the echo of it lasted many days. Whitfield brought tears in the eyes of old people, when he cried in the spirit of his Master, " 0 Glasgow, Glasgow ! " " Blow the trumpet, and warn the people ; then who- soever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning, if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head." III. The reasons for alarm. "For the day of the Lord cometh." 1. The danger is near. "The day cometh." Many ridicule and call earnest men enthusiasts. Others cry, "Be calm, there is no need for that ado ;" but the prophet of God sees the danger and urges swift escape. The day " is nigh at hand," and not afar off; seen in present judg- ments and will come in sudden terror. Men are warned now of judgment to come and of enemies gathering together for fearful destruction. " The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord ; the mighty man shall cry there bitterly." 2. The people are careless. " Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble." Though danger is nigh yet men neglect or despise it. They should tremble, start up from apathy and sullen indifference, and haste to the refuge. How stupid for persons in face of impending ruin to sit in ease ! They provide in summer for winter, in youth and health lor age and sick- ness, but strive not to escape spiritual death. They seek to ward oil' temporal evils, but eternal destruction is not foreseen and prepared for. Few hear the distant thunder which betokens the coming storm. In their fancied security they laugh at those who prepare for the evil day, laugh on the brink of that day which, unless sovereign grace intervene, will make them wise too late. "Lord, when thy hand is lifteel up they will not see, but they shall see, and be ashamed for then envy at the people; yea, the hre of thine enemies shall devour them." The Dark Day.— Verses 2, 11. With four terms the day of Jehovah is described as a day of judgment. " A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness." Darkness ill BOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL, [chap. ii. fell upon Egypt (Ex. x. 22), and enveloped Sinai at the giving of the law (Dent, iv. 1 1). This typical of the mysteries of God and the miseries of men. I. The profound mystery of the day. As clouds of locusts darken the sky, so rity hangs over all Divine proceedings. We know that all calamities are judg- ments of Bomesorl ; thai we are tried and judged now, " already made manifest to and thai a day is nigh when all must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. Bnt when and how the day will come no man knoweth. God veils his purpose and splendour. " Clouds and darkness are round about him." Wisdom prepares for events, folly rushes on and falls into the confusion. Walk by faith, do present dutj . and cease to speculate. " Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven ! this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so in like manner as ye have Been him go into heaven." II. The great misery of the day. As clouds indicate obscurity, so darkness denotes misery. The dark- ness of the Locusts would be unparalleled. " There hath not been ever the like, neither shall 1"- any more alter it." Present punishments are only the beginning, the i of eternal. If justice and judgment distress men now, what will they be al the day of final accounts? The destruction of the temple, and the re- •i of the .lews, signal visitations upon churches and nations, are faint sym- bols of the terror of that day. '• That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteiiess and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day ads and thick darkness." III. The overwhelming destruction of the day. So great and terrible is the day, that tin; words are wrung from the prophet, " "Who can abide Li ( " The displays of power will be omnipotent. " Who knoweth the power of thine anger i" It consumes like a fire and none escape or resist it. God has not diminished in majesty and might. As he discomfited Egyptians, so will he ■ •in-- his enemies at Last. " He ruleth by his power for ever." "Who may abide the day of his coining? and who shall stand when he appeareth ? " There is only one way of escape. Repent and believe in Jesus Christ, and you shall red. I Bhall 1 Btand in that great day, For who aught to my charge shall lay ? Polly absolved through Christ I am, From Mil anil fear, from guilt and shame. Tin: Army of hie Lord. — Verses & — 11. The Locusts are Led bj Jehovah, under his command, and sent to execute his will. •• Lord of the Locusts" is one of the names of God in Mohammedan writh I. Numerous and strong. " A greal people and strong" (ver. 2). "What more countless or mightier than the Locusts '." asks Jerome. Each small and contempt- ible in itself, is made powerful by the Btrength of God. AH agencies, human and Divine, are pliable to hi- hand, when he wants instruments of displeasure. II. Courageous and swift. "As the appearance of horses ; and as horsemen, so shall they run." Their headi dingry like that of a horse. In Hying they make a noise like rushing wind, and loud " as dashing waters," says a traveller. Like war- chariots rattling on rough mountain tops, they speed to do their work. "The shapes of the locusts were Like onto horses prepared unto battle," (liev. ix. 7). "And the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots, of many horses running to battle'' (ver. 9). III. Universal and ill-omened. As "a morning spread upon the mountains," Like -lawn ushering in a day of darkness and gloom. Or with yellow lustre on their wings, produced by the rays of the sun, they sweep down the mountains and announce the advent of terrible calamity. Travellers have noticed this feature. ••The day before the arrival of the locusts," says one, "we could infer that they were coming, lion, a yellow reflection in the sky, proceeding from their yellow wings. As soon as this light appeared no one had the slightest chap, ii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOl.L. 21fi doubt that an enormous swarm of locusts was approaching." IV. Orderly and well-equipped. " Neither shall one thrust another." All keep theii rank, march in ease and battle-array. "They charge like heroes," mount the walls and b fortified cities with dauntless might. Like David's army, " they know how to keep rank," and diverge not to the left or right. They close up as comrades fall, and keep unbroken in military array (ver. 7, 8). Having surmounted the walls, they storm and sack, " and rush through the city " in fearful speed, " The li »c have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands." V. Terrible and destruc- tive. 1. The land is desolated. Like a devouring fire, they consume every green thing on the earth. " Yea, and nothing shall escape them." " Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned ; for they laid the pleasant land desolate." 2. The inhabitants are alarmed. They inspire terror, as universal and abject as that caused by an invading army. "Before their face the people shall be much pained, all faces shall gather blackness." In the agony of despair Eastern nations Avait their approach to-day. " They shall be amazed one at another ; their faces shall be as flames." 3. Portentous signs in heaven and earth appear. " The earth shall quake and the heavens shall tremble" (ver. 10). Take this in connection with the next, and we see the terrible day, the dissolution of the social fabric, symbolized by signs. Sun and moon grow dark and stars with- draw their light, because Jehovah comes to judge (Is. xiii. 13 ; Jer. x. 10 ; Nab. i. 5, 6). Nature is clothed in mourning, the universe trembles from predictions of judgment to come. Three sentences give the reason, for God does this — (a) Because his army "is very great." (6) Because this powerful army "executeth his word." (c) Because the day of judgment is so great and terrible that no one can stand before the wrath of the Judge. HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 7. They are on God's message terrible — 1. In the country. The gar- and they linger not, but rejoice to run den of Eden was turned into a desolate their course (Ps. xix. 6). Men can wilderness. In front and rear the army mount a wall few at a time, the locusts was like a devouring fire. No green scale much more steadily, more com- thing escaped. 2. In the city. They pactly, more determinately and irresisti- climbed the wall, and, as a thief, entered bly. The picture unites the countless the windows and ransacked the place. multitude, condensed march, and entire No fortifications nor force can resist the security of the locusts with the might of commissions of God (Jer. ix. 21). If warriors \Pusey\ the weakest creatures cannot be turned On his ways. So each Divine judg- aside, and the smallest judgments cannot ment is directed, not by chance; adapted be resisted, what of the greatest? what and weighed by infinite skdl ; and of the last of all ? reaches in time and method just that They shall not &r< ok their ranks. person for whom it is intended. Nothing Ver. 7. Unity is strength. The weak- is lost, nothing escapes. est efforts and agencies combined are The judgments of God. I. The nature powerful for good or evil. Bank and of the judgments. A day of darkness order are necessary to accomplish any and gloom, none like them before or victory. Confusion and disorder weaken; since. Most awful and extraordinary, but when each goes on his way, patiently II. The executors of the judgments, and perseveringly does his dutj Not lions and beasts of savage name, will be gained. Small armies, well but small and insignificant creatures, disciplined and marshalled for battle united, ranked, and commanded by the have vanquished and scattered hosts of Divine leader ; swift, furious, and irre- disorderly foes, sistible in attack. III. The effects of The least confusion but in one, not all the judgments. The execution most That system only, but the whole must fall. 116 /// 1 MIL KTIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. [chap. ir. I. :ni— 1. The resources of God to will. Sun, moon, and stars cease to h are abundant 2. The power of shine, and darkness covers the earth. 3. bo punish ifl— (a) omnipotent, and The hosts of heaven. Angels, armed (6) irresistible. 3. The times of I tod to with vengeance, destroy the first-born of punish are ominous. Egypt and the army of Sennacherib. II. / camp of God. I. Birch The resources of the universe are under ./" prey. The meanest and his command to bless or to destroy. mightiest creature. The lion in the t and the moth in the sun. 2. The "What is creation less ,/,.„,, fare. Winds and tem- Than a capacious reservoir of means, nd lightning, obey his Formed for his use, and ready at his will i HOMILETICS. Space for Personal Repentance. — Verses 12 — 14. The design of chastisement is not destruction, but salvation. Mercy rejoicetli i judgment. The attainment of salvation is only by repentance and return to God. Hence the prophet in God's name urges personal and national amend- ment. Personal repentance is described in these words. I. Its nature. "Turn ye even to me." 1. It is return to God. Return quite up to God, not half-way (Hos. xiv. 2). Half conversion, and half amend- ment will not avail. The whole distance must be overcome and God must [ained. Many arc near to Christ, but not in him. All are alienated from i I : ; and true reformation is not forsaking one habit to form another; changing one church or creed for another ; but turning round in thought and feeling and coming to God. 2. It is a sincere return. It is real, not affected. " With all your heart." The mind and affections have been stolen from God, now all art' centred upon him. Outward expressions are worthless, mere trappings of sorrow. " Rend your heart and not your garments." Partial feeling and feigned sorrow God will not accept. He requires truth in the inward parts. "The sacri- fices of God are a broken spirit ; a broken and a contrite heart, 0 God, thou wilt not despise." 3. It is a sorrowful return. '•With lasting, and with weeping, and with mourning." There may not always be striking outward signs. But deep sorrow and contrition of spirit arc accompanied with humiliation, self-denial, and prayer. Hie penitent weeps, mourns, and strikes his breast like the publican. Signs of grief often stir up the heart to more grief, and indicate to others the sincerity of con- ■n. Penitence must uol be slight and superficial, hut deep and real. " Pring forth therefore fruits meel for repentance." II. Its motive. " For he is gracious and merciful," &c. Hope of acceptance is held out. This hope is grounded on the gracious charai I. revealed on Sinai (Ex. xxxiv. (5, 7), and reproduced here pentance. 1. Ood is gracious and merciful. Though mercy has been despised and grace abused, he delights uot in the death of sinners, but wishes all to turn and live, if he were uot merciful we could not hope for pardon; and if he only merciful and uol gracious we could not expect to receive anything from him. '-. God is slow to anger and of great kindness. He can be angry and deal out punishment, bul he pauses, lingers long, and gives opportunity to escape. His kindness is beyond human pity. He is Longsuffering under the greatest provoca- tions (Ps. ciiL L5). •">. God repents of the evil [f he repents of the punishments inflicted, will they not 1"' accepted when they repent and return? Evils are against his will, b work, therefore on the first tokens of sorrow he Avill take them •■ Foi thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto them that call upon thee." I. God is a covenant God. "Turn unto the Lord your Gtod." They had turned away from God, but they were still his people. 11 •■ ted in their welfare, and unchangeable in his love and purpose. God must bo approached as a covenant God. His Divine nature and mercy, his cove- chap. IT.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : JOEL. 217 nant relations and promises, are all brought forth to urge men to return unto him. His goodness and mercy never fail. " Lespisest thou the riches of his g and forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance 1 " III. Its necessity. " Therefore also now." Noio, though it be late it is not too late. Now, though the day is near and locusts are at hand. " Now is the day of grace, the visitation from God." " Now or never." Sinners should not delay. Time is precious, opportunities may not be. given again. Re- pentance is a spiritual, a personal, an immediate duty. " Now is the accepted time, to-day is the day of salvation." " God now commandeth all men everywhere to repentance." IV. Its possibility. "Who knoweth if he will return and repent," &c. Judgments may be taken away, the meat-offering restored, and a blessing left behind. Space is given men for repentance. We are not to be too confident, lest we be careless. But there is no doubt in the prophet's mind. God will return. He never changes nor lies (1 Sam. xii. 22). His favour is not like the shifting clouds, nor the winter's sun casting occasional light, but withholding heat and joy. If we return to God he will return to us. " Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of Hosts ; Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of Hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts." HOMILETIQ HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 12. Although all sorrow for sin Ver. 13. God's character in its hath not the same expression, nor the relation to our character and condition, same degree of pungency and sensitive Grace to the unworthy, mercy to the trouble, yet it is not a godly sorrow miserable, long-suffering to provocation, unless it really produces these effects, truth to the promise, and change towards i. e. (1) that it makes us really to hate the penitent. "Thou, 0 Lord, art a and (2) actually to decline sin ; and (3) God full of compassion and gracious, produces in us a fear of God's anger, a long-suffering and plenteous in mercy sense of the guilt of his displeasure ; (4) and truth " (Ps. lxxxvi. 15). and then such consecpuent trouble as can Ver. 14. Prospects opened up by consist with such apprehension of the repentance. 1. Remission of temporal Divine displeasure [Jeremy Taylor]. calamities. 2. Kestoration of fruit and Repentance is — 1. A change of mind, subsistence. 3. Spiritual blessings left a turning of the soul to God. 2. A real behind dreadful curses. The storm will turning, not resting in shadows, not rent- pass away and the sun will shine again ; ing the mantle only, but the offering of flowers and fruit shall come, birds shall the heart to God. 3. This is a personal sing, and joy and peace crown the land. duty. It cannot be done by represent- " Then shall the earth yield her increase ; ation or in the mass ; but by each alone, and God, even our own God, shall bless the children alone, the parents alone, us. God shall bless us ; and all the ends and the priests alone. 4. God will be of the earth shall fear him." satisfied with this, but with nothing less. HOMILETICS. A Call to Public Repentance. — Verses 15 — 17. Once more a day must be set apart for public fasting and humiliation. Personal repentance when genuine will lead to public confession. A sense of sin in the hearts of individuals will produce fruit and find expression in the actions of the community. Hence all the nation are summoned to solemn assembly. " Blow tha trumpet in Zion." I. Great national danger urged them to public assembly. The nation is endangered by sin, sorrow has fallen upon all ranks, and sympathy unites them into 316 IIOMII.ETIC COMMENTARY : JOEL. [chap. ii. one. Assemblies are called for scientific and political purposes; but no assembly so solemn aa that called by natural calamity. Affliction cements the hearts and binds tin- hopes of nations. It is in vain to sound an alarm for war, to blow the trumpet ami muster our armies, without the favour of God. The most effectual call is thai of a Church or a nation to repentance. The most powerful defence is uni- I penitence ami prayer to God. By this alone can we overcome our enemies and avert the judgment of God. " Let tyrants fear," cried Queen Elizabeth when I with the Spanish invasion; "I put my trust in God, and in the loyal h< trts and good will of my subjects." "For the Lord is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king." II. None of the nation were exempt from the call to public assembly. "(lather the people." 1. The aged must assemble. " Assemble the elders." Men of understanding and ripe in years must be active and eminent examples in times of fasting and humiliation. Wisdom and experi- belong to them, advice and help are expected from them. 2. Children must not be • » mpt. " < rather the children and those that suck the breasts." The youngest and most helpless were involved in parental danger, and must touch parental hear! s. The aighl would be very affecting, and if God spared Nineveh for the sake children, he might spare Israel. The prayers of the aged and the cries of the young may nol avail with men, but they are power with God. "AUJudah I before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives and their children " (2 Chr. xx. 13). 3. The newly married must obey the call. "Let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber and the bride out of her closet." Marriage joy must give place to national fasts, and feasting must be turned into mourning. There is a time for all things, and private interests must give place to public duties. The raptures of love must be forgotten in the guilt of the nation. It is mockery to spend time in making merry which ought to be consecrated to God in sorrow. All unfit for battle and all exempt from war (Deut. xxiv. 5); all classes of the community, the and the voting, the mirthful and the mournful, the priests and the people, were required to attend. "In that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth" (Is. xxii. 12). III. National confession was the object of public assembly. It was not an assembly for social entertainment and mirth. Xot mere attend- ance and cessation from toil were required. It was "a solemn assembly," a meeting for deep humiliation before GocL 1. Confession was made through their public reprm ntatives. The priests, "the ministers of the Lord " in dignity and office, must set the example, lead the assembly in weeping and prayer. In front of the Holy Place, in which Jehovah was enshrined, they must, bend and plead for the people. Ministers should ever be intercessors for the nation, feel the condition of men, an I urge them by precept and example to devote themselves to God. 2. - n was made on national grounds. Prayer is based on grounds which should ten by God's people in like circumstances. It is a special liturgy lemn occasion And God who reads the heart in the words will surely hear the words which he himself breathes in the heart. Mercy is the common cry. Punishmenl is deserved, but all were earnest in praying lor deliverance from famine and reproach. "Spare thy people, <> Lord." (1) God's covenant relation it pleaded. Spare as, aol because we weep and fast, not because we deserve mercy, but because we are thine heritage, though unworthy of the name. Thou hast chosen :■ thyself; remember and keep thy word with us and our fathers. The cove- nant of God is n.t to be renounced and forgotten by the penitent, but pleaded to secure a perpetual interest in God. C2) God's honour among the heathen is con- i. "Wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?" It God .Iocs not fulfil his word and protect us, it' we are utterly ruined by judg- ments and insulted by idolater-, the enemies would rejoice and blasphemously inquire v. hat < lod could do lor his people i The penitent is humbled for his own Bin ; but when God is reproached, and his love called in question because he appears CHAP. II.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. 219 severe, this is an addition to his sorrow, a sword in his hones (Ps. xlii. 10). He therefore pleads that God woidd defend his own glory, and not permit nun to be confirmed in their error and folly (Ezek. xx. 5; xxxvi. 21, 23). "When should the heathen say, Where is their God ? Let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed " ( 1 *a lxxix. 10). HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 15. Sanctify a fast. Care should be taken both by ministers and people in their stations, that every duty be not profanely gone about, nor exter- nal performances rested in ; but that it may be done in a spiritual and sancti- fied manner, that there should be due preparation for it, and that the congre- gation come purified (as the word signi- fieth), according to the law, and fast in a sanctified manner \_Huiche$on~\. Ver. 16. Gather the people. 1. In times of calamity fasting may be appro- priate. 2. In times of national calamity the nation, all the people, should join. 3. Men of superior rank should use their influence and stimulate others to attend God's house and regard God's word. By penitence and prayer an entire com- munity may be saved from distress. Gather the children. Anniversary Sermon. I. Many#«Men>^forchildren. Exeter Hall meetings ; the Great Exhi- bition ; children in Peel Park ; Man- chester ; annual sermons and festivities. II. Many purposes for which children are gathered. 1 . School education. 2. Social enjoyment. 3. Christian worship. 4. Solemn fasting and humiliation, in the text. III. Many advantages result from gatherings of children. 1 . It is the ful- filment of Scripture. 2. Necessary for children themselves. 3. Beneficial in many ways to parents. Ver. 17. Weeping priests and guilty people. The sins of the people and the sufferings consequent upon them should weigh upon the hearts of ministers. If God frowns upon a people, if error and evils abound in a community, are not the shepherds to blame1? Of all mem- bers of a stricken Church, ministers have the greatest cause to mourn. Reproach of Israel. 1. Departure from God. 2. Exposure to Divine judg- ment. 3. Enslaved by the heathen. Christians should maintain their credit and character, and especially deprecate reproach cast on the character and con- duct of God. Where is their God? — 1. The spirit of the question. A question often put — 1. In ignorance. 2. In atheism. 3. In ridicule. Carnal men ignorant of the character of God, the mysteries of his providence, and regardless of his people. II. The substance of the question. 1. This question reflects upon God. God's presence, God's providence, and God's word. 2. This question reflects upon God's people. They are considered worthless, forsaken, and despised. It is the most bitter of all taunts. Spare thy people. I. The prayer. Spare, deliver from trouble, pardon sin and help in future. II. The plea. 1. T/iy peoplc,\o\\\s of interest, submission and affection. 2. Thy people in danger, " that the heathen should not rule over them." God alone has the sole right to the homage and service of his people We may always plead the interest which God takes in our spiritual welfare, as the reason for averting judgments from the Church and the nation which our sins have merited. HOMILETICS. Restoration of Lost Blessings. — Verses 18 — 20. These verses form a transition from one part of the prophecy to the other. "H hen God's people returned to him in penitence, "then" he would be jealous for thai land in which the cemple stood, and for that people whom he still loved. He would hear their prayer, remove the curse, and restore the blessings, material and spiritual. 220 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY; JOEL. [chap. ir. There is no contingency, no oneertamty in the promises. The predictions are absolute, the condition of repentanceon which they rest being complied with, Israel thru encouraged by Divine, not human, security for the fulfilment of God's word. Chastisement leads to repentance, and restoration of lost blessings the result. I. This restoration depends upon the sincere repentance of men. " Then will Lord be jealous." God's promises indicate conditions, and are adapted to certain mind. 1. Blessings are restored through penitence. They pre-suppose repentance, the efforts and the faithfulness of men. The removal of judgments and restoration of blessings were the result of the penitence and return of Israel. God waits to be gracious, and when sinners humble themselves and seek Divine favours they will be given. " For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent him- self for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up or left." 2. Bl ssingsare restored in prayer. " The Lord will answer and say." Infidels object to prayer for daily food and propitious weather. Why should we pray for rain or sunshine, say they, when both depend upon laws of meteorology1? The laws of nature are not incapable of modification. Every time we throw a stone or build a house, when we graft a tree, or restore a limb, laws are suspended and varied. If we can direct the hidden forces of creation, and make them subservient to useful purposes, shall the God of nature be powerless ! But prayer itself is one of the most natural and prevalent laws of nature. We have proof in Scripture and in our own experience that in the history of men and the events of providence God has changed his proceedings in answer to fervent prayer. "The earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and they shall hear Jezreel." II. Restor- ation springs from Divine pity to men. The Lord will display his love, "and pity his people." Before, God was set upon their destruction. He was at the bead of a great army, giving the word and combining the strength of the enemy. Now he is full of tender compassion, which resents injury done to them as if done to himanlf God spares a people whom he may justly destroy. Humble penitents are permitted and encouraged to plead an interest in him. Natural a'ffection prompts parents to help their children in distress; so God gives his people room in his pity, and blessings in their trouble. Compassionate kindness to the suffer- ing is a dictate of humanity and one of the first principles of religion (Jas. i. 27; Matt ix. 13). "To him that is afflicted, pity should he showed" (Job Ad. 14). That pity which we should display towards our neighbour God will show to us. He is ready to turn away his anger and have mercy on us. " Ye have seen that the Lord i- \ ery pitiful." He hath a tear for pity, and a band Open as day tor nailing charity. III. Restoration is in rich variety. Calamities were not simply removed, but abundance of temporal and spiritual favours were bestowed. 1. Material blessings wen " ' red. " I will Bend you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith." The material condition of a nation and the outward prosperity of a le depend upon God. Ee can send famine, pestilence, and war. He alone can take them away. All human efforts are perfectly impotent without Divine co-oper- ation. The husbandman may plough and bow, but God " causes the sun to rise and set." Parliament may legislate and the nation employ its resources, but God alone can remove oppression and restore fertility in the land. It is good for a people to hearken to God in di fcn . bo recognize their dependence upon him in the seasons and operations of nature, and call upon him as the (liver of every good and perfect gift. "Oh that my people had hearkened unto me ! He should have fed them also with the finesl of the whi il ; and with honey out of the rock should I have Bed thee." 2. National reproach was n moved. " I will no more make you a • reproach among the heathen." Keproach is a sad thing for the people of God. chap. II.] HOMLETIC COMMENTARY '. JOEL. But in due time he will take away all visible signs of judgment. His people shall not suffer in reputation and on account of apparent unfaithfulness to them. They shall be free from insult and tyranny, and shall enjoy the credit and comforts of their religion. The best of men may have the bitterest foes, and be subject to the most cruel taunts. But the brutality of the enemy will move the pity of God. He will not long endure to see his children ill-entreated. His love will rouse his anger, and then it will be worse for the scorner and reviler. 3. The mighty enemy was destroyed. " I will remove far off from you the northern army." Whether " the Northerner " (Heb.) means the pest of locusts or the Assyrian army, God promises de- liverance from them. As locusts were driven with the wind, to perish in the Arabian Desert, in the Dead Sea, and in the Mediterranean, to breed pestilence by the stench from their putrifying bodies, so the enemy shall be driven every Avay but the one from which he came. The destroyer shall do no further mischief, (a) The destruction is entire. They shall perish for lack of sustenance. Nothing shall remain but their ill savour, (b) The destruction is deserved. " Because he hath done great things," magnified himself against God. Pride and violence against God's people have ever been the features and forerunners of destruction, (c) The destruction is fearful. The countless hosts, full of life and activity, were scattered by the word of God on the waves of the sea, and thrown upon the shore a putrifying mass. Human malice and pride shall be destroyed. God takes away their breath and they become a carcase. Sennacherib's army in the evening inspired terror, " and before the morn- ing he is not" (Is. xvii. 14). " And when they rose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses " (Is. xxxvii. 36). HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. God's favours towards penitent sinners. Abundance enjoyed. 3. Blessings per- 1. Zeal against them turned into pity petuated. for them. 2. Their prayers answered Divine favours. 1. Their source — in abundant blessings. Material and God's pity. 2. Their subjects — God's spiritual good. 3. Their condition re- people. 3. Their result — " Ye shall be versed, (a) Freedom for oppression, satisfied." (b) Honour for reproach, (c) Feasting Ver. 19. I will send you corn. God for fasting, (d) The removal of every- averts the failure of crops and the thing sad, and the bestowment of every- scarcity of food. These evils neither thing joyful. come nor cease by accident. God gives The excellent condition of restored us our daily bread. He opens his hand sinners. 1. Enemies subdued. 2. and we are satisfied with food [Lange\ HOMILETICS. The Great Things of God. — Verses 21 — 27. The locusts seemed to exult in the ruin they caused ; but Jehovah doomed them to destruction, recovered the land from barrenness, and crowned it with beauty. The enemy had done great things against them; now God would do c things for them. No longer wasted fields and withered harvests. Joy is t< i ceed°sorrow. The blessings are to be wide as the judgments, and man and b are to rejoice in the restoration of fruitful seasons and spiritual privileges. I. Great temporal blessings. The seed shall be prosperous, and the vine give her fruit ; the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens their dew again(Zech. viii 12) 1. Cojnous rain. The plague of locusts and of drought had caused the land to mourn. " The garden of Eden " had become " a desolate wilderness. lhe only hope of recovery was in abundant and copious rain. Rain is promised by words multiplied in wonderful emphasis, first, showers in general, then in due lltWTILETTr COMMENTARY: JOEL. [citap. ii. season, early and latter rain for antunm and spring. Eain in mercy and moderation. God sends or withholds the rain in sovereign wisdom. It comes not hy chance, but Divine commission. It is given in due measure, and sent in special direction. •• 11- causes it to rain flpon one city, and not upon another." 2. Fruitful seasons. '■The pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig-tree and the vine do yield their strength." Grass will spring, tender herbs bud, and fruit- trees yield their fruit. Living pastures shall satisfy groaning beasts, and universal bail give place to universal joy. God never left us without witness of his good- ness and mercy, "in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." 3. Replenished granaries. " And the floors ahal] be full of wheat," &c. Barns shall no longer fall into decay, but wine, grain, and oil shall be given in abundance. Every trace of ruin shall disappear. '• I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten." The devastation of c years shall be undone. Threefold blessings shall benefit the three depart- ments of nature. The parched ground shall robe itself in living verdure, flowers adorn the field, and trees rustle with foliage. The herds of oxen and flocks of sheep shall no longer roam in agony and distress. Husbandmen, vine-dressers, and ministers of the altar must cease to weep, rejoice in God, and eat their bread in gratitude. " Your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time; and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely" (Lev. xxvi. 5). II. Great spiritual blessings. "And ye shall know that 1 am in the midst of Israel," &c. 1. Restoration of national praise. Through the sins of the people and the consequent judgments of God, sacrifices had : ; i be offered and joy had been cut off from the temple (eh. i. 1G). The loss of religious privileges is a most grievous calamity. There is no place like the house of God to Christians. They prefer Jerusalem above their chief joy. Loss of bread is nothing to loss of the worship of God. It is a loss of social help and natural in- fluence. Worship is man's greatest dignity and supreme good. When a nation gives praise to God they reap the highest enjoyments. "They shall praise the Lord that seek him ; your heart shall live fur ever." 2. Manifestation of Divine ■■ Xe -h all know that 1 am in the midst of Israel." Men do not always know, nations do no1 often recognize God. In prosperity and plenty they forget him. Harvests are expected as a matter of course. Human ingenuity and natural laws produce results. Creation is a mere machine without maker and controller. Thus the blessings of Cud are received in a forgetful, selfish spirit. But God inter- rupts the sequence of events, judgments are sent, to bring nations to regard Him. II i ice and permits plagues to bring them to repentance. " Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?" The heathen taunt-, "Where is their God?" But God is sought in distress and found, and loving fellowship La restored. God is in the midst of the nation; she shall not be moved : "Cd shall help her, and that right early." 3. Revival of national jmj. •■ Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God." Israel were not only I in God, but in God as the Lord their God. The world ■ unable to rejoice, but God shall have their share of gladness. God pro- mises and puts joy into their hearts; a joy greater than that created by corn and wine. Abundant crops and splendid give uncertain gladness; but the manifestation of God's | a source of pure and permanent joy. " In thy nee is fulness of joy." Letter empty barns than forsaken temples. Joy un- speakable and full of glory is the heritage and honour of that nation with whom God delights to dwell. " Lor, behold, I create; Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people :i joy-" A Deity believed is joy begun ; A Deity adored" is joy advanced ; A Deity beloved is joy matured", Kach branch of piety delight inspires. chap. II.] ITOmiETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. 223 4. Deliverance from national shame. "And my people shall never be ashamed " Pitied, delivered, and honoured, the people would be free from reproach God's honour is linked with our honour, though we sutler reproach for a tame if we he ashamed of our sins against God, Ave shall never he ashamed to glory in him | [e will never render his grace and purpose void. By the performance of his word and the destruction of his foe he will wipe away all dishonour. In Christ especi- ally are these words realized. He sutlers when we suffer, and relieves in poverty and tribulation. In him God returns to men, and turns again the captivity of Zion Then we sing and cease to fear ; we " obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 23. Rain a symbol of spiritual blessings. I. Tlieir source. " He hath given you," "he will cause to come down." The laws of nature and heathen gods do not bestow rain. It comes from heaven (Acts xiv. 17; Is. lv. 10). II. Tlieir method of bestowment. 1. In due season. The influence of the Spirit, like early rain in seed-time, waters instruction given, and like latter rain matures the soul in growth, and ripens it for heaven. 2. In rich abundance. Like copious showers, blessings shall descend and flow down to men. III. Their blessed results. 1. Barren land rejoices. Pastures revive and trees bring forth fruit. The little hills shout and sing for joy (Ps. lxv. 12, 13). Gospel blessings refresh thirsty souls and quicken desolate churches. 2. God's people are glad. " Be glad then, ye children of Zion." Joy springs from their hearts and har- vests are reaped from their labours. By heaven's influence, corn and plants do spring; God's showers of grace do make his valleys sing. Ver. 26. Spiritual feasting. 1. The guests. " Ye shall eat." God's people shall never want, though sometimes poor and persecuted. 2. The provision. Not mere temporal blessings (ver. 24) ; but joy in God's presence, all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. Plenty of it ; not the least scarcity. 3. The result. (a) Satisfaction. "Be satisfied." Nothing but this will satisfy. " The meek shall eat and be satisfied" (Ps. xxii. 26). (b) Praise. " And praise the name of the Lord." Thanksgiving shall come after the fast. They shall never die of grief. Immortal joys shall be their portion. "Whosoever eateth of this bread shall live for ever." /. The wondrous dealing of God. Israel in the wilderness and Israel de- livered from the plague a type of God's dealings with us. He smites by wonders and he recovers by wonders. " God hath dealt wondrously with you." i. In the ban idles of nature. How wonder- ful to quicken the earth and send the beauties of spring, to give sunshine and shower, bread and sustenance, manna from heaven and waters from the rock. 2. In the blessings of providence, (a) Common mercies. Health and habita- tions. Thousands worse off than you. Many in poverty, prison, and disgrace. You have a goodly heritage among men. (b) Special mercies. Eemoval of family reproach and personal shame, deliver- ance from sickness and judgment. You are a wonder to many (Ps. lxxi. 7). 3. In the gifts of grace, (a) In the gift of Christ. "Wondrous love, &c. (b) In the gift of the Holy Spirit to enlighten and teach, (c) In continued grace to renew and strengthen. " Th}' love to me was wonderful." //. The consequent gratitude of man. " Praise the came of the Lord your God." 1. By acknow- ledging your obligations. " Your God." 2. By remembering his works. Israel forgat God even at the Red Sea, the most signal spot of their pilgrimage. " Talk ye of all his wondrous works." 3. By obeying his word. Show \ "in- gratitude in practical conduit. Lit lips and life praise the Lord. "The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are dad." 224 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. [chap. II. HOMILETICS. The New Dispensation. — Verses 28—32. By a natural transition the prophet rises from the temporal to the spiritual, from (showers of rain to the outpouring of the Spirit. One blessing "first" (ver. 23), then "afterward" (ver. 28) a second and greater blessing. The words have special reference to the new dispensation, the dispensation of the Spirit. There are three distinct features connected together: the outpouring of the Spirit, the judgment upon the ungodly world, and the salvation of a faithful few. 1° The outpouring of the Spirit. " And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh." The outward blessings were typical of extraordinary spiritual blessings. Joel felt the need of spiritual influence, and be- lieved that it would bring true enlightenment. We have not only a supernatural prediction, but a gleam of his own pure spiritual life. 1. The extent of the com- munications. " Upon all flesh." It was not to be confined within the narrow bounds oj Judea, not limited to one, but extended to all races. It was to be given to tho pi< .us and to those deemed incapable of spiritual life. (1) Without distinction of sex. •• Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." Not only parents, but children would receive this gift. Four sisters in one family were prophetesses (Acts xxi. 9) The young are capable of Divine teaching, and God has promised to continue his pre sence and propagate his word from one generation to another. " All thy children shall be taught of the Lord ; and great shall be the peace of thy children." (2) Without distinction of age. "Your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall set' visions." God adapts his grace to the condition of men. The inexperienced and the infirm ; extremes in life may possess it. (3) Without distinction of rank. " And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids." This was something un- expected and had never been seen before. " Even the slaves," bondsmen and bondswomen, are to share in the gift. The lowest are exalted, and the gospel breaks the fetters of slavery. " Prophecy," said the Jews, " doth not reside except on the and mighty, an d rich ;" but the poor have the gospel preached unto them. In Chrisl "there is neither dew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female : for ye are all one." 2. The form of the communications. 11 prophesy, dream dreams, and see visions." These were the three modes by which God revealed bis will to men in the 0. T. days (Num. xii. G). They are physic- al rather than spiritual ; do not necessarily involve renovation of moral nature, but are made the symbols of fuller manifestation of miraculous gifts to some, and the out- pouring of the Spirit to all. Yet taking into account the effects of this outpouring, -we have reason to find a spiritual meaning. The Spirit would burst through every barrier and quicken the energies of life in all classes. Men would have the power to see and apply the truth of God to the facts of human life, past, present, and future. Spiritual lighl would not be confined to a select few. Dreams and visions should be given to others, and the mysteries of salvation be proclaimed to all nations. By thee gifts the Church i- founded, the ministry taught, and the Scrip- tures expounded in all ages. " Heai now my words : If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto J i i iii in a dream." II. The dreadful judgment. Judgment is connected with the outpouring of the Spirit. When God comes in the majesty of his power heaven and earth quakes. " Each revelation of dud prepares the way for another," says an author, "until thai las! revelation of his Love and of his wrath in the great day.'' " I will show wonder- in the heavens and in the earth." 1. In the earth. "Blood and fire, and pillars of smoke." Blood and lire were manifest in the plagues of Egypt, and smoke ascended like the smoke of a smelting-furnace in the descent of Jehovah on Sinai (Ex. xix. L8). Pillars of cloud roll up from burning towns in times of war (Is. ix. 17). 2. In the heavens. "The sun shall be turned into dark- CHAP. II.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. 22.5 ness and the moon into Mood." The darkening and extinction of the lights of heaven are often mentioned as harbingers of approaching judgmenl (I . xi~ii. jo • Jer. iv. 23 ; Ezek. xxxii. 1—8 ; Matt. xxiv. 2(J). The language may be figurative to a certain extent; but strange phenomena in the physical creation have b< en ob- served to precede great catastrophes of the moral world. In the judgment on Jerusalem, Jos&phus tells of physical prodigies, massacres and conflagrations. Humboldt cites cases of remarkable obscuration of the sun, in very eventful j But whether we understand the words naturally or symbolically, they teach that the judgment day does not come without warning. 1. Foreseen by God's people. These signs have no terror for them. They call upon God, and find in Hint that refuge of which Mount Zion was only a type. 2. Heeded by the penitent. For among those who do not pray to God, some shall be called from their sins to find peace and security in him. " The remnant whom the Lord shall call." 3. Neg- lected by the ungodly. Understood and improved by right-minded persons ; un- heeded and often despised by enemies of God. Thus there is a gradual process of separation among men, a ripening for "the great and terrible day of the Lord." "Watch ye therefore and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these tilings that shall come to pass, and toUand before the Son of man " (Luke xxi. 36). HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 29. Pour out my Spirit. Pour out like a rain-fall, or water-fall. The Spirit was not entirely wanting in the nation before this ; but the prediction indicates — 1. A greater measure. Not merely drop by drop, but pom* out in greater abundance. 2. A wider extent. Not confined to members of the covenant nation, but upon "all flesh." This a great contrast to Gen. vi. 3. " This word ' flesh ' (basar), as contrasted with ' the spirit,' denotes human nature so sunk in bondage to its lower elements as to be incapable of spiritual life. But according to Joel, even this impenetrable ' flesh ' is to be penetrated by the Di- vine Spirit ; even the ' natural man ' is to be transformed into ' a spiritual man ; ' even the incorrigible are to be recovered to obedience " [Coz]. In those days. This special truth connected with one special time, con- cerning which he knows little. The prophets sought diligently to know this time (1 Pet. i. 10). Apostles evidently studied the prophet Joel ; but how re- luctant was Peter to learn, and how astonished beyond degree that God would pour out his Spirit upon the Gen- tiles. " It needed," says one, " an ex- press revelation and direct command before he could be persuaded that all flesh meant more than Jewish flesh. So, often all our lives through, we have words in our mouths, and read and hear them, and yet their true, full meaning never strikes us. The truth is familiar to us, it is daily confessed and repeated by rote, but has never reached our hearts ; then perhaps at length some- thing wakens us up, and henceforward the truth is a living reality, influencing and moulding our lives" (ver. 30, 31). Physical phenomena serve — 1. To awaken men's minds from lethargy. They quicken attention and put them into attitudes of fear and expectation. Thus they urge repentance, and provide space for it to those who are induced to profit by them. 2. To prepare God's people for approaching trouble. They stimulate prayer, hope, and effort In deliverance from Egypt (Deut. vi 22) ; in the destruction of Jerusalem (Matt. xxiv. 29) ; and before the final judg- ment, God displays signs and wonders to the joy of his people and the terror of his enemies. Ver. 31. TJte terrible day. 1. G in its nature. The last day. The end of time and the beginning of eternity. 2. Great in its design. To give to all their due. Great things will be done. Men judged, angels ranked, and all ac- counts settled, 3. Greatin its bearings. Great to believers, t< rribJe to unbe- lievers. Men separated and sen. their own place. 15 226 IinmiF.TTC COMMENTARY: JOEL. [CHAP. II. ('.ill upon the name of tin: Lord. '• Implies right faith tocaD aponhim as he ifl ; right tragi in him, leaning upon him; right efowrfton, calling npon him m he has appointed ; righl lift . ourselves who call up^ii him being, ot becoming, by his grace what he wills" | P " v,.r 28—31. The gospel dispensation uracterized — I. By spirituality. 2. By liberty. 3. By power. 4. By Dsiveness [Pulpit Analyst]. i. 1. The danger. The word delivered means safety by escape. >< Those Who should In- saved," i.e. those who were escaping from perils imminent and terribre ( Acts ii. 47). The condition of the Church is often desperate; but tliat of the sinner is more desperate. 2. / Saviour. "The Lord." None other than Jesus. " For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must he saved" (Acts iv. 12; ii. 3G). 3. The encouragement. (1) Whosoever, Jew or Gentile. "Thank I I ir that whosoever," said an aged d, "for it includes me." (2) .4a Lord hath said. Clod has promised 6 all that call upon him (lioin. x. 18). 4. The result. Those who are delivered are only a "remnant" a part of the whole. Eistory and Scripture con- linn these words. In the Hood and de- struction of the cities of the plain ; in the entrance intot lanaanand the return from captivity; in the first preaching of the ! and the destruction of Jerusalem, ■ remnant only was saved. ( >ne IS ILLUSTRATIONS Vex. 1 — 3. Alarm. We might ct ili.it the world would gather round the feet of the teacher. There is need for alarm, for men are indifferent. There j. a way of escape, hut men know or heed it not. Multi- ■ •II and perish in the evil day. Noah regarded the Bigns of the time.-, and '• moved with fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his house." " Ee that hearkeneth unto counsel is v i Be true to-day ; 'u- madm m to def< t : Ni \t i! iv the fatal pn oedi at will plead ; Thus on, till wisdom is pushed out oi life, [ Young.] . A'er. 4—11. Locusts. The head is dingly like that of a horse [Theo- tempted to ask with the disciples, " Are there few to he saved 1 " but the answer is, that has nothing to do with you. " Strive ye." The remnant saved. I. TJie blessing given. Salvation. Not merely promised, but actually given and cheerfully en- joyed, not in word, hut in deed. Human beings redeemed and human nature re- newed. II. The source from whence it comes. "In mount Zion and in Je- rusalem," i. e. from God himself who dwelt and was worshipped in these places. The Church is the place of safety, and where God may he most easily found. 777. The method by which it is secured. 1. God calls men to him. 2. Men call ujwn God in prayer. One description is a counterpart of the other ; both go together, one is the human, and the other the Divine side of salva- tion. Deliverance depends not upon the worshippers alone, hut upon God also. Those only are saved whom God calls to himself, and who call upon or choose him to he their God. It is all of grace. God must first call hy his grace ; then we obey his call, and call upon him ; and he has said, " Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me." God accounts our salvation his own glory. " The promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." TO CHAPTER II. doret]. Their noise is like the rushing of a wind [Forbes]. When they alight ami feed, the plains are all covered. They make a murmuring noise as they eat, and they devour herbs, trees, and forage without restraint. " They over- shadow the sun, "says Pliny, "thenations looking up with anxiety, lest they should cover their lands." "The height of walls cannot hinder the charge of the mighty ; they enter not hy the gates, but over the walls. They fly, hy the disposal of Cod ordaining, in such order, as to hold each his place, like the minute pieces of mosaic, fixed in the pavement by the artist's hands, so as not to in- cline to one another a hair's breadth " CHAP. II.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL 227 [Jerome]. Nothing in their hahits is more striking than the pertinacity with which they all pursue the same line of march, like a disciplined army [Thompson]. They teach us the ne- cessity of unity, steadfastness, and order. Many prefer an individual course instead of going by hands. They belong to no cohort, and are under no discipline. The strength of the Church lies in united, concentrated action. Every soldier well-disciplined and in his ranks; every officer at his post, and ready for the contest ; each under rule, helpful to each other and to the common cause. Ver. 11. Voice. Lest God should be forgotten, he is represented as com- manding a mighty army in the midst of judgments. Their presence indicates his presence and power. " The Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle " (Is. xiii. 4). He called the Medes and Persians to execute judgments upon Babylon. "He sent forth his armies and destroyed " Jerusalem, " and burnt up their city " (Matt. xxii. 7). Hence the threefold ground of terror. 1 . His camp is very great. 2. He has strength to accomplish his purpose by the weakest instruments. 3. When this purpose is accomplished, it will be a terrible day to the enemies. Ver. 12 — 14. Fasting and penitence. Men accused in times past were wont humbly to abase themselves before the judge, with long beards, uncombed hair, and black array, that they might secure his mercy. So when pestilence, famine, or war begin to rage, or any calamity hangs over us, it becomes us to present ourselves in piteous array, with fasting and prayer, before the Judge of all the earth, that his anger may be turned away from us [Oawdray]. But no amount of fasting will do without true penitence. Lifeless repentance is fruitless. No out- ward propriety and offerings will wash away the stain of sin. We must not only confess but forsake our sins and turn unto God. God will have mercy upon the penitent. The fruitless showers of worldly woe Fall dark to earth and never rise ; While tears that from repentance flow, In bright exhalement reach the skies. Ver. 15 — 17. In this assembly kings and priests lead the way ; nobles and common people promptly join. The whole multitude bow like one man, and fall prostrate at the footstool of mercy. All acknowledge their guilt and are sensible of their danger. All repent and pray that God would spare his people. Though repentance is now put in the inward dispositions of the soul, yet on occasion of national humiliation, and peculiar religious solemnity, it may be suitable to testify by our deportment and dress, the seriousness and sadness of our minds. Splendour and gaiety of apparel, if ever becoming Christians, should be laid aside at such seasons. It is well when the government of a nation, in its spiritual and political authorities, takes the lead in the promotion of piety and regard to the doctrines and duties of religion. It is most touching and in- structive to see all classes of the com- munity lift up their hearts in prayer for mercy and deliverance. Ver. 20. The south and east winds drive the clouds of locusts with violence into the Mediterranean, and drown them in such quantities that when their dead are cast on to the shore, they infect the air to a great distance [Volney]. Won- derful image of the instantaneousness, ease, completeness, of the destruction of God's enemies; a mass of active life exchanged, in a moment, into a mass of death [Puseij]. Ver. 22 — -25. It is too clear for either argument or illustration, that if you change the moral character of any country from ignorance to intelligence, from indolence to industry, from intem- perance to self-discipline, from sensual- ness to spirituality, from enmity to love, that the whole material region in which they live may abound with plentif ulness and beauty. Such a change throughout the whole human population to-day will give to all a new heaven and earth [Dr Thomas]. Ver. 2G, 27. In the midst. It WHS to induce this devout and thankful recognition of the Divine presence that the judgment had been sent. Dulled by routine, blinded by use and wont, the Jews had come to regard the succession HOMUSTIC COMMENTARY i JOEL [CHAT1. II. of tin- seasons ami the bounty of the yeai in a hard mechanical way. as though ■ were a mere engine or machine, ]t was to convince them of hi- presence in Nature, t.> make them pure, Btrong, ami happy, that God interrupted the nana] sequence of events, first by dis- i which they had no contro] ; i (literally "blows"), which 1 as judgments ; and then : grace and good will, which they understood a- igns of his returning favour. Terrified by disasters, ami at- d by blessings which seemed to them ana* mtance ami prayer, as they "ate and were satisfied," tho people "praia vme of Jehovah their God," who had dealt wondrously with them; they felt, they acknowledged that he was "mi the midst ofn them, in their fields and in their vineyards • 11 as in the temple, and that Jehovah waa their God and none else, since only h<' could send them rain and fruit 1 , and fill their hearts with gladness [& ' ' '>.<■]. Vex. 28 — 32. So large a promise naturally awakens inquiry. We ask, " When was it or will it be fulfilled 1" Joel expected and saw a fullilment of it in his day. The people saw God in the ordinances of the sanctuary, but not in the fields and laws of Nature. The beneficent order of Nature wras inter- rupted. This was taken as a judgment, and led to repentance and recognition of God. Were not the same conditions repeated in St Peter's time with the like results 1 The Jews came lip to the temple to worship, but failed to see "God manifest in the flesh." Judg- ment came upon them. They awoke to a consciousness of their sin, repented, and turned unto the Lord. The Spirit came down upon them, and tins new accession of life was a judgment to the men of that generation, trying wdiat manner of spirit they were of, revealing the evil spirit by which they were ani- mated, who opposed themselves to the power and grace of God. None the less may we say, "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel," in every new crisis of the religious life, in a man, in the race, or in the world. In all ages the same sequence recurs — sin, judgment, repentance, a new spirit, and in this new spirit a new test and criterion to which men are brought, and by which they are either approved or condemned [Samuel Cox]. CHAPTER III. OBTTIOAI Nora ] For] Explanatory of judgment predicted (ch. ii. 31). Those days] Viz. the Outpouring of the Spirit, forth) r described by the words "when I shall bring," &c., redemption from ■ TV kind ; including gathering together of the dispersed, elevation into new and greater ■ irlier political or spiritual condition. 2. Valley of Jehoshaphat] where confeder- . lxxxiii. 6 — 8; 2 Chron. xx. 22 — 26); others think it is near J'tii-i! h. xn. J), and the term given to indicate the judgments of God upon the nations th< re. The nltim ite i r< nts are still future, and till up the space between the restoration of rs and the second advent of Christ. Plead] Not merely argue against enemies, but deal with them in judgments I- Iwi. i»; ; Ezek. xxxviii. 22). 3. Lotsl A common way of dividing captives (N.ih. iii. 10). The harlot was nol paid in money, but with a boy; and a girl was of so little value, thai they Mid her for a drink of wine. This depicts the ignominious treatment of Israel by the enemy. 4. With me) Le. my people, with whom find identities himself. Recompense] "If ye in- jure me" (mypeople) "in n renge forfanci Bzek.xxv. 15 — 17), "I will requite you in your ..wn coin swiftly and speedily." 5. Taken] Not only plundered the temple and its treasury, but | of ri ih, wh ch always followed conquest of towns (1 Kings xiv. 26 ; 2 Kings xiv. 14). Your temples] Spoils of war were often hanged up in heathen temples. They spoiled Jehovah's, temple and profaned their own. 6. Far] Captive Jt;\vs cut oil' from all hope of return. chap, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. 7, 8.] The nations repaid by the lex talionis. God's people would regain liberty, and sell their enemies as they had been sold by them. 9.] A call to war (Ezek. xxxviii. 7). Prepare] Lit. sanctify, for heathen war began with religious ceremonies (Jer. vi. 4 ; 1 Sam. vii. 8, 9). Wake up] Arouse the heroes from sleep ; forge tools of peaceful agriculture into weapons, and the weakest must be a hero. 11. Assemble] Hasten, quickly as possible meet together. 12. Wakened] Not now to war with God and his people, but to be judged (Is. ii. 4; Ps. ex. 6). 13.] The judgment compared to a doable figure. 14.] A description of the streaming of nations into the valley of judgment. Multitudes, multitudes] Heb. immense multitudes ; akin to our hum, noisy crowds (2 Kings iii. 1G). 15—17.] Dreadful commotions will happen before that day. Out of Zion Jehovah will destroy his enemies, protect his people, and purify his sanctuary. 18.] After judgment upon all nations, the land of Jehovah shall overflow with Divine blessings ; but the seat of the world will become barren waste. Drop] Poetic for great fertility, happy times and plenty. Valley of Shittim] Even the arid desert shall be fertilized with blessings from Jerusalem (Zech. xiv. 8 ; Rev. xxii. 2). 19. Egypt and Edom] Both remarkable for enmity to Jews and emblems of enemies to God's people. They have been desolate for centuries (Is. xix. 1; Jer. xlix. 17; Obad. 10). 20. Dwell] Abide; the true Church shall never be destroyed, but all false, persecuting people will be annihilated (Amos ix. 15). 21. Cleanse] Wipe away blood-guiltiness, the climax of her sin, and for long not purged away, but visited with judgment. Amid extraordinary manifestations of wrath in the destruction of the wicked, Israel will be saved, and learn anew that Jehovah is their holy God and King. HOMILETICS. Punishment upon the Persecutors of God's People. — Verses 1 — 3. The prophecy from ch. ii. 28 to the end of this hook constitutes one whole, embracing the Messianic period, from the day of Pentecost to the final triumph and consummation of the kingdom. The events of the past are framed to describe the revelations of the future. In the second division (ch. iii. 1 — 21) we are intro- duced to events which issue in the restoration of Israel, which form the crisis of the destiny of the world, and which describe the final conflict of good and evil. Israel, viewed as the representative of God's kingdom, are persecuted by the Gentile nations who are enemies to God. But he will deliver them from oppression and destroy their persecutors. I. The cruel treatment of God's people. God's people, consecrated to him by covenant, have ever been despised by the world. Ungodly men belong to a system entirely opposed to their spiritual interests, and established upon laws and insti- tutions which resist the authority of God. The indignities done to Israel are speci- fied in the text, and typical of many forms of persecution. 1. They icere robbed of their own land. " And parted my land." AU the earth is the Lord's, but he locates his people, and dwells with them in certain places. The land belonged to him as well as the people, and when they cannot defend it, he will assert his rights to it and regain it. The enemy acted on the ancient motto, " Conquer and divide." They parted the land and shared it amongst them. But those that enrich them- selves by robbing God's people will be spoiled of their own treasures. Wealth and reputation taken from others will not fit well on ourselves. Who steals my purse, steals trash ; But he that filches from me my good name, Robs me of that which not enriches him, And makes me poor indeed. — 2. They were scattered in other lands. "Whom they have scattered among the nations." God's people were driven by violence into heathen nations and enslaved. The disciples were persecuted and fled from city to city. The early Christians were banished to mines of other countries, and islands of the sea. " In the world ye shall have tribulation." Christ had it, and his people cannot expect any better treatment. Scorn and ridicide, social calumny and religious degradation, cannot be avoided. The good will ever excite the ill, and " all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." 3. They were indignantly treated. " They have cast lots for my people," &c. (a) They despised them. Treated them all alike, honourable and 230 EOMUSTTC COMMENTARY: JOEL. [chap. in. dishonourable. They were all worthless, despised, and distributed by lot, a greater indignity than captivity and slavery. To trample on the weak and the fallen is most inhuman. " How unsuitable is it for us, who live oidy by kindness, to be unkind," Edwards. " And they casl lots for her honourable men, and all her great men bound in chains." (6) They sold them as slaves. They were disposed of to dealers at most ridiculous prices. A boy was given instead of money for the t a harlot, and a girl was sold for a drink of wine in revelry. This was done by Assyrians, Chaldees, and Romans. Enmity to God and persecution of his people have often been connected with scenes of sensuality. Uut how barbarous for men to Bport with their own species, and prefer a moment's gratification to the tnent interests of men. AVhat inhumanity to subject young, innocent children ttreme hard hip and anguish from such base motives! Let us thank God that the honors of slavery arc past, that we live in a land of personal liberty and religii >us laws. II. The punishment of their enemies. " I will gather all nations," &c. God may sutler enemies to prevail for a time, but the year of recompenses will come. God will avenge his own elect. 1. The time is fixed. "In those days and in thai time." The day, the hour may be unknown to us ; but they are fixed immutably in the purpose and providence of God. There is a year of the redeemed, a ptable year for the opening of the prison to them that are bound, for the bringing again of the captivity of Zion (Jer. xxx. 3). 2. The place is fixed. The valley of Jehoahaphat may mean the valley in which God destroyed the numerous enemies of that prince (2 Chron. xx. 26 — 28) ; or, in allusion to the word (meaning '• the Lord hath judged"), it may refer to any scene when God will deal out retri- bution and execute his enemies. In due time and in some great valley God will punish sinners and reckon with nations for their infamous conduct. God is gathering men now in mysterious ways, will soon plead with them, accuse and condemn them, and " there shall be tribulation, such as there had not been from the beginning of the world." 3. The reason is assigned. " For my people." God's people are precious in bis sight, whatever be their treatment and outward con- dition in the world, (a) They are his people. They have given themselves to him. and belong entirely to him. « Mhcrs refuse allegiance and forget God, "but the Lord's portion is his people ; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance." (h) They arc his heritage. Be chose [arae] as bis heritage and peculiar treasure, his portion and treasure above other people (Dent, xxxii. 9). When weak and desponding in trial he assured them of his love and defence. The most precious things in the universe are holy people. God claims them for his own, will never permit them to be lost, but will vindicate their cause and redeem them from death. " He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of my eye." " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." EOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 1. 7. The Bad condition, slavery. III. The time of the change. " Captivity of Judah." The Church is "In those days and in that time." often oppressed and persecuted by ene- God has his own times of deliverance. mies, thrown into captivity bybackalid- His people should have patience and inga, ami hound fa-i by things of lime hope, for they shall not sorrow a day and sense. The sinner is under fche longer than he has purposed. Divine bondage of in. captivati d l.y lust, and decrees have fixed the time for blessing lashed by a guilty conscience. //. The the Church, and neither Eome nor in- blessed change. "Bring again the cap- fidels can hinder the work. "Thou tivity." Sins are forgiven, and perse- shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion ; cutors are overthrown. God's power for the time to favour her, yea, the set redeemed Israel from literal, and God's time, is -come" (Ps. cii. 13). IV. The grace delivers men from spiritual, author of the change. " / shall bring chap, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. 231 again." It is God's work and not man's, mountainous and wooded country being He makes, keeps, and saves the Church, unfavourable to the movements, tactics He purchased and will defend his and strategical combinations of' ancient people. He will in judgment and in military art, Naturally, therefore, the grace destroy the wicked, and bless the Prophet would select some vaUey as the righteous. " When the Lord bringeth arena of the final conflict. But this back the captivity of his people, Jacob conflict Avas also to be a judgment, Was shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad." it possible to select a valley whose very Ver. 2. 1. The assembly. "All name should convey the idea of judg- nations." 2. The place. " The valley ment and of Divine judgment ? Yes5; of Jehoshaphat." 3. The purpose. I close outside the eastern wall of Jerusa- "will plead." 4. The reason. "For lem lay a valley, known as the "valley my people." " Here the fate of whole of Jehoshaphat." " Jehoshaphat means, nations is obviously bound up with that Jehovah judges. Here ready to his of Israel, and is to depend on the re- hand were the very symbols the Prophet lations they have sustained to the people required. The scene of the final con- of God " [S. Cox]. flict and the final judgment would be the Valley. In the days of Joel valleys valley in which Jehovah judgeth and were the usual fields of " battle," will judge [S. Cox], HOMILETICS. Righteous Recompense. — Verses 4 — 8. Before depicting final judgment upon hostile nations of the world, Joel glances at the enmity which the neighbouring peoples displayed towards Israel, and fore- tells a righteous retribution for sins they had committed against God's people. I. The sins of which they were guilty. In their idolatries they grievously sinned ; but their greatest offence was insult to God and his people. 1. They sold the people as slaves in captivity. They had scattered them among the nations, and forced them to seek for shelter where they could, (a) It was cruel captivity. They were dispersed and divided for fear of incorporation with the common in- habitants, (b) It was hopeless captivity. " Ye have sold them unto the Grecians that ye might remove them far from their border." By selling their fighting men they wovdd weaken the Jews, and taking them afar would render more hopeless the return to the land they loved. They displayed great malice, were delighted with the distress of the persecuted, and sought to triumph over God himself. Traffic in the souls of men, slave-dealing and men-stealing, is the worst kind of traffic, branded with infamy, and will bring down the curse of Heaven. What has become of American slave-trade, " State rights," and secession 1 God has broken in pieces the oppressor ; and well did Abraham Lincoln say : " This is a world of compensations, and he who would be no slave must consent to have no slave. Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and under a just God cannot long retain it." 2. They plundered the temple and palaces of tin land. "Ye have taken my silver and my gold." The vessels of the temple and the treasures of the palace were carried away, and the land treated as conquered territory. The Prophet says my gold. All the wealth bestowed upon Israel and upon us, in the providence of God, belongs to him, and should be recognized as the gift of God (Hos. ii. 8). If we are his people, what avc have we hold from him, and should devote to him. "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of Hosts" (Hag. ii. 8). 3. They profaned the sacred things of Ood. " And have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things." They dedieated the spoils to their gods, hung up the vessels of the holy sanctuary on the Avails of their temples, and attributed victory over God's people to the poAver of their idols. The ark was put in the temple of Dagon, the gold and silver adorned Belshazzar's • 232 HOUILETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. [chap. III. . but God maintained his honour, and defended his cause. Kobbery itself is most unjust, but when the spoils are consecrated to idolatry, and given to support cruelty and false religion, this will prove most destructive to the worshipper. "He entangleth his soul in the snares of death who resumeth unto a profane use that which is once consecrated onto God," says Bishop Hall. (t It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy." II. Divine recompense upon these sins. " Will ye render a recompense'?" &c, indicate that they had no cause to retaliate upon God or his people ; that if repayment is the question, God will very speedily that for them, and bring back their doings upon their own heads (Isa. v. 26). 1. Retribution is declared. The life as well as the death of his saints is precious in the sight of God. Those who injure them injure him. He will not sutler them to be insulted and enslaved. Ee will demand an account for them. Suffering and blood cry to 1 haven for justice. Martyred saints and God's captives will not be forgotten, Be will honour, spare, and avenge them. "When he maketh in- quisition for blood, he remembereth them : he forgetteth not the cry of the humble." •_'. Retribution in kind. "And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the land." &c. As they had sold and scattered the dews, so they would "be paid back in their own coin;" they in turn would be sold by the Jews. Here we have the true fee talionis. The rod whieh men make to smite others, shall smite them- s. Ives. " ( hirses are like young chickens, they always come home to roost." " As he loveth cursing, bo let it come to him" (Ps. cix. 17). Dogs licked the blood of Ahah in the vineyard of Naboth. The evil deeds of persecutors will fall upon themselves in this world, or that which is to come. "His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing upon his own pate." 3. Retribution with certainty. " Tor the Lord hath spoken it." This was fullillcd in the time of Alexander the < rreat and his successors, when Jewish prisoners were set at liberty, and Phoenician territories were under Jewish sway. Sooner or later retribution will come, and there is no escape. No idols can deliver them. The inhabitants of Tyre chained their gods, that they might not forsake them when besieged by Alexander, but the word was spoken, and the city is no more. 4. Retribution with speed. " Swiftly and speedily will 1 return your recompense." God threatens piratical Blave-dealers with the vengeance of their captives, whom ho redeems. When they pride themselves in triumph and forgetfulness, a sudden change shall coma With ease and speed God will send the punishment and "judge his people." God delay, hut at length unexpectedly does he surprise men. And when once he begins, he hastens on and makes short work in the execution of his judg- ment-. "According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay fury to his , recompense to his enemies." IIOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. ■1. What have ye to do with 3. These words, what arc ye to me? hip I 1. The words and also show that also declare that those nations had no there thing additional to the part in God. God accounts them aliens. deeds of those spoken of before. Those What are ye to me ? Nothing. 4. But instanced before were great oppressors, the words convey, besides, that they l as dispersed the former people of would have to do with God for harassing God, and divided t heir land, [n addition his people without cause. They ob- to these, God condemns here another traded themselves, as it were, upon God . those who, without having power and his judgments; they challenged God; to destroy, harass and \eX his heritage, they thrust themselves in, to their de- ■ words, wfiai an ye to met are straction, where they had no great tempt- like that other phrase (Jos. xxii. 24 ;" ation to meddle, nothing but inbred Matt. viii. 29), what is there to thee and malice to 'impel them. They stand me 1 i.e. Avhat have we in common 1 among the most inveterate and unpro- CHAP. III.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. 233 voked enemies of God and his people [Pusey]. Ver. 7. Iivillraise. I. Deliverance of God's people. Though carried far away and put under grievous hondage, God will gather them again. Neither former judgment nor present distress shall hinder. Though like men asleep, he will raise or awake them, as the word imports. Though their condition lie hopeless as the dead, he can deliver them (Ezek. xxxvii. 11, 12). The might of the foe and the wonderfulness of the promise should not impede our faith. "Behold, I will raise." II. Destruction of God's enemies. " I Avill return your recompense." 1. The agent. God himself, not chance, nor mere change of circumstances. " I will sell." 2. The instrument. The Church, the people themselves who were persecuted. What wisdom, power, and providence ! 3. The measure. God repaid in the same proportion which they gave to his people. The guilt of these nations was great, beyond ordinary persecution, hence the retribution severe, and in kind upon their own heads. History confirms the fact that men get back what they give to others, (a) in quality, good or bad ; (b) in quantity, so much, whatever the measure may be. " For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged : and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." Retributive judgment. /. Often given hymen. In society men reap aa they sow. Kindness begets love, and cruelty begets hatred. The suspicious are sus- pected, the dishonest robbed, and the tyrants in turn led into captivity. "There is an important element," .-ays a writer, " of the judicial action of God in the retributive instincts of men. It is one of his ways of bringing the self-con- ceited and the censorious to his bar. He whose hand or tongue is against every man, need not wonder that Divine providence shovdd so balance the scales of justice, that every man's hand or tongue will be ultimately against him. He reaps what he sows." II. Always ml in in istered by God. " The Lord hath spoken it." All retribution comes from him, given by men or laws of nature. In the present it is true — " With the merciful, thou wilt show thyself merciful; with an upright man, thou wilt show thy- self upright ; with the pure, thou wilt show thyself pure; with the fro ward, thou wilt show thyself froward." But the Bible predicts a retribution, most just, adequate, and terrible. The innocent will then be cleared, and the persecutor condemned. Oh ! Wind to truth and God's whole scheme below, "Who fancy bliss to vice, to virtue woe. HOMILETICS. The Holy Wab.— Verses 9— 12. God is now about to execute the sentence, and all nations are summoned together. At God's command, yet of their own accord, they assemble in the valley of Jehoshaphat, to receive righteous retribution. I. The solemn preparation. "Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles." The combatants are mighty, and the results will be decisive. Every preparation ia needful for this moral warfare. 1. This warfare is moral. " Prepare, i. e. sanctity, war." It is a holy war, a crusade between good and evil. Not like those in which the pilgrims of Europe sought to rescue the holy sepulchre from the hands oi infidel Turks. God's people and God's enemies are in battle-array. Moral powers and evil principles are engaged in mortal contest; the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light are striving for dominion. "For we wrestle not againsl flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the dark- ness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." 2. This warfare is close. " Let all the men of war draw near." The armies are not spectators, m .r do they stand afar off, daring and defying one another, like Israel and the 234 IWmiETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. [chap. in. Philistines did (1 Bain. xvii. 3), ami the Turks and the Christians in the reign of Baldwin II., king of Jerusalem. They "come vp" into close quarters, and light fin lit'-'. The enemy is bold, comes up into the very presence of God, and insults his people. We must not hesitate nor fear. "Into the ranks of the enemy," cried a general, on the field of battle, stand still, and you are overcome; fight, and you conquer. "Quit yourselves like men, and fight." 3. This warfare is urgent. u Assemble yourselves and come." The nations must hasten and come Bpeedily. All ••round about*1 must gather themselves together, and draw closer and closer in the contest. Christian lite is urgent and important. The gospel de- mands immediate and earnest decision for God. There must he no delay. Judg- ment delays not. " Now is the accepted time." 4. This warfare demands sacrifice. '■ Beat your ploughshares into swords," &c. The tools of peaceful agriculture must be forged into weapons of war, the reverse of the time when instruments of war will irned into implements of agriculture (Isa. ii. 4; Mic. iv. 3). All was un- 1 : th'' means of subsistence and the care of health were to give way to war. In spiritual warfare, ease and pleasure, sin and the world, must he given up. All must be equipped. The aim is not temporary; it requires a weapon and strength to use it. •• He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one." God has provided a complete armour in which he must fight, and by which alone he can triumph. The self-willed, who fight in their own way, and with their own ins, will never conquer. "Put on, therefore, the whole armour of God, that ye hi iv be able to stand." II. The mighty hosts. "Come, all ye heathen." "Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of derision." 1. A universal gathering. " All nations." Not Bimply all tie' heathens, but all nations of the world are con- cerned in this warfare, and will stand before the throne of God at last. Ail the generations of men, innumerable angels will appear before the Great Judge. Our Lord directs our attention to this very thought of Joel. "When the Son of man shall conic in his glory, and all the holy angels, with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations." 2. An im- i gathering. " Wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near." Eeroes, men of valour and experience, will he there, and, like Homer's gods, engaged in the conflict. Tic Great God who calls it, the solemn purpose for which it is called, and the method of dealing with it, will make that assembly most awful. The Judge will he clothed in majesty and terror. Angels and millions of the human rare will stand before the great tribunal. The splendour of the great wdiite throne will eclipse the sun. No sun had e'er dawned on So fearful a day, No trumpet had marshalled So dread an array. •°». An enthusiastic gathering. The whole nations are seized with warlike enthu- siasm, and rise from slumber at the summons. Even "the weak" one must "say, I am stron-.'' N , however apparently unfit, was to be spared, and none left behind. Enspired with ardour, and drawn by numbers, they gather "to the battle of that greet day of God Almighty" (Eev. xvi. 14; xx. 8). III. The great defeat. Ostensibly the nation-- assemble to destroy God's people, but are over- come them God site upon the throne to judge "the heathen round ahout." Tie- conflict is instigated by the very parties whose doom is settled for ever. 1. Their resistance was in vain. Let the mighty men '-wake up" to gather their i' sources and strengthen their ranks, all is futile. Men may resolve, and eagerly undertake opposition to Cod, but they will he disappointed. " The heathen rao-e," but their cage di plays their fully. Cod is omnipotent, and can overcome °the mightiest hero. '-The people imagine a vain thing," for " He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh : tie- Lord shallhave them in derision." 2. Their overthrow was tjreat. There was not mere failure, but terrible disaster. God's mighty ones chap, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. 2.V> came down, the powers of nature robed themselves in opposition, the sentence was passed, and execution followed. The purpose was defeated, and those who mustered for victory were overthrown with disgrace. Popery has hastened its downfall, by trying to break the power of Protestantism. The French were crushed in their efforts to destroy the political influence of Germany. Those, who fight against God, despite imperial strength, will be broken in pieces. The ruin of sinners will be eternal if God shall smite them. " Associate yourselves, 0 ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces ; and give ear, all ye of far countries : gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces ; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces." (Is. viii. 9.) The Terrible Overthrow. — Verses 13 — 16. The prophet earnestly besought God to call his " mighty ones " in the final scene. God responds, brings his messengers, and bids them put in the sickle, for all things, good and evil, are ready for judgment. Three things are to be noted in the descrip- tion of this judgment. I. It is a moral result. As ripe corn is ready for harvest, and full vats and winepresses for treading out, so men prepare for judgment. 1. Sin ripens men for destruction. It unfits the soul for the enjoyment of God, creates many horrors and foretastes of hell, and renders men ready for destruction. 2. Holint 88 ripens men for glory. It fits the soul for the society of the blessed, makes meet for the heavenly inheritance, and will be consummated in God's presence. Thus judgment is only a harvest for which men are ripening in the present life. The wicked are filling up the measure of their iniquity (Gen. xv. 1G) ; the righteous arc reserved for degrees of holiness which will perfect their character (Eph. iv. 7 — 13). Both will reap as they sow. " For whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." II. It is universal. The prophet seems amazed at the great throng assembling together. L- Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision." It is one living, surging mass, an innu- merable army, rushing blindly on to their own destruction. Or, to take the figure of the text, vast numbers are ripe for judgment. Angels and wicked spirits, good men and bad, will be present. None will be forgotten, none can escape. " We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ." III. It is awful. It is attended and followed by convulsions, in which the framework of society shall be shaken, and by symbolic signs in heaven and earth. Countless multitudes assemble in the valley, the heavens above darken with the frown, and the earth beneath trembles at the thunder of God. " The wickedness " of men " is great," and ripe for harvest. The day of judgment, the day of decision and separation, has come. The grain must be gathered into the garner, and the wine into the vats ; the wortldess chaff consumed, and the wheat preserved. "Thrust in thy sickle and reap ; for the time is come for thee to reap ; for the harvest of the earth is ripe " (Rev. adv. 15). HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 13. May be taken literally righteous and the wicked, growing to- as a harvest sermon, in proving (1) the gether like tares and wheat for their power, (2) the providence, and (3) the proper end. II. The state of maturity. goodness of God. We think nothing 1. Wilful ignorance, sin against eon- of God's mercy, because the effects of it viction, and total insensibility, in are common. How faithful to the some. 2. Growing likeness to Christ, promise, " While the earth remaineth, and sincere desire to be with him, in seedtime and harvest," &c. Every har- others. III. The reaping. Not before vest should remind us of the truth of the corn is ripe, is the sickle put in. God. The harvest a type of final juy our guilt, and our guilt by our privileges. God is never at a loss for instruments. Hearts, events, elements, are all his ; but threatenings are merci- fully conditional "If thai nation against whom 1 have pronouneed turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil I thoughl to do them." Thirdly, as addressed to the messengers of death — accidents, , whatever can bring \e. This regards indi- viduals. \\',- know OUT own destiny, whate\ ex be that of nations. It is ap- pointed unto each once to die. But when men ure ripe it is not 68 decidi . 1 1 i certain that sin ripens i',,r hell, but the most grossly and openly vicious are not always the most guilty before God. It is wise to keep from every approximation to such a dreadful state. Surely when a man is insensible under the word ; incorrigible under the rebukes of providence ; when conscience ceases to reprove, and he can turn Divine things into ridicule, he must be " nigh unto cursing." Holiness ripens for glory, but when matured and meet for it Ave cannot ascertain. We should think favourably of one dissatisfied with himself, and who esteemed the Lord Jesus ; who was anxious to resemble him and trusted to him in all things. But God knows them that are his ; chooses the proper time for removing them ; the wheat for the barn, and the chaff for the burning. But the end of all tilings is at hand. Fourthly, God thus addresses his angels at the last day. We are sure of the event if ignorant of the period. Then cometh the end; his purposes will be accomplished, his promises and threatenings verified, and all will be ripe. Time will be no longer. The earth will be cleared of all the pro- duce, and the fields in which it grew will be destroyed. "Wherefore, be- loved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless" [Ja>/]. Ver. 14. The day of the Lord. 1. Near; comes suddenly, and may find many unprepared. 2. Decisive ; cannot he repeated. Every one's doom will be fixed, and the struggle between Satan and God end. "The valley of decision." Ver. 1(J. The different aspects of the day to men. I. A terror to God's enemies. " The Lord shall roar." Now he speaks in mercy, then his terrible voice will he like a roaring lion (Is. xlii. 13, 14; Jer. xxv. 30; Amos i. 2). II. A hope to God's people. The material universe may be destroyed, but God will be the refuge of his people. "Happy that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God " (Ps. cxlvi. 5 ; Jer. xiv. 8; xvii. 7). chap, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. 237 HOMILETICS. The Unprofaned City. — Verse 17. The scenes which now follow lie beyond the bounds of time. To the trembling universe and the terrors of judgment there succeeds "a kingdom which cannot bo moved." God will dwell with his people. Zion will become a holy mount, a sanctuary no more profaned by alien and unrighteous feet. As a description of heaven, the text sets forth : — I. Its distinguished glory. " I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion." 1. It is the residence of God. God dwelt with man in Eden • but sin drove man from God's presence. The tabernacle and the temple were the house of God; but the symbols of the one and the glory of the other have departed. These were only figures of the true residence. Heaven is "the palace of the great King," the pa- vilion of his splendour, and the place where his honour dwelleth. The Elysian fields of Paganism, and the Paradise of Mohammedanism, were cold and revolting ; but " glorious things are spoken of thee, 0 city of God." 2. It is the permanent re- sidence of God. " God dwelling in Zion." " Permanency adds bliss to bliss," says the poet. Fellowship with God on earth is short, and often interrupted. In heaven he will dwell for ever with his people. It is this which makes heaven itself. What would be all its glory and company without the presence of God? Could the angels and the harps be a substitute for him 1 0 blissful thought, to be " for ever with the Lord," in the " city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." Come, join our wing, and we will guide the flight, To mysteries of everlasting bliss, The tree and fount of bliss, the eternal throne, And presence-chamber of the King of kings. II. Its happy citizens. " So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God." 1. They are enriched. God is their portion. In heaven there will be access to the most holy, and residence with the most dignified society. Patriarchs and prophets, apostles and martyrs, will be there, but the presence of Christ will be "unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory." Tour God, as much your own as if possessed by none besides, filling all with gladness, and fully possessed and enjoyed by each. "Thou art my portion, 0 Lord." 2. They are intelligent. God is known to be their God. He is not simply with them, but known, seen to be with them. It is a personal, experimental, pre-eminent, and perfect knowledge. We know but little here, and that superficially. " But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." In heaven the mental powers will be glorified, study will be a delight, and knowledge will be acquired in direct converse with the objects of knowledge. We shall know by experience, by sight, face to face, what we only believe now. " We sec thn >ugh a glass darkly ; but then face to face : now I know in part ; but then shall 1 know as also I am known." 3. They arc holy. The place is God's " holy mount," and none can enter it but those who are holy. Only those who awake in his likeness will behold his face in righteousness. " Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." Heaven would be hell to the alienated heart, the unrenewed sinner j but " blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." To see God and be like him is the earnest desire of God's people. This desire will be gratified in his " holy mount." And if the glad smile of a friend begets joy in the heart, how will the light of God's countenance quicken soids in heaven to a sense ot his Love I As the light of the sun transcribes its joyous image upon one who contempl so the holiness which beams from the presence of God will purify those upon vi hom it shines. " One sight of his glorious majesty," says one, " presently subdues and works the soul to a full subjection. One sight of his purity makes it pure. One sight of his loveliness turns it into love." The saints thus become assimilated to 23S IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. [chap. hi. God, whom they perpetually love and adore. " We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." III. Its eternal security. "And there shall no strangers pass through her any more." Mount /ion, literally and spiritually, was a place of beauty and stability. " And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established forever." 1. Nofoetofear. There will be no enemy to en- counter. Death and hell will be overcome. Its possessors will never be subdued and taken captive, "The wicked shall no more pass through thee" (Nah. i. 15). "In that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts." '-'. Nothing to defile. Profane nations and ungodly men can never enter. There is nothing in heavenly blessedness compared to its moral and holy character. There will be nothing to defile, or capable of being defiled. Not an act, word, or look will '»' contaminated by evil. " There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever niaketh a lie; but they which are written in the Lamh's book of life." 3. Nothing to corrupt nor decay. The locust and cater- pillar will not destroy. The worm will not devour the heart of ripening fruit. ■• The sun shall not smite by day, nor the moon by night." On earth, everything i< subject to vicissitude and decay ; but the joys of heaven are abiding and secure. '• Where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through Qor Bteal" This inheritance will never wear and waste under the gnawing influ- ence of time, nor he destroyed by the constant friction of disturbing forces. It is - an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Miany take the words as a description cious kingdom, in all directions, is of Zion in the millennium. Themetro~ supplied, preserved, sanctified, and built polie of a converted world. 1. Its gran- up by blessings and gifts. For this deur. God will dwell there. 2. Its reason that place is called, in the Epistle sanctity. "Then shall Jerusalem be to the Galatians, Jerusalem, which is holy." 3. Its security. 4. Its per- above and free, the mother of all his petuity. It will he the scene of delight- believing children, the true and eternal ful privileges and blessings. It will be metropolis of Christendom [Harbaugh]. invested with absolute and inviolable The words prove — 1. That interest in It will possess renown and em- God is the ground of encouragement to pire throughout the whole world. the Church. 2. That interest in God This heavenly city, where Christ's is sweetened by God's gracious presence throne i~. ifl called /ion, because there with his people. 3. That interest in all tin- expectations which the 0. T. Cod is confirmed by experimental know- aected with the earthly Zion ledge. "They shall know" (1 Cor. ii. will be fulfilled, and because, also, there 12). 1. That interest in God is evi- fthing which the Jews associated denced by holy life. Sanctification is with the shadowy picture of the earthly the fruit and end of God's presence (Ps. /ion i- forever perfected in a glorious xciii. 5). actualization. From thence God's gra- IIOMILETICS. The New Would.— Verses 18—21. In these verses, says Lowth, " either the times of the Messiah are described, or we have a description of Jerusalem after its final restoration, when a golden age shall commence among its inhabitants, and when the knowledge of God and his Christ shall a second time lie widely diffused from it." I. The scene of manifold blessings. These blessings are predicted under significant figures. " The mountains drop down new wine and the hills flow with ciiap. in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. 239 milk" in rich abundance. Divine influences will attend the preaching of the word, converts shall rapidly increase in number and fruit fulness, the ordinances of religion shall water the land and make it exceedingly productive. "All the rivers of Judah" shall make glad this world of beauty, and streams of pun' water shall quench the thirst and quicken the virtues of its people. II. The abode of perfect happiness. 1. Freedom from foes. Inveterate enemies, as Egypt and Edom, will be destroyed. All opposition, violence, and cruelty to God's people will be at an end. They shall be free from injury and perpetuated to the end of time. 2. Freedom from barrenness. " A fountain shall come forth of the houso of the Lord" to fertilize the most unproductive regions. Temporal blessings shall be accompanied with spiritual blessings without stint or measure. The vivifying and refreshing waters of life shall flow from Christ to bless the capital and the world. "And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jeru- salem ; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea : in summer and in winter shall it be " (Zech. xiv. 8). III. The residence of righteous people. The inhabitants will be purged and cleansed from sin. Pollu- tion in general shall be wiped away. Special sins, such as shedding innocent blood, shall be forgiven. Knowledge shall spread, and every one shall know the Lord from the least to the greatest. There will be new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. No strangers will defile nor disturb the peace and prosperity of these happy regions. God will dwell and make his Church a fit residence for his presence and praise. In his presence will be fulness cf joy, and at his right hand pleasures for evermore. Seek to be numbered with the saints in glory. While on earth prepare for this glorious era. Help it on by daily effort and incessant prayer. Teach us in watchfulness and prayer To wait for the appointed hour ; And fit us by thy grace to share The triumphs of thy conquering power. HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 18. The glorious fountain. I. the tabernacles of the Most High" (Ps. Its source. " The house of the Lord." xlvi. 4). All springs of grace, comfort, and glory Or if Zion's hill are in God. These blessings take their Delight thee more, or Siloa's fount that ilowed rise in the sanctuary, like the waters of Hard by the oracle of God, I thence t-, ,.,/■,.. ,, J'jn n j Invoke thine aid to my adventurous song. Ezekiel (xlvn. 1), or those from under the threshold of the temple. The ordin- Ver. 19. 1. The desolation. In con- ances of God's house are like fountains trast to the fruitfidness of the Church, of joy and refreshment to thirsty soids. the curse falls upon open enemies and II. Its abundance. It is a fountain, treacherous friends. The low condition not a mere spring. An abundance to of Egypt and Edom for centuries proves fill all the rivers, lit. channels of Judah. the truth of this prediction (Is. xix. 1 ; Eivers of living water flow from the Jer. xlix. 17). So at the second coming Spirit (John vii. 38). There is no scarcity of Christ all foes of Israel typified by of gospel blessings to sinners and saints. these nations shall be destroyed. 2. III. Its fertility. It creates fertility in The cause of the desolation, (a) Vio- the king's gardens (2 Kings xxv. 4; lence to GodVpeople (Ezek. xxv. 12, 13). Jer. xxxix. *4). The waters in Christ (6) Shedding innocenl bl L Eow vivify and refresh the barren spots in highly does God esteem the death ^of the Church. Valleys of Shittim, arid his people, the blood of the faithful. deserts, shall be fruitful. "There is a The warning is repeated time alter time river, the streams whereof shall make to deter nations from the danger. In glad the city of God, the holy place of every place where his cause and crown 240 UOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOEL. [chap. hi. have been disregarded ruin has followed. Bin blights unions, destroys their pa- laces, and desolates their land. " Came, behold the works of the Lord, what de- solations lie hath made in the earth." "The three words of duel, Egypt shall ■ desolation, are more comprehen- sive than any prophecy, except those by Iv.ekiel. Tiny foretell that abiding condition, not only by force of the words, hut by the contrast with an abiding condition of bliss. The words say, not only 'it shall he desolated,' ;is by a passing Bcourge sweeping over it, hut it shall ' itself pass over into that :' it shall become what it had not been ; and this in contrast with the abiding condition of God's people. The contrast is like that of the Psalmist (Ps. cvii. 33 — 35). Judah should over- flow with blessing, and the streams of God's grace should pass beyond its bounds, and carry fruitfulness to what now was dry and barren. But what should reject his grace should be itself rejected" [Pusey]. Ver. 20. The perpetuity of the Church. Egypt, and Edom, all enemies of God, will come to an end. But the gates of hell shall not prevail against her. No enemy can destroy, no ages consume her. She knows no injury, nor decay. The ( Jhurch of God shall abide in him and by him on earth, and shall dwell with him for ever. Ver. 21. This verse has been inter- preted in various ways. God would cleanse, or pronounce the blood which had been shed by the enemies to be innocent. This cleansing or sentence would be accomplished by punishing those who shed it. "I will exact full atonement of their enemies for all their oppressions and violence." Or the mean- ing may be, " I will blot out their own transgressions, so far as these have not already been purged away." In one case, the principle is that guilt cannot be cleansed without complete satisfac- tion. In the other, that security with God can only be enjoyed by removal of all transgression. Hence peace and security with God by atonement for guilt. 1. To the sinner. Guilt must be removed, justice satisfied, and every- thing taken away which renders him unlit for God's presence. Without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. 2. To the Church. The secur- ity and happiness of the Church depend upon God's presence. God will not dwell with a worldly people. " Holi- ness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever." God will not dwell with evil, nor will he tolerate it in the be- liever, or in his house. Only when cleansed from blood are we lit for the dwelling of the Holy God and King. The crown and seal. For the Lord dwelleth in Zion. 1. To sanctify. 2. To be praised. 3. To defend. " And the nam' of the city from that day shall he, The Lord is there " (Ezek. xlviii. 35). The Church lias all her foes defied, And laughed to scorn their rage ; E'en thus tor aye, she shall abide Secure from age to age. HOM1LETICS. The Final Scene. — hi. 1 — 21. The whole of this chapter may be summed up into two parts, of unequal length aid graphic descripl ion. I. God's judgment upon the nation?. Ver. 1 — 1G. 1. The verdict pronounced in time and place with i and ground (ver. 1 — 8). 2. The sentence exe- I (ver. 9—16). The call to hear ii (ver 9 — 11); the throne from which it is : (ver. 11 & 1-); and the dreadful overthrow which it specifies (ver. 13 — 1G). II. The final glory of God's kingdom. Ver. 17—21. 1. The presence of God in it (ver. 17;. 2. [ts abundant blessings (ver. 18). 3. Its perpetual blessedness (ver. 19 — 21). This [so I with the destruction of its enemies, and all that oppress its subjects. "Inline," says a .writer, "the closing chapter of Joel's pro- phecy is a brief apocalypse, cast in the forms of Hebrew thought and story indeed, CHAP. 111.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : JOEL. 241 and only dimly bodied out, yet setting forth, in language which even the Jews could not and do not mistake, the terrors of the last judgment, the issue of the time- long struggle of good with evd, and the golden age of peace and fruitful service, which is to succeed to the conflicts and storms of time." ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER III. Ver. 1 — 3. Persecution. Oh, if when we oppress and goad our fellow- creatures, we bestowed but one thought upon the dark evidences of human error, which, like dense and heavy clouds, are rising slowly, it is true, but not less surely, to heaven, to pour their after- vengeance on our heads — if we heard but one instant, in imagination, the deep testimony of dead men's voices, which no power can stifle, and no pride can shut out, where would be the injury and injustice, the suffering, misery, cruelty, and wrong, that each day's life brings with it [Dickens] 1 Sold a girl for wine. A woman in Glasgow, some time since, in order to gratify her immoderate craving for ardent spirits, was said to have offered her own chdd for sale as a subject for dissection [WMtecross]. Ver. 4 — 8. Retribution. Society is like the echoing lulls. It gives back to the speaker his words, groan for groan, song for song. Wouldest thou have thy social scenes to resound with music 1 then speak ever in the melodious strains of truth and love. " With what mea- sure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again " [Dr Thomas']. Ver. 9 — 12. Here, as in other re- spects, the predictions and promises are but partially fulfilled in the literal Is- rael. Their real accomplishment, their awful completion, will be when Zion's King comes in glory and majesty, with a rod of iron, to dash in pieces the great antichristian confederacy of kings and peoples, and to take possession of his long- prornised and dearly-bought inheritance. The signs of the times seem to indicate that the coming of the Lord draws nigh. Ver. 12 — 14. Judgment day. Spencer says that two soldiers entered the valley of Jehoshaphat, when one of them said, "In this place shall be the general judgment, and I will now take my place where I shall then sit." He then sat down upon a stone, and looked up to heaven as if to receive his sen- tence ; when such dismay overwhelmed him, that he fell to the earth trembling, and ever after remembered the day of judgment with horror. Ver. 15, 16. How sublime is this description ! How should we adore the God before whom the unconscious earth and sky do reverence, and act as if they knew their Maker ! Though the solid world is convulsed at God's presence, saints do not fear. God is their refuge and strength (Ps. xlvi. 1). The enemy will be destroyed, but the Church shall be saved. " She shall not be removed ; God shall help her." The heavens and earth shall pass away, And be to dissolution brought, But Zion's strength shall ne'er decay, For her Redeemer changeth not. Ver. 19. A French traveller thus describes this desolation — " Instead of those ancient cultivated and fertile plains, one only finds, here and there, canals filled up, or cut in two, whose numerous ramifications, crossing each other in every direction, exhibit only some scarcely distinguishable traces of a system of irrigation : instead of those villages and populous cities, one sees only masses of bare and arid ruins, rem- nants of ancient habitations reduced to ashes ; lastly, one finds only lagoons, miry and pestilential, or sterile sands, which extend themselves, and unceas- ingly invade a land, which the industry of man had gained from the desert and the sea." Ver. 20, 21. The human mind has ever conceived a reward for t lie righteous and punishment for the wicked in a future state, Heaven is all the more resplendent by contrast with the dark back-ground of another state. If there's a Power above us (And that there is, all Nature cries aloud Through all her works), He must delight in virtue, And they, whom he delights in, must be happy. 16 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY AMOS. INTRODUCTION. The Prophet. Amos was a native of Tekoah, a village six miles south of Beth- lehem, whose ruins are still preserved in the modern name of Tekua. He was a herdsman, not a wealthy sheep-owner ; in rather indigent circumstances, but culti- vated sycamores for his support (ch. i. 1 ; vii. 14, 15). He rejected the summons to Judah and eat bread there. He did not prophesy for bread. He was satisfied with his simple fare. He was neither a prophet, nor the pupil of a prophet. He was " a self-made man," employed in humble life, among ordinary men. The Time. Somewhat earlier than Hosea, yet contemporary with him. Younger than Joel, whose writings he read when composing his own, and from whom he quotes in exact words (ch. i. 2; ix. 13). It is stated that he prophesied in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, &c. (i. 1). This earthquake appears to be the same ae that mentioned in Zech. xiv. 5, and Josephus (Ant. ix. 10. 4), as a token of Divine displeasure, in addition to leprosy, against Uzziah, for usurping the priest's office. Jotham his son acted as regent during the latter part of his reign (2 Kings xv. 33). As Uzziah and Jeroboam were contemporaries for about 27 years (B. C. 808 — 782), the latter part of this period will fix the date of Amos. This agrees with ch. vii. 10. This was a period of national splendour and prosperity. Under Jeroboam II. the kingdom of Israel was restored to its ancient limits, and stood at the zenith of its power. But this restoration was followed by the prevalence of luxury, licen- tiousness, and vice, which provoked the judgment of God. The poor were oppressed (viii. 4) ; the ordinances of religion felt burdensome (viii. 5) ; and idleness and extravagance were common (iii. 15). The idolatry of the golden calf was practised at Bethel and GilgaL Dan and Bcersheba ; was offensively united with the time worship of Jehovah, and was the source of all their prevalent evils. In the midst of this vice and prosperity, the prophet was called from his seclusion to proclaim judgments, most unlikely and most terrible, the fall of the kingdom of Israel. Judgments upon individual nations, typical of hostile forms to God, and his Church in every age : judgments upon all kinds of corrupt religion in the Church, are given with special emphasis, and comprehensive fulness. In a time of moral corruption, and political security, he was sent to remind nations of a retri- butive law, and a God of justice. INTRODUCTION. _l3 The Book. We have nine chapters, taking up the words of Joel, and containing threatenings against the kingdom of Israel chiefly. Surrounding nations are briefly noticed, and a promise of deliverance and prosperity is given to Israel. Its Analysis is simple. First, a solemn prelude (ch. i. — ii. 1—5) to the main Bubject. Nation after nation is summoned to judgment, with a striking idiomatic expression ("For three transgressions," &c), similar to Prov. xxx. 15, 18, 21. After the in- troduction, we have two parts. In chaps. Hi. — vi. we have special charges and threats. Chap. iii. sets forth the certainty of coming judgment ; for the prophet of Jehovah cannot speak in vain. Chap. iv. declares that since previous visitations had been in vain God must punish. In chap. v. we have the outcry of calamity with calls to seek the Lord and escape. Woe is pronounced upon those who desire the day to come, who are not yet prepared for it. Chap. vi. rouses those who fancy the day is far off, and who continue in folly until overtaken. Then chaps, vii. — ix. recount five visions. The first two threaten judgments (chap. vii. 1 — 6); the next two point out the ripeness of the people for them (ch. vii. 7 — 9 ; viii. 1 — 3). Between these a conversation between the prophet and the priest of Bethel is given (ch. vii. 10 — 17). The substance of the fourth vision ends in a simple prophetic address (ch. viii. 4 — 14). The fifth vision (ch. ix. 1), the overthrow and ruin of Israel, is expanded to an address (ver. 2 — 10), to which is appended the promise of restoration to the fallen kingdom, its extension in Gentile nations, and its eternal glorification. The close points to the beginning of the book, which seems " a grand panorama of God's judicial majesty." Its Style indicates vigour of mind and great moral culture. Images are taken from country life in abundance and originality. The earth with its vineyards, the heavens with lights, and cities in their luxury, impart beauty to his conceptions. Historical events and national customs show that he was a student of the law as well as " a child of nature." He read the relations of the physical to the moral, and wonderfully combined the justice and the mercy of God. Minute concep- tions express the deep experience of the writer. He was a man of prayer and moral courage. He scorned mere forms of worship, and felt that repentance was spiritual work. He valued Divine revelation, and for the thunder of reproof or the gentle tones of mercy to be silent was to him the greatest of evils. We shall try to bring out the hidden beauties of his language, apply his lessons to events of the present day, and by God's help, in a method in which no other writer has yet done, expound the prophecy to aid the mission of the pulpit. •jll IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS, [chap. r. CHAPTER I. Critical Notes.] Amos] Different from the father of Isaiah, Amois. Tek.] 2 Chron. xx. 20. Earth.] 2 Chron. \wi. L6. A premonitory sign in nature of revolutions in guilty kingdoms (Matt. wiv. 7, 8). 2. Roar] Of. Joel iii. 16 ; Jer. xxv. 30. God will spread terror like beasts of prey fP». KTiii. 3), Zion] Seat of government from whence they revolted. Hab.] Poetical for inhabit- ant-. Carmel] whose summit abounded in olives and rich pastures ; owing to its nearness to the ! its Freshness and rerdure (Song vii. 5; Is. xxxiii. 9; Jer. 1. 19). 3. Three] The numbers serve to denote the multiplicity of Bins, " ungodliness in its worst form " [LuUier]. Turn] Reverse, to make a thing go back, to withdraw it (Num. xxiii. 20; Is. xliii. 13). 4. A fire] burned in war (l's. lxxviii. 63) ; or an emblem of God's judgments. 5. Bar] of its gates (Jer. li. 30). Inhab-] Subject. Him that holdeth] Ruler. Saith] Strengthens the threat, which was fulfilled when the Assyrian king conquered Damascus and broke up the kingdom (2 Kings xvi. 9). 6. Whole captivity] i. e. left none, but sold them to Edomites, the most deadly enemirs to lane! : hence the greatness of the sin. 7. Fire on the wall] An enemy shall destroy it. Fulfilled by Eezekdah (2 Kings .\viii. S). Sennacherib (Is. xlvii. 1), and by Alexander the Great. 9, 10. Tyrus] The crime here is sale of prisoners, like the preceding, to Edom ; a violation of the covenant ot David and Solomon with the king of Tyre (2 Sam. v. 11 ; 1 Kings v. 1 ; ix. 11). 11, 12. Edom] No particular crime, but implacable hatred charged, which broke out into acts of cruelty. 13 — 15. Amnion] Ammonites joined the Chaldeans to invade and plunder Judea. Hazael perpetrated the cruelty predicted (2 Kings viii. 12). Ripped up] A cruel act, done to leave Israel without heir, so as to secure the inheritance. The punishment is by foreign invasion, swift, sudden, and resistless as a tempest ; violent and terrific as a whirlwind. King] " Their Moloch (the idol of Ammon) and his priests " [Grotius and LXX.]. Or, as the English, their king and his princes would go together into captivity. The reigning head and those who shared his counsels were removed. Their idols and their earthly kings were unable either to save themselves, or those who submitted to them. "Hand in hand the wicked shall not be unpunished" (I'ruv. xi. 21). UOMILETICS. The Man* and his Message. — Verses 1, 2. Amos uttered words which were the embodiment of Divine communications in vision. When engaged in the daily routine of homely duties he received a Divine .-in unions, " Go, prophesy unto my people Israel." His predictions are wonder- ful. It was a strange event for a prophet to be sent out of Judah into the king- dom of the ten tribes. For a man of no training and position, to rise up from the rank of a shepherd, and foretell the destruction of a prosperous and powerful nation. This would demand universal attention. I. The Word of God often comes to men of humble birth. " The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa." Amos was only a common shepherd and a fig-cultivator. A man of no learning and connection in life. Yet the call came to him. We pander to the prejudice of sects, regard the opinion of the great, and fear the scorn of the ignorant. Most popular and talented men of the times are soughi to tender our cause welcome to the people. But God "chooses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise." The proud and mighty are passed by, and men from the dunghill are exalted to the throne and the mini. try. Elisha limn the plough, David from the sheepfold, Matthew from the rea [pi of custom, and J'eter from the fishing-net, are selected to be messengers for God. Chrisl made publicans and fishermen apostles to men. The philoso- phers of Greece and the senators of Rome were passed by. "He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree." Men of the greatest eminence and usefulness have risen from the lowest ranks. God knows the "right men" for the times, finds them, and puts them into "the right place." Many are now cultivating high qualities in humble callings, despised and unknown, but whom God is preparing for more honourable spheres. chap, l] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. 245 This law, though custom now directs the course, As nature's institute, is yet in force, Uncancelled, though diffused : and he whose mind Is virtuous, is alone of noble kind ; Though poor in fortune, of celestial race, And he commits the crime who calls him base. II. The call from God often takes men from a lower to a higher sphere of life. A humble shepherd was sent to warn the kings of Israel. Some men are discon- tented in their place, think they deserve a higher, and cherish ambitious schemes for the future. But if we are not faithful in little we shall not be in great things. " First deserve and then desire." If we fill our present position with diligence, faith, and earnestness, we are on the way to honour. " Merit well the honour and you shall obtain it." " The force of his own merit makes his way." Moses was a faithful servant in his own house before he became master in Israel. Our secular avocations are sacred and shotdd not be despised, filled with grand possi- bilities and elevate to higher blessings. God speaks to men in business, awakens dormant powers, and calls to distinguished honour. Cincinnatus was called from the plough to the dictatorship. Matthew from the toll-booth, and Peter from his boat, were called to follow Christ and become historians and ambassadors of the age. "Work in your daily tasks and trust God for the future. " For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge : he putteth down one and setteth up another." III. The call from God often comes to men in special times. " In the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam." "Judge a man by the times in which he lived," is a common saying. If we thus estimate the prophet Amos, we learn his moral courage and intense feeling as he delivers the burden of the Lord, lie was accused of conspiracy and advised to flee, but defends his innocence and authority, and with the heroism of God's servant repeats the unpleasant message, and unfolds the Divine displeasure. In shepherd's dress he denounced the idolatry of the court, foretold the destruction of the kingdom and the captivity of the people. 1. Times of natural prosperity. During the vigorous reign of Jeroboam II. the kingdom of Israel enlarged its dominions by the subjugation of adjoining states. With greater security from without, and firmer administration within, there were profound peace, material prosperity, and social gratification. Uzziah also had sub- dued the Edomites and the Philistines, and made the Ammonites pay tribute, He fortified Jerusalem, and raised a powerful army. His name had spread even to Egypt (2 Chron. xxvi.). Under these kings the two kingdoms had reached the summit of their power and splendour. 2. Times of moral corruption. National prosperity is no guarantee for pure religion. It often begets indifference, love of ease, and maturity for judgment. "Prosperous times" are very often the least prosperous. Idolatry was sanctioned by the State, and mixed with the worship of God. The luxuries, debaucheries, and reckless conduct of the rich were upheld by oppressing the poor (ch. ii. 7, 8 ; iii. 9). Perversion of justice (ch. ii. 7 ; v. 7), bribery (ch. ii. 6; v. 12), and false measures abounded. In business a griping, hardfisted bargain was sought (ch. viii. 5, 6). Everywhere in the events of life, sin showed itself in the vile price given for articles of luxury (ch. ii 6 : viii. 6). In the palace and the sanctuary, from the metropolis to the borders, moral corruption prevailed. But Amos thundered out the word of God amid the splendour and wickedness that surrounded him. He sets before them their sms and pronounces God's sentence upon them. "Therefore thus saith the Lord God. Therefore thus will I do unto thee, 0 Israel. Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord saith thus" (iii. 11; iv. 12; v. 16). 3. Times of physical events. " Two years before the earthquake." Earthquakes are sometimes natural har- bingers of coming revolutions. When men are steeped in sin and hying in utter carelessness God has many means to rouse them from sleep. ^ hen 246 1I0MILETIC COJDfEXTARY: AMOS. [chap. 1. fchey disregard his word, unnatural and extraordinary signs proclaim his anger. This earthquake must have been very great. It is described as "the earthquake," and \vas vividly remembered in the days of Zechariah. Whole cities, like Lisbon, are destroyed by earthquakes in the East, says a Avriter. Jost phus says that in one, a little before the time of Christ, "some ten thousand were buried under the ruined houses." Referring to this he says, "By it half of a mountain was removed and carried to a plain four furlongs off, and spoiled the king's gardens." But in this shaking of the earth we hear the voice of God warning nations of their danger, before the flash falls and the lire consumes them. IV. The call which comes from God to men is often a call to deliver an unpleasant message. " The Lord will roar from Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem." Many are willing to deliver pleasant tidings, to preach "smooth things;*' but few have the courage and self-denial to go in the face of public opinion, and declare the truth at the risk of their lives. Amos had to denounce judgments, which arc often as necessary as mercies. They both have one aim, and ■ urate them indicates perverted views of the Divine character and procedure. 1. Judgments authoritative in their origin. " From Zion " and from Jerusalem, where < rod dwelt and was worshipped. Neither in Bethel nor in Dan, nor in the cities of Samaria and Jezreel, but in the cities of Israel did God manifest himself Zion was the seat of government and the centre of mercy. From thence issued edicts anil decrees for Israel and the world. At the very beginning, therefore, the prophet warned Israel, and declared the name and authority of Jehovah, King in Zion. "The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation." 2. Judgments loud in their nature. Jehovah will roar against them as a lion, terrible to shepherds and their flocks. His voice must be heard, and the message demands attention. God roars before he tears, and warns before he strikes. " Thus hath the Lord spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them : so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof." 3. Judg- ments specific in tJteir design. " Concerning Israel." " All troubles," says Bishop Reynolds, " have their commission and instructions from him — what to do, whither to ;.:", whom to touch, and whom to pass over." The storm passed over adjacent countries, but at last falls down in terrific power and darkness upon the kingdom of Israel None are beyond the reach or can escape from the punishment of God. Tne arrows of the Almighty never miss their mark, and stick fast into those at whom they are shot. Sent in love or judgment, they cause a wound wdiich only he can heaL Under his power and presence men are stricken down, and the slain of the Lord are many when he leads in war. Those who sin against light and privileges deserve greater judgment than others. Israel's advantages were great, and [srael'a sins were grievous. " Go, prophesy unto my people Israel." 4. Judg- ments /< triolein thi ir consequence. This is read in the terms which describe them. Not only like the roaring of a lion from his secret place ; but like the outburst of a thunder-storm, which sweeps over the land, a. id carries desolation in its train. (a) The In ml is smitten, its fruitful portions are made barren. The summit of CarmeL denoted for its fertility and excellency, was consumed by drought. All herbage and verdure withered like a flower. " Sharon is like a wilderness ; and Bashan and I ' annel shake off their fruits " (Isa. xxxiii. 9). (b) TJie habitations of men suffer. " The habitations of the shepherds shall mourn." This is not mere poetic personification. The shepherds mourn at withered pastures, and their habit- ations are mad' desolate by the general calamity. Nature, beasts and men, feel the visitation, and mourn in sorrow. God can blight the fairest blessings of men. When " the earth mourneth and languisheth," let us weep in penitence and turn from sin. CHAP. I.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. •JIT HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. The same lessons are here repeated and enforced that Ave have found else- where. 1. Those who take no heed to one message may have others louder. (a) Given by strange men. (b) Confirmed by extraordinary signs in nature. 2. But God is slow to anger, and waits patiently. Before the last punishment is inflicted real space is given for repent- ance. "Two years before the earthquake." 3. If all warning is despised, the minis- try of the prophet and the sufferings of nature, then there is " fearful looking for of judgment," &c. The populous cities, the peaceful homes, and the fruit- ful fields will all suffer when God speaks in wrath. The shepherd has shaken, not one cotuitry, but the world ; not by a pass- ing earthquake, but by the awe of God, which, Avith electric force, streamed through his words [Pusey] Ver. 1. It is observable that Amos, the shepherd of Tekoa, south of Beth- lehem in Judah, directs his prophecies specially to the ten tribes of Israel. He thus presents an example of Divine kindness and tender sympathy for aliens and rebels ; and in this respect is like the Good Shepherd, who Avas born at Bethlehem; and laid doAvn his life for his sheep Avhen they had gone astray [ Wordsworth]. God chooses instruments for important service from inferior stations in society. 1. Men should not be ashamed of their mean extraction, or Ioav occupations in life. Some have childishly wished to blot out every incident concerning their origin. Eousseau, a French lyric poet, is said to have been ashamed l hat he Avas the son of a shoemaker. 2. Men should not be repioached for former life, if they earnestly discharge the duties of their present position. 3. God thus magnifies his grace, and re- bukes human pride. It is a false notion of true dignity and usefulness, to sup- pose that they belong to an illustrious pedigree or a long purse. Honour and shame from no condition rise : Act well your part — there all the honour lies. Ver. 2. Hoar from don. Thus Amos joins on his oavii prophecy of judgment to that of Joel (iii. 16). God roared out of Zion by the voice of Joel, and of Amos himself, denouncing his judgments. And God roared by the voice of the earthquake, confirming that denunciation by a solemn peal of subterranean thunder. The earth* |uake, as it Avere, an Amen to the prophecy [ Wordsworth]. Mourn. Amos, like Joel, notes the sympathy of the natural Avorld with man in his sorrow. He also displays his own sympathy for the class to which he be- longed, by remembering the home which he loved and now left. HOMILETICS. The Judgment on Damascus. — Verses 3 — 5. The prophet having declared the object of his mission, and the authority by Avhich he Avas sent, now gives the several messages in order. First to the sur- rounding nations, grouped together into tAvo classes. Damascus (Syria), < (Philistia), and Tyre, more distantly related to Israel; Edom, Amnion, and Moah allied in origin, and nearer to Israel. Then to Judah, and finally to Israel henelf, the chief transgressor. In the succession of groups Ave see a climax of guilt I The guilt of Damascus. "For three transgressions oi Damascus and lor four " All the judgments are introduced by the same formula, which does not mean that four transgressions were added to three, but that there was a seri sins, each one greater than the one before it, and the last the greatest, the climax of aU All these nations were guilty of multiplied sins. We notice those specially mentioned in each case. Damascus, that is, the Syrians under the reign of Hazael, 248 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY; AMOS. [chap. i. invaded and subdued the eastern regions of Israel. They treated the captured Gileaditea with great cruelty, and crushed them under iron threshing-machines (J Kings x. 32, 33; viii. 12). Elisha foretold this cruelty, and Hazael actually did it. though he stood aghast at the prediction. The women of Israel were thrown like Bheavea on the threshing-floor. II. The punishment of Damascus. 1. It is irreversible. I will not turn away the punishment thereof." There are ante - cedent stages when the consequences may be averted. There are times of warning ami patient waiting. But when men abuse God's patience, and continue in sin till th- re be uo remedy, they must reap what they deserve. 2. It is wide-spread. (a ) The royal palaa s are destroyed. " I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, whieh shall devour the palaces of Eenhadad." Eoyal palaces, though richly furnished and strongly built, avail nothing before God. The habitations of the rich are no protection against the wrath of God. They turn to dust and ashes the fire. (/') The capital is made defenceless. " I will break also the bar of Damascus." The bar, the gates of the cityAvere broken. It was exposed to the enemy, who could go in and out at pleasure. The seat of empire and the empire itself was shorn of its strength. All means of resistance were shivered. Disgrace and ruin followed. " Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap" (Is. xvii. 1). (c) The inhabitants greatly suffered. Some were cut off by the sword. The people from the plain of Aven and princes from the house of Eden, the inhabitants of the valley and the cities, were put to death. Neither their wealth nor their gods could protect them. Others were taken captives to the land of Kir, an Assyrian province on the banks of the river Kir, the modern Georgia. This was accomplished when the king of Assyria took Damascus, and carried away its people into captivity (2 Kings xvi. 9). How easily can God uproot and transplant a nation that sins against him, and acts with cruelty towards his people ! Those who abuse the power which God bestows upon them to uproot others, shall themselves be uprooted. The Judgment on Gaza. — Verses G — 8. In similar terms as before, the special sins of the leading and most influential city of the Ehilistincs are mentioned. Sin in everyplace grows and ripens for punishment. I. The sins of Gaza. ''For three transgressions," &c. 1. The provocations were great in kind. They are called transgressions, or rebellions. 2. The provoca- tions were multiplied in number. The sins were not few, but many, and multi- plied. '• For three and for four," that is, for continued provocations against God. Sin was continually added to sin. 3. The provocations reached a climax in their cruelty towards the Jin-*. " Because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom." (a) This captivity was most complete. The term " whole captivity " means "a lull captivity." The captives were numerous. They took all they could and left none behind. They intended to destroy Israel entirely. "They have said, Coine and let OS cut them oil' from being a nation ; that the name .,)' [grael may be no more in remembrance " {Ps. lxxxiii. 4). (b) This cap- tivity was most cruel. The Philistines appear to have sold their victims partly to the Edomites, the bitterest foes of Israel, and partly to the Phoenicians, who resold them to Edom (yer. 9) and to the Grecians (Joel hi. G). Amos emphasizes the hatred of the Philistines. They were not satisfied with taking them captives themselves, hut added affliction to affliction, by delivering the Jews'into the hands of implacable foes. Fugitives who flee to us for refuge should never be treated with cruelty nor robbed of their liberty. " It was like driving the shrinking flock of sheep to the butcher's Bhambles," says a writer, reeking with the gore of their companions. Yet were they driven there to the slaughter. Open markets there were for Jewish slaves in abundance. "Sell us only not to slaughter," "Spare the graydieaded," •• Spare my child," would go up in the cars of those, who though chap, i.] HOMILETIC WMMENTART: AMOS. ji.t enemies understood their speech. But no ! Such was the compact of Tyre, and Philistia, and Edom against the people of God. Not one was to be spared; it wm to be a complete captivity, and that to Edom. The bond was fulfilled. " Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he too shall cry and not be heard." II. The doom of Gaza. " Behold, I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof." The sentence upon Gaza stands out prominently, because the first city in power and in sin. It was the merchant city of the five. Each had its own petty king. But all formed one whole, and were involved in one sin and ruin. As they had treated Israel, so God would deal with them. Measure for measure. "He shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy." 1. Gaza and affiliated cities would be destroyed. The ravages of fire and sword would devour the palaces of the land. Cities strong by nature and art would be smitten by the fire, when human foresight woidd pronounce them impregnable and secure. 2. The people were doomed to perish. So complete would be the destruction that " the remnant," those who were left after one destruction, should fall in the other. The political strength which escaped one calamity should be overtaken in another. God will make a full end of those who sought to exterminate his people. Judgment upon judg- ment fell upon Philistia, until they ceased to be a nation (Jer. xlvii.). Cruelty to the helpless, and persecution of God's people, ripen nations and individuals foi destruction with great rapidity. Flourishing families and magnificent palaces are destroyed, as if by tremendous fire. Fortified cities are leveled to the dust, fertile regions are depopulated, princes are dethroned, and mighty empires are reduced to slavery and ruin. " Bejoice not thou, whole Philistia, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken : for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cocka- trice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent." The Judgment ox Tyke. — Verses 9, 10. The third people spoken against are the inhabitants of Tyre. I. The ground of the judgment. Like other nations they were guilty of many sins. 1. They trafficked in human soids. If they did not carry away, "they delivered up the whole captivity" to the mortal enemy of the Jews. Tiny raid their captives to Grecians far away (Joel iii. 3), and cared not for the hardshipa <>t' those who fled to them for shelter. 2. They violated the sacred covenant. " And remembered not the brotherly covenant." David and Solomon entered into a friendly alliance with the king of Tyre (2 Sam. v. 11 ; 1 Kings v. 15). Hiram supplied Solomon with timber and carpenters in return for oil and corn ; recog- nized David as chosen of God, and was "ever a lover of David " (1 Kings v. 1 ). The covenant no doubt recognized God as the true God, and guaranteed religious privileges, undisturbed peace and safety. No king of Israel or Judah had ever made war with Phoenicia. Yet they forgot this friendly feeling, and remembered not the brotherly covenant. They sinned in helping Edom in their vile trade ; m forgetting their solemn obligation, and in disregarding God for the sake of mer- cantile gain. A costlier object than man does not exist. He who seeks to enrich himself by the possession and traffic of his felloAV-creatures will be brand. 1 as a pest to humanity. God gave us over beast, fish, fowl, Dominion absolute ; that right we hold By his donation ; but man over man He made not lord, such title to himself Reserving— human left for human free. II The nature of the punishment. "I will send a lire on the wall of Ty which shall devour the palaces thereof." Many parts of Tyre were burnt by fiery missiles of the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar. He took it after a thu a ens' sie<>'e Alexander of Macedon subsequently overthrew it, " ^'ote, says 350 1IOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. [chap. i. one, " that though the crime charged may have been immediately due to the greed of the merchants of Tyre, acting in their private capacity, the whole community is held responsible for their deeds. It is the duty of every State to restrain and punish the unjust aggressions of its citizens on other communities, and if it fails to do so, it must abide the consequences." Tiie Judgment of Edom. — Verses 11, 12. Edomand the two following nations were related to Israel by lineal descent. But they Bet aside the ties of blood, and perpetrated abominable cruelties. I. The reason of the judgment. A relentless hatred towards God's people, breaking otri in acts of cruelty, from one generation to another. 1. It was un- natural haired. "Did cast nil' all pity." His better feelings were subdued. \ iral pity for a brother in distress was stifled or suppressed as if pity were evil in itself, and to be extinguished within us. This is most sinful and unnatural. I- irrupts, 'leadens a man's feelings, and "steels him against sympathy with others." " For pity melts the mind to love." "Compassion is an emotion of which we ought never to be ashamed," says Blair. u Graceful is the tear of sym- pathy, and the heart that melts at the tale of Avoe ; we should not permit ease and indulgence to contract our affections, and wrap us up in a selfish enjoyment. But we should accustom ourselves to think of the distresses of human life, of the solitary cottage, the dying parent, and the weeping orphan." 2. It was cruel Jiatred. "He did pursue his brother with the sword." His malice destroyed his compassion. He cast off the pity of man and indulged in the fierceness of a beast. His anger was insatiable and knew no bounds. "Fierce are the wars of brethren; and they who love exceedingly also hate exceedingly," says the proverb. No hatred seems so intense as that between relations and brothers. To slay a neighbour is to slay a man, and to pursue a brother is fratricide. "Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrage- ous ; but who is able to stand before envy 1 " 3. It was perpetual hatred. "His r did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever." Their enmity was intensified by their kinship, and the murderous thoughts of Esau towards Jacob seemed to be revived in posterity, and become a prominent feature in national character ( Kzek. xxxv. 5j Obad. 1). Wrath was not kept in restraint, but let loose like a raging beast. It was hereditary, full of revenge, which they gratified by outrageous cruelties. "Thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel, by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity" II. The character of the judgment. Their cities would be over- thrown, and tlnir capital destroyed oy fire. God may forbear awhile, even with the worst persecutors, but their cruelty will at length bring vengeance to their own doors. "The lire of our anger against our brethren kindles the fire of God's anger against us," says an old writer. "For I have sworn by myself, saith the Lord, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse" (Jer. xlix. 13). Tin; Judgment on Ammon. — Verses 13 — 15. In the fifth place the Ammonites are accused of guilt, and their punishment is described. I. Their crimes, consisted in most atrocious deeds towards the Gileadites. 1. Barbarous cruelty. "They have ripped up the women with child." Hazael and Ammon were guilty of this barbarity. Probably Syria and Ammon were leagued together for the extermination of Israel. The offspring of the incest of Lot ever retained the stamp of their origin, and were noted for sensuality and ferocity. One would think that human beings could not become so inhuman, but history opens its page of darkne and blood.. 2. Unbounded selfishness. "That they might enlarge tie ir bonier." These deeds were not only performed in rage, but in deliberate design to extirpate the people and take possession of the land. Covet- CHAP. I.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. •j:.l ousness leads to great cruelty, and those that seek to extend their hordcrs often use unscrupulous means to accomplish their design. Pharaoh killed the Israelites. and Amnion displayed unwonted ferocity towards the women of Gilead Bui neither their kings nor their idols could protect them from the coming storm. II. Their punishment. Their attempts to exterminate others recoiled upon them- selves. 1. Their chief city was burned. "I will kindle a fire in tin- wall ol Rabbah." It wasa strong city with a stronger citadel, but it was utterly destroyed Its ruins still exist, some of which perhaps date back to this prophecy. " I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couching place for flocks." 2. War desolated the country. "Shouting in the day of battle." Foreign invasion would sweep the land like a storm, (a) Swift as a tempest. (6) Violent as a whirlwind. The onset would be irresistible. Like the hurricane carrying the caravans of the desert, so the enemy would carry the walls and fortress of the city. 3. Kings and princes icere taken into captivity. There would lie no one left to resist and renew the revolt. On every side waste land and ruined cities. All defences, human and religious, were impotent. Inhabitants and gods were carried into a foreign country. Kings and counsellors, priests and people, linked together and driven to one common destruction. "Cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament and run to and fro by the hedges ; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together " (Jer. xlix. 3). ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER I. Ver. 1. Station in life. Low station is no obstacle to God's favour. St John was the son of a fisherman ; recom- mended to our Saviour neither by refinement of education nor by honour- able employment, he was diligently en- gaged in the labours of an humble occupation when chosen to accompany his Lord. For those, indeed, whom it hath pleased God to place in the higher states of life it is right that they should endeavour to perform the duties of their stations, by a due cultivation of their talents, by the acquirement of suitable accomplishments, and by acting up to the rank in society to which by the good providence of God they are born and designated [Bp Manton]. Ver. 9. Brotherly covenant. Be steadfast in thy covenant, and be con- versant therein, and wax old in thy work (Eccles. xi. 20). Remember thy covenants, and bear no malice to thy neighbour (Ibid, xxviii. 7). Ver. 11. Cast off pity. Bonaparte carried the town of Jaffa by assault, and many of the garrison were put to the sword. But the greater part tied into mosques, implored mercy from their pursuers, and were granted their Lives. But Napoleon expressed resentmenl at the conduct of the troops, lost all pity, and to relieve himself of the care of his prisoners, ordered nearly 4000 to march on rising ground to be shot. When Bonaparte saw the smoke from volleys of musketry and grape, it is said that he could not contain his joy. Pity is the virtue of the law, And none but tyrants use it cruelly. Ver. 13. Heathenism is cruel, and multitudes of victims have been de- stroyed under the sanction of the gods. But what can we say when kings and enlightened nations commit such deeds as these? " What will not ambition and revenge descend to?" [Milton.] 252 UOim.ETir. COMMENTARY: AMOS. [chap. n. CHAPTER II. Critical Notes.] Bones] An act of cruelty revenged; others, an insult to the remains of a dead king, probablj the kins joined in alliance with Jehoshaphat and Jehoram (2 Kings iii. 9). 2. Kir] A principal city ot Moab, the plural form indicates the acropolis and town (cf. Jer. xlviii. 2 1, 41). Tumult] These expressions describe the city taken by storm. Trumpet] The signal for as&ault 3. Judge] Supreme magistrate (Dent. xvii. 9). 4. Judah] condemned for idolatry and ing the law, i.e. the instructions and revelations given by God to his people. Command.] Ben irate precepts. Lies] Their idols, which not only deceive, "but as fabrications and nonentities, having ii" reality in themselves, and therefore quite unable to perform what was expected of them" [A'c] Fathers] Forefathers generally. 6. Israel] The ten tribes the main object of the pro- phecy. First, prevalent crimes of injustice and oppression, shameless immorality, and daring con- tempt of God. 6 — 8. Sold] Perverted their cause, and gave an unjust sentence for a small bribe (Deut. xvi. 9). Shoes] Lit. sandals. Needless ornament was thought more valuable than man. Pant] Eagerly thirst (Ecc. i. 5) for this object, i. e. they long to see the head of the poor covered with dual or earth, or to reduce ther.i to such misery that they scatter dust upon their head (cf. Job ii. 12 ; 2 Sam. i. 2). Turn] Bend, bring them into a trap, cast them into destruction, by impediments laid in their path. Unto] Not so much as named among the Gentiles (1 Cor. v. 1). Clothes] pawned ; upper garments or square piece of cloth, to wrap all around and serve the poor for a counterpane. If a poor man was necessitated to pledge this garment, it was returned to him night (Ex. xxii. 25) ; and a garment so pawned was not to he slept upon (Deut. xxiv. 12, 13). Godless usurers kept them to stretch themselves upon at feasts, at sacrificial meals in the temple. Wine] bonght with money of thoso whom they unjustly fined. 9 — 12. Yet] Former benefits make ingratitude more base. Israel delivered from Egypt and from the most powerful enemy of all the Canaanites. Roots] Destroyed utterly, no fruit above, no root from which to spring beneath. Eaised up] additional privileges ; furnished with religious instructors and examples of self-restraint. Gave] Tempted the Nazarite to break his vow. 13—16.] Judgment the inevitable consequence. Press] 1 will depress your place, i. e. make it narrow, opposite to enlarging or relieving (Ps. iv. 1 ; Prov. iv. 12) ; others, I will press you down. It is a rustic figure, a cart full of sheaves sets forth the pressure of their provocations. God was weary of them (Is. xliii. 24; Mai. ii. 17), overlaid with their wickedness [£p Hall]. Neither agility of man or horse, neither courage nor valour, would deliver them ; few would escape, and those few would be fugitives in other countries, or naked captives in the hands of the enemy. HOMILETICS. The Judgment on Moab. — Verses 1 — 3. I. The punishment of Moab. Moab was to be laid waste by the fire of wax, ami its palaces to be destroyed. 1. A tumultuous destruction. " Moab shall die with tumult." The sound of the trumpet would stir up the assailants. Noise and commotion would be heard in the streets, and as they had raised tumults themselves bo they would perish by tumults. "Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise. 2. An entire destruction. God will cut off its rulers. The chief magistrate, the princes and the rulers of all ranks, shall be taken. Those who are high in rank and authority are bound to do justice to the people. Judges shoulil Learn thai there Is one above them, from whose judgment they cannot escape. II. The reason of this punishment. " Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime." The king of Moab, either when he sought to avenge himself on Edom (after the raising of the Biege, 2 Kings iii. 27), or at some other time, let out his fury on the very dead. The malice which vents itself on the insensible corpse is the vindictive rage of one, that would never cease to hurt if possible. "Hatred which death cannot extinguish," says Pusey, "is the beginning of the eternal hate of helL" To rage against the living, or to express malignant spite againsl the remains of the dca*l. is odious to God. He is Lord of the living and the dead. His dominion and providence extend beyond the grave, and he will avenge insults to heathen or Christian. chap, ii.] II0MILET1C COMMENTARY: AMOS. 253 The Judgment on Judaii. — Verses 4, 5. I. The charge against Judah. The guilt here is not as in other cases. Other nations were judged for injuries done to man ; but Judah for insults to God. They despised the law, deceived themselves and one another with false excuses ami the customs of progenitors. Disregard to God is manifested in two chief forms. 1. Contempt for the J cm of God. "They have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments." The law as a rule of life and the command- ments in their special bearing were treated with contempt. The wisdom of . They practised incest. " A man and his father will go in unto the -line maid." Prostitution was a part of the filthy worship of idols, and the damsel spoken of is probably one of the prostitutes belonging to the temple. This sin was most abominable and worthy of death. Cf. Lev. xviii. 7, 15 ; xx. 11. Or if prostitution is not intended, we have a daring contempt of the commands of God (Lev. xxii. .'!:!). Modesty will have little influence upon those who disregard jus- tice. Tie' name of God will be profaned by those who honour not the nature of man. Father and son forgel their filial duties and disgrace themselves by the same crime. "1 am the Lord, and ye shall not defile my holy name ! For I will be tified among the children of Israel." 4. They desecrated the sanctuary. (1) By unlawfully keeping the "pledges of the poor. "They lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge." It' a poor man pawned his upper dress which was his only bed, it was to be returned to him before night (Ex. xxii. 25) ; and a garment so pledged was not to be slept on (Deut. xxiv. 12, 13). But creditors kept the gar- chap, n.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. •>:,:, ments, treated them as their own property, and stretched themselves in luxuriant ease "by every altar." In shameless publicity and hard-heartedness they lay on the garments of the poor and despoiled. They avowed their sins ami insulted the true God by the altars of false gods. (2) By drunken feasts in idolatrous templi ,. " They drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their God." Tiny fined the poor, and were paid in liquor or expended the money in wine. What they got by injustice they spent in sensuality. They added revelry to oppression, and the wine which they poured out in libations or drank at idolatrous feasts was the price of innocent blood. Idols may not refuse such abominable sacrifices, but < tod will not accept them. " For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt- offering.''' Not such the service the benignant Father Requireth at his earthly children's hands : Not the poor offering of vain rites, but rather The simple duty man from man demands [ IVhittier]. II. The aggravation of Israel's guilt. God's benefits should strengthen our grati- tude. He requires much from those to whom much is given. Israel's guilt ia measured by Israel's privileges. They despised the blessings and neglected the warnings they received from God (ver. 9 — 11). 1. Israel was indebted to Oodfor its national existence. He created them for his own peculiar people, preserved them from danger, and kept them in continued existence. (1) lie redeemed them from bondage. " I brought you up from the land of Egypt." Mercies to our ancestors are blessings to us, for we could not exist without them. Past deliverances should never be forgotten. They should keep alive our gratitude and bind us to duty. God dates our benefits that we may remember them. If we despise his kindness, we aggravate our guilt. England has a wonderful past, and the present generation should not forget God's benefits. " He hath not dealt so with any nation." (2) He defended them in danger. " Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them," &0, The Amorites were the most powerful of the Canaanites and most terrible to Israel. Joshua, rehearsing God's kindness, places the destruction of the Amorites as one of the most prominent deeds to Israel. " I brought you into the land of the Amorites which dwelt on the other side of Jordan, and I destroyed them before you." The greater the danger, the greater should be our gratitude for deliverance. The more God displays his love and power towards us, the more should we keep his law and praise his name. (3) He guided them in their journeys. " Led you forty years through the wilderness." This reminded them of innumerable blessings in the course of their existence. Manna from heaven and water from the rock ; deliver- ance from serpents and manifold perils ; provoking sins and unqualified mercy ; human guides and Divine presence. God led them and gave them possession of the land, for they did not get it by their own numbers and skill. Thus wen; they raised up and defended; planted in their inheritance and preserved in their exist- ence. What echoes of the past resounded in their laws ! The mercies of to-day remind us of the miracles of yesterday. Past and present, memory and law, remind us of our duty. " And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness." 2. Israel was ind* hi, / to God for inspired teachers. " And I raised up of your sons for prophets." From the beginning to the end of their existence they were not left without lighl and instruction. Men of sanctity and power, like Elijah and Elisha, were senl unto them, filled with wisdom and the Holy Spirit, Messenger after messenger rebuked their sins and revealed the will of God. They were never left without a * itnesa of God's presence and a prophet to teach them. " Since the day that your lathers came forth out of the land of Egypt, unto this day, I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them." 3. Israel was^ indebted to God for noble examples. " And of your young men for Nazantes." Prophets instruct, examples show that these instructions may be put into practice. 25G HOMILETIC COMMENTARY'. AMOS. [chap. it. They arc visible illustrations both of the possibility of doing what is enjoined and of the method in which it is done. Hence the proverbs, " Example is more power- ful than precept ; " "Precepts lead, examples draw ; " " Every art is best taught by example." The Nazarites were noble specimens of temperance and self-control, ex- amples of men who vow and are able by God's grace to keep the vow. We are more apl to learn through the eye than the ear, and what is seen in fact makes a deeper impression upon the mind. Israel were blessed with men, living among them day by day, to quicken attention and incite to the obedience of that law which they despised. Men who counteracted the evil and gave an impulse to the virtuous tendencies of the age. Young men who are examples of self-denial and devotedness to God are an honour to any country. They are monuments of God's grace, living reproofs of the impiety of the day, and deserve to be imitated in their spirit and conduct. " I have given you an example that ye should do as I have di me." I . Israel did not acknowledgeher indebtednessto Godfortheseprivileges. They sought not to walk in the light, but to extinguish it. They perverted God's gifts into occasions for greater sin. (a) They tempted the Nazarite to break hie vow. '• But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink." It is a horrid sin when men will neither be holy themselves, nor let others keep the law of God. It is the height of ingratitude to abuse the temperate and seekto destroy their character. Yet such .rimes are committed in England to-day. Sons of temperance are tempted to break their pledge (Num. vi. 2, 3); self-denial is considered weakness, and pious men are exposed to ridicule and contempt. Young men are often surprised and allured, re- proached and frightened, into sin. " And so," says a quaint author, " many do the tempter's work." (b) They sought to silence the prophet in his teaching. "Com- manded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not." The guilty conscience hates reproof. The godly teacher irritates the sinner, and God's servants are often threatened if they hold not their tongue. Jezebel swore by her gods to destroy Elijah (1 Kings xix. 2, 3). Amaziah silenced the prophet : " Art thou made of the king's counsel 1 forbear. Why shouldest thou be smitten 1 ' Jeremiah had to face hatred, mock- ery, and imprisonment. The chief priests sought to silence the apostles, first by command, then by scourges, and lastly by persecution. If God's ministers will not preach evil tidings, they will be unmolested ; but when they proclaim the judg- ments of < rod "ii the sins of men, then nations rise up in authority and opposition. "Wherefore dost thou prophesy1?" (Jer. xxxii. 3). Those who deaden the voice of God within, and silence the word of God without them, leave no means of access to the si ml or the people. Dreadful is the doom of those who harden themselves against the gospel, and refuse its last offers of mercy from its faithful ministers. Sue]) were 1 3rael'e guilt and Israel's punishment. '• They would none of my coun- sel: they despised all my reproof : therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be tilled with their own devices." III. The severe punishment for Israel's guilt (ver. 13—16). Base contempt for covenant mercies God will visit with severe punishment. The long-suffering of God will at length be wearied out by obstinaate sinners and ungrateful nations. 1. Punishment mod crushing. Taking the words as alluding " to the force of v, ar, under which even the bravest and most able heroes will succumb." God threatens to oppress them most heavily. As the cart full of sheaves presses the ground; so God would press them down, by war and the effects of war. This is a fit retribution for their own oppression, robbery, and injustice to the poor. Judgments in number and variety would fill the land, and distress would overcome its inhabitants. Bradford the martyr said, " He that will not tremble in threatening shall be crushed in pieces in feeling." Men through their own sins often have to say, "We were pressed out of measure above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life." 2. Punishment most inevitable. The judgments are fixed and inevitable, and none can escape except by repentance, the door of which is never shut in these Divine threatenings. (1) The swift cannot Jlee away. " The night shall perish from the swift." Men are afraid oiup.il] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY "; M/o.v. _..-,: and wish to escape from the judgments of God. But it is too late, and bhi e c ipe is impossible. "He that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself." A torse will be a vain thing in that day for safety. "Neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself" from his pursuers. (2) The strong cannot defend themselves. " The strong shall not strengthen his force" against the power of God. Military hosts are not a match for an angry God. " The mighty," who may have pro! others, shall not " deliver himself" then. " There is no king saved by the multi- tude of a host ; a mighty man is not delivered by much strength " (Ps. xxxiii Weapons of war will be of no avail. " Neither shall he stand that handleth ilie bow." 3. The courageous cannot withstand the attack. "He that is couras among the mighty shall flee away." The most spirited and brave, the most firm- souled and mighty, cannot deliver themselves. What a picture. Fear will disable the skilled archer. The strong will be bereft of his might. Panic will seize all ranks, and those who flee cannot escape. " A kingdom for a horse," cried one in battle, but in the day of judgment every means of strength, resistance, and escape will fail. Those who make not God their refuge, shall find none for themselves in the day of visitation. " Many among them shall stumble and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken" (Is. viii. 15 ; Amos ix. 2). HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 7. God had laid down the fies them into sons of Anak. " I de- equality of man, made in his own image, stroyed " (emphatic). God uproots all and had forbidden to favour either poor fears, extirpates all enemies, and leaves (Ex. xxiii. 3) or rich (lb. 6). Amos neither " fruit from above " nor "roots calls these by different names, which from beneath." Not merely cut down, entitled them to human sympathy ; but plucked up, and no chance of spring- poor, depressed, lowly ; poor, in their ing into existence again. A complete absolute condition ; depressed, as having and irrecoverable destruction. This— been brought low ; lowly, as having the 1 . Displays power. 2. Should excite special grace of their state, the wonder- confidence ; and 3. Stimulate progress, ful meekness and lowliness of the godly Ver. 10. God's fidelity towards poor \Pusey]. Israel contrasted with Israel's conduct Ver. 9. God removes difficulties out towards God (Deut. ii. 7 ; viii. 2. Cf. of the way. The pilgrim often magni- Mic. vi. 4). HOMILETICS. Christian Pilgrimage. — Verse 10. Life is a pilgrimage ; but all pilgrims do not consider themselves " strangers " on earth. Had God intended this world to be the home of his people, he would have made better accommodation. But they seek a country, even a heavenly one. I. The destination. "To possess the land of the Amorite." Canaan was promised to the Jews, and though in the possession of the enemies, yet God drove out the heathen and planted them (Ps. xliv. 2). A people numerous, warlike, and strongly fortified, were overturned by a feeble nation. The oaks of Baahan were torn up to plant his chosen vine. God now gives his people inheritance i faith and knowledge, puts them in possession of wealth and vantage-ground on earth, and will give them rest in heaven. II. The starting-point. I brought you up from the land of Egypt." The local and political elevation of Israel set forth the deliverance and dignity of the Christian. All are found ... the .-use ol bondage, under the dominion and lash of sin. Egypt is the starting-place ol Israel , the City of Destruction, for the Pilgrim. All are found in a state of d.g.adation and alienation from God. From a lower God's people are called to a higher COU- 17 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. [chap. n. dition, translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. III. The way. " Through the wilderness." After leaving Egypt, Israel were literally in tli.' wilderness. A dreary solitary place, full of privations and perils. The world comparatively is a wilderness. It is not the rest, the home of God's people. It is polluted by sin, and unsuited to their moral nature. We must not form at- tachments and Becure possessions which hind us here. " Here we have no continu- ing city." We must avoid the company and renounce the maxims of the world. Our happiness is nol here ; it is more elevated and on high. All, all on earth is shadow ; all beyond Is substance : the reverse is Folly's creed'; How solid all, where change shall be no more ! IV. The leader. '; I brought you up." Their safety and joy sprung from God's care. The pillar of lire by night and the pillar of cloud by day, went before them and never lefi them. Moses and Aaron could not guide them. Hence the request, "If thy presence go not with us," &c. God conducts his children now by his Spirit, providence, and word. He will never leave nor forsake them till they have entered the land of promise. He " led them np through the wilderness, for his mercy endureth for ever." V. The time. " Forty years through the wilderness." A considerable period, but appointed by God. What scenes and memories would it recall ! What proofs of God's power, goodness, and truth ! What displays of in- gratitude, impatience, and rebellion ! Thus God reminds us of important crises in our life, that we may thank him for his goodness, note the progression of time, and prepare for our journey's end. " These forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee ; thou hast lacked nothing." Our life is a dream ; our time as a shadow Glides swiftly away ; And the fugitive moment refuses to stay. HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 11. 1. The gift of prophecy us with benefits, but we heap up sins and the institution of the Nazarites are upon him. II. The pressure of insults, considered special blessings to the na- Insult to his Being, Word, and provi- tion. 2. This effort to purify society dence. In Avhatever light we look upon from a special evil is said to be of Divine evil, it is a burden to God and his works. origin, "/raised up your young men." God faints not in the upholding and 3. This method of sobering the people government of the world. But he grows must be as wise and necessary now as weary with our iniquities (Isa. xliii. 2-4) ; then. " We learn from these verses the and creation groans beneath its weight importance attached by God to the (Bom. viii. 22). In another sense he Nazarite class, and also that their pre- carries our sins and will take them from eminent (maracteristic was abstinence us. Then if delivered from sin, we from wine. Jehovah claims to have shall uot be crushed by judgments. raised up a succession of prophets and The judgments of God. With what Nazarites, and the attempt to subvert patience God bears with man's sin! the fidelity of the Nazarites is coupled Three transgressions are followed by a as a Bin with the impious effort to silence fourth ; sin is multiplied by sin, before the teachers of the nation, ami the. organs he inflicts punishments ; but impenitent of the Almighty " [Temp. Com.']. sinners may be sure, that if Divine Ver. 13. < Sod pressed down with patience lingers, not willing that any man's iniquity is the sense in which should perish, yet their judgment " lin- many take these words. I. The pres- gereth not, and their damnation slum- sure of ingratitude. God daily loadetli bereth not." CHAP. II.] UOMILETW COMMENTARY: AMOS. 2 5! i ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER II. Ver. 1 — 3. Bones burned. " The ■wickedness appears to have consisted in a wanton violation of the sanctity of the tomb, by the disinterment and burning of the royal remains. It Avas indicative of an enmity which was not satisfied with inflicting every possible injury upon its victim while living, but pur- sued him even into the regions of the dead." To exhume, burn, and disperse the bones of the dead, has often been adopted as a way of showing indignity. The bones of Wycliffe were disinterred and burnt, and Cromwell's remains were most indignantly treated. Ver. 4, 5. Evil examples. As com- panions are the objects of choice, admir- ation, and affection, the repulsiveness of vice is lost sight of amidst so much that is attractive. In short, though the vices of a companion be gross and palpable to others, yet, as Shakspeare says, "a friendly eye cannot see such faults" [Brewer]. Evil examples are like pestilential diseases — The virtuous son is ill at ease When the lewd father gave the dire disease. [Pope.] Ver. 6 — 8. Oppression. To rob and oppress the rich is a great sin ; but to rob and oppress the poor is a greater : but to rob and oppress the poor, because he is poor and wants money to buy justice, is the top of all inhumanity and impiety. To oppress any one is a sin ; but to oppress the oppressed is the height of sin. Poverty and want should be motives to pity ; but oppressors make them whetstones of their cruelty and severity, and therefore the Lord will plead the cause of his poor oppressed against their oppressors without fee or fear [Brooks]. Ver. 9, 10. Wilderness. An Em- peror of Persia, who designed to go on a journey into Media, durst not proceed on account of the vast quantity of scor- pions that were lying round about tho road. He sent a great numher of stout fellows to destroy these terrible creatures, promising a superior reward to him who killed most. Till this execution Avas o\Ter he durst not Arenture his digni- fied person abroad [Wliitccross]. Ver. 12. A man once called upon a publican to settle an account, in a village near Elgin, and Avas asked to take a dram. The man Avas a member of a Temperance Society and declined. Tho publican first began to ridicule and then to tempt him, saying that he would give him a reed good one, and that besides, B gin dram Avould not be objected to. The simple man at length yielded, and having yielded Avas more ready to sink before other less poAverful temptations. He did so, and is no longer a temperate man nor a member of a society. The con- duct of the publican Avas most atrocious in tempting a man, when he know his conscientious reasons for total abstinence. If his unhappy victim die the death of the drunkard, Avho will say he is guilt- less of the loss of that man's soul? [Whitecross]. Ver. 14—16. Swift. The mighty hosts of Persia were no defence at the battle of Arbcla. Napoleon led more than half a million of men into Eussia, but coidd not escape the danger by re- treat. His valiant guards could neither uphold his empire nor protect bia per- sun at Waterloo, when he cried out — " It is all over ; save yourselves avIio can." " Not tho chief his serried lances, Not his strength secures the brave ; All in vain the war-horse prances, Weak his force his lord to save." [Richard Mant.] 260 lloMll F.T1C COMMENTARY: AMOS. [chap. in. CHAPTER III. Critical Notes.] Hear] Cf. beginning of chaps, v. & vi., indicating this chap, to be one whole address. Whole] Though the ten tribes threatened, yet all Israel are concerned and warned. 2. Known] Not only love and care, but gracious fellowship and treatment (Ex. xix. 5; Deut. iv. 20); "including both the motive and result of election." 3. Two] The prophet and the Spirit of God. Israel did not believe that Qod threatened such denunciations by the prophets (ch. vi. 1 — 3; i. 7, 8). Amos Bpoke because God commanded him. 4. Lion] roars when the prey is before it, it actually ><\/< - it. and there is no possibility of escape. " After the roar there immediately follows both slaughter and laceration. For as a rule it only roars with that sharp roar when it has the prey in si^ht, upon which it immediately springs." A young lion] which goes in pursuit of prey, and ia distinguish a from tin one that lies silent until the old one brings prey near; then the scent - him. 5. Bird] God not only has the nation ripe for judgment in his power, but the judg- ment is deserved. As birds are not taken without the net of th fowler, and he does not take it up until he has bb< ured In- prey, so God not only threatens, hut is prepared to execute. 6. Trumpet] blown in the eity alarms every one ; the coming evil should rouse from self-security (Ezek. xxxiii. 1 — 5). 7. Lord This explains all the similes. God is the author of these calamities. Pro- phets being Bervante of God, must obey him in setting forth judgments upon Israel (Jer. xx. 9; Ezek. ix. 11). 8.] As when the lion roars all men fear, so when God speaks I must prophesy (Acts iv. 20; v. 29). 9. Publish] upon (the floor of) the palaces, some; others, over them, to call the princes and inhabitants to hear and see the acts of violence, and testify against Israel. " Ashdod, one of the Pbilistian capitals, is mentioned by way of example, as a chief city of the uncircumcised, who were regarded by Israel as godless heathen ; and Egypt is mentioned along with it as the nation whose unrighteousness and ungodliness had once been experienced by Israel to satiety. If therefore such heathen as these are called to behold the unrif,rbteous and dissolute conduct to be seen in the palaces, it must have been great indeed" [Keil], Tumults] Ileb. denotes a state of confusion and noise in which order and justice are overthrown by open violence. 10. Regard not] Not merely ignorant, hut cherish a state of mind hostile to knowledge. Moral corruption blinded the power of anient, BO that the magnates of Samaria bad no regard for right. 11.] Whatever was boasted of would be removed. 12.] By an appropriate and pastoral image the prophet declares that if a scanty remnant escape it will only be by miracle, like fragments of sheep left by the lion. Grandees who sit on costly divans and rest in ease will escape with great difficulty (ch. vi. 1 — 4). 13. Hear] Addressed to heathen who have now to witness the punishment upon Israel. 14. Altars] Venge- ance upon the centre from which spread the evils (1 Kings xii. 32). Horns] destroyed in utter contempt and desolation (Ex. xxvii. 2). 15. Houses] Eastern monarchs have summer and winter residences : the former upon mountains or in forests, the latter in cities and sheltered situations (Jndg. iii. 20; Jer. xxxvi. 22). Ivory] Houses and palaces richly ornamented with tbis material will he i ntirely mined, Samaria is threatened with the overthrow of its palaces, and the extermina- tion of its people. Nothing will avail if righteousness be wanting in the day of the Lord (Prov. x. 2). HOMILETICS. God's Chastisement of a Covenant People. — Verses 1, 2. Before tli>' end <>!' chastisement can be answered its nature must be discerned. In itself it may seem of no moment, but when viewed as the expression of God's purpose it is significant. Israel therefore should bear, for God Himself speaks and will punish. Thrice does Amos address the Bame solemn call to a nation whose former favours do nol ezempl from impending ruin — " Hear this word." . I. The grounds for chastisement. God always deals wisely, and often gives reasons for certain proceedings against us. The grounds of Israel's punishment are specified. 1. Peculiar relationship abused. (1) Individually abused — "children of I :." Each member of the tribes, every person in the nation, was owned and cared for by < rod. (2) Socially abused — " the whole family." God separated them from others, and united them into one family. Tin's was a natural protest against self- ishness, a merciful design to secure obedience to the Supreme Lawgiver, and a method of Divine mercy to mankind. ""At that time will I be the God of all the families of Israel." But Israel chciished not the disposition of children and dis- chap, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. 261 owned their relation to God. "If I be your father where is mine honour'?" 2. Distinguished privileges neglected. " Which I brought up from the land of Egypt," They were redeemed from bondage and brought up, led to Canaan. This redemp- tion was like a second creation, and a special ground for gratitude. But God's goodness to the nation was forgotten, and bis gifts despised. Remarkable deliver- ances are remembered by God, and should be improved by us. 3. Special obliga- tions denied. God blessed and loved them like no other people. "You only have I known of all the families of the earth." Others were aliens; they were children, They were distinguished by rank and favour, " made a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth." But they dishonoured their character, and violated their obligations to God. Iniquity in some is disobedience to express commands, revolt against Divine authority, and the addition of ingrati- tude to sin. " Forget not all his benefits." II. The design of chastisement. The nearer to God the greater the fall from him. Professors can either praise or profane the name of God. Their sins are more provoking than those of other men. They are against greater light, a higher principle of life, and more exalted relation- ship. God will not wink at sin in his most favoured children. " Therefore will I punish you for all your iniquities." 1. Punishment to pur\fy moral rim ruder. God will have all his children to be like him. Bastards may escape, but sons must be chastised. Luther cried, "Strike on, Lord, strike on, for now I know thai I am thy child." " As a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee." 2. Punishment to fit for greater service. Afflictions remind us of forgotten duty, give discipline for future life, and fit us for a world of sin and sorrow. They make us more fervent and holy, stronger with God and more pitiful to men. " More skilful in self-knowledge, ever more pure As tempted more ; more able to endure As more exposed to goffering and distress ; Thence also more alive to tenderness" [ Wordsworth]. 3. Punishment to warn others of danger. " Against the whole family " was the judgment denounced. They were the elect and beloved of God, but their sins only deepened their guilt and made them a warning to others. The lessons imparted to one people are for the benetit of another. There is unity and aim in the moral life of all nations. Exalted privileges everywhere bring heavier respon- sibility, and shameful abuse severer punishment. Hear this word of the Lord. For " the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God ; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end bo of them that obey not the gospel of God1?" Divine Intentions and Executions. — Verses 3 — 8. In a few similes drawn from daily life, the prophet answers objections which break the force of his threatenings and establishes his right to prophesy. The words might be taken to describe the nature of the punishment mentioned in vera 1 & 2. 1. It is from God and not any secondary source. 2. It is deserved. ".. It is prepared. 4. It will certainly be executed. 5. There is QQ possibility of escape. " As the net does not spring up without catching the bird, that baa Bent it up by flying upon it, can ye imagine that when the destruction passes by, ye will not be seized by it, but will escape without injury" [Ilit:.ig}\ We shall take the words as a solemn warning to rouse careless sinners, and show that word and deed are one with God. He will execute what he threatens. I. Threatening is identified with execution.. Threats are not simply to frighten men. Punishment will not come, unless it has been prepared. UP ishment is intended. You have no need to presume on God's favours and God a presence with you. You do not agree and walk with God. You forget Ins law, and dishonour his name. There is a reason for the severity. It' you walk con- trary to God, he will not walk with you. If we grieve the Holy Bpint and J62 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. [chap. Hi. offend God, they will depart from us. 2. Punishment icill be executed. God will not warn of calamity unless there be fit objects of bis indignation. His threats are not empty Bounds. Ee lias said and will do, spoken and will perform. The lion only roars when he is about to spring on his prey, and God only threatens when he is about to punish. He can neither lie nor change; he is faithful and true. II. Execution must be traced to God himself. The word and the providence of God declare this. 1. God's servant dedans the truth. God has revealed his secrets to the prophet, and he utters the purpose of God and not his own. What right had he to speak ] some would say, and the reply is : he was the servant of God, specially called and qualified. He shunned not "to declare the whole coun- sel of God." His strength consisted in knowing that he was doing his Master's will, and speaking his .Master's word. "The Lord hath spoken, who can but pro- phesy1?" 2. God's providence entrapped the nation. Calamities which befall nations and kingdoms do not happen by chance. God's hand must be seen in them. If a bird is caught in the snare, the snare was designed for it. So when a people ;uv involved in judgments, God has prepared the peril and misery for them. And as no fowler takes up the net without securing the prey, neither will God with- draw his judgments until he has accomplished his purpose. Men may resist this truth, but it is seen every day. Misfortunes as punishments are not casual, but come from God. They have a real author, a definite cause, and a special aim. God sends them in righteous retribution, determines beforehand who shall suffer, and who escape. " He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct 1 he that teacheth man knowledge, shall he not know" (Ps. xciv. 7, 9 ; Mic. vi. 9)? III. Warning is given before the execution of threatening. In the last image the prophet seeks to rouse them to a sense of danger before it be too late. Repent- ance may break the snare, and men may be delivered in mercy. 1. The alarm is given. " Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid?" They heed the sound which warns of approaching danger, tremble in fear, and seek to escape. Or when the punishment has actually come, they ascribe it to the right source, and humble themselves before God. " Shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it?" 2. The danger is made known. "The lion hath roared, who will not fear? " &c. God speaks through his servants, who reveal his hatred to sin, and his justice in punishing it. He has always warned of the danger before it actually comes. " Thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me." The living ministry and the written scripture are a perpetual warning to men of a judgment to come. Be not found unprepared. We may repent now, but if we obstinately continue in sin God will be just in the punish- ment of it. " 1 will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words nor to my law, but rejected it." Walking in Agreement with God. — Verse 3. Taking these words generally Ave learn — I. Agreement with God is necessary to walking with God. " Can two walk together except they lie agreed 1" God and the sinner are not in agreement. They me at variance in heart and life. There is nothing common between them. They arc opposite, as two travellers walking in different directions. Those who justify self and disobey God, must recognize then- guilt, and avail themselves of the blood of Jesus. They must agree with God — 1. In disposition. 2. In cha- racter. :'>. In <■<,//>/,/,■/. There Lb a basis for friendship in Christ, and men may live at peace with God, " He ye reconciled to God." II. Agreement with God will show itself in walking with God. Friendship naturally develops itself in unity of mind and pursuit, in acts of gratitude and love. David and Jonathan were real friends, and talked together Abraham was the friend of God because he obeyed God and hail perfect confidence in him.- If we are agreed with God, we shall seek to please and obey Mm. Our life will be like that of Enoch, a con- cilAi-. in.] 1I0MILETIC COMMENTARY : JMOS. 263 stant, habitual, daily walk with God. Walking together is a common act of human fellowship, indicating " evenness and similarity of gait," interchange of thought and opinion, and anxious desire to "keep step." Walking implies action and progress. Our life should be devoted to God, and our deeds performed through and for God. If we are God's people, his Avill will be the rule and his glory the end of our life in all things. "Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever things I command you." III. Disagreement with God will interrupt walking with God. "Can two walk together except they be agreed?" When com- panions disagree they never walk together. Sin is disagreement with God, separates from him, and puts us in opposition to his will and word. It is a breach of the agreement, and a step in a crooked direction ; " For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness ? and what communion hath light with dark- ness 1 " Outward profession, without love and conformity to God, will prevent us walking with God. Insincerity of any kind will grieve the Holy Spirit and offend God. God will never walk with us unless we walk with him. God is ready to walk with us, " But if ye walk contrary unto me " (margin, " at adventures with me," or another reading, " at hap-hazard with me," in jerking, spasmodic fashion), " then will I also walk contrary unto you" (Lev. xxvi.). " My business now is with my God to walk, And guided by his holy eye to go ; Sweet fellowship with him to cultivate, And his unclouded countenance to know" [/. F. Elwin]. Preparation for Eevival. — Verse 3. The believer is agreed with God concerning the Divine law ; that it is " holy, and just, and good " — that a breach of the law should be visited with penalty ; agreed with God in the atonement for sin which God has provided in Christ ; and at one with God in his love of holiness. This agreement gives us power to walk with God. As a Church our hearts are set upon a revival of religion in our midst. We need as the first and most essential thing that God should walk tcith us. If we desire his presence we must perfectly agree with him both in the .-<;ple. They have a presentimenl of danger at the sound of the trumpet, hasten together and devise means of escape. However stupid and blind in sin, God has a witness within men, that, sin brings sorrow, and is the cause of their misery. Hence tli,' appeal, "Shall there he evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?" 2. In judgments upon its sins. Drunk- enness, debauchery, neglect of God's house, and contempt of his word. " Evil is of two sorts, evil of sin and evil of punishment. There is no other; for evil of nature, or evil of fortune, are evils, by God's providence, punishing the evil of sin. Evil which is sin the Lord hath not done; evil which is puni.-hment for sin the Lord bringeth. The providence of God governing and controlling all things, man doth ill which he wills, so as to suffer ills Avhieh he wills not " ( Pusey], Ver. 7. In this verse a high honour is vindicated to the prophetical ollice. The holy men of God were, by inspira- tion, entrusted with a knowledge of the Divine purposes, in so far as it was neet try tor them to divulge them to the world [A. Elizas']. Gail's secrets with his servants. 1. In the spiritual insight into his word. Our darkness does not comprehend the light. God imparts understanding, the threatenings become more solemn, and the promises more precious. 2. In the revelation of his will to man, God has spoken to men through patriarchs, pro- phets, and apostles. He speaks to us by the ministry now, and does nothing without disclosing it to his servants. This has ever been the law of the Divine procedure. Nothing is coming upon men which has not been revealed. " The grand outlines of the plan of Divine providence, and the events of history, to this day and to the end of the world, were made known to the prophets of Israel and Judah, and a very large pro- portion of them, many ages before they took place ; so that a general history of mankind, as to the most important facts, might be composed from their writings " [Scott in loco]. Ver. 8. Who can bid. The intensity of feeling expressed in these words in- dicates— 1. An inward struggle. Shall I keep back or proclaim the unwelcome truth? Shall I alienate some, harden others, and render myself unpopular (Jer. xx. 9 ; Ezek. xxxiii. 7) 1 Hero under depressing influence. To such in- quiries the answer is, " The Lord God hath spoken." 2. The declaration of a necessity. Every true servant must utter the word given to him. Moses, though slow of tongue ; Isaiah, of polluted lips; and Jeremiah, though a child, were not excused. The apostles were influenced by this spirit (Acts iv. 20) ; and Paul ex- claimed, "Necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel." 3. The assertion of a law. God calls and commands his prophets, their own spirits prompt them : hence they cannot hesitate or refuse ; they must speak, whether men will hear or forbear. " Who can but prophesy?" IIOMILETICS. National Calamities. — Verses 9 — 12. The ftvna of [srael are to he punished, and heathen nations are summoned to witness. This turn in the address indicates the exceeding sinfidness of the sins, such as to surprise the heathen and put Israel to shame. chap, in.] B0MILET1C COMMENTARY: AMOS. I. National guilt. Sin brings shame. Prom the heights around the injustice of Israel is beheld. 1. Moral sensibility impaired. " They know nol to do ri God has planted a sense of right in the breast of every one. This Bhould be cultivated and strengthened. Indulgence in .sin blunts this moral sensibility, and men at length become unable to do and perceive good. The love of evil Minds the power of discernment, and brings moral corruption (Jer. iv. 22). •• I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil." 2. Public justice perverted. Courts of law were the scenes of injustice, ami the rights of the people were neither known nor cared for. The poor were oppressed. God and his law were set at nought, violence and robbery prevailed, and evil customs reigned supreme. 3. Shameless fraud committed. "Who store up violence and robbery in their palaces." One sin leads to another. Riches gained by fraud will never be used as means of benevolence and justice. All oppression is cruel; hut to defraud the poor to increase unrighteous wealth is aggravation most insult in God (Ps. xi. 5 ; xii. 5). Men may store up their treasures, and fill their pal to crush the poor and cheapen their luxuries. But "sin pays its servants very bad wages," says a quaint author ; "for it gives the very reverse of what it pro- mised. While the sin of oppression promises mountains of gold, it brings them poverty and ruin. Injuiies done to the poor are sorely resented by the God of mercy, who is the poor man's friend, and will break in pieces his oppressor." " The robbery of the wicked shall desiroy them, because they refuse to do judg- ment." II. National disorder. "Behold the great tumults in the midst thereof." Injustice and cruelty in the upper will ever bring alarm and confusion in the lower classes. A people intent on gain, turning law upside down, will create greal tumults. National honour has been stained, and a reign of tenor introduced by national disorders. Tumults have darkened the pages in the history of Gn lost some of the noblest sons of Borne, and been terrible punishments to France. Let England remember that licentiousness and cruelty, fraud and oppression, will create confusion in the people ; that wealth unlawfully gained, and unjustly stored ; that mammon and pleasure habitually worshipped, will only "treasure up wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." III. National disgrace. It is a shame to any person to have his guilt and punishment revealed to others. " Every nation," says Ryan, "is ashamed when its disgrace is proclaimed to other nations, and especially if those nation, are remarkable for their hostility to it. Of all nations that have ever existed, the Israelites were most vulnerable in this respect. The position which they were taught to maintain, the exclusiveness of that system which was given to them of God, made them conspicuous objects of attention to other people, and exposed them most completely to the language of reproach and scorn in the day of their humiliation." But God puts men to shame now, to keep them from everlasting shame and contempt. IV. National invasion. Civil discord would be followed by the ravages of an invading enemy. "An adversary" would hem them in on ail sides, encircle the land and assault their habitations. 1. Power which they abused shall be taken away. "He shall bring down thy strength from thee." They would be bereft of all strength and resources on which they depended (Prov. x. 15). When God is angry strength will prove weakness, and wealth end in poverty. 2. Palaces which they stored shall be destroyi d. " Thy palaces shall be destroyed." Palaces are no defence to fraud and oppression. 3. There would be a general and complete overthrow of the kingdom, with only a remnant of i Bcape, The rulers had been guilty of oppression and robbery : disregarded these evils m others, notwithstanding the tumults and disorders they created; and idled their palaces with the fruits of robbery. But as an appropriate punishment their violence should be broken, and their wealth stolen from them. "The spoilera must themselves be spoiled." " To wronjj-doers the revolution of time brings retribution " [Shaktp*art>\. 266 1I0MILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. [CHAP. III. IIOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 9, 10. God's assessors in judg- ment. The character assigned to the inhabitants of Philistia and Egypt is virtually that of assessors, who not only take cognizance of, but concur in the judgment executed (cf. ver. 13, lit. •■ Heat ye ami testify against the house of Jacob"). From this we learn that iu the execution of his righteous judg- ments God desires to obtain a verdict in the impartial human conscience. What is here figuratively represented by the neighbouring nations taking their stand on the mountains of Sa- maria takes place inwardly and silently in the minds of men. It is analogous to what in modern times is termed the verdict of public opinion. No institu- tion is in danger until a sentence has been recorded against it in the tribunal of conscience and right reason. And the like may be said of the general sta- bility and independence of nations. In such a case as the present two important ends are served. 1. The witnesses or jurors give a human attestation to the righteousness of the Divine procedure, ami thus justify the ways of God. That tiny are themselves guilty and sinful makes their verdict all the more em- phatic. 2. They thus obtain a truer and deeper acquaintance with God and hi. ways, and what they have seen in others becomes a warning to themselves [Tin 1',-i'irlii r's Lantern, vol. iv.]. '' Heaven gives the needful but neglected call. What day, what hour, but knocks at human heart*, To wake the soul to a sense of future scenes P" [Young.] Vers. 10, 11. Righteous requital. 1. Requital from God. "Thus saith the Lord God." "There was no human redress. The oppressor was mighty, but mightier the avenger of the poor. Man would not help, therefore God Avould. An adversary there shall be even round about the land ; lit. an enemy, and around the land " [Pusci/]. 2. Eequital by means of their own sons. " Man's sins are in God's pro- vidence the means of his punishment. Their spoiling should invite the spoiler, their oppressions should attract the op- pressor ; and they, with all which they held to be their strength, should go forth into captivity " [Ptwey]. " The cries of orphans and the oppressor's rage Doth reach the stars " \_I)ryden\ 3. Requital justified by human tes- timony. "Publish in the palaces of Ashdod." The transgressions of which Israel were guilty were to be manifest to others, and attested by the human conscience. " The Lord will be justified in his sayings and in his works, when he executeth judgment on us, and shall be cleared, even by the most unjust judges, when he is judged." Ver. 12. The miserable remnant. 1. A remnant robbed of glory. Bereft of the national glory which once belonged to them, yet just enough to show that they had once been a part of it. 2. A remnant saved. After God's righteous vengeance had accomplished its end, a remnant only shall be saved (Joel ii. 32). " Taken out for the good of others, not their own." 3. A remnant injured by violence, rescued from danger, like a sheep almost devoured by the lion ; taken at the last extremity, a monu- ment of God's mercy, and a proof of exposure to violence and risk. As shepherds, ministers of God have to defend the flock against Avild beasts and robbers. Carelessness should not permit one, to be lost or injured. The Good Shepherd seeks to rescue all. Let none sit in ease and carnal security, lest they be destroyed by the lion going about seeking whom he may devour. IIOMILETICS. Divine Visitation. — Verses 13, 14. These verses renew and raise the threatening to a higher degree. God will visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, and utter, destruction will be the con- sequence of moral corruption. chap, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. 267 I. The seats of idolatry overturned. A people guilty of false worship are in- capable of seeing the evil and the danger of it. Sentence must be uttered against the house of Jacob, for they cannot escape Divine judgments. 1. The eenin idolatry destroyed. "The altars of Bethel "were the source of their sins, the fountain-head of their superstitions. A special judgment is pronounced againsl Bethel the religious, and Samaria the political, seats of corruption. 2. The oty <■/.< of idolatry destroyed. Destruction is threatened against the horns of the altar, and all attractions to idolatry. These were to " be cut off" with violence, and " fall to the ground." 3. The votaries of idolatry destroyed. The teachers and sup- porters were to have their punishment according to their prominence. Their sup- port was withheld, and their doctrines proved false. Their religion was not de- fence, and all their hopes were disappointed. Natural religion can never be a substitute for revealed. Those who trust in the former and reject the latter will sink into ignorance and sin. Every kind of false worship, instead of helping, will become an object of Divine displeasure. " So shall Bethel do unto you be- cause of your great wickedness." II. The palaces of grandeur pulled down. "The great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord." The mansions of the rich, with their pomp and splendour, extravagance and folly, shall be spoiled by the enemy. The capital shall be robbed, and all its magnificent palaces destroyed. Pride is not in keeping with prosperity. Prodigality to ingratitude will only increase misery. Habitations decorated with art and inlaid with ivory, which exclude the presence of God, will have an end and dissolve to dust. III. The retreats of luxury destroyed. Luxury and pride generally follow idolatry. But we have " the same minute filling up of the picture," says one, " in the threat- enings against the luxurious retreats of the rich. 'The winter house,' with its comfortable shelter from the influences of cold; 'the summer house,' with all its spacious provision to secure a cool retreat from oppressive heat; 'the house of ivory,' which might show the refined taste of its possessor; and ' the great house,' which would display his wealth and give room for his revelry — all were marked, like trees in a forest ; their end was determined, it would quickly come." Tie- palace of the prince and the cottage of the poor, the spacious mansion and the fortified castle, will one day come to ruin. Let us " build high," and secure " that house not made with hands, eternal Si the heavens." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 13. Divine visitation. /. In roused from their slumber and quicken relation to the prophets of God. Anew attention to the word and authority of charge is given to Amos and the rest of God. In the space of six verses the God's servants, to understand themes- prophet earnestly repeats the word-, sage themselves and proclaim it to "saith the Lord." Men of our time others. "It is of little avail to testify, should not question nor limit the mes- imless we first hear ; nor can man bear sage of the gospel. Be imbued with witness to what he doth not know; nor the spirit of Samuel, " Speak, Lord, foi will words make an impression, i. e. thy servant heareth." III. In relation leave a trace of themselves — be stamped to their design. The punishment ot in or on men's souls — unless the soul sin and the correction of God's people. which utters them have first hearkened Sin is the procuring cause of all puniah- unto them" [Pusey]. II. In relation ment. God may endure long, bul will to others. "In the house of Jacob" at length vindicate his holiness and visit the testimony must be given ; but Phi- "the transgressions" upon those who lis tines and Egyptians, as ver. 9, are commit them, called upon to witness. Not only God's Vers. 14, 15. We are strong!] servants, but others have need to be minded here of what in recent 3 1hniiu:ric COMMENTARY: AMOS. [CHAP. III. befell Paris and Rome, which have oc- cnpied analogous positions in the Papal world, to those which were then held in Israel by Samaria and [Preacher's Lantern, vol. iv.]. Bethel ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER III. Vers. 1, 2. Special favours. Men are not to be envied simply because they are endowed with special favours. Those vny endowments, unless thev are faithfully used, only augment re- sponsibility, deepen guilt, and ensure a more terrible retribution. "Where much has been given much will be required. It will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, &c. [Dr Thomas], Ver. 3. When God walks with a nation that nation prospers, but if that nation falls to words with God, cpiarrels with him about his will and law, and rushes perversely into sinful courses; — nay. il there be some in it who have no God at all, who do their best to ex- tirpate his very name from the earth which he himself lias made, then we cannot expect that God should continue to walk with such offenders. Consider whether there has not been enough in England, and especially in this great city, tn make God angry with us? Has there not 1 o grievous disagreement bet wei-n the dwellers in this city and God [Spurgeon] 1 Vers. 3 — G. The first question was taken lVi mi travellers, the second from wild beasts, the third from fowlers; the fourth question implies that inasmuch ■ I bad a purpose in sending tribu- lation, he will not remove it until that design is answered ; and the fifth, that an awakening should be the result [Ibid.]. Ver. 9. Samaria. The metropolis of the kingdom of Israel was built on a round hill, near the middle of a large valley, surrounded by mountains on every side, by which it was completely overlooked. From these elevations per- sons might distinctly see what was done in the city [E/zaz]. Vers. 10, 11. They might seem to be secure and at ease in Samaria and Damascus, but vain would every such remedy against fear and sorrow prove. From the strong city, from the soft couch, they would be dragged to miseiy and destruction. In about 40 years alter the time of this prophecy we read (I' Kings xvii. 3) of a siege of Samaria which lasted three years, at the end of which the city was taken ; and after the horrors of war, the spoiling of their palaces and their wealth, the remnant was dragged into a distant land, to en- dure the miseries of captivity and exile [ Uyan\. Vers. 14, 15. Visit. The sins of a nation draw judgment after them as the moon draws after it the billows that heat upon the shore. Let no nation hope to escape judgment until it gets rid of sin. Judgments are but sins ripened into a harvest, subterranean fires breaking into volcanoes [Dr Thomas]. CHAPTER IV. Critical Notbs.1 Kine] Pat and wanton, yet effeminate and luxuriant ; reproved not for frerce- bnt unfeeling insolence and oppression. Say] (1) Wives here intended, voluptuous-women afti r tin' anal >gy of [s. iii. Lfi ; zzxii. !> — 13. '• Tne Bin of these women consisted in the tyrannical oppression of Mir poor, whilst tiny asked their lords, /. c their husbands, to procure them tin; means of debauchery " [Keil], (2) Others, princely oppressors, who say to their king, with whom they indulge in drink, and whom they ask to seal the bargain with wine. Oppress] Lit. con- chap, iv.] H0M1LETIC COMMENTARY : AMOS. 269 tinually oppress. Crush] Heb. expresses vehemence. 2. Holiness] which hinds him to pannb (Ps. lxxxix. 35). Hooks] Invaders and spoilers compared to fishers (Jer. xvi. 16; Heb. i 3. Breaches] of city walls broken by the enemy. Every] one before her, i. ,. without Looking to right or left (cf. Josh. vi. 5, 20), as cows through a gap or fence. Cast] "The word may di the headlong motion of the animal, and the desperate gestures of the hopeless" [Putty], 4. Gil- gal] The scene of idolatry. Multiply] Irony. Since you will not be reformed, go on, try win tin t God likes your sacrifices; eager as you are in worship, you will not prevent punishment Your tithe and incense only increase guilt. 5. Leaven] against the law (Lev. ii. 11). Liketh] This is what you love. 6. Teeth] Famine, as threatened in the law (Deut. xxviii. 48, 57 ; cf. '2 Binga viii. 1). 7. Yet three] The latter rain, which fell in latter part of February and beginning of March, when most required (1 Kings xvii. 1). One city] Distress so great that people from one place had to go a great distance for supply, yet could not get enough to satisfy. 8. WanderedJ Heb. indicates the trembling, unsteady gait of those exhausted in quest of food (I's. lix. 16 ; cix. 10; Jer. xiv. 1—6). 9. Blasting] Lit. an exceeding scorching. Mildew] Heb. intensive. The mention of these would remind them of other judgments (Deut. xxviii. 22). 10. Manner] i. e. the way in which God punished Egypt (Ex. ix. 3). " Palestine was by nature healthy. Hence on account of the terribleness of the scourge, God often speaks of it as of his own special sending" [Pusey], 11. Firebrand] Proverbial for escape from imminent danger. Yet] after all com measures, obstinately impenitent, and determined to persist in wicked courses ! 12. Therefore] punishments must be continued. This] not expressed, but discerned from what follows— all kinds of things imagined in the uncertainty; but the last the greatest calamity. Prepare] " When thou seest that thou hast resorted in vain to all kinds of subterfuges, since thou never wilt be able to escape from the hand of thy judge ; see now at length that thou dost avert this last destruction which is hanging over thee" [Calvin]. 13] To give greater emphasis to the command, God is described as Almighty, reading the thoughts of men, creating prosperity and adversity as he changes light and darkness, subjecting all things to his control, and ruling as the Lord of Hosts. What an argument for being at peace with him. HOMILETICS. Sad Pictures of Human Life. — Verses 1 — 3. Punishment is the leading thought in chap, hi., but in this sin is the prominent thought, and its consequences incidental to prove its exceeding sinfulness. Civil injustice and oppression were very common. The king and his ministers are spoken of in terms of contempt, for sharp rebuke often becomes an imperative duty. I. Insolent abuse of prosperity. Eashan was a place of rich soil and pastur- age (Mic. vii. 14 ; Jer. 1. 19). Animals fed there were among the strongest and fattest (Deut. xxxii. 14). Bulls furnished a type of the mighty, fierce, and unfeel- ing men of earth ; khie may indicate the luxury and effeminacy of men or women — a life of wantonness and brutish feeling. Amos points out the princes and judges as ringleaders in provocation and insolence. They grew fat and prosperous, abused their place and power, and made themselves base and contemptible. In their pleasure and grandeur they despised the herdman and the poor. They thought more highly of themselves than they ought to do. Like beasts, they found their enjoyments in self-indulgence and luxury. Men who wallow in riches and surfeit themselves in pleasure fatten themselves for slaughter. Those who live a brutish life will die a brutish death. Men in worldly honour, without true wisdom, are worse than beasts that perish. Their eminence is their peril, and theii fall is disgraceful. "Man that is in honour and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish." II. Might ruling over right. Men in prosperity and high rank often become extravagant and tyrannical. They lose the tenderness of their own, and have no sympathy with the nature of others. Might overcomes right. 1. In oppressinq tliepoor. The poor are always with us to kindle our sympathies, teach our dependence, and fulfil the purpose of God. In true philanthropy there is present blessedness and godlike action. "Blessed is he thai considereth 'In- poor; the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble." The poor musl he defended, provided for, and n il -■■• ;s ■! They are not of a lower grade than ours* I If we mock or oppress them we reproach God. "He that oppresseth the ] r reproacheth his Maker." 2. In crushing the needy. .Society is a medium for UOMILBTIC COMMENTARY: AM08. [chap, i v. • the attributes of humanity, and bnilding up the moral history of the . , all clasBes,and bound together by all ties. He Avho is ;., the needy exhibit* moral likeneaa to God, and administers to the i luist in heaven (Matt srv. 40). But when men -ratify pride in selfish- : the rights of the poor, and, like powerful cattle, trample the Aveak mark of an unfeeling heart and social corruption— a way to the moral character of society, and a prelude to Divine judgment. It is their wantonness where there is no power to resist. Not the with the wolf, bul the wolf with the defenceless lamb, " devouring the poor S ; they are found among the riders of God's own the teachers of religion, and in the common ranks of life. "Judge , and plead the cause of the poor and needy." III. Confederacy in kedness. " Bring, and let us drink." The wicked encourage and strengthen r in sin "Come on," said Pharaoh, "let us deal wisely with them." an in Lsrael practised oppression themselves, abetted it md .; it in others, A sinful course cannot long prosper. Articles of v are dearly bought by oppression, Proud combinations against the laws of ),UI. the providence of God shall be broken as tow. The builders of founded. The conspiracies of Voltaire and his infidel school have rthrown. In our day all social compacts and private bargains in the cause "t injustice will be crushed by the irresistible power of God. "Though I join in band, the wicked shall not be unpunished." IV. Debauchery in social conduct " Lei us drink." Men reap a poor harvest from cruelty and :; when they Bpend it to gratify their lusts. Making merry at the cost of rtion will only mingle bitterness with wine. Tyrants to the poor are often • their own passions. " Cruelty and sensuality are well matched'. Inflamed for inflaming drink, and this again sets on fire the whole course of nature, and di di d of violence and shame. Nor must it be forgotten and women naturally mild and kind commit the most ferocious (other- under the influence of alcoholic drink, which exerts all n tyranny of diabolical possession." V. Life terminating in great calamities. Consider the end of these proud oppressors. "So the days shall n you that he will take you away with hooks and your children with fish- d oz to the slaughter, taken as fish out of the water, neither r ii<>r number can keep them from sudden and violent destruction. 1. time. The 'lays hold on their steady course and advance the -inter. They are determined in God's purpose and will i'. Calamities urith great sacrifice. From security they -hall violently !»• taken away to a land of oppression. Their stores of violence • away from their palaces. When life is at stake, treasures of gold • worth. " A thousand pounds for any one who wdl save my life," cried : i ly is the wreck of the London. It is too late often, and none can flee from which none <;n> escape. They shall rush from one •r Some think to be tie' meaning, east themselves into one place another and find d i shelter. In wild confusion, without help and hope, they will run through the breach of the city, like a herd of cows through a fence. Hty. " Your children with fish-hooks." People may survive in their descend times, but reckless must be that life which rity. Sinners entangle themselves in their own devices, and bring the jud 1 upon their families. Pdches are small, and strong palaces an- defenceless in tie- hour of 'bath. Those who boast of wealth, and act in cruelty toward-, others, will be carried away without ransom and without hope. ile dust from whence they sprung, ;>t, unLonour'dj und unsung." chap, it.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. 271 HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 1. God's intimate acquaintance which they had profaned in themselves, with men. 1. He discerns their charac- and which they had caused to he pro- ter. "Ye kine of Bashan." Pride, faned in others. God sware by him- wantonness, and effeminacy. 2. He de- self. For he is the supreme uncreated tects their sins. Specifies one by one. Justice and Holiness. This justice 3. He knows their residence. " In the each, in his degree, should imitate and mountain of Samaria." " God knows maintain on earth, and these they had where men live. Let us seek to make sacrilegiously violated and overthrown " our houses such as he will look on with [Pusey]. pleasure " [Hall in loco]. " I know thy Vers. 1 — 3. From the whole learn — abode, and thy going out and thy com- 1. In proportion to the prosperity here ing in, and thy rage against me " (Is. will be the misery of the wicked here- xxxvii. 28). after. 2. In proportion to their luxury Vers. 2, 3. 1. Destruction inevitable, here will be then poverty hereafter. 3. " Saith the Lord." 2. Destruction by In proportion to their sins here, will be meanest instruments. Fish dragged by their punishment hereafter [Treasury the hook, Herod destroyed by worms, of David]. 3. Destruction vindicated by God's cha- „ 0 , , racter. Holiness is offended by sin, Bane of elated life, of affluentSes, and pledged to vindicate its own hon- "What dreary change, what ruin is not thine ? " our. "God swears by that holiness [Dyer.] HOMILETICS. Ungodly Life and Formal Worship. — Verses 4, 5. The prophet again turns to the people, and in bitter irony bids them pursue their course. The words describe the worship of Israel, and afford a specimen of address to desperate sinners. I. The spirit in which they are uttered. 1. A spirit of irony. "Come to Bethel/' offer your sacrifices, and go on in your sin. It is sometimes right to cherish this spirit. Elijah to the prophets of Baal (1 Kings xviii. 27); Micaiah to the priests of Ahab (xxii. 15) ; and Christ himself (Matt. vi. 2) found it neces- sary. " Scorns and taunts are the best answers for serious idolatry," says Bishop Hall. " Holiness will bear us out, in disdainful scoffs and bitterness, against wil- ful superstition." 2. A spirit of reproof. Multiply your sacrifices, and what better will you be 1 What will they avail you in the day of adversity ? When will you learn wisdom 1 " You shall be ashamed of Bethel, your confidence." II. The moral condition which they indicate. Their conduct was in direct opposi- tion to God's will. They thought great devotion would make up for ungodly life. 1. A self-righteous spirit. They boasted of their ritual, and proclaimed then zeal and offerings. " So well did they count themselves to stand with God, that there is no mention of sin-offering or trespass-offering." They sought the praise of men, and not the approval of God. Their motives to goodness were derived from their fellow-creatures and not from their Maker. Like the scribes and Pharisees, they worshipped to be seen of men. 2. An infatuated mind. Go on ; you are resolved to have your own way, whatever God and conscience say ; and you may take it. Thus some darken their foolish minds, befool themselves, and are given up to strong delusions, to believe a lie. 3. An incorrigible life. Go on ; neither judg- ment nor mercy has any influence upon you j take the consequences. They seemed judicially given up to sin. " Ephraim is joined to idols ; let him alone." This is an awful condition, but only a type of that just sentence which will at last be passed against all transgressors. " He that is unjust let him be unjust still, and UOMILKTh ■ I 'OMMEA TART: AMOS. [chap, it ha who u filthy Id him be filthy still." III. The character of the worship they describe The most wicked do aol entirely abandon Christian worship. Fashion d them. Israel kept up thank-offerings, hut clung to their sins. 1. Corrupt worship. The worship of God was mixed with that of ; and the altar at Bethel had each their gifts. So now the is combined with the worship of the sanctuary. . 1 popularity rival I rod. Unworthy motives and glaring errors t God will not permit contamination. We must dip him in the beauty of holiness. 2. Formal worship. They were devout thanksgiving and free-will offerings; zealous in their tithes, punc- a their ritual, and superabundant in their diligence. They were precise in • insincere in their hearts. They kept the letter but violated pint Mini and cummin were paid, hut the weightier matters of the law, .. were neglected. Sacrifices to God are an insult when the nd withheld. " Thou desirest truth in the inward parts." 3. Will. They did what God commanded, hut in their own way, and at their own plao -. The preference foi Bethel and Gilgal, for priests of the people of Levi, the setting up of the golden calves, and the use of n in their worship, made it mere will-worship, unacceptable and dishonouring 1. The end of true worship is to please God, but if we please ourselves Ave I him. "The command, therefore, to please themselves, as they will have it . iik- the utter rejection of the worshippers." 4. Sinful worship. All their work was transgression, and the repetition of their service was a multiplying of ion : their worship only added more sin to their violence and frauds. 1 tpt religion aggravates guilt ; diligence in superstitious devotions ripens for destruction ; and self-will in anti-scriptural forms leads to utter rejection of God. "Though ve offer me burnt-offerings and your meat-offerings, I will not accept thm." " Tlie holii r worship which lio deigns to bless res the lost, and binds the spirit broken, And Feeds the widow and the fatherless" [WhitUer]. Tin: I of God's Providence. — Verses 6 — 11. In th tribes the different corrective measures which he em- : the purpose of effecting a change in the Israelites, and at the close of mentioned in the Beries, the obstinate impenitence, under the influence of which tl. 1 in their wicked courses, is emphatically marked by the de- ' returned unto me, saith the Lord; such repetition . Harassed in this defenceless con- dition by the incursions from Assyria. Ver. 11. A firebrand plucked. 1. A scene of danger — " burning." 2. An act of mercy — "plucked." 3. A present uncertainty. Once in danger, now res- cued. AVill you continue where you are, or escape entirely to refuge? The words will apply — 1. Tempor- ally. " They may recall a striking de- liverance in God's providence, when others were taken and they were left. A shipwreck — a battle — an awful acci- dent, involving loss of human life — a sickness from which many others around them died " [ifyarc]. 2. Spirit- ually. Every sinner saved is a fire- brand plucked from the burning. This Bhould prompt — 1. To gratitude. 2. To earnestness in rescuing others from 1 ll. / ;'■ n charges. I. Oppression of the poor (vers. 1 — 3). II. Corruption of worship (vers. 4, 5). III. [ncorrigiblenees under Divine judg- — 11). Learn — 1. That i, has various judgments to exercise a sinful nation. 2. That judgments I removed, until a return 1. .".. Thai God is earnest in bringing men to repentance. " A course I will not prove a thriving way in the end to any, but especially to the Church, which the Lord will either make a theatre of lie !'e\, or a field of i he hath many rods for that ••ml ; for as they like. I their way of Bin . he also chooseth their judg- " it a quiver-full of ; upon them " [ Hutchesori], Y. : 7 ll ■ /.So will it ever he in the < Ihurch, which is ( Sod's vine if mil ••• ii" doctrine and < rod no I . mbled to i tin 1. of cooling heat ; 2. 3 cleansing the air ; 5. mollifying mellowing tic- parched earth ; • all thin.'- to grow and Thia rain of righ1 : i ; God '• the wrath of Cod," which " is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteon ness of men." U0MILETIC8. <: i hi: Strange Parallel between Fire and Sin. dci- ia the moral world to which it answers'? But one thino-, tin a man's life. Against this evil God calls all h be firemen. M Tut out the fires of sin," is a nobler motto than any blazoned on the symbols of commerce ami art. I Consider the analogy between fire and sin. 1. You cannot weigh fire in chap, iv.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. the scales. You cannot grasp it, yet it exists — you can feel and see it work. You cannot rate sin by horse power, but you feel its withering, burning influence in the soul. 2. Fire becomes sometimes almost invisible. So with sin. In the glare and noon-day of busy life some fail to see it. The dimness of religious truth to the mind is a terrible monitor of what sin is doing in the heart. 3. Sin is like fire in its attractions. A child loves to play with fire, unconscious of clanger. Men toy with sin, which has indulgence for appetite, mirth to amuse, feasts for gluttons, and revelry for the reckless. 4. Sin consumes like fire. It burns down men instead of bouses ; the man vanishes, and only the animal, the brute, the sensualist is left. 5. Sin spreads like a fire. Wicked thoughts, evil suggestions, are the sparks that kindle the fires of sin in the soul and set communities in a blaze. G. Sin inflicts pain like a fire. It burns, stings, and agonizes its victim. Here, in the naked conscience and despairing death, is the germ of the fire that is never quenched. 7. Sin, I ike fire, defaces what it touches. 8. Sin must be resisted like fire. It is an evil to be put out in heart and life. 9. Sin, like fire, if you wait too long to put it out, mil render attempts useless. The soul should not be left till sin has mastery. In this world men are often beyond reasonable prospect of repentance. II. Sin is the fire, but the sinner is the fuel. Ye were as a fire- brand. 1. A firebrand is combustible, or it never would have been a firebrand. So with the sinner's heart. 2. A firebrand has been already exposed to the fire. It is charred and blackened, and bears the marks of sin. So the sinner. 3. A fire- brand has offered no effectual resistance to the flames. The sinner has not resisted sin. He is bound, and by the grace of God can resist. 4. A firebrand is ready to be kindled anew, after it has been once quenched. A spark may kindle the sold. 5. A firebrand is in the jjrocess of being consumed, and a little longer will finish it. So with the sinful heart. 6. A firebrand only needs to be let alone, and it will burn to ashes. Leave the soid to sin — the ruinous power of its own lusts — and its ruin Avill be complete. 7. A firebrand is a dangerous thing, if its sparks and coals come in contact with anything else. The sinner destroyeth much good. III. But even firebrands may be saved. Sinners are sometimes plucked out of a desperate condition— Mary Magdalen, the thief on the cross, Saul of Tarsus — but the work is God's. A converted soid is a miracle of grace. Firemen ! guardians of our dwellings against a subtle and dangerous foe, be ready to rush to the scene of conflagration, Avhen the alarm is given, night or day ! The fires of sin burn all around, and perhaps within you unchecked. Be God's firemen, and help to quench it. Nothing but the blood of Christ can put out the fires. Eepent and believe, and you shall be saved. [From The Preacher's Treasury.] Threatened Evil escaped by Eeturn to God. — Verse 12. " When he has said, ' This will I do to thee,' he is sdent as to what he will do, in order that whilst Israel is left in uncertainty as to the particular kind of punishment (winch is all the more terrible because all kinds of things are imagined), it may repent of its sins, and so avert the things Avhich God threatens here " [Jerome], The words indicate — I. An expression of anger. " Therefore," since ye persist in rebellion, regard- less of former judgments and respites, " thus will I do." Judgment must follow judgment until there is a full end. God's hand is still lifted up, and the threat is the more severe, because nothing is mentioned. If a smitten people continue impenitent, and will not be corrected nor reclaimed, God will prosecute his work and inflict more plagues. His judgments are sadder or lighter according to our conduct under them, and terrible are those strokes which follow inflicted chastise- ment. " Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the Lord's anger none escaped nor remained" (Lam. ii. 22). II. An exhortation to repentance. When God is about to strike he waits to be pre- HOMILSTIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. [chap. iv. 1. Though hardened in sin, and insensible under Divine correction, men may r,..M., . shorted to returntoGod. Repentance is not impossible. Set about it> j,. God, and he will pardon yon. " If then their uncircumcised be bumbled, and they then accepl of the punishment of their iniquity : then will I remember my covenant" III. A motive to reconciliation. God can still ', panishment is threatened, God's design and feelings may be seen ■m it 11 to restore. Sins may abound, but "His mercy endureth for Be is willing to be thy God. He waits to be gracious and to be reconciled tl) t; \ ,.h, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house." h endeavoured toward off the threatened judgment by humiliation before .,• foresee impending evil and escape not (Prow xxii. 3). There i^ .1 hfd*"g place in Christ. Let chastisements awaken you from slumber, and urge . hold of the hope sel before you. " "We pray you in Christ's stead, be ye 1 rod." Preparation to meet God. I. The solemn event. Not an ordinary event, not the meeting of man with man, in with his Maker. We have to meet God on earth, and especially at the judgment-day, when the atheist and the scorner, the righteous and the wicked, each one will Bee him for himself and not for another. II. The needful preparation. If in judgment, prepare, for how can we contend against him? If in penitence, prepare, for he will meet us in forgiveness. A preparation of heart and life iry. The sinner must be reconciled; the soul must be renewed and the lif-- be holy. "Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." Ill The motives to enforce the preparation. 1. The greatness of God. It he be such as here described, what lolly to oppose him, and what an argument to make our peace with him. 2. The providence of God. " Because I will do tlii-, therefore prepare;" that is, God's providential dealings with us are a motive t>> oj ration to meet him. God comes near in judgments and great We should consider our ways. The doctrines of the gospel and the : life often tail to rouse attention. Men sleep unconscious of the 1 thf impending danger. If we do not meet him as a Friend we shall have to meet him as a Judge. "Prepare to meet thy God." Prepare to meet thy God. — Verses 12, 13. Man : 1. Scripture denounces this, and the great aim of its precepts, I promises, is to produce and cherish the habit of remember- ing God. Ti lis to remember God, is often applied exclusively to the 1 in another world ; but from the context it applies to what goes on in this world also. Consider, therefore, how to meet God as he comes near. I. During our time of probation on earth. It is common for those who dispute ll".v "' ' erl that he is too highly exalted to notice insig- i in Scripture God's greatness and man's littleness often line to illustrate this truth. 1. In the way of repentance. A sinful course is turning back from God, fleeing from a God of mercy to a God of an^er. He calls the careless and impenitent to meet him. (1) Quickly. Now a day of "race in which outward calls oombine with inward connections. This time is precious, and willl i night wherein no man can work." (2) Carefully. ''Let our ways." Rush nol carelessly and without thought to the "Take with you words." (3) Decidedly. With the firm conviction n way can pe ice and salvat ion be found. 2. In the way of temporal It may please him to let our life pass peaceably on— to keep off appre- — to make the cup of sorrow pass from us, that we drink it not Awful accidents and fearful calamities may have plunged others into misery but we chap, iv.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. 277 go on from day to day in security and peace. Meet God in a spirit of gratitude and praise. 3. In the way of temporal sorrow. (1) Endeavour to turn judgment aside by humble prayer (Amos vii. 2 — 6). (2) To hear it as coming from God. We do not meet God if we look to second causes ; nor profit if Ave do not see his hand and will. 4. In the tise of the means of grace God meets his people. There is no peradventure like Balaam's in the believing use of means. Special blessings rest upon family worship, social and public worship, and when we obey the in- junction " this do in remembrance of me." But we lose much from not pre- paring to meet God in ordinances. Prepare with reverence and godly fear, and with earnest expectation. 5. We meet God in the works of righteousness (Is. lxiv. 5). Thus we see it our duty to meet God during the time of probation. In Christ we meet him in repentance, and find him reconciled — in prosperity he calls for gratitude and praise — in judgment we bow with submission and endeavour to turn it aside — in the means of grace we should meet him with glad reverence, and earnest expectation of good things from his Fatherly bounty. II. Prepare to meet him after the time of trial is over. 1. Very solemn and awakening is the thought of meeting God then. Here we meet him in his works and ways, there we shall meet God himself. Eemember this in the engrossing concerns of uncertain life. Eternity, and not time, is the stage of our existence. 2. After death cometh the judgment, when we must " be made manifest " before the tribunal of Christ. Some will meet God in anger, and cry for rocks to fall on them ; others will meet a God in mercy. No righteousness will stand them but "the righteousness of God." Have we that righteousness 1 Is the thought of that day a part of your daily meditation ? Give diligence to be found in him in peace and security. " Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." This waiting frame of mind will be one of the greatest helps to prepare, and one of the surest signs that you are prepared to " meet your God " [Ryan]. The Dispensations of Providence carrying out the Designs of Grace. — Verse 13. In true repentance we must have right views of God and his claims. The prophet here describes God in the resources of creation and the wonders of pro- vidence to induce Israel to think of him and prepare to meet him. " For "if mercy move not, let majesty. God is great, and can carry out his designs of love — I. By his mighty power in creation. " He that formeth the mountains," &c. 1. Power in the past. Before the mountains were brought forth God was. He created the solid parts of the earth, and reared the everlasting hills. " Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains." They owe firmness and stability to him. The Alps and the Andes are " girded " and preserved from felling down by his power. 2. Power in the present. " And createth the wind." The heathens believed in an inferior God, whom Jupiter appointed a store-keeper to raise and still the winds at pleasure. But God "bringeth forth the wind out of his treasuries " (Jer. x. 12). The winds and the seas obey him. " He commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still." The most solid and the most subtle, the mildest and the most terrific, agents were created by God. If we read rightly we see not only power but mind in the works of God. Men are thus encouraged to flee unto him. The salvation expected from the hills typifies deliverance from sin and protection in Christ (Ps. lxxxix. 11, 12). Control over winds sets forth his dominion over minds. All creation manifests his beneficence to men. II. By his unceasing activity in providence. " That maketh the morn- ing darkness." God not only created, but governs all things according to the counsel of his will. He is unceasingly active for the good of his creatures. " My UOHILBTIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. [chap. it. i worketh hitherto and I work." 1. Literally God makes the morning dark. ids and overcasts the sky. He creates light and darkness, day and night 2. Fr d Hatty Gk)d makes the morning dark, ihe Jn,,rh rity ia turned into the night of sorrow and distress. The ronah i .„„. favour may be followed by retributive judgments. It is folly deliverance but his. Our expectations may be darkened 1 . . erything that is joyous and beautiful may be effaced - k him thai . . . turneth the shadow of death into the morning, laketh the day dark with night." "For \vc hare also our evening and our morn." III. By his omniscient presence with men. " And declarcth unto man what is bis •.,./• i|,. can read the heart ami understand the thought afar off (Ps. cxxxix. a- bum and do not wish to know our hearts; but "God is greater iii.l knoweth all things." He reads and reveals us to ourselves and as in order before us. "The thought of God as a Creator or Preserver ta man but little. To man a sinner, far more impress- ive than all maj rty of creative power, is the thought that God knows his in- 1 knows our thoughts more truly than we know ourselves." There ring Him in our conduct. We have to do with One who searches the , "I the L h the heart, I try the reins" (Jer. xvii. 10; Ps. vii. 9). The i nmenl of ' k>d is ever administered on the principle that man is account- able for his thoughts. The law of God weighs the purposes of men and the F G L "( rive to every man according to his ways, and according to tli.' fruit of his doi] "On human hearts he bends a jealous eye." 17. By his supreme control in all things. " The Lord, the God of hosts, is bis nan, of 1 raeL but the supreme Fader of men and Disposer of al] things. I. E " Hh& universe. "The Lord of hosts." Head til principalities and powers in heaven and earth. He has being in himself, intain of being and blessedness to others. " Who is over all, God 2. //• makes all things subservient to his purpose. "Treadeth upon the high I the earth." He walks on the sea (Job ix. 8), and on the the wind ( Pa civ. •"')• He subdues the proud and dethrones the mighty. oinenl and exalts itself against him lie will put down. He reigns . controls the 1 heres of power, and everything around him it.' his will. Thus the prophet sees in the course of naturo tli>' will ..f God, links the physical with the moral events, and makes the one find 1 in th.' other. National calamities are revelations of God's wrath. only endanger the materia] welfare of a ] pie. A God of transcendant Is them to draw us to himself. Nothing will avail before him but md truth. l'r. pare to meet him with joy and not with grief. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER IV. 1. There is not a word in our Vers. 1. 6. What a sting is there—- which •■ more detest- " this liketh you ! " how it should pierce than oppression [But- the conscience of every sinner — "for '! I it he often "had t his lib fl, you, 0 ye children of Israel! " ht from having seen an Far indeed was everything like levity of cruelty in the day." from the prophet's mind in treating such •• M a'd, a Bubject as the sinfubiess of the people ; My! "l""1 tar enough was he from making a mock .Mv h .1 outrage with which earth is. of ^ ag fools ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^ chap, rv.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. 279 that prompted the irony; it was with deep solemnity of soul that he wielded that cutting weapon — and withal he could be touching and tender in expos- tulation [Stoughton], Vers. 6 — 10. We look to second causes and impute our years of dearth to wet and cold, to hot and parching seasons, to cycles of weather, to comets, and many other accidents, some real and others imaginary, and thus wilfully con- ceal from our view the power of God, who blesseth a land and maketh it to bring forth fruit abundantly, and who " turneth a fruitful field into barrenness for the wickedness of them that dwell therein." The acts of God's providence are as certainly a part of his administra- tion now as in former ages, and as directly affect each individual of the race as they did the children of Abraham. It is to those who are subdued under his re- bukes that he sends his ivord to heal them. They who watch the riding hand of God shall become wiser in reading his purposes and their own necessities [Duncan]. Vers. 12, 13. The Eev. Mr Madan was desired one evening, by some of his companions who were with him at a coffee-house, to go and hear Mr John Wesley, who they were told was to preach in the neighbourhood, and to return and exhibit his manners and dis- course for their entertainment. Mr M., educated for the bar, went with that in- tention, and just as he entered the place, Wesley named his text, "Prepare to meet thy God," with a solemnity of ac- cent which struck him, and which in- spired a seriousness that increased as the good man exhorted his hearers to repent- ance. Mr M. returned to the coffee- room, and was asked, " if he had taken off the old Methodist ? " " No, gentle- men," said he, "but he has taken me off;" and from that time he left their company and became a converted man [Whitecross]. Ver. 13. "I never had a sight of my soul," said the Emperor Aurelius, " and yet I have a great value for it, because it is discoverable by its operations ; and by my constant experience of the power of God, I have a proof of his being, and a reason for my veneration" [White- cross]. Let us incessantly bear in mind, that the only thing we have really to be afraid of, is fearing anything more than God [Book of the Fathers]. CHAPTEE V. Critical Notes.] This word] A mournful song (2 Sam. i. 17—27). Take up] Lit. lift up as if to cast down upon them. 2. Virgin] The Israelite state unsubdued by foreigners. Fallen] Violent death (2 Sam. i. 19—25), a figure of the overthrow of the kingdom. Rise] in the existing order. 3. Went] to war. The depopulated city is touchingly described (Deut. xxvm. 62). 4. Live] Not only remain alive, but possess real favour. 5. Bethel] " A strong dissuasive from idolatry derived from the predicted fall of the objects and places of false worship." 6. Lest] Danger threatened. Like fire] consuming everything before it (Deut. iv. 24: Is. x. l7: Lara. ii. 3). 7— 9.] God in his omnipotence in contrast with the ungodly people, indicating that he who can destroy should be feared. Wormwood] Justice embittered, corrupted, and made hateful (cf. ch. vi. 12 : Deut. xxix. 17). 8.] God in creation, moral government, and judicial procedure described almost in words like Job ix. 9. 10. Hate] the reprover who condemns their sins; Amos himself, or iudges at the gate who put down injustice (Is. xxix. 21 : Jer xvii. 19). 11. Take] Burdensome taxes levied in kind from the wheat of the needy to pamper the lusts of the great [Henderson]. 12. Bribe] Lit. a price to deliver from sentence. " The judges allowed the rich murderer to purchase exemption from capital punishment by the payment of atonement money, whilst they bowed down the right of the poor." This illegal (Num. xxxv. 31). 13. Silence] "A chosen silence towards vile corrupters ot law and justice who will nothing mend though reproved; or silence before God, owning his justice in punishing such sinners " [Foole]. 14. Spoken] They fancied that God was with them by virtue oi EOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. [chap. v. • with Abraham (John viii. 89). 15. Perhaps] indicates difficulty in their case, not un- ivi. 2 ; Joel ii. 18). Peradventure (Ex. xxxii. 3). Remnant] pre- ng judgment, aa Joel iii. 6 : Is. vi. 13 ; x. 21—23. 16. Therefore] it ye i. tin re will be lamentation not only by professional mourners, but in the streets of the kingdom, and in places where joy is expected. 17. Pass through] as in ting vengeance and creating death wail 18. Woe] to the con- with false hopes. Desire] Deriding the prediction of the prophet : :: . •• It ma ;m impious daring of God to do his worst " [JBkas]. 19.] ral life illustrate the false hope oi escape. Fleeing from a lion to meet a b. ar means th it u ag< r will fall into another. The bear spares none, and the ■ m the hand is fatal. " In thai day every place is full of danger and death; neither i- any one - if.' ; for out-of-doors lions and bears prowl about and in-doors , even in the hol< a oi the walls " [Corn, a Lap.]. 20. Bright.] i. e. to those who do :; itivals and sacrifices will not avert judgments. Your feasts] of human Divine appointment (Is. i. 10 — 15); the expression of Divine abhorrence is most em- 23. Noise! as singing is contemptuously called. 24. Run] judgments like a flood over the in exhortation to practise justice and truth. 25. Have] Lit. Did ye, thers, not entire suspension of sacrifice, but mixed with idolatry. From !. Their present offensive worship was only a continuation of the \ in tli*- wilil. Tin ■". Their .-ins wen the very sins of their forefathers (Ezek. xx. 39). 26. Borne i aloft in pomp, the portable shrine or model tabernacle. The idolatry censured is of Egyp- igin. A. Ill i mnot be proved [Lange], 27.] Banishment of the people far I the borders of their own land. Beyond] the capital of Syria, in which you trust for help 13) : combines into one the several passages from prophecy. A most un- liUlv arant tluu ; but Thus saith the Lord indicates its certainty. HOMILETICS. The Funeral Dirge. — Verses 1 — 3. "In order to impress Israel the more, Amos begins this his third appeal by a dirge over it- destruction, mourning over those who were full of life and thought tli, I,. A dirge like thai of David over Saul and Jonathan, over what rae Lovi l.\ and mighty, but which had perished" [Pusey]. I. The death of the nation, [srael was spiritually dead and debased. Like a virgin, she had lost her purity and fealty to God. 1. The state was destroyed. th fallen." Fallen by her sins and from her dignity. (1) Inwardly de- I irsaken upon her land." Her true interests were neglected by her • She was forsaken by her own rulers and guides. With all her nid resources she was morally helpless and none could defend her. (2) 1 ■ f destroyed. "Cast down upon her soiL" She was prostrated by inward tendency and outward force. "Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field" (Ezek. x.\i\. 5 ; xxxii. 1). (3) Hopelessly destroyed. "There is nom her up." Weakened by moral corruption and intestine 1 by men and forsaken by God, she could rise no more. Nothing prop up a rotten cation, uor save a doomed people. Ichabod may be written whei i departed from us. 2. The people were decimated. The city from which thousands wont equipped for war could scarcely muster one hundred. The people, ctri off by sword and pestilence, could not furnish more than a tithe of their population. One common doom befell larger and smaller cities. The whole king- dom was helpless and ruined, " And ye shall he left few in number, whereas ye i heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the the Lord thy < -■ " 111 i in i tbi land, to hastening ills a prey, W'lii n \\i ill 1 1 ai riiniulatr-, iu„i I1H.n decay." II. The mourning for the nation. God is gracious in showing to us our sins, and it we heed the accusation we may escape the lamentation. But people are obstinate and opposed to (lod. 1. The prophet mourned. " This word which I up against you." He views the nation as. dead^and he attends the funeral. chap, v.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. 281 He mourns not in poetic words, but in deep feeling. Every faithful minister at some time or other does the same. Samuel mourned over Saul; David wept because men kept not the law of God; Jeremiah grieved, and Paul had "great heaviness and continual sorrow." Lamentations over fallen churches and wails over lost soids are most touching and too common ! " I will weep bitterly ; labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people." 2. Tin: people mourned. Sad was the change and most distressing the condition of Israel. Sorrow entered every family; the state was deprived of its subjects; and there was none to help in her degraded condition. " If," says a writer on this book, " an enemy who had depopidated our towns, and killed our fathers and mothers, were to come to our abodes, how would all rise to ruin such an enemy. We should do as the Jews did by Paul when they looked on him as an enemy (Acts xxi. 27, 28), ' they stirred up all the people and laid hands on him, crying out, Men of Israel, help ! ' So should we encourage each other against sin and suppress it, saying : — 'Magistrates, ministers, men and brethren, help ; sin is what destroys our people, wastes our cities, unpeoples our towns, opposeth the laws, and brings confusion everywhere.' " Seeking God and Eenouncing Sin. — Verses 4 — 6. Departure from God is the root of all sorrow. Eeformation therefore must be radical and not formal. God has not utterly abandoned Israel. He speaks as " our God," ready on our return to him to deliver and bless. " Seek ye me and ye shall live." I. The urgent request. The prophet repeatedly urges them to seek God (vers. 4, 6, 14), from whom they had wandered and whom they had offended. 1. God is the object sought. We must seek him not for any selfish ends, not for gifts, nor for anything out of him. What is the world without him? All may be found and enjoyed in him. Some pursue pleasure, riches, and wealth, others find in God their chief good. " Whom have I in heaven but thee 1 and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee." 2. God must be sought earnestly. The seeking is diligent and anxious. Infinite good is more desirable than created good. We must not seek God anyhow, but with earnest- ness and perseverance. The pursuit is not an indefinite desire, the mere natural working of the mind, but an intense longing for God. " Ye shall seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." II. The needful caution. " But seek not Bethel," &c. Israel sought God at Bethel ; but idolatry is opposed to seeking God, and must be renounced. The worship of God cannot be reconciled with the worship of Baal. 1. Outward forms will not avail. Gilgal and Bethel were ancient places, but empty forms. The truth once taught there had become powerless, and Israel had ceased to obey. Men may plead beauty, antiquity, and prevalence of forms ; but we are admonished to abandon them all and trust to the living God. Idolatrous customs will ensure and increase our con- demnation. They are an abomination to God. " Seek ye me" and " pass not to Beersheba." 2. False hopes will disappoint. Bethel was not the house of God. Gilgal would go into captivity, and Beersheba would soon be in ruins. The pleasant things of Gilgal passed into the hands of the enemy. All hopes of re- sidence there were disappointed, and bitter was the remorse of the people. Schemes of worldly happiness and forms of idolatry will utterly fail. Ealse confidences allure men to destruction, do not avert danger nor quench the fire of Divine anger against sin. Idols of every kind are vanity. An idol is nothing in the world (1 Cor. viii. 4; x. 19) ; and " they that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy." III. The encouraging promise. "And ye shall live." 1. Ye eJiall escape danger. If the fire broke out none could quench it. Bethel, the centre of idolatry, would be consumed. But if they sought God, they would escape and be HOMILETIC COMMENTARY; AMOS. [chap. v. delivered from calamities. The sinner can only be saved from eternal death in "who among us ahall dwell with everlasting burnings?" 2. Ye We may be delivered from outward danger, from sick- U1,l distn teemed Eromsin — preserved in natural existence, but depi 1 enjoyment. Life in any sense is good, for "a living dog is better than .1 dead lion!" The soul can only live when converted, refreshed, and cured of its ill-. •• V.mr heart shall live that seek God." In his favour is life, and " thy Lb better than life." Divine Justice a Consuming Fire. — Verse 6. Xhis verse is an awful picture of sin and Divine retribution which breaks forth in violence upon ungodly nations. I. The fuel. "The house of Joseph." Sinners make themselves fuel for the flame, ripen themselves for destruction. Rotten and unfruitful branches of the Church will 1"' burned. " Behold, they shall be as stubble, the fire shall burn them, they shall uol deliver themselves from the power of the flame." II. The conflagration. " Lest he break out like fire." 1. The Divine nature is like fire. . is a consuming lire" (Heb. xii. 28, 2D; Is. xxxiii. 14). Holy anger and holy love are foundinGod. lie that is light and love may become, by the bis wrath, a consuming fire. "A fire goeth before him and burnetii his und about" (Ps. xcvii. 3: Deut. iv. 24). 2. The Divine procedure is li k." ■ a fire. When God is provoked to anger judgments will burn the wicked like chaff Pestilence and war ravage and waste like fire. "The material of sorrow and distress accumulates from period to period. Violation of God's laws, followed by disregard for Bocial duties, prepares both governments and people for tumult and Avar. The spark of discontent falls on some portion of the mass, suddenly it blazes forth, and is rapidly communicated from one part to another, till everywhere the signs of woe are seen, ' blood, and lire, and vapour of smoke.' " HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. - ch as find a distance and genuine repentance if he has no hope king I i make it up, may not [/&•]• t that should not weaken Ver. 5. This is the law of God's their hands, nor will they be accounted dealings with man; He "curses our penitent, or be further from accept- blessings," if we do not use them aright . thai they are but pursuers and uol (.Mai. ii. 2). Christ, the Corner Stone, enjoyersj for, approven repentance will break to pieces those who fall upon i- uot to find God, bul to seek it; and it will grind to powder those him, and these gel the promise, Seek on whom it falls (Matt. xxi. 44). Our . jre shall live [Hutcheson], holiesl Gilgals — our Sacraments, our Equally simple and Scriptures, our Sermons, our Sundays definite are the monition and the pro- — which were designed by God to roll .Man knows whal he has to do, away from us the reproach of Egypt, and what to expect Not merely is will be rolled away from us, if we do not warning given, bnt also promise and the \^>' them aright, and Avill roll us down- The gain is certain if one ful- ward into our destruction [Wordsworth']. fill the condition, bul the condition is Ver. 6. Seek. The oft pressing of a indispensable / )• liall live, duly imports: 1. The excellency; 2. • promise* must be held The necessity; 3. The difficulty of lesi in despair they go doing it: else what need so many . For how can one feel words? [ZYogp]. chap, v.] HOMILETIC COMMFiYTJRV : AMOS. 283 HOMILETICS. Judgment turned to Wormwood. — Verse 7. The proper place for these words, many think, is after verse 9. They might he taken in connection with the charges there, or separately as here. I. The impartial administration of justice is pleasant. Justice is one of the four cardinal virtues, and regarded by Plato as including all human duty. It was made of first importance in the Hebrew code. Laws were given to protect life and property, to secure rich and poor against violence and wrong. It was the duty of the judges to interpret and administer, not to make or give laws. When just laws are obeyed by kings and princes, confidence is strengthened, peace pre- vails, and judgment is in sweet odour. " For law guards the people and magis- trates guard the law," says Bacon. " National happiness must be produced through the influence of religious laws," says South. " The king by judgment established the land." II. The partial administration of justice is bitter. Let justice be done though the heavens fall is often the cry. But many cast it down from its lofty position and trample it under-foot. As God's vicegerent it is dethroned in the laws of the nation and the hearts of the people. Partiality and injustice make void the best laws, increase the burdens, and embitter the toils of life. They rob man, disorder society, and offend God. They turn judgment to wormwood. Good laws are a blessing or a curse, a corrupt spring or a fountain of life, as they arc administered. " One foul sentence doth more hurt than many foul examples," says Bacon, "for these do but corrupt the stream, the other corrupteth the foun- tain." "Ye have turned judgment into gall and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock." " Laws grind the poor and rich men make the law" [Goldsmith]. God Greatly to be Feared. — Verses 9, 10. Israel Avere exhorted to forsake unrighteousness and seek God. The prophet tells them Avho God is and what he does, that they might know him. He is the Creator and Governor of the uniA'erse, infinite in resources and omnipotent hi power. How can they contend Avith him ? Seek him in penitence, despise not judgment, for he is great and greatly to be feared. For three reasons God is to be sought. I. God displays omnipotence in the creation of the world. " Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion." Amos read the power of God in the stars and names those well known to shepherds. The Pleiades Avere arranged in their splendour and Orion was bound in its place by him (Job ix. 9). He created the heaArens and all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth. He keeps the planets and directs their motions. Tempests and fogs, judgments and earthquakes, may darken the sky, but do not hide the power of God. The Divine edict is still in force (Gen. i. 3), presences and marshals the constellations of heaven. " Canst thou bind the SAveet influences of Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion " (Job xxxviii. 31)? II. God displays omnipotence in the government of the world. He is seen in all its vicissitudes. In multitude and magnitude, in minuteness and mystery, his works are unsearchable. 1. In changing seasons. Literally he turns night into day by the rising, and day into night by the setting, sun. We find a constant presence, an abiding power, in the seasons of the year. Creation "is but the projected shadow of a throne that overlooks the high places of the universe, fillin" them Avith the changeless splendour of a Moral Presence." In all move- ments there is no caprice but unchanging laAv. " He appointeth the moon for seasons, the sun knoAveth his going down." 2. In benevolent designs. Light and darkness are both necessary. Day and night indicate the perfection of Divine tiOMILSTlC COMMENTARY: AMOS. [chap. v. arrangement God has " Bel the one over against the other" that we may appreci- I„ al] changes of nature we have benevolent design. So in spiritual as, in prosperity and adversity; we have shadows of death and days of re- • the morning of hope, the noon of enjoyment, and the night of sorrow." ivenin proportion to out faith and the sovereign will of God, whose D :t. xxxii. I). 3. Tn great calamities. The flood may not again v. but it typified fearful inundations which God "pours out upon the face 0f the earth." II ads rain in mercy and in judgment. He permits the clouds ad their torrents and the sea to burst its bounds. His power is employed to or to punish, to (urn the sorrow of the penitent to joy, or the light of the 1 into darkness, Amos predicts a future calamity like that in which God 8h1 in the tl 1 apon the world of the ungodly. "Fear ye not me? saith the will yenol tremble al my presence, which have placed the sand for the I of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it, and though the waves K themselves, yet can they not prevail ; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it i " III. God displays omnipotence in the retributions of the World. I - that are strong with sinful strength, that defend their spoil, shall .,■. I tea >lati< in will attack every place that was deemed inaccessible. Man's • La perfect weakness with God. He prevails against the strong, rescues the unt. and destroys all vain confidence. Then if man's strength cannot I him when God is angry — if God's power in creation and in providence is employed in giving retribution to men — what will be the fate of those who trust to their own fortress and rebel against God 1 Learn — 1. How ruinous to resist a i such majesty and power. 2. To submit to his chastening rod. 3. To seek and adore him in the most severe and hopeless trials. For " there is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Vet. 8. The shadow of death hit,. It is not enough to see God in nature morning. This typifies redemption — and providence or second causes; but 1. From sin, which is darkness of Ave ought so to see him in them as to heart and life. 2. From spiritual commend piety to our hearts and press misery (I-. ix. 1). 3. From sorrow us to it, therefore the exhortation runs, and (Joh \vi. 16 ; Jer. xiii. 1G ; "seek him that maketh" &c. First, it I' ... I). I. from the grave (dob is an argument to seek him, that ho iii. . "i ; xx \iv. '_'•_' ; xxxviii. 17). "Amos " maketh the seven stars" &c. Itisheld first seta forth the /.d, then out — 1. That God is worthy and ought his g Iness. Out of every extremity to be sought and served, who is not of ill God can, will. doe. deliver, lie only above men and creatures on earth, who said, let there 1m- light, and there but his power is in the heavens. 2. He light, at once changeth any depth is able either to ruin or refresh men by ito light, the death dark- means and second causes, which are at d into the dawn of graa . the a great distance from them, even by the hopeless night of ignorance into the day- influence of the stars. 3. The very . on bighj the night -i' the vicissitudes and change of seasons and into the eternal mom <<\ the weather are God's works wherein he is rection which knoweth nosetting" to be seen, and which should invite us to I/' So light, when abused or seek him. Secondly, his turning the neglected, He bo withdraws it, as at, shadow of death into morning and to leave no trace or gleam of it. making the day dark with clouds, I tence becomes benighted, so as to teacheth that God can change or settle hin ondoubtingly : faith is darkened, so conditions, as he pleaseth ; and if he that the soul no more even >u>) ts the settle, none can shake, and if he shako, truth. Hell ha., no light J//..J. - none can establish. And therefore the chap, v.] H0M1LETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. 285 short path to well-being is to seek him. remarkable a way, that when the weak Thirdly, his calling for the waters of the have been spoiled by their oppressors, sea and pouring them out, &c, teaeheth and their oppressors have entrenched that God hath showers of comforts and themselves in fortified places, even then deluges of miseries to pour out as he he causes " the spoiled to come against pleaseth [Hutcheson]. the fortress."' Hence — 1. Let the im- Ver. 9. He employs his poAver and penitent tremble. 2. Let the righteous wisdom in vindicating the cause of those " be still." 3. Let those who are moved who cannot help themselves, and in so with fear repent and be saved [Ryan]. HOMILETICS. Manifold and Mighty Sins. — Verses 10 — 13. The duty pressed from consideration of God's power is still urged on account of Israel's sins and God's judgments upon them. These sins are " manifold " and " mighty," countless in number and aggravating in nature. I. They hated the public monitor. " They hate him that rebuketh at the gate." Those who reproved in God's house, in courts of justice or in places of concourse, were despised. When wisdom lifted up her voice she was not heard (Prov. i. 21). When men are impatient under reproof and deaf to good counsel it is an evil sign. 1. They detested the rebuher. Judges were so wicked, that they could not endure those who opposed or rebuked their unrighteous decisions. Claimants and witnesses who pleaded for equity were insulted. Men who defended innocence and cried against injustice were hated beyond degree. 2. They abhorred the upright. Amid general corruption some few, like Noah, witnessed for God and were exposed to ridicule and contempt. Veracity is the bond of society, and all who value the interests of mankind will esteem a truthful man. The example, prayers, and life of the upright are a blessing to any community (Prov. xi. 11). To hate them and put them to silence is the way to ruin. Yet men love darkness rather than light, and cannot endure those who reprove their sins. Ministers be- come enemies because they tell the truth. They " make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought." II. They practised shameful oppression. " Your treading is upon the poor." The poor were persecuted as if enemies to the State. If they sued for justice they could not get it. " He remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart." 1. Judges took unlawful bribes. " They take a bribe." Injustice and violence were connived at ; the helpless were trampled in the dust, and the rich unjustly acquitted. He that rules over men must be just and ride in the fear of God. " A bad magistrate deprives us of the blessing of just laws." Sir Matt. Hale could not be corrupted, and Paul would not bribe his judge for freedom (Acts xxiv. 26). "A gift perverteth the ways of judgment." 2. Judges indulged in unbounded selfishness. They imprisoned the righteous, and would only release him for money. They robbed the poor to build houses, plant vineyards, and minister to their own luxury. Their mansions of hewn stone were monuments of extortion. They might preserve from disease (Lev. xiv. 34 — 38), and be free from decay. But men who secure themselves and enlarge their possessions by injustice will destroy both. Those who ruin others to live in grandeur and state will find that they build on false foundations and will be robbed of their possessions. " Thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein ; thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof." III. They necessitated prudent silence. "Therefore the prudent shall keep silence." We must bear open testimony to holiness and truth ; but there is " a time to keep silence and a time to speak." UOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. [chap, v- Whan pearls are east before Bwine, when men are deaf to reproof and all warning h useless, then servants of God keep solemn silence. In times of iniquity and danger and distress, silence to man may be a duty; but the prudent wi|j | « For the Lord our God hath, put us to silence .,,„! given of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord." K Bedewed and silent as a summer's night," Times •■ Prudent Silence. — Verse 13. The prudent man will 1"' well disciplined in mind and speech, will carefully , for opportunities and improve them. Great wisdom is required to know when and how to speak. It is a time to be silent — I. When reproof is ridiculed. In the treatment of a fool we must restrain our- I neither indulge bis folly nor cherish his spirit. Pride should never be with pride, nor pa—inn checked with passion. Discretion is needful in rebuki . " Wise mariners do not hoisl sails in every wind," says Bp Hall. Jere- miah turned away from false prophets in silence (xxviii, 11). Christ sets us an pie in giving kind answers to rude speeches. "Speak not in the ears of :'; for he will despise the wisdom of thy words." II. When reproof would increase guilt. Men are of ten hardened and infatuated; deliberately shut their id refuse instruction Reproof would then only add to their guilt and misery. Christ in mercy withheld his tongue before such persons. It is best to "let them alone." Rebuke might Btir up a torrent of abuse and frustrate the design in view. Dceited man needs no direction, thinks Ids own way right, and follows it to his ruin. 'The way of a fool is right in his own eyes." III. When reproof is silenced by calamities. < rod's dealings in personal affliction and public judgments call for silence. "It is an evil time." We arc perhaps to blame and cannot reprove others. Under his frown we must hold our peace (Lev. x. 3). In his ridence we Learn to be still (Ps. xlvi. 10). Whatever social or :ial yoke is put upon us we must "sit alone and keep silence" (Lam. iii. 28). There arc times when we iini.-i reverently adore God and submit to his chastisements ; when the pride of the wicked and the pleading of the righteous are put to silence. "1 w.is dumb, I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it" (Ps. xxxix. 9; Nek ix. 33 j II'1'. .ii. 9 EOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. ■ 7 — 13 (,'n,/ and re- were rebuked. Truthful witnesses were nounce unright and oppression, frowned upon The poor were trodden I i oforce this exhortation three pic- under-foot, and justice was sold for made to pass in rapid succes- burdens, or, as it should rather be rion before the eye 1. The righteous rendered, " presents of wheat " (vers. 10, They are reminded thai Jeho- 11 a). .">. The judgment to be inflicted. whose omnipotent power, as mani- Deprivation of all the fruits of their i in the heavens and on the earth, unjust gains and oppressions. They are cribed in majestic term . reminded that though the prudent found ice the it necessary to keep silence in so evil a. 9). Ver. 9. time, a ml their deeds thus escaped public Literally, -That flasheth forth di tn exposure, Cod was acquainted with Hon upon the nd destruction their "manifold" and "mighty" sins eometh upon the fortress." 2. The sin (vers. 11 b, 12) [The Preacher's judged. The flagrant maladministration Lantern]. of justice. Claimants ox others who Ver. 12. "I know your manifold hi to maintain the cause of right transgressions," &c. 1. The sins of some u» t: , of public trial; men. Manifold and mighty. Sins chap, v.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. 287 committed with a mighty hand and a hid that shall not be known." haughty spirit. The disobedience of Ver. 1 3. This may be applied to ab- Pharaoh, the "rage" of Sennacherib, and stinence from speaking in three ways, the pride of Herod the Great. Shis in- 1. From reviling. When injury is in- jurious to men and offensive to God. flicted the natural impulse is to return The mighty sins of the text and those it. Other weapons failing, the tongue is mentioned by James (v. 7 — 10). 2. always ready. It must be restrained if God's intimate knowledge of these sins, we woidd be disciples of Christ. Vin- "I know your" sins. You may try to dictive words are absolutely forbidden. conceal them, darkness and dissimula- 2. From reproof. It is indeed an evil tion may hide them from the gaze of time with the sinner when reproof is men : but I know them. Nothing can not to be used (Hos. iv. 17; Ezek. iii. be hidden from the eye of the great 20). 3. From explanation. The best Judge. He knows though he does not course is to commit our cause to God. avenge. We should not natter ourselves The devil, who in an evil time forges the that God sees not and will not punish accusations which are often made against our sins. All tilings shall one day be the people of God, can suborn the wit- made manifest. "There is nothing nesses too \Ryaii\. covered that shall not be revealed, and HOMILETICS. Seeking Good and Enjoying God. — Verses 14, 15. These words supplement the previous paragraph, in which Israel were exhorted to renounce idolatry, an offence to God, a crime against man. Now the order is reversed. Good must be sought and evil avoided, that mercy may yet be shown to a remnant of the people. I. The course recommended. " Seek good and not evil." The negative and positive side of human duty. 1. Seek the good. Good is needful, and all men seek it. "Who will show us any good?" The soul is formed to know and love the good. As the plant turns towards the sun, so the soul seeks for good. But men seek in the wrong direction. They seek gratification in earthly things, and exclude God from their pursuits. They have a desire for him, a capacity to enjoy him, but move not in the direction to him. Seeking good is defined as hiring the good. The right affection must be cherished. Depraved appetites and vitiated tastes must be renewed. A change of disposition is necessary to reformation of life. " Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." 2. Hate the cril. Aversion is needful as well as affection. We have something to hate and something to love. Our sympathies and antipathies are not at variance, they differ in in- tensity, gain power according to their objects, and greatly influence our conduct. We evince the soundness of conversion by loathing and forsaking what God hates. We cannot love God without hating evil. The fear of the Lord is seen by depart- ing from evil. "Positive virtue," says one, "promotes negative virtue." "Ye that love the Lord, hate evil." 3. Practise justice. "Establish judgment in the gate." Israel must raise up and firmly support what they had thrown down. In their courts of law and in common practice they must be truthful. Neither bribe nor self-interest should divert men from judgment. The penitent will be just to man. In words and deeds he will give to all their due. Profession without principle is an insult to God. " What a man is in private duties, that he is in the sight of God, and no more," says Dr Owen. We cannot serve God, unless we arc right with men. "Put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil ; learn to do well." " Be'what thou seemest, live thy creed, Hold up to earth the torch Divine, HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. [CHAP. v. Be whit thi'ii prayeel to be made, I • • thy preal Master's steps be thine." II The benefits of adopting this course. Self interest is not always the right ,llcltl . but the benefits of serving God are manifold. 1. Human lifeu ■ Ye shall live." Calamity would lake away their life, bul deliverance would preserve it. In gi u ral, Bin by its own nature and by the judgments of God upon it brings men to an untimely end. The wicked do not live out half their Worldlim - wears oul the spring; but piety contributes to the length and .: Religion promotes temperance and self-control. It redeems and soul from morbid excitement and moral disease. " Righteousness tendeth trace is received. " The Lord God of Hosts will he gracious," The sinner Lb not only delivered from present danger, hut blessed with grace to live a holy life. God's grace is infinite and free. Former displeasures will not hinder him from bestowing it upon those who seek it. Penitent nations and feehle churches may hope for his returning favour. "God is no respecter of persons; hut in every nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him." •">. God's presence is enjoyed. He "shall he with you as ye have spoken." I : | tsted of being God's people, and desired God to he with them in sin. 1. il the "righteous Lord" cannot dwell with an unrighteous people. It is a de- li to tdk of God if we do v it sick hiii), to expect his presence when we do not walk in his commands. "If ye were Abraham's seed ye would do the works Abraham." [t is only when we repent and return to God that we enjoy his favour. God is always present to protect in the way of duty, as "the God of ." "Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 15. // may I". I. If so, for what 1. Men do not deserve de- liverance, ••'I'lc- expression ' perhaps he will show favour' indicates that the : 1 i L'a miis was full, and no deliverance could be hoped for if Cod to ' according to ids righteousness" [A'-//], 2. God in so- il mercy has promised it, This ! the language of uncertainty. The difficulty i- not v, ith < iod, bul with • Except ye repent," &c, //. //' what conditions t Negatively and l. 1 . NTol by presuming on outward relation to (iod. (Iod must ight and found. 2. By pursuing I: ht towards < rod. " Hate tie- evil and five tic good." (/') Right towards man. M Establish judgment." To the •• conditions the hope, though humiliating to carnal Becurity, i tached : perhaps < rod will then be mnani of Joseph, The verse sets forth — The relation between the negative and positive duties of life; or — 1. The nature of true peni- tence— seeking God. 2. The evidence of true penitence — hating evil. 3. The reward of true penitence — God's protection and favour in life ; or, 1. God the object sought. 2. Evil the diffi- culty in the way. 3. Divine favour and blessings the motive to urge the pursuit. "God gives encouragement to such as sincerely seek him ; yet he would not have them absolutely expect deliverance in temporal judgments, when provoca- te come to a height : and he seeth it meet to exercise them with uncertain- ties that- they may he yet more diligent, and prove their real piety by submission in those things" [Hutcheson~\, '•Temporal promises are made with an. // may be: and our prayers must be made accordingly." chap, v.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. 280 HOMILETICS. The Day of The Lord.— Verses 16 — 20. Ver. 16. "Therefore." God foreseeing that they will not forsake sin continues the threatening (ver. 13). Israel misapplied the words of Joel (ii. 31; iii. 4), thought that the day of the Lord would be deliverance to them and destruction to their enemies. The prophet warns them of false security. In blind infatuation they long for its approach, but it woidd be a day of unmitigated evil. I. The day of the Lord described. A day of universal darkness and distress. The judgments were extensive as the manifold guilt. 1. A dag of Divine dis- pleasure. God would be with them not in the way they expected and boasted ; in judgment, not mercy. " I will pass through thee." There woidd be a repetition of the events hi Egypt. He would not pass over them in forgiving love, as the angel passed by the blood-stained doors ; but through them in punishment severe and exact. Some as stubble or wood are ripe for Divine judgments (Nah. i. 10 ; Jas. iii. 5). God may have passed by them, but soon will pass through them. [Nations may escape at one time and fearfully suffer at another. " For there was not a house where there was not one dead " (Ex. xii. 12, 30). 2. A dag of universal mourning. "Wailing shall be in all the streets." (a) Mourning in all places. In the streets of the city, the vineyard* of the fields, and the highicaj/s of the country ; in centres of business and scenes of joy, would be lamentation and wailing. The hum of men and the mirth of children were turned into grief. There was u a vintage not of wine, but of woe." God's displeasure turns joy into mourning and robes all things with darkness and death, (b) Mourning by all persons. "The skilful," the professionals of lamentation, and the real mourners, the husbandmen called from the country, blended their cries together. Alas ! Alas ! The punish- ment was unequalled and the grief beyond expression. Sorrow will find all that are guilty, and none can escape. " Take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters. For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled!" 3. A dag of darkness without light (vers. 18 — 20). Calamities darken the brightest day. The day of present trouble is often without light. But no day so gloomy to impenitent sinners as the day of judgment. The word of God and the voice of conscience darken the prospects of the wicked. Unless they flee to Christ the future will be " even very dark, and no brightness in it." 4. A dag of calamity without escape. Two comparisons illus- trate this, (a) ~No escape bg flight. To flee from the lion would only be to meet a bear. To escape from one danger was only to fall into another (cf. Jer. xlviii. 44 ; Is. xxiv. 18). " He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through." (b) No escape by shelter. If a man rushed into a house and leaned in confidence upon the wall a serpent would bite him. Men often meet with destruction where they expect safety. " Evil shall hunt the wicked man to overthrow him." If men escape present they cannot the future judgment. It is vain to expect mercy at that day if wre despise it now. Come to Cud instead of fleeing from him. " Who may abide the day of his coming 1 and who shall stand when he appeareth?" II. The day of the Lord threatened. "The Lord saith thus " — 1. Though long delayed It will come. To prove his love and give time for repentance God delays his promise. But he is not slack and forgetful. Threaten- ing may not suddenly be executed, for " he is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any shoxdd perish." Remember the nature of God and his determination to punish. " Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." 2. Though appar- ently far off it will come. All things continue as they were, but may unexpectedly change. The flood interrupted the order of nature. If we realize the past, it will help us to believe the future. "The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night." 3. Though ridiculed by ungodly men it mil come. " Scoffers walking 19 HoMlU.TU > "1/1///.Y TAIIV: AMOS. [chap. V. their own lusts" cry, " Where is the promise of his coming ?" Join not their r.ink-. Beed ool their ridicule. The promise is uttered and cannot he retracted. The coming is gradual, certain, and will Boon be felt. Atheists should beware and LOuld fear. The primeval world has changed, the deluge of h swept the earth, ami a terrible day awaits impenitent sinners. "A little mall come will come and will not tarry." III. The day of the Lord desired. "You that desire the day of the Lord." Their previous history had them t.> desire this time, and their subsequent life proved the spirit in b they did bo. 1. The day may be desired in a wrong spirit. Israel applied [lowing descriptions of future times in a carnal sense. They expected a tem- ond knew neither their own character nor the nature of the day | prepared tor it, and what should have been a blessing a woe to the nation. " Darkness and not light." Men desire the -la) 1" a spirit of contempt. The Israelites sarcastically might wish for the ; .1'; Jer. svii L5). Who cares for the day? let it come, (b) In a • ,,;" delusion. They desired some change, and thought the next would be for The prophet seeks to undeceive them. Self-deluded sinners will find their mistake at last, (c) [n a spirit of folly. " To what end is it for you?" What will it profit you 1 Are you ready for it 1 Many would be glad to leave this world who are not tit for the next. They have but little reason to desire what will he darkness and not light to them. 2. The day may be desired in a ■ spirit. S>. me are ready for the day, delighting themselves in God and his lie v ate preparing for death and waiting for the coming of Christ. In the common event- and mysterious providences of life they pray not in scorn, ■• 1. • him make speed and hasten Ids work that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw uigh ami come, that we may know it." Woe to him who desires when he should dread the day of the Lord ! "Blessed is that :it " who is ready and waiting, " and whom Ins lord when he cometh shall find bo doit DkaTII N'oT ALWAYS DESIRABLE. VciSC 18. We may apply this to the day of death. Often in trouble and disappointment men express a wish thai Gtod would take away their life, supposing that it is for them to die than to live. We cannot be sure of the sincerity of their : and tie y may not he sure of it themselves. Under the pressure of present feeling, they imagine death would he welcome, and perhaps if it actually came they would decline it- aid. If they would not they ought. For their fleeing from troul a man did flee from a lion and a bear met him, &c. Let me beg .v to inquire — -Whether the event they long for will be a real ly fiir their complaints. Are they sure that death will be annihilation? tlv Bure that their is nothing beyond the grave I (Jan they prove that there future f or that in this state there is only happiness and no misery? Judas 1 himself, went to hie own place, which was worse than his former condition, with all the horrors of its remorse. If Scripture he trueaZZ are not happy at death ; lieu happy without a title to heaven and a nieetness for it. Have you this title 1 tin meetnessl Do you love holiness? Without this could you be happy in a holy place f in a holy state J in holy employments, &c. ? Is the Redeemer to your -oul- I Nothing can make us happy but what relieves our wants, fulfil 'id Batisfiee our hope. Without holiness no man can see the Lord. If ■'■•■ "' urd, ilen. to wish to leave this world for another, before you are sure cchange will he for your advantage. For advantage it cannot be if you die unpaid, red and unrenewed. Llosscd are the dead that die in the Lord. Out of bi'"- aid the avengeT of blood is upon you. Out of him, you are out of tic Ark and Bxpoeed to the Deluge. - The day of your death is not better than CHAP. V.l JIOMILETIC COMMENT JR ) : AMOS. 201 the day of your birth. Your privations and distresses here are only the beginnings of sorrow, a drop to the ocean compared with hell. And once gone from time, no return. Therefore instead of wishing this important period ended, be thankful that it is prolonged, even in a vale of tears ; account that the long-suffering of God is your salvation, for he is not willing that any should perish. Eemember also that disappointment and sorrow, which make yoti impatient, may prove the greatest blessing ; the valley of Achor a door of hope. God does not afflict willingly. He renders earth desolate to induce you to seek a better country. Away, then, with every thought of desperation. Arise and go unto your Father, waiting to receive graciously and love freely. If tempted to despair, cry, " Lord, I am oppressed ; undertake for me." " Come unto me, all ye that labour," &c. The Athenian said, " I should have been lost, if I had not been lost." In affliction Manasseh found his father's God. We often pity those who have seen better days. But if they forgot God in prosperity, and in their adversity have thrown themselves into his arms — these are the best days they ever saw. This will be your case, suffering friend, if you seek God and commit your cause to him. He will turn the shadow of death into the morning, and you shall join the multitude who say — It is good for me that I have been afflicted [Jay]. HOMILETIG HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 16. It costs men nothing to own God as a Creator, the Cause of causes, the Orderer of all things by certain fixed laws. It satisfies certain intellects so to own him. What man, a sinner, shrinks from, is that God is Lord, the absolute disposer and master of his sinful self [Pusey]. Woe, woe, going up from every street of a metropolis, in one unmitigated, unchanging, ever-repeated monotony of grief. Such were the present fruits of sin. Yet what a mere shadow of the inward grief is its outward utterance [lb.]. Ver. 17. If there were joy in any place it would be in the vineyards ; vineyards are places of mirth and re- freshing, grapes make the wine, which makes glad the heart of man. There- fore when he threatens, that in all vine- yards there shall be wailing, it is as much as if he said, There shall be sorrow in those places where usually the great- est joy is found, or there shall be sorrow in every place. Joy shall dislodge and give place to sorrow, for I will pass through thee, saith the Lord [Caryl]. Vers. 17, 18. I. The certainty of the day. " Saith the Lord." II. The method of its approach. " I will pass through." III. The consequences of its arrival. "Darkness and not light." Ver. 18. To what end is it for you ? Self-examination would teach — that they would gain nothing in the day — that it should be delayed, rather than desired, if not prepared for it — that the evil spirit in which it is longed for should be eradicated, and that men should seriously consider their ways and submit to God. Ver. 19. The path of light would prove a path of increased danger — the place of confidence, expected shelter and repose, would become the place of pain and wounding unto death [Ryan]. From both lion and bear there might be escape by flight. When the man had leaned his hand trustfully on the wall of his own house, and the serpent bit Mm, there was no escape. He had fled from death to death, from peril to destruction [Puspy]. Ver. 20. Shall not ? Ho appeals to their own consciences, " Is it not so, as I have said 1 " Men's consciences are truer than their intellects. How- ever they may employ the subtlety of their intellect to didl their conscience, they feel, in their heart of hearts, that there is a Judge, that guilt is punished, that they are guilty. The soul is a witness to its own deathlessness, its own , accountableness, and its own punishableness [Pasey]. The godly will have some light in trouble (though temptation hide it from EOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. icuw. v. tli.-m, b. 1. LO), and may sometimes dreadful a day of vengeance will be to attain to some measure of allowance the wicked, how grieving and perplex- ind may certainly expect ing their miseries will be, and how th.it there will be a dear and comfort- destitute of present comfort and future able issue from their troubles (Mic. vii. hope they are [Hutcheson]. B) : vt it is terrible to think how IIOM1LETICS. I'm: Ritual without the Moral. — Verses 21 — 23. The judgments threatened will not be averted by feasts and sacrifices. God ex- abhorrence to mere ceremonial observances, and will not accept heartless hip. •• 1 hate, 1 despise," &c. Notice — I. Religious assemblies without true worship. Israel had feast days, to ab- . ilc work and rejoice in God ; solemn assemblies, to worship God and put themselves under Borne restraint. But in these things they followed their own device, or imitated tin- worship at Jerusalem; substituted human inventions for Divine institutions; "your feast days," not mine; and thus prefigured many more who call themselves Christians. Men uphold the means of grace, attend the wor- ship of G»id, but the name of God they will not adore. They defend religion, appoint ordinances, and put formal for spiritual service. They pervert the times and the places in which they should meet God. Solemn assemblies, social and private prayer, may prove a curse and not a blessing. Outward worship and superior privileges may increase our condemnation, and cause rejection in the sight of God. "I despise your least days." II. Daily sacrifices without true obedience. They offered burnt-offerings, tokens of self-sacrifice ; peace-offerings, of gratitude, from fat beasts, the best they could get; but they were not re- garded. " Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?" 1. Theirritual was external. The grandeur of the gift is nothing without the heart of the giver. Costly offerings are of no value without love. God hates dissembled worship. It is double iniquity. "The sacriliee of the wicked is abomination; how much more when he bringeth it with a wicked mind V '1. Their conduct was immoral. They despised the poor and neglected judgmenl ; cherished uncharitable feelings, and had no desire to do right. Love to < Sod must be seen in right conduct towards men; true worship, in pure molality ; and faith, in good works. God smells not the savour of splendid rituals withoul consistent lives (Lev. xxvi. 31). He may accept the moral without the ritual, but never the ritual without the moral. "To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice." III. Instrumental music with- out true melody. It was noise, not melody; pleasing to man, but distasteful d. < Ihurch-music is often mere display — intoned with energy, and ending in self. Music is the expression of emotion, the outburst of praise to God. "When rightly conducted it will be attractive to man and honouring to God. In times of revival it has elevated the heart ami quickened the life. But the best gifts of nature and art may be made instruments of evil. Music is abused when joined with immoral poetry ami allurements of sin. When grace is not in the heart we do not ring with the spirit, and with the understanding. If the life is not in tune with the lips, God aa] , " Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs." CHAP. T.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. 293 HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Vers. 21, 22. Israel had feasts of solemn joy and the restraint of so/am/ assemblies. They oifered whole burnt- offerings, the token of self-sacrifice, in which the sacrificer retained nothing to himself, hut gave them freely to God. They offered also "peace -offerings, as tokens of the willing thankfulness of souls at peace with God. What they offered was the best of its kind, fatted beasts. Hymns of praise, full-toned chorus, instrumental music ! What was wanting, Israel thought, to secure them the favour of God? Love and obedi- ence. If ye love me, keep my command- ments. And so those things, whereby they hoped to propitiate God, were the object of his displeasure [Pusey]. Here is a warning to all who think to please God by elaborate musical services in his house ; while they do not take heed to worship him with their hearts, and to obey him in their daily life [Wordsworth]. Ver. 24. The sound of music, rolling in full chorus, will not profit in a drought of justice and righteousness. " Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner, for it was not sent him of the Lord " (Ecclus. xv. 9). When justice is duly administered it is said to run down as waters, &c. Now waters and streams run not to one man's house, or door, but the stream offers itself to every man, it runs down to the poor man's door as well as to the rich man's door, it runs by the meanest cottage as well as by the princely palace. Righteousness must run like a stream ; it must be a common, a universal good [Caryl]. The first outward step in conversion is to break off sin. He bids them let judgment, which had hitherto been per- verted in its course, roll on like a mighty tide of waters, sweeping before it all hindrances, obstructed by no power, turned aside by no bribery, but pouring on in one perpetual flow, reach- ing all, refreshing all, and righteous- ness like a mighty (or ceaseless) stream. True righteousness is not fitful, like an intermitting stream, vehement at one time, then disappearing, but continuous, unfailing [Pusey]. HOMILETICS. Judgments like a Flood. — Verse 24. The verse is to be explained according to Is. x. 22, and threatens the flooding of the land with judgment, and the punitive righteousness of God [Keil]. In this sense the judgments of God are like a flood. I. In the method of coming. Terrors and troubles are 6ften compared to waters in Scripture. 1. They come suddenly. All at once they burst upon men in sin and carnal security. When they say peace then sudden destruction cometh upon them. 2. They come super naturally. God, and not any second cause, sends them. " God hath broken in upon mine enemies . . . like the breaking forth of waters." 3. They come violently. They carry away all opposition, and roll direct to their place. 4. They come abundantly. One after another in dreadful succes- sion upon individuals and nations, until the purpose of God is accomplished. II. In the mischief they create. Floods and mighty streams are fearful in them- selves, but when sent by Almighty power to chastise who can resist them? 1. They create consternation. Men are terrified and seek every possible way of escape. The late floods in England and France illustrate this. Divine judgments are in- tended to rouse men from slumber and lead them to God. " For when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.' 2. They cause universal devastation. They sweep the city and the country, and spread destruction on every hand. The mansions of the rich and the dwellings of the poor arc overcome with the rolling stream. So God's fierce anger goes over men nnVILETIC COmrEXTAKY: AMOS. [chap. V, ighty waters, to drown their possessions and take, their comforts. "Deep th unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts; all thy waves and thy billows are gone over inc." •• Wide . V.I 110MILETIC COMMfiNTJ&Y: AMOS. 295 they are sent. 4. If men would seriously meditate upon God's greatness and power, they would not sleep securely under his awful threatenings. Thus " saith the Lord, whose name is the God of Hosts." ILLUSTRATIONS -TO CHAPTER V. Vers. 1 — 3. In a piteous lamentation of the miserable state of the Church of Christ in England in the reign of Queen Mary, written by that worthy martyr of God Nicholas Ridley (Works, Parker Society), we meet with most affecting reasons for sorrow and tears [Ryan~\. " If you have tears, prepare to shed them now." [Shakespeare.] Vers. 4 — 6. Jeroboam pretended that it was too much for Israel to go up to Jerusalem. Yet Israel thought it not too much to go to the extremest point of Judah towards Idumrea, perhaps four times as far south of Jerusalem as Jerusalem lay from Bethel. For Beer- sheba is thought to have lam some 30 miles south of Hebron, which is 22 miles south of Jerusalem ; while Bethel is but 12 to the north. So much pains will men take in self-willed service, and yet not see that it takes away the ex- cuse for neglecting the true [Puse>/~\. Ver. 6. "Justice is the great but simple principle, and the whole secret of success in all government. It is as essential in the training of an infant as in the government of a mighty nation." " Justice, like lightning, ever should appear To few men's ruin, but to all men's tear." [Sivenam.] Vers. 8, 9. Power is that glorious attribute of God Almighty which furnishes the rest of his perfections : 'IVas power which made his ideas fruitful, and struck the world out of his thoughts. 'Tis this which is the basis of all things ; which constitutes the vigour of second causes, and keeps the sun and moon in repair. Omniscience and goodness, without a corresponding power, woidd be strangely short of satis- faction ; to know everything without being able to supply defects and remedy disorders, must be a grievance; but when omnipotence comes into the nation the grandeur is perfect [Jer. Collier]. Vers. 9—11. " It often falls, in course of common life, That right sometimes is overborne of wrong, The avarice of power, or guile, or strife, That weakens her and makes her party strong. But Justice, though her doom she do prolong, Yet at the last will make her own cause right." [Spenser.] Ver. 10. Who is there that some- times does not merit a check ] and yet how few will endure one [Feltham]. Ver. 11. " Built houses," $c. "You take my house when you do take the prop That doth sustain my house ; you take my life "When you do take the means whereby I live." [Shakespeare.'] Ver. 13. Keep silence. Euler lived at Petersburg during the administration of Biron, one of the most tyrannical ministers that ever breathed. On the philosopher's coming to Berlin, after the tyrant's death, the late queen of Prussia, who could hardly get a word out of him, asked him the reason of his silence. "Because," said he, "I come from a place where if a man says a word he is hanged " [ Whitecross]. Vers. 14, 15. We must not envy the doers of evil, but depart from their spirit and example. As Lot left Sodom without casting a look behind, so must Ave leave sin. No time or parley is to be held with sin, we must turn away from it without hesitation, and set our- selves practically to work in the oppo- site direction [Spurgeoii]. Vers. 16 — 20. Ill-gotten gains are a dangerous and uncertain possession. God can easily take them away, and turn our joy into mourning. "That which is dyed with many dippings La in the grain, and can very hardly be washed out" [Jer. Taylor]. Men do not love to be brought into contact with realities, or be reminded of coming "days of darkness." There is an un- welcome message to the conscience, Art thou ready to meet this solemn — this hastening season 1 If you regard ffOMTLETIC COMMENTARY i AMOS. [CUA1\ VI. as a friend, prepare t'> entertain it ; it' an enemy, prepare to overcome it. Vi : ■ 2 1 23. A man is nol whal he saitli. I>nt wliat be doeth. To say what we do, and not to 'I" whal w -■ say, is luit to undo ourselves by d ling [Dyer]. arisy is hMling up some radical • with some shallowy pretence " 'Tis mad idolatry To make tbc service greater than the God." [Shakespeare.] Vers. 25 — 27. The fact that physical, mental, and moral qualities arc heredi- tary, is proved in the persistent charac- teristics of races and nations. Jewish and negro types, Chinese and Japanese, have had the same characteristics for centuries. So features of morality are stamped upon descendants. By walk- ing in the steps of their fathers, nations and families reap the same harvest. "We have hereditary transmission of sins and punishment. CHAPTER VI. Critical Noras.] Second woe denounced. Ease] Recklessly and carelessly. Mount.] not in God. Sam.] Strong, which resisted for 3 years, and was the last city of Israel taken (2 Kings . 6). Chief] in influence and office, Ileb. men designated (Num. i. 17: 1 Chron. xii. 31). Came] for decision and help. Israel was the chief of nation;, and these princes the distinguished degenerate now! 2. Pass] Survey three neighbouring kingdoms. "If these kingdoms are not better and greater than yours, why do ye worship their gods and forsake the true l uui]. 8. Woe] Charge first from a general and then a special view. Put off] Lit. with in, the day of retribution, though declared near (Ezek. xii. 21 — 28). Bring near] Surfer ■ -ion to be enthroned among you. 4.] Luxury added to oppression. Stretch] Lit. pour themselves out, " dissolved, unnerved, in luxury and sloth." Beds] inlaid with ivory. Lambs] 1 and delicious in the lvi-t. 5.] Like David they employ themselves with music, but for a different aim. 6.] Not satisfied with small cups, they took the bowls used for sprinkling of blood, to indulge in excess, and used the most costly oils, not for health and cleanliness, but wanton luxury. Grieved] not for calamities Buffered in the past, or threatened in future. 7. Head] Chiefs in trans- n must bejlrtt in the procession to captivity. Banquet] Lit. making merry with shouts. 8. Sworn] " lake oh, iv. 'J, excepl that it is by himself instead of by his holiness, but the sense is . : ir the nephesh of Jehovah, i.e. his inmost self or being, is his holiness" [Keit]. 9. Ten] case (oh. v. :i). 10. Uncle) Any relative who had to bury the dead (Gen. xxv. 9: Judg. xvi. 31). Burn.] in case of necessity. Bones] t. $. the dead body (Gen. 1. 25: Ex. xiii. 19). Say] overed it' hfl is the only survivor. Hold] The burier bids the survivor be silent, lest by ition God should make him a victim of death. All hope from God has utterly gone. 11.] 8mite] by earthquake, or by pestilence and -word during siege; every house, great and small. 12.] B rock, so yc are incapable of fulfilling justice [Grotius]. The of expecting prosperity while committing acts of injustice. The in- form gives strength to the representation. 13. Nought] Their growing empire, or •a. Horns] A symbol of power; dominion rescued by Jeroboam from the Bynani [2 Km.- riv. 26). 14.] God's answer to this n esumption. A people] Not named, per- haps to awaken attention ; probably Assyria. Aflflict | Oppress, crush down ; the whole extent of territory aaid to b H i by Jeroboam II„ the region of triumphs a scene of woe. EOMILETICS. A.T Base in Zion. — Verse I. Tn the first pari of this chapter woe is uttered against the careless chiefs of the nation, for profane security, contempt of Divine judgments, and heartless oppres- sion. Special allusion is made to the leaders, but the whole nation had sunk into godless conduct and shameful debauchery. chap, vi.] IIOMILETW COMMENTARY: AMOS. 201 I. At ease in eminent responsibility. "At case in Zion." Israel was ex- alted as a nation above others. Israel's princes were men of rank and authority; " renowned of the congregation," and consulted by the people. All were blessed with eminent privileges and great responsibility. But the honour was not recog- nized. The highest motive to action did not confirm them in fidelity to God. They carelessly indulged themselves and forgot their responsibilities. Where much is given, much will be required. To be "at ease in Zion," in the midst of religious ordinances and gospel light, is especial danger. If we neglect or despise our eminent position, we aggravate our guilt, and increase the greatness of our downfall — " Woe unto thee, Chorazin ! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida ! " &c. II. At ease in carnal security. " And trust in the mountain of Samaria." Zion, the centre of religion, and Samaria, the metropolis of a powerful kingdom, were the security of Israel. Our own strength and resources will prove a broken reed. Men may boast of the places in which they live, glory in their eminence, and secure them- selves in ease ; but vain confidence in the means of grace will awfully disappoint. We must trust to no great men, no high hills. " Our help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth." III. At ease in great pride. Connected with ease and carnal security was a haughty spirit. Israel prided themselves in their relation to God, and disdained other nations. " The chief of the nations to whom the house of Israel came " would think themselves, and expect others to call them, great men. " Haughty because of my holy mountain." Many are puffed up with pride, and rock themselves to sleep in religious privileges. They cry " The temple of the Lord are we " ( Jer. vii. 4), and doubt not but God's sanctuary will secure them from judgments to come. But pride never gives true rest, and those who delude themselves in superior holiness and distinguished titles shall be utterly for- gotten (Ps. cix. 13). The greater their glory, the more shameful their punishment. " How much she hath glorified herself and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her." IV. At ease in threatened judgments. " Woe to them." When God is angry men have no reason to sleep. Reckless indifference, in busi- ness and religion, is a forerunner of certain ruin. Careless sinners, sleepers in Zion, are in danger of eternal destruction. When they rouse not at the call of the gospel, when deaf to the thunders of Divine judgments, they sleep where God will come first and be most severe ; where the calls are loudest and the doom most hope- less. Wake up at the sound of "Woe," before you feel its dreadful reality. " What meanest thou, 0 sleeper 1 arise and call upon thy God." Scourge for Slumbering Souls. In itself considered it is no ill thing, but a great blessing, to be at ease in Zion, in a healthy sense of the word. But there is an ill sense in which it is used, " Woe to them," &c : the ease of one grown callous, hardened, and sullen, a sleep which if not broken will bring to the bed of hell. I. First, to rouse the many at ease in Zion, we will call out their names— which are found in the chapter before us. The name of the first sleeper in Zion is Presumptuous. His character is described in the first verse, " They trust in the mountain," &c. — boast of their morality and self-righteousness. " I am rich and increased 'in good," &c. A second is Not-now, or Procrastination. " Ye that put far away the evil day " (ver. 3). The third name is Evil-doer, or Sin-lover. " They cause the seat of violence to come near." The next is Love-self. " They lie upon beds of ivory," &c. Among those at ease was one called Careless, an individual who belongs to a large family. We may give him another name, giddy, light- hearted " That chant to the sound of the viol." The last name is Crossless. "They are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph." II. Now having men- tioned their names we shed some light upon these sleepers' eyes. A hopeless errand ! for they sleep with the sun of heaven shining upon their eyelids. "At ease in Zion:' Not in Ethiopia, where they have never heard the gospel j not in BOJOLSTIC cny )i i:\ri HV: AMOS. [chap. vi. Shell i oi the ends of the earth, where no warning prophets had heen sent. In the leep, but you know your danger. You have frequent arouswgs. Everything in Que place cries out against you. To be at ease when the House, the Gospel, and the Sabbath are crying out against us, is to be at ease while God is making ready hie sword against as. III. The last point is, to sound the trumpet in the ears of the sleepers. My trumpel has but one note, " Woe ! woe ! woe ! " i living man knows the foil meaning of that word. Bring out the gentler of the note ; and first, woe to you, for now is it at all likely that you ever will In the innumerable cases in this place of conversion the majority ins who had nol Long heard the word. I think Christmas Evans used the simile of the blacksmith's dog, which was very frightened with the sparks at first, but at last got so accustomed to them that he went to sleep under the anvil. ••At. 1 the good preacher, "there be many that go to sleep under the !, with the sparks of damnation flying about their nostrils." Eemember you leep in a place where Justice deals its heaviest blow. Do you tremble'? You are saved the moment you believe in Christ. "There is therefore now no con- demnation/1 &c [Spurgeon], I . .uAinu'i: for the Presence and Indifference to the Warnings of God. — Verses 2, 3. To prove the ingratitude of the nation, Amos shows that Israel was not inferior v heathen state in greatness and prosperity — that this honour involved serious risibility, and that to despise the warnings of God who had thus blessed them would bring great punishment. I. Ingratitude for God's presence. Israel ill to God for the original gift and the continued preservation of the land The heathens had suffered, they had been spared, yet they forgot God. 1 / national prosperity. " Pass ye," &c, look everywhere and see if any kingdom h i- a " bordi r gn <>/> r than your border." We boast of our rank and pre-eminence ; talk of our colonies and dependencies, and exclaim, "Great and mighty England ! " I ■ empire is not greatness. The history of Gath and Hamath, of Greece and Rome, remind as that we stand by God's providence alone — that we fall when we rely on our own might and prosperity. If we trust to our insular position, our popular platform, and our natural resources, Ave forget the real and extract the wrong _'. In national murnlity. We pride ourselves in national worth, and point bex nations, are " they /><■//, r than these kingdoms?" Education and govern- ment, society and public sentiment, are intoned and controlled by the spirit of 1 t unity. But morally we are far from being what we ought. Boasting is ex- cluded by Qon-recognition of God and prevalent evils. We are often extravagant and ity. Vice and intemperance abound. Bacchus and Mammon have temples in every town, and votaries in every street. There are spots in our sun and dirt upon our pedi I ll Let OS nol be unthankful to Gotl, not forgetful of other nations. "Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, that bad the waters round aboul it, whose rampart was the sea," &c. (Nah. hi. 8, 9)? II. Indifference to God's warning. " You put away the evil day." As Israel despised the jndgmi nts, bo men now put away the warnings of God's providence. \il day frightens the ungodly, and in different ways they push it from them and assign it to a di tance. 1. In carelessness. Sentence against sin is not ex- sedily, and men grow indifferent. Space for escape is given, the long- suffering ol God is wen, and theytake liberties. Sin blinds the mind and hardens tne heart In wear away, proofs of judgments grow weaker, and sinners new things with inverted -lance. Duty is delayed and death is put out of their miii' Is. " All men think all men mortal, but themselves." '-'• I* • Amid culture and science scepticism abounds, infidelity spreads, and warning! are unheeded. Indulgence in sin opens up avenues to unbeiief. Led chap, vi] IIOMTLETIC C03DIEXTARY : AMOS. -jdO to believe against all moral evidence, men speak as they feel, and make evil days small and distant. "Therefore do men take judgment to be far off from them," says one, " because they take sin to be near them." Truth looked at from a dis- tance will gradually fade away, and lose its authority over life. It will be put farther and farther from us until it is denied altogether, and we sleep in false security. 3. In contempt. Israel neither feared nor believed approaching danger. In scorn they might tell the prophet it was delayed, and would therefore not come near them. Instead of preparing for it, they grew harder and more eager in sin. " They cause violence to come near." The farther they put away judgment the nearer they brought oppression. Under colour of justice and law the wicked fix up the throne of iniquity, disregard the voice of God, and hasten on that last de- struction which they dream will never come. Death is but a step off, and " the Judge standeth before the door." Eetribution follows judgment, and if retri- bution were only temporal and mutable that would be alarming. But it is eternal and irreversible. Are we prepared for the change] "Who may abide the day of his coming % and who shall stand when he appeareth 1 " A Eeckless Community. — Verses 4 — 6. Israel not only put away the day of Divine retribution, but multiplied the causes which produced it. Violence within will bring violence from without the land. When we put away God we invite destruction. Luxury, revelry, and de- bauchery describe a reckless community and reign in the present day. The special sins condemned are depicted in a peculiar manner. I. Self-indulgence. Men betray their feelings and abuse their gifts, show they live like epicures, and pamper themselves like beasts. This selfish indulgence is seen — 1. In luxurious ease. "That lie upon beds of ivory." Beds most expensive and scarce, splendid and far-fetched. They unnerved and relaxed themselves upon couches. They humoured themselves in idleness and wealth ; indulged in personal gratification, abounded in superfluities, and robbed the poor of necessities. 2. In effeminate diet. The choicest lambs and calves fed out of the stall only satisfied their appetite. Some live to eat, and do not eat to live; feed without gratitude, and indulge in lust without restraint. " Whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame." II. Profane revelry. "That chant to the sound of the viol." They tried to lead a merry life and a happy one. They displayed ingenuity by in- venting instruments to drive away dull care. As David improved and introduced musical instruments into the service of God, so these men devised and fitted them for luxury and sensuality. But artificial music creates no Divine harmony. It weakens the nature and ministers to the folly of men. When men sing instead of weeping, when mirth is unseasonable, unbridled, and licentious, it is void of every- thing that dignifies the miiid and elevates the soul to God. " Admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord." " There's not a string attuned to mirth But has its chord in melancholy." III. Shameful debauchery. Luxury and selfishness lead to excess ; sensuality and mirth, to irreverence. This is seen — 1. In profane conduct. They were not satisfied with ordinary vessels, but robbed the altars to " drink wine in bowls." In former times princes of Israel manifested zeal in consecrating silver bowls to God, now they drink in honour of idolatry. They profaned the vessels of the sanctuary, and devoted to selfish what should have been for sacred uses. 2. In riotous ex- cess. They drank out of large, not small cups. This they did habitually without measure or stint. They spent their wealth in pleasure and dissipation ; employed their ingenuity to discover new methods of self-gratification, and drank wine to silence conscience, banish reflection, and harden the heart. IV. Sinful apathy. H0M1LETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. [chap. vi. h:llln„ oonoeni whatever for the nation sinking into decay and suffering under the judgment of God, 1. Th ir joy is mbndled. Then- extravagance is ■m ,.the ,.,,!,.,• ointments with whirl, they anoint themselves, not for health and comfort, but wanton luxury. The custom of anointing was suspended in time of mourning (2 San,, xiv. 2), but these neither grieve for themselves nor for the ruin of the* country. 2. Their indifference is stolid. Bent on personal gratifi- . 0f the most debasing kind, they were devoid of all patriotism and concern ie injury to the kingdom " They are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. They mduked in the heartless conduct of the sons of Jacob towards their brother, • bread «rhen Joseph was in the pit (Gen. xxxvii. 24). Wrath had broken "out like a ore in the house of Joseph " (ch. v. 6), but they were deaf to the warnings monstrance of the poor. They spent their time in beds ot indolence and ease; pampered their bodies with delicious viands; and de- lighted their bouIs in strains of music, excess of wine, and costly perfumes. Its in unnatural feeling for kindred and country ; shuts out the of othei -. and Leads to greater indulgence. " We are verily guilty con- a brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us we would not hear." EOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. y. : ;,. / us, and abuse of music, lute and harp to awake to the glory of 1. [te use, when devoted to the worship God." 1 and the welfare of men. Vocal Like David. Men abuse gifts of God and instrumental music may he of im- by the examples of saints. They mense Bervice in the culture of the stumble in their infirmities, and copy | the training of the young, their actions in a wrong spirit. David idapted to harmony, and a great lover of music, and employed it : im ins for improve- in the praise of God. Imitators use it mL.„t. for carnal pleasure. Ver. G. True patriotism, grieving for -I r i- in souls a sympathy with sounds, Joseph. 1. A country is often deeply I as the mind \t pitched the ear is pleased." afflicted by inward calamities and out- ward dangers. 2. A lover of his country 2. Its abuse vdien employed in the serv- wiU grieve for its affliction. David Satan and ministering to licen- and Jeremiah nohle examples. 3. Solf- tiousness and lust Bow often found in is]l indulgence deprives men of sym- midnight revels and scenes of intemper- 1Kltuy ^th others, renders them un- ■"'• imarkofa grateful and unpatriotic. "How many nation's decay and promotes it," says dwej] m (,.il(,(l houses, and sing to the rhe constitution oi nationsmay BOUn(j 0f ,]„, narp, and feast on the d by changing national music. ,.;,.]„..,. dainties, and care nothing for "Give me the making oi the nations t!l(. 80rrows of Christ, and his Church, halla.U/'Mbl l.or.K haiham. '-an.il rare Uix nthev rej0ice in them ! " (Kev. Dot who makes the law,. ' David conse- xi l0) [Wordsworth]. 1 lyre and hup to the service ol ..- . .. ... , , , , " Breathes there a man with soul so dead, now men gain reputation by comic Who 11(.VL,r t0 himself hath Baid, songs and immodest dancing. "Bid This is my own, my native land!" [Scott.} H0MILETIC8. National Retribution upon Sinful Indulgence. — Verses 7 — 11. ihment is now threatened. Their " mighty sins " would bring heavy bution. Those pre-eminenl in crime would be pre-eminent in captivity. The nation musl Buffer by pestilence and plague. The ruin will be universal, and re- ligion- privileges would not avert it. chap, vi.] II0MILET1C COMMENTARY: AMOS. 301 I. National captivity. Those who live in luxury often lose their liherty, and the most dignified are reduced to servitude. 1. Disgraceful captivity. The chief in rank were chief in sin, and first to go into captivity. Their disgrace was most conspicuous. Those who delight only in the pleasures of sense shall be removed from them. Those who think themselves secure, and put the evil day from them, will find it nearer than they imagine. The banquets of luxury and wantonness will be removed, and men who give themselves to mirth when God calls them to mourn will not go unpunished in their sin (Is. xxii. 14). 2. Mournful captivity. The shouting of wine-bibbers would cease. Feasting would end hi Aveeping, and desolation would spread throughout the land. Carnal ease and sinful excess often end in hopeless misery. II. National rejec- tion. The cities and kingdom with all their wealth would be delivered into the hands of the enemy. 1. National glory abhorred. " I abhor the excellency of Jacob." The house of God, rightly valued and properly used, was their glory and defence. Their priesthood, temple, and religious privileges raised them above other nations. But these were polluted and despised. God was dishonoured by idolatry and provoked to anger. The strength of " the city " and splendour of the " palaces " availed not. The glory departed. When God abhors he will soon aban- don. External services are mere mockery. When national glory rivals God, and men blessed with distinguished excellency take pleasure in things base and inferior, God will reject them. " Therefore will I deliver up the city, with all that is therein." 2. Dreadful mortality abounded. The inmates of some houses would be entirely swept away. " Ten men in one house shall die." Few if any domestics were left to bury the dead. The uncle or distant relatives must bury or burn them. God's arrows were so piercing, and his anger so fierce, that relatives and survivors were agreed to keep solemn silence under the rod. Pestilence overtook those who escaped the sword. Hopeless despair seized men. Cut off from God, there was no help in man. They had to submit to appointed doom. 3. Universal destruction prevailed. (1) Destruction of the population. "In the multitude of the people is the strength of the prince," and God Almighty cut off that strength, (2) Destruction of the capital. The city or chief cities of the kingdom would be destroyed. They would therefore be robbed of defence, open to danger, and become an object of pity and contempt. " Like a city that is broken down, and without walls." (3) Destruction most terrible. " He will smite the great house with breaches," &c. The mighty and the mean have sinned and must be punished. God will smite not some, but all families and societies. " Princes' palaces are not above, the poor man's cottage is not beneath the judgment of God." (4) Destruc- tion most certain. "God hath sworn by himself " (ver. 7). Sensuality produces stupidity. God seeks to rouse men by an oath to end the controversy. "The Lord commandeth." We should see God's hand and purpose in great distress. He makes it effectual and irresistible. When nations are ripe for judgment foreign armies are only Divine instruments. How hopeless the condition of those who harden themselves under Divine chastisements, and whose ruin God has sworn to accomplish ! HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Mark the gradation of consequences " The Lord hath given a commandment in the whole paragraph. First the concerning thee, that no more of thy chiefs are punished. Then the people, name be sown" (Nah. i. 14: Jer. influenced by their example, are drawn xlvii. 6). into captivity. The present generation Ver. 10. What a sad condition when are carried off by death, appointed ordin- men tremble at the name of God ! ances are taken away, and the rod of What an exhibition of power upon an God smites families great and small, evil conscience, when men flee from UOMILETIC COMMENTARY: dMOS. [chap. vr. d of turning to God Ten right- to cavil against Gods truth, will be men would havesave 1 Sodom, but forsaken by him at the last, and will 1 not be able to utter bis name [Words- 11. wli .. has obstinately abused the worth]. intellectual powem given bim by God HOMILETIGS. A Hopeless People. — Verses 12 — 14. jjn ,,-,, ratlin- abrupt, and generally taken to show how useless ana impossible it is to reform the people. Their perversion of right and their indiffer- aing rendered punishment inevitable, and foolish, confidence in their own power could not avert it. I. Punishment was most inevitable. Two illustrations prove this. Their rilous and preposterous. Horses cannot run with safety, nor can plough, npon rocks : bo in their self-chosen way they will wound themselves and be disappointed. 1. Former attempts to reform had failed. God had sent ..•at after judgment, prophet after prophet, but in vain. They had not broken up their fallow ground, but were hard and uncultivated as a rock. They hindered the work of God and artel most perversely. "Those who will not be tilled as fields .-hall be abandoned as rocks," says Calvin. 2. Special sins were not forsaken. bave turned judgment into gall," &c. Power was still abused, oppression and injustice practised, and righteousness turned into hemlock. Men who pervert jus- a 1 despise ordinances in hope of advantage, will neither preserve the nation oor escape punishment. They turn the hearts of men and the providence of God against themselves. It i> as impossible for them to prosper as to reap a harvest from the rock. 3. The judgments of God were disregarded. They continued to in their idols and wraith ; boasted of their own valour, and thought to 1 themselves with their own strength. " Have we not taken to us horns'?" i squired power and dominion. Premeditated injustice, wilful opposition to the word of God, will lead to judicial blindness and destruction. Those who exalt themselves in pride shall be abased. II. Punishment was most destructive. they took for their greatest gain would be their greatest loss. 1. Their own gth could not deft u'l them. It was " a thing of nought." There was no sub- , no reality in it. Victory and dominion, courage and prosperity, are non- entities. Empire decays and riches flee away. God only is real and satisfying '_'. The whole country would be desolated. Under Jeroboam II. they had their lands, "from the entering in of Hamath," &c. (2 Kings xiv. 25). were boasting of their success and securing themselves in their dominions. ene of their triumph would be the scene of their fall. ' When men give not • kxl tli" glory of their possessions, in justice will he take them away. 3. The whole /" ople would be oppressed. " They shall afflict you." Conquerors would take the riches in which they gloried, treal them with indignity and afflict them with Neither Judah nor Israel would be spared. It is easier to turn the course of nature than to change God's law from rewarding the righteous and punishing the wicke 1. Wnen I k>d commands it must be done, and the scourge will be prevalent as the evil. EOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. 12. // • upon a rock, &e. The ing. The course of sin, turning equity the sinner — 1. biost foolish, into poison, will grievously disappoint." 2. Most dangerous. ">. Mosl usele 13. Taken to us horns. Thelanguage tumble and wound themselves, of arrogance and self-confidence. 1. No harvest is reaped from uch plough- Men apt to ascribe possessions to their CHAP. VI.] 1T0MILETIC COMMENTARY: dMOS. own efforts. They have done everything and God nothing. 2. To overvalue them in the enjoyment. How many things in which we trust are things of nought. 3. Hence, when we think more of the gifts than the Giver, we are taught our folly. To glory in anything, what- ever it may promise, will delude. God will strip men of every false, that he may become their true glory. 14.7 will raise up. No foe could ever invade us if the Lord did not raise him up. War therefore is not an accident, but a providential dispensation. Pha- raoh, Hadad, Eezon, the Chaldees, an; all expressly said to have been raised up by the Lord (Ex. ix. 1G : 1 Kings xi. 14, 23 : Hab. i. 6) [Lange]. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER III. Ver. 1. Ease. This is carnal ease, a fleshly security ; it is not the confidence of a man who is pardoned, but the ease of a hardened wretch who has learned to despise the gibbet. It is not the calm of a soul at peace with God, but the ease of a madman, who because he has hidden his sin from his own eyes, thinks he has concealed it from God [Spurgeon]. Vers. 2, 3. He that is graceless in a day of grace will be speechless in a day of judgment [Mead]. " Heaven gives the needful, but neglected call. What day, what hour, but knocks at human hearts, To wake the soul to sense of future scenes." [Young.] Vers. 4 — 6. Pleasure. Would you judge of the lawfulness or unlawfulness of pleasures, take this rule : — Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tender- ness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the relish of • spiritual things ; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself [Southey]. "In this fool's paradise he drank delight." [G. Crabbe.] Ver. 7. Banquet. " So comes a reckoning when the banquet's o'er, The dreadful reckoning, and men smile no more." [Guy.] Ver. 9. Die. How terrible the fea- tures of this plague ! The entire sweep- ing away of all the inmates of some houses. A solemn spectacle for others to Avitness, displaying the fierceness and power of God's anger. In the great plague of Marseilles, 1720, and in that of the village of Eyam, 1666, we have similar scenes. "In 1813," says one, " such was the violence with which the plague raged at Malta, such the certain destruction which attended the slightest contact with the infected, that at last every better feeling of the heart was extinguished in a desire of self-preserva- tion, and nobody could be procured to perform the melancholy offices which make up the funeral train of sickness and death." Ver. 11. Great and small . " With equal pace impartial fate Knocks at the palace as the cottage gate." [Horace. ] Ver. 12. The blessings of just admin- istration are emphatically set forth by terms used to describe the opposite. Injustice is gall and poison, bitterness and death. How should it commend to us the kingdom of Christ, that he is to reign in righteousness, to judge in equity [Ryan], Ver. 13. Nought. The more I exag- gerate these ideal joys, the more do I treasure up subjects of woe. Oh what vanity has God written upon all things under the sun ! Adored be the never failing mercy of God ! He has made my happiness to depend, not on the uncertain connections of this life, but upon his own most blessed self — a por- tion that never faileth \Martyn~\. Ver. 14. Captivity. Sell not your liberty to gratify your luxury [Matt. Henry]. " There is a paradise that fears No forfeiture, and of its fruit He sends Large prelibations oft to saints below." [Couper.] SM HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. [chap. vii. CHAPTER VII. OtrnCAl r?0Ttt.l Showed] time visions in this ch. Locusts (vers. 1 — 3) the first; " all inward luced by the Spirit of God, which sot forth the primitive judgments of God" [JT«Y]. Begin.] :, as the spriuging up ol B W cond crop, and this crop after the king's mowings. Some take _-, the mowing the judgments executed upon Israel. The period is most un- One irop had been taken and the second threatened. But this danger averted by 2. Small' Reduced in numher and strength, poor in means and hope, unable to stand. The devouring fire. Contend] with Israel by war, of which fire is a symbol (Ezek. ■ d as drying up waters (many people, Rev. xvii. 15) and devouring on dry hind Ts. i\. I). 6. For this^ as well as threateninga of vision first. Vers. 7 — 9 — The third Plumb.] applied expressly to [era< 1. Pass by] >'. e. forgive them any more (Prov. xix. 11 ; i... ['■ patii ace is i ihausted. The prophet intercedes no more. 9. Places] of idol- p; thi royal family and the monarchy to be overthrown. 10.] The prophet opposed at . >>u account of these predictions. Conspired] Heb. banded, implying that others joined. nspiracy and sedition ; insinuates that Amos prophesies for bread (vers. 10, lit. and in pretended courtesy advises him to remove. Say nothing against the king, let us alone in 00 we will suppress you by force. 14. Said] Indignantly repudiated the charge • bimw It. He was ii" bi bolar ; as a herdsman he was contenl with a little, did not seek a mere livdih ■ iger of God be spoke with dignity and authority. 17. Therefore] in : for this opposition Amaziah must bear hi- own doom. Wife] will be violently taken by the enemy. The city] publicly and openly : she would be dishonoured at the storming of the city. Land n assigned toothers. Sons] Children slain bylhefoe; he himself would die in Bxile among the heathen, and the whole nation would be carried away into captivity. IIOMILETICS. The Scourging Locusts. — Verses 1 — 3 The Becond half of Ami a begins with visions; not mere warnings, but solemn predictions, adapted to the moral condition of the people. The impenitence of i- confirmed, their doom is fixed, and the sentence is irrevocable. I. The judgment prepared. " Be formed grasshoppers." 1. Divine in its origin. God prepared the affliction. The prophel is most emphatic on this point. I in the city "is from the Lord. " He maketh the day dark with night." But such is our stupidity and ignorance, that we have need continually to be told. We require sensible evidence to &how God's hand in our lot. Allliction comes not from tin- dust) nor trouble from the ground (dub v. G). 2. Specific in its diameter. ! re the creatures of God, and perfectly under his commands. Creatures nificenl and minute display bis power and execute his design (Joel i. 4). 3. Special in its design. God formed grasshoppers. There was not only power in the art, wisdom in the shape, bul purpose in the end for which they were sent. God I to fra\ rii againsl o -mini people (Jer. xviii. 11). These creatures were ired and specially senl to eat up the grass. In his moral government, Je- hovah prepares instruments, specially forms judgments for the correction of his people. (1) On account of disobedience, (2) With a design to restore. "Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty." II. The judgment timed. •• In the beginning of the Bhooting," &c. It might have been sent earlier and been more severe. The former might nave been devoured with the latter growth. There well as fitness in the time of affliction. "To everything there is a il a determined purpose. "As exactly and exquisitely suited to your case and mine," writes one, " every instant, as if it had been ap- pointed and contrived only for thai single ease and that single moment." Every dispensation is most fitly chosen. To. common observers it may appear untimely, fox men see not the judgments prepared. In Israel there might be signs of abund- chap, vii.] JIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. 305 ant crops, and some who ridiculed the calamity threatened. Men watch the rising corn, but forget the blight that may blast the harvests. Business may nourish, youth may bloom in beauty and strength, but God may consume the fresh and verdant scene. The messengers may be formed, and only waiting the com- mand of their Creator to destroy the fruit of hand and mind. " Known onto God are all his works from the beginning of the world." III. The judgment arrested. " It shall not be, saith the Lord." 1. By the intercession of the -prophet. " Then said I, 0 Lord God, cease." The prophet saw God in " the affliction of Joseph," and, unlike his countrymen, was grieved and interceded with God. How few that are smitten are concerned in the judgments of God ! Amos is a type in spirit and practice of all the godly who pray for their kindred and country in public calamity. Our best friends, our true patriots, are those who feel deeply and pray earnestly under Divine chastisement. " And Jehoahaz besought the Lord, and the Lord hearkened unto him : for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them." 2. By the mercy of God. "The Lord repented for this; "in mercy heard the prayer and warded off the danger. Whatever be the conduct of men in public distress God alone can take distress away. But if we confess our sins, humble ourselves in petition before him, he will be gracious. If we stand in the breach, the ruin shall not happen. Prayer has often preserved nations, averted judgments, and changed the course of events. God has not only formed calamities, but fitted a place for prayer. He repents of the evil and takes it away. " For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up or left." God Contending with Fire. — Verse 4. If we take this fire literally or metaphorically it indicates the anger of God against his people and the judgments which should consume them. I. God's action against men. Man has challenged God, denied his authority and broken his law. Sin begets contention, creates a controversy between God and man (Hos. iv. 1). God enters into judgment with him ; pleads by insignificant creatures and terrible calamities, and executes fierce anger upon all workers of iniquity. Famine, fire, and sword, devour rich and poor, money and health, and consume everything before them (Ezek. xxxviii. 22). "The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people. By fire and by sword will the Lord plead with all flesh "(Is. lxvi. 13, 16). II. Men's obstinacy before God. We do not law or contend with men until we have tried other means. War and law should be the last resource. Judgment is God's strange work. But when all means have failed to win a people, then he contends with them in severest measures. He will vindicate his cause and character. To strive against him is — 1. Foolish, 2. Guilty, and 3. Vain. Terrible will be the consequence of resistance. " Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree. . . And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it : it shall not be quenched " (Ezek. xx. 47, 48). The Measuring Plumbline. — Verses 7 — 9. In this vision we have the third stage of Divine judgments ; God, tho builder of the nation, tests and finds it degenerate. He will no longer spare nor seek to reform it. Retribution is neither removed nor mitigated by prayer. The day of decision has come, and the kingdom, except a remnant, must be destroyed. In the vision we have the trial and the verdict. I. The trial presented. " Thus he showed me." The judgment is pictured and then explained. 1. The nation is Divinely tested. " Behold, / will set a plumbline." God himself stands upon the wall, plumbline in hand, fixed in purpose and exact in procedure. He had built them up, blessed them with holy laws and good rulers, and formed them for his praise and glory. But they were 20 110MILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. [chap. tii. lined, found irregular, and judged fit to be pulled down. The hand which builds king ! The people resent this. If thou dost not act they will." land is no1 able to bear all his words." God's people have of ten been repre- i as enemies to the state and disloyal to princes. The true power of Chris- tian character b is 1" en fell and hated. But "unable to resist the wisdom and the spirit " with which servants of God have spoken, recourse has been had to illegal methods, and men have not dared to appeal to reason and the word of God (Acts vi 1<>). " Blessed are ye when men shall revile yon and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against yon falsely for my sake." 4. He advises the prophet to U his ovra safety. " Flee thee away." As a seeming friend he requests him t<> flee away from danger. (1) He urges him in the language of terror. It is not to prophesy here against the king. This is Bethel, the centre of worship and the seat of government. He could expect no encouragement or sanction in the court He was too blunt, too faithful, to be heard. Go to Judah. (2) He urges him in the language of thrtnt.-<. As a haughty prelate he assumes authority. phesy not again any more," in my parish and jurisdiction. We have enough ismand -edition. 1 am resolved to suspend and silence thee. Prohibition man will 1 1 > - T destroy the authority of God. Peter and John were forbidden thei and Knox were threatened, but they could not but speak. '• We ought to obey God rather than men." II. The behaviour of the prophet. Amos was t leeply impressed with a sense of duty to be swayed by arguments like these. 1. J /, ,->■/ vudiaU % tin /„ rsonal charge. " I was no prophet," &c. He i humble shepherd, neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet by profession. nt to cultivate and would never have thrust himself into office. He was a labouring man, ueithi c ashamed of his origin nor employ. Others may uthority, but God chooses the weak and foolish things of the world to confound the wise and mighty. 2. He asserts his Divine commission. "The Lord took me." What the priest forbade, God commanded. " Go, pro- ." Amaziah wa in direcl rebellion against God, Amos was acting in obedience often calls men from flocks and herds to stand before priests and 1 hey may not be recognized by the learned scribe, the proud prelate, and court : but they are conscious of a Divine mission, and are determined to chap, vii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. 309 fulfil it. 3. He refuses to leave the path of duty. Amaziali might be influenced by the fear of man, Jonah may escape from Nineveh, but Amos fears nut the wrath of a king. God sent him to Israel, not to Judah, and from Israel he would not go. If we are conscious of God's sanction Ave shall be supported in trial and courageous in danger. This made Amos resolute against Amaziah ; Nathan free with David ; Elijah bold with Ahab ; John faithful with Herod ; and the apostles confident before the world. One prophet sent by God shall overcome the hosts of Baal, though backed by the power of king and queen. " Should such a man as I flee ] " 4. He repeats his solemn message. He is not terrified by priest or king. Though forbidden to prophesy, he desists not, but denounces God's words and bids the priest attend to the awful sentence. (1) His wife would be dishonoured. She would be openly and publicly insulted at the storming of the city. (2) His chil- dren woidd be slain by the sword. He had trained them up, and God would cut them off, in idolatry. (3) His lands xoould be taken by the enemy. They would be allotted to others by line (Deut. xxxii. 9 : 2 Sam. viii. 2 : Ps. xvi. 6). Thus he would lose his heirs and his inheritance also. (4) He xoould die a captive in a foreign land. He who now gloried in priesthood and position shoidd become an exile and die in a land polluted by idols. The greatest misery that could happen to one expecting a grave in the land of promise. (5) The kingdom itself would be destroyed. " And Israel shall surely go into captivity." The prediction is in the very words of the priest himself (ver. 11), and a warning to all who oppose the servants and abuse the gifts of God. If Ave pollute the people of God, Ave shall be dishonoured ourselves. Wicked parents and ungodly ministers reap Avhat they soav and bring a curse upon posterity. Sinners and seducers can never make void the threatening of God.' The most haughty and powerful cannot defy judgments Avliich offend them. Opposition may provoke God to contend with them as individuals, and bring ruin upon their families and estates, upon body and soul, for time and eternity. A Political Priest and a True Prophet. Let us vieAV the transactions of this high priest, and Ave shall find a complete character of a false prophet, or the perfect picture of a politician. 1. They use to flatter and delude greed ones, making them to believe that none are their friends but such as say as they say, do whatever they avouM have them do, and humour them in their sins ; — that they are their foes that, like Amos, deal faithfully and plainly with them j and this is no small part of great men's misery, that they have feAV about them that dare or will deal faithfully Avith them. They may use the Litany (in this sense) Avith that alteration which the poor curate used, Avhen he saAV his lord come into the Church, 0 God the Father of HeaVi «\ have mercy upon us Eight Honourable sinners. Their state is worse (in this respect) than that of inferior persons, Avho. are plainly and truly told of their sins when these are soothed up to their destruction. 2. They calumniate and belie the true 'prophets. They observe the rule of Machiavel — Lie lustily, somewhat Avill stick though it be never so false. 3. They labour with might and main t>> suppress and silence the true prophets. They knoAV that their kingdom cannot long stand, if once the faithful ministers of Christ be countenanced; light and darkness, the ark and Dagon, Christ and Belial, can never subsist together. This made Amaziah use both force and fraud to rid the land of Amos. 4. They labour to sup- press good men before they can be heard. They must not speak nor dispute the case. Thus Amaziah clandestinely accuseth Amos to the king, when he could make no defence for himself. 5. They usually mingle some truth with their lit 8. As fowlers do mix some Avheat Avith their chaff, to catch the birds the sooner ; so did Amaziali mix some truth Avith his lies. Amos hath said Jeroboam shall die by the sword (that was false), and Israel shall surely go into captivity (that was true) [Hall], 310 llnUlLETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. [ciiai\ tii. I, • as ii"\v view the true prophet of God. He is the very opposite of a time- ng, conventional priest. 1. // Divinely called to his work. He is no mere professional servant. He qoI assume office for his own interests, nor does he run hefore he is sent. He not always belong to the regular order of prophets, nor is he always qualified by human Learning, bul God ha- appeared to him and uttered the word, " Go prophesy to my people." •_». n<< is often persecuted and opposed in his work. He idgments which some cannot bear. He is called an enthusiast and "a mover of sedition," denounced, reproached, and hindered in his work. If open vio- lence does not answer, secret fraud is devised (Jer. xi. 19; xii. 6). Hence men display their personal spite and vile ingratitude. But they will find it perilous to 6gh1 God and persecute his servants. 3. He is always faithful in v false friends nor threatening foes. Fidelity to conscience and God often costs them their life. '• The wicked flee when no man pursueth, hut the righteous are bold as a lion." "li God he for us, who can be against us 1 " WiMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. sins of Amaziah. 1. Contra- dicting God's command. "Prophesy nol againsl Israel." 2. Slanderous report of God's servant. "Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm." •"■- Frustrating God 8 purpose. (".) In seeking to crush the truth, (b.) In tempting the messenger to flee from duty. The prophet's defence proved the nature of the charge. Amaziah hears his doom, like Peter telling Ananias, " Thou hast not lied unto men, hut unto ( rod." Ver. 10. Not able to hear all his Truth often an offence — always a power in the land. The world is compelled to confess their impotence againsl it. Ver. 12. Worldly advice /,, God's ts. " Flee," &c. This given by Pharisees to Christ (Luke xiii. 31). It lly to declare alarming truths be- ll ; impiety to oppose dished customs ami eminent dig- nitaries ; ami insolenl to preach the I in king's chapels. Smooth things and popular heresies must pass current with some-, and royalty must irbed to destruction. This was (it advice- |or the priest of Bethel < !arnal men do nol rise above carnal motives ; but true prophets con- sult not flesh and hi I, have higher motives than safety, bread, &c. Apostles, Reformers, and Missionaries took no counsel with advisers like Amaziah. Duty before temporal interests. Pray for help to discharge it. This advice proves — 1. Selfishness, 2. Timidity, and 3. Disobedience. Ver. 13. Observe, this priest of Bethel claims honour for it, not because it is the Lord's sanctuary, but because it is the king's sanctuary, and not because it is the house of God, but the house of Jeroboam. All claims of reverence for a Church simply and merely as a national establishment, independently of Divine institution, are no better than these assertions of Amaziah. The first royal propounder of what is now called Era tianism, as far as we know, was Jeroboam I. ; the first priestly advocate of it, as far as we know, was Amaziah [Wordsworth]. Ver. I I. Herdman. One of that < -1 a i to which Abraham, and Moses, and David had belonged; but not rich in fields and herds, in men-servants and ma id-servants, like the first ; nor learned in the wisdom of the Egyptians, like the second; nor with any, the most distant, intimations that he might one. day be the shepherd of a people, like the third [F. D. Maurice]. 1. God loves to appear to men dili- gent in their calling. Moses keeping sheep, David following the ewes, and Saul seeking the asses, &c. 2. When God calls we must be ready to forsake chap, vii.] IIOMTLETTC COlDrEXTABY : J MIS. 311 all. Amos leaves his herds, disciples their nets, and Abraham his country. Grace makes men able to do and willing to suffer what God commands. 3. The sphere must be left with God to appoint. Whatever the lot may be, we must be satisfied. Other places may seem better, but God knows best. 4. When once the place is fixed we must not quit it without Divine guidance. Nothing warrants unlawful fear in the performance of duty or neglect of it. Providence must never be construed to sanction flight or withdraw us from our work. We may apparently do little good, be permitted to prophesy in an- other place and be more successful. But we must abide in our calling, never give way to corrupt principles, and shun not to declare the whole counsel of God. Ver. 17. Opposers of God's word ex- amples nf his justice and indignation. Amaziah led God's people into idolatry, and his wife is an harlot in the city. He destroyed the soids of the people, and his own family fall by the sword. Given to the world, he was the chief cause why Israel was despoiled of their inheritance, and his land is divided among the conquerors. He was the chief cause of Israel's exile, and would not let them believe.it, the threatening was verified upon himself, and with- out recovery died in a polluted land [Hutcheson]. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER VII. Vers. 1 — 3. Locusts. God hath armies of insects and little contemptible creatures Avherewith to punish disobe- dient people. He needs not men to destroy us, he hath frogs and flies, lice and locusts, and these shall do it (Ex. x. 14 : 2 Chron. vii. 13 : Ps. lxxviii. 46). Much of God's might is seen in these little armies, they all fulfil the word of God's commands. Let none, then, murmur at second causes, but still look up to the first, lest by fretting at our troubles we double them [Hal!]. Vers. 4 — 6. Fire. The power of this fire showed it to be a fire of God ; it was a precursor of the great conflagration which will consume the world — even the sea itself — at the Great Day (2 Pet. iii. 10). Compare Jer. li. 32, where the fire of God burning Babylon is described as burning its lakes and moats \Words- worth']. " On Prague's proud arch the fires of ruin glow, His blood-dyed waters murmuring far below." [Campbell.] By whom ? The time is come when men will ask this question in relation to the Church. How can it stand 1 The numbers are decreasing viewed in rela- tion to the growth of the population. By whom shall it arise 1 Not by statesmen, scientists, ritualists, and priests. A new order of men are required to enable the Church to stand. Heaven raise them up [Dr Thomas] ! " More things are wrought by prayei Than this world dreams of " [ Teiinysoti], Vers. 7 — 9. Judgments. They are all exactly framed as it were by line and measure (Dan. v. 27). Justice is essential to God ; he may as soon cease to be God, as cease to be just ; hence he is called the righteous judge (Gen. xviii. 25), and the just Lord, who will do no iniquity (Zeph. iii. 5). He is just in and of himself, and just in his laws, just in his decrees, just in the execution of those decrees, just in the government of the world, just in his re- wards, and just in his judgments ; he is not only righteous in some, but in all his ways (Ps. cxlv. 17) [Halt]. Vers. 10, 11. Latimer spoke his mind before Henry VIII. and was complained of by his enemies. One of them kneeled before the king and accused him of seditious doctrines. Latimer turned first to his accuser and asked, " What form of preaching would you appoint me to preach before a king1?" No answer was given to this and several other questions. Then he turned to the king, confessed his unworthiness to preach, declared that he was called to it, but would give way to his betters. " But if your Grace allow me for a HOMILBTIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. [chap. viii. 11 .1. -iiv your Grace to but confinement in the Tower for him rive me leave [Whitecross]. ,iding to mine ' Ver. 14. Herdman. In Palestine long was pleased with at the present day none but the very igratulated poor consent to be herdmen, and only ),v } | told with tears in such gather sycamore fruit or use it that they looked for nothing [The Land and Book]. rllAlTEU VIII. rimona continued from cli. vii. 9. 2. Summer] Late fruit, fully ripe :. 1 : Mi,, vii. l ; a symbol of a people ripe for judgment. 3. Howl.] Songs of joy (ch. wild be turned into lamentation on account of the dead. Silence] Lit silently, nol with customary rites and professional mourners; the terror of God and y would make them afraid to speak. "An admonition to bow beneath the over- wh. ! . Hi the judgment of God, as in Zeph. i. 7 (cf. Heb. ii. 20 and Zech. ii. 17)." 4. Hear] The nobles nab I r< proof Swallow] Heb. gape after, earnestly desire (Job vii. 2) ; pant u wild beasts for prey. They Bought to rid the land of all the poor. 5 and 6 describe . ing this. New moon] Festivals were impatiently kept ; they begrudged the regu- lar holiday and suspension "t trade (Num. xwiii. ll : 2 Kings iv. 2:;). Set forth] Lit. open out L Falsifying, Heb. perverting the balances of deceit (Hos. xii. 7). Money was weighed. They ■ price both ways, dishonestly trading and breaking the command (Deut. xxv. 13 — 15). 6. Poor U that he was necessitated to sell himself for silver, which he owed, or a pair of mid not pay for. 7. Sworn] to punish such conduct, by the pride, by Himself rii L0). Forget, i. e. leave unpunished. 8. Punishment] will be so great that the earth shall • tabitanta mourn, and the globe will riseaud fall like a flood, 9. Noon] Darkness unities (Jar. xv. '.) : Ezek. \\.\ii. 7 — 10); a type of judgments upon ■ of accounts. 10. Feasts] will he turned into mourning ; bald- ness . 24 : Jer, slviii. 37). Mourning deep as that for the death of an only son (J' t. . \ii. 10). 11. Famine] The light and comfort of God's word shall fail; they de- rhal they shall look for in vain then. 12. Wander] Lit. reel, like drunken men. Seek] nnd- : r calamity, 13.] Hunger and thirst so great that the strongest give way and faint, 10). 14. Sin] The calves by which Samaria sins. God] The other i (1 Kings sit 26— 30). Liveth Formula of the oath. Swearing by these objects ; men and maidens journeyed to Beersheba and worshipped idols. The ground of •11 th« iking God, who commands all appeals to be made to Himself as the Creator Di ut. vi. 18 ; -\. 20). HOMILETICS. A] Summer Fbuit. — Verses 1,2. I new type the final subversion of the state is represented. As summer, ''"d npe harvi ■ sins of Isi.nl ripened them for destruction, •■in emblem of ripeness for judgment, notice- s' A ripeness which is gradual. Nothing is matured at once. There must time before harvests; buds and flowers before fruits. Individual cha- of slow growth. Seeds of national ills ripen secretly. The interval the Bpring and the reaping time is denned in nature and religion II A :iess which is ruinous. Men grow in wickedness as well as in holiness • iction as well as for salvation. God's dealings influence according ral condition, tte sun which melts the wax hardens the clay. The dew chap, vin.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. 313 and rain water the earth, but injure the fruit. God's mercies and judgments ripen for glory or for shame. A condition which is spiritually rotten can produce nothing but decay and untimely end. Some people are like stubble laid out to dry in the sun and ripen for the fire. " They shall be devoured as stubble fully dry." III. A ripeness which terminates existence. "The end is come upon my people." In summer nothing more is to be done but reap the crops. Good or bad, the time is come and it must be cut down. God's dealings with Israel were completed. They had neglected to reform. Their harvest was past and their sum- mer ended. A period comes when God no longer spares a people. The fruit must be gathered and devoured by the enemy. The days are fulfilled and the end is come (Lam. iv. 18). "An end is come, the^end is come; it watcheth for thee ; behold, it is come." Fruit from the Heavenly Orchard. We may derive from these words the following lessons. 1. God gives fruit. " The fruit of the Spirit," &c. " The tree of Life that beareth all manner of precious fruit." 2. God's fruit is ripe. "It is summer fruit." The fruit of sin is sour; sweet to the taste, but bitter afterwards — " pleasures of sin for a season." Hence — 3. God's fruit is wholesome, like all ripe fruit, regulating and adjusting food of other sort. Christianity is a grand controlling and regulating force. The soil that grows the fruits of the Spirit cannot nourish growths of an opposite charac- ter. 4. God's fruit is satisfying. Even ripe fruit is not long satisfying. Law- fid pleasures do not bring contentment. The fruit that the soul craves grows not in earthly orchards. 5. God's fruit is sustaining. Certain kinds of fruit will appease appetite for awhile without any sustentation. The fruit of God imparts strength that is permanent ; in care, sickness, bereavement, and death. 6. God's fruit is stimulating. It is the fruit of the vine, " the true vine," yielding " the best wine." It is the stimulus of waning powers ; prompts to action where i energies would otherwise be dormant. 7. God's fruit is plentiful. " A basket of fruit," always replenished, multiplying in the use, -like the " twelve baskets " of fragments, &c. The basket always filled. There is no dearth in God's orchard ; no grudging in his supplies ; enough for all, everywhere, at all times. 8. God's fruit is cheap. " Wine and milk, without money and without price," &c. [The Study]. A Day of Sadness. — Verse 3. The prophet now describes the greatness of approaching judgments to rouse attention to a sense of danger — universal mourning and universal death would afflict the land. 1. Temple music would be turned into grief. The songs and sacred solemnities of the temple would cease. Mirthful music would end in grievous misery. Sin turns the greatest joy into the greatest heaviness, the loudest music into the bitterest howlings. If men do not sing in a day of grace, they will howl in a time of wrath. " Those that will not serve God with gladness of heart," says an old author, " in the abundance of all things, shall serve him in sadness of heart in the want of all things (Deut. xxviii. 47, 48)." 2. Mortality would be pre- valent in every place. Sin brings sword, pestilence, and famine (Ezek. xiv. 21); sweeps away its thousands, and fills the land with lamentation and mourning. History tells of populations carried away by Divine judgments like leaves before the wind (Is. lxiv. 6). The picture in Israel is a type of many a fact in providence. Many dead — dead in every place and buried in common pits, without customary rites. Grief could find no vent to relieve itself. The sorrow could not wear away in utterance. The burden was intolerable and the silence universal. The living and the dead were solemn as the grave. How sad that everlasting death which awaits an ungodly race ! " Death loves a shining mark, a signal blow" [Young]. ffOMILETIC COMMENTARY: dMOS. [ciiAr. vin. EOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. \. A type 1 1 fniit m '1 . mi rich abundance, II qi \. i |. i- himself without a ■ • dv. 17). 2. A /.'//-' of ■fim/ urith without industry. ■ till the ground and cultivate | | musl 1"' gathered • made. If we do not . neither ran we eat. " There is a unit which is so ripe, that it and it is a sort of fruit— summer fruit — which will not . which will not lav by until :, but must he eaten at once. It !. That there is a ripeness in 1 always times his In the first and second advent • hii>t. In our own personal affairs God gives deliverance not in thy time, hut in his. Trust him Eoi mercy in its time, &c. 2. Thai nations have . ind that when they come t<> their ripeness they must be destroyed. ■ i iv entertain doubts coiicern- individua] transgression and per- I punishment, but history proves itional judgments have been sent bom 1 1 I Babylon, < S-reece, and i people are guilty, and proud and self righteous. ript ness of nu n as well iromer fruit. With the ripening for h< ning in /. •■'• n& . and W'iih the ungodly a ripen- in the love oi in and hardness of i eternal judgment ! Iieed ! Be renewed in heart and lory " | Spurgeon \. I . '_'. The //'"/'/" /• in which the truth i- conveyed to the prophet's mind by diffian m represi ntation d minds us of the course pursued towards the apostles by the Lord, and teaches that we should endeavour to answer the purpose of God, and to let the truth sink deeply into our minds, that being dearly understood it may powerfully affect us, and make, us ready to impart it to others [Ryan ]. First, those nearest destruction arc often the most negligent and stupid. They need to be told often of their danger and roused to diligence. God warns them often and leaves them with- out excuse. Second, the servants of God have need to be instructed that they may warn others. Attention to the revelation must be quickened. Behold. The vision itself must be seen and ex- plained. "What seest thou?" They must declare nothing but what they have received. " Thus hath the Lord God showed unto me." Meditate carefully on the object pre- sented to view. It suggests the idea of a tree which had been planted, tended, watered with the rain and dew ; it had blossomed, budded, brought forth fruit ; its work was done; the fruit was gathered ; no pains of the gardener, no change in the season, no influence of the sun, could now alter the character of that fruit. At previous times, when the loaves and blossom came forth, there would be room for anxiety or hope; there would afterwards be room for doubt as to its future size and goodness, according to its progress during the weeks of its growth, — but now all was over. They were either apples of Sodom, or plea-ant to the eye and good for food. Now was the time not to cherish their growth, but to try their quality. "The end is come" \Ryari\. UOMILETICS. Tin. Dbhdi "i i '■.. i roi stress. Verses 4 — G. ibing the calamities, Amos now sets forth the ground of these calami- 1 had broken both tables of the law and sinned against great light and elves in irreligion towards God and unright- l \ chap, vin.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. 315 eons conduct towards men. In their oppressive and covetous rapacity they are summoned to hear threa'tenings against their cruel deeds. "Hear thin." Their covetousness is seen — I. In cruelty to men. An avaricious man is naturally a selfish man. He makes laws of his own and regards not the interests of others. He isolates him- self from the common brotherhood, and constitutes himself an all-absorbing and enlarging circle. 1. Oppression of the poor. "0 ye that swallow up the needy." They panted for the needy as wild beasts for prey, and sought to rid the land of the poor. Those who devour the poor without pity or compassion are inhuman in their disposition. They have iron teeth, vent their wantonness where there is no power to resist, and eat up the people " as they eat bread " (Ps. xiv. 4). " There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw-teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men." 2. Selling and en- slaving the poor. "Buy the poor for silver." The nobles of Israel oppressed the needy, that they might eventually trade in them. They gained the purses, and then sought the persons of their bondmen. Corn was dear, and they resolved to make merchandise of men. The mean and selfish estimate their fellows at a con- temptible price. " A little silver or a pair of shoes." Human nature is insulted, the rights of property disregarded, and the laws of liberty trampled upon, by greedy oppressors. "He that oppresseth the poor rep roacheth his Maker; but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor." II. In contempt for the worship of God. " When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn ? " They kept the Sabbath with a weary, impatient spirit. Religious services were too great restraints upon them. "When will this service be over, that we may attend to business again 1 " Covetous men are formal and hypocritical in their devotion. Their hearts are in the mart, the field, and the ways of " buying, and selling, and getting gain." The world does not tire them, they are not anxious for a day of rest. Religion is irksome. It interrupts worldly pursuits and is often turned into means of traffic. Men crowd the temple with tables like the money-changers, and con- vert the Sanctuary into a palace of Mammon. They reject the true God and worship a false one. They begrudge time for Christian worship, and like Doeg are detained before the Lord, when they long to be in the counting-house. " Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it ! " III. In fraudent trade with men. K men grudge time for God, they will grudge right to man ; if they resist the claims of piety, they will soon fall into tricks of dishonesty. These tricks are manifold. A few are given in the text. 1. False weights and measures. In two ways they defrauded the poor — (a) diminishing the measure, "making the ephah small;" and. (l>) increasing the price, " and the shekel great." They doubly deceived, by paring down the quantity and by uneven balances obtained more silver for what they sold. This was disobedience to the law (Lev. xix. 35, 36), and violation of the conditions on which they held the land (Deut. xxv. 13 — 15). In robbing God you indulge a propensity to injure man ; in giving less and taking more than jrou ought you bring a double curse — deprivation of blessing and increase of pains which pierce the sold with many sorrows. " Take heed and beware of covetous- ness." 2. Adulteration of food. " Sell the refuse of the wheat." The bran or unfilled grain which fell through the sieve. The worst was sold and the best paid for. The poor are victimized now. Short weight and short measure are too com- mon in England. Almost every article of food is adulterated, and even poison sold for bread ! Men are hard-hearted, dishonest, inexorable as the taskmasters of Egypt, in driving bargains ! We are influenced by the spirit of gain, and worship too much in the temple of Mammon. Every nation has its idol, and money is our god. " The love of money is the root of all evd." The Cuese of Covetousness. — Verses 7 — 10. Good men would rather be poor by providence than rich by sin. He that H0M1LETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. [chap. viit. rich l.v unlawful means, that hastetb to be rich, may haste to his rum, nt or unpunished (Prov. x.wiii. 20: 1 Tim. vi. 9—11). than any other Bin, brings its own punishment. But inaddi- with positive infliction, as in the text. .•y of the curse. "The Lord hath sworn." It oaths among uol God's oath indicate immutable purpose? Be will nev< '• of their works. All men's doings arc known ■ of circumstances veil them from his omni- Iniquity La uever forgotten until forgiven in Christ. Flight of 0 the memory, but cannot ward off the fruit of transgression. God be, than forgel to punish I he wickedness of men. He may thful i' ' ord is kept, an immutable purpose is formed, and •...• will give it- reward "Woe, and a thousand woes, to the man who is cat oil by an oath of God, from all benefit of pardoning mercy." II. The terribleness of the curse. Mark the emphasis of the question — "shall not ?" The in. .in consciences. Eow can it be otherwise1? Great sins bring 1 . ( 'urse like an > arthquake — will bring terror and consterna- 1 is represented as shaking, returning to primeval chaos, and suffer- jht of .-in. Wicked nun arc a curse to the earth, and all ■. indignation against their conduct (Ps. lx. 1,2: Eom. viii. 22). *• 1 ir this shall the earth mourn and the heavens above be black." 2. Curse like ip and deluge the land ; calamities shall overflow them. Judg- U be like the breaking forth of waters. Floods of sorrow, like the deluge troep impenitent sinners from the earth. General calamities affect insensate . until it Lrowns its wicked inhabitants. "The Lord God of - he that toucheth the land and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein nd it shall rise up wholly like a Hood, and shall be drowned as by III. The suddenness of the curse. "The sun to go down idual, a natural, but unlooked-for, untimely sinking. So 1 shines upon the wicked in all its splendour ; but the -ky in the clear day. The darkness is blacker in contrast with ;:_:ht ; the sorrow the sadder when it succeeds festive joy. Thus prosperity in ruin and -inful prospects Bade away. " Her sun is gone down while it was bamed .wA confounded." IV. The consequences of the curse. 1 is turned into misery, and mirth into mourning. Their com- ind hoi: ir domestic and temple Bongs, into lamentation. 1. Mourn- "'•.!■. om mourn" (ver. 8). Rich and poor without exception. in (Ho8.iv. 3), penetrated all ranks and suffered 2. Mourning with ceremonial rites. Instead of gay attire they bU p cIoVl It was not the time for ornaments and fine clothing. 1 be upon every head They would either shave in sorrow, or pud Ezraix 3). Enward distress revealed itself in rnintj most bitter. " A< the mourning of an only son." l<*thol mournful of events. In Egypt from the death of the firstborn. Parents may lose one°out :! 'll'- 1 -■-'"» of others. But the loss of an only d can red. •■.Make thee mourning as for an only son, most tation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us." 4. Mourning l not an eclip* , but a going down of the sun. The. duration thoe/K* of the kingdom. The clouds will not vanish Ihe wrath ..1 God would abide upon them. When they looked for dd itill /« bitter. At evening time sometimes light will arise • unpenitent the day grows duke-, and the night will be darkest of all! dl be the issue, and the end the beginning of sorrows. "What will • V.31). "Tins sliaUyehaveatmyhand,you cm p. viii.] H0MILET1C COMMENTARY: AMOS!. 317 IIOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Vers. 4 — G. Govetous men. 1. Are cruel to others. 2. Selfish in their aims. 3. Dishonest in their conduct. 4. Weary in religious worship. They are never at rest in their minds, never satisfied in their possessions, and never idle in their pursuits. The value, worldly mm set upon the poor. Dross and dung, the filth and offscouring of society (1 Cor. iv. 13). Contrast this with God's judgment of the poor. He esteems them the excel- lent of the earth (Ps. xvi. 3) ; the glory of the world (Is. iv. 5) ; and too good for ungrateful men (Heb. xi. 38). If men make a prey of the poor, God will make an example of them. Sin in wrong measures once begun is unbroken. All sin perpetuates itself. It is done again because it has been done before. But sins of a man's daily occupation are continued of necessity, beyond the simple force of habit and the ever-increasing dropsy of covetous- ness. To interrupt sin is to risk detec- tion. But then how countless the sins which their poor slaves must needs commit hourly, whenever the occasion comes ! And yet, although among us human law recognizes the Divine law, and annexes punishment to its breach, covetousness sets both at nought. When human law was enforced in a city after a time of negligence scarcely a weight was found to be honest. Prayer went up to God on the Sabbath and fraud up to God on the other six days [Fuse i/]. Ver. 7. The excellency of Jacob. By this title he woidd teach — 1. That nothing beside God can make a people truly excellent, enjoy what dignity and excellency they will. 2. That it is great ingratitude of a people, when being excellent through him, they do not acknowledge him, nor walk answerable [Hutch eson~\. The favour and presence of God with a people is the glory and excellency of a people. It is not corn, wine, women, health, wealth, or multitude, that make a nation happy, for then Turks and Tartars, Barbarians and Indians, would excel God's people, for they abound in these external comforts ; but happy is that people whose God is the Lord (Ps. cvi. 20; cxlviii. 14 : Jer. ii. 11 : Luke ii. 32). Hence Moses glories in this above all other privileges (Deut. iv. 7, 8). The fruition and enjoyment of God's favour is the life of our lives, and the honour of our honours ; without this we may write Ichabod upon all that we have. Hence the greater is their sin who dishonour him with sin and turn the glory which he hath put upon them into shame. This makes the Lord to swear that he will strip them of their privileges, and make them naked as in the day when they were born [Hall], Vers. 8 — 10. This will be a sudden ruin, a check in the midst of apparent prosperity, irresistible as the waters of a flood, sudden as the setting of the sun at noon, gloomy and dreadful as a dark- ness which should at once succeed to the light of a clear day. Those feasts, which had been the instruments of their pleasure and the cause of much of their sin, would be succeeded by mourning ; luxurious and licentious music would give place to sounds of bitter lamenta- tion. Instead of purple and fine linen, sackcloth would be their clothing, and delicious ointments and costly tiaras would be followed by baldness [JSyaw]. 1. To any man the sun sets at noon, when he is suddenly snatched away by death in the very midst of his life. 2. When he is suddenly destroyed in the midst of earthly prosperity. 3. " But it has still wider application. When the Lord shall come to judgment, at a time when the world, in its self-se- curity, looketh not for him (cf. Matt. xxiv. 37), this earth's sun will set at noon, and the earth be covered with darkness in bright daylight. Every judgment that falls upon an ungodly people or kingdom, as the ages roll away, is a harbinger of the approach of the final judgment " [Keil]. Clianges in human destiny and ex- ffOMILSfW COMMENTARY: AMOS. [chap. vni. lark days, and sun- and brings pain ; liberty, and brings bondage ; happiness, and brings misery. Bitter in itself Its misery Is personal and eternal, dark- It promisee plea- ness without day, sorrow without relief. EOMILETICS. A Famine of the Word. — Verses 11 — 14. Th.- prophet now predicts far greater evils than temporal judgments. A famine • the Baddesl events that could happen a Divinely taught people. last and sorest of all calamities. When God will not speak to men by . it is a sign that he will punish and reject them. I The word of God is the true nourishment of man. Every kind of life Mm has a higher life than appetite and sensation. His : tained by the word of God alone. A real communication iential to life. Man lias ever longed fortius. Speak, Lord! has d the cry of humanity. God has spoken. His word satisfies the crav- rt and solves the problems of life. Here is wisdom for the ignorant ■ ir the guilt; ; comfort for the sorrowful and redemption for the milk for babes and strong meal for mature age. It is meat indeed and drink ■■ I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food." were found and I did eat them." II. Contempt of the word of God may bring a famine of the word. " I will send a famine." God had 1 up and sen! prophets to the people ; but they despised religious instruction, tuary, and persecuted bis servants. God can withhold religious privileges and leave people in darkness according to bis good pleasure. But when ise the word he will withdraw it. He will cease to give when his gifts ■ ■ love, when his love is contemned. 1. With individuals there ; the word. A person for a long time enjoys gospel light and Scriptures explained and enforced. He trifles with these advantages and ■ the word. Circumstani . business calls elsewhere, and in?foreign it colonies he finds no provision, lie is not fed with the bread of Ick chamber has been embittered and many a dying hour darkened membranes of warnings despised. "They woidd none of my counsel : : " (Prov. i. -1 — 31). 2. In the sanctuary there is mine of the word. When the gospel is rejected and ministers silenced; ined by worldly influences, and religious worship becomes toil ; 1 a Eami f the word. Unto the Jews were committed the ["hey were highly exalted and Divinely instructed. But ungod- tnple, Corruption tainted the king, and violence filled the m from G rl of their blessedness. The want of that now left them a wandering, helpless people. In their distress they uol our tokens, there Is not one prophet more, not one is j us that underetandeth anj more." HI. A famine of the word is the sorest judgment upon any nation. It Is a miserable state to cry for bread - •' ' ' .'"'"'' of ' is a greater evil than a famine of bread. perior to the body, and knowledge, love, and truth are more necessary Man live by bread alone. The mind requires food and can- upon busks. If hunger and thirst be painful, how much more lack of 1 °*ve hunger, though not always conscious of it Apne- . trouble, and like .Saul they will be sore distressed* " God CHAP. VIII.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY ': AMOS. 319 is departed from me and ansAvereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams." 2. A famine of the word will cause the strongest to succumb. "The fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst. The beauty of the virgin and the vigour of youth decay without knowledge." All flesh is grass, and the goodliness thereof as the flower of the field. But God's word abides in its blessed nature and permanent results. Our choicest privileges and fairest sex, our education and wealth, are vain things> The withdrawment of God will cause them to wither away. Physical suffering will follow spiritual famine. " Whoso despiseth the word shall be de- stroyed ; yea, poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction." 3. A famine of the word will leave a nation in a deplorable condition. (1) In a weak condition. When men faint and thirst they are helpless. Hungry within and scorched with the wrath of God without, who can stand 1 The wicked faint and sink under their burdens, and have not a shower of rain to quench their burning thirst (Ezek. xxii. 24). (2) In a fallen condition. " They shall fall." Fall into danger and the darkness of idolatry and superstition. Men who forsake God will eventually, like Saul, consult wrong sources of comfort and shall not find it. (3) In a liopeless condition. " Never rise up again." Without the Avord we are with- out bread and without strength ; without comfort and without hope. When the Avord goes, God himself departs, and there is none to deliver us. " God hath for- saken him ; persecute and take him." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Vers. 11, 12. The judgment. 1. Its Author. "/ will send." 2. Its cer- tainty. " Thus saith the Lord." 3. Its period. " The days come," suddenly and presently. 4. Its consequences, (a) Hunger and thirst, (b) Exile and anxiety, (c) Unsuccessful search. 5. Its importance. " Behold," calling at- tention to its direful and dreadful nature. " Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for Avater," &c. Ver. 13. Natural strength falls far short of the strength God gives to his Aveak people (Is. xl. 29 — 31) ; it cannot endure nor carry us through calamities and judgments for sin. Young men shall faint, and those Avhose condition pleads for pity and respect shall not be spared. " In this hopelessness as to all relief, those too shall fail and sink under their sufferings, in Avhom life is freshest and strongest, and hope most buoyant. Hope mitigates any sufferings. When hope is gone, the poAvers of life Avhich it sustains give way " [Pusey]. Ver. 14. 1. The calamity. "They shall fall and never rise again." Though a man fall, if he has hope of rising again, it brings a certain degree of com- fort and strength : but Israel fell into captiA'ity and were not restored. If gentle means cure not, God will make a final end. 2. The reason of the calamity. Idolatry in the form of oaths and as- criptions of poAvers of life to the golden calves. They sAvare — 1. By the sin of Samaria. 2. By the god of Dan. 3. By the manner of Beersheba. By strange gods Avhich they had set up in these places. The Avhole land Avas infected by a popular, degrading system Avliich they had set up, and AAdiich Avas the cause of their final overthroAV. The judgment of men and the judg- ment of God differ much. That Avhich man calls here by Avay of honour a god, that God calls by Avay of dishonour and detestation a sin and abominable (Jer. xvi. 18 ; xliv. 4). Thus the Avorld calls riches substance, goods happiness (Ps. iv. 6), but the Holy Ghost calls them vanities, thorns, husks, unrighteous mammon. That ichich is highly es- teemed in the sight of carnal, super- stitious men is an abomination in the sight of God [Hall]. Fall fatally, irrecoverably, as old Eli did Avhen his neck Avas broken, but first his heart. The ten tribes for their idolatry and contempt of the word never returned out of captivity. From the famine foretold Avhat could folloAV but irreparable ruin, though for a time things might flourish (Prov. xxix. 1) ? HOMILBTIC COMMENTABF: AMOS. (ii \r. vii r. (tf Ui.it spiritual famine lei 08 be most Luther d • live in paradise without the : : I make a shift ■ . in this chap, attract who turn the Sabbath b ad rob their fellow-men by their extortions', ir by their their own portraits the prophet ; Mush i tremble al the destiny who continue in such a state. lion withdrawn. It may not be now exactly with them as with Israel. They may not be wholly excluded from the warning voice of the prophets of God; but the time ap- proaches when repentance will no more be preached to, or be available for, them. When no deliverer will be exhibited to their view, as exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance and remis- sion of sins, their souls will die of an eternal famine. No "bread of life" shall be presented to them for food! No water of life shall quench the flame which guilt shall enkindle in their con- sciences [Cobb in]. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER VIII. 1. ■_'. God hath done more fur inly as much, as he did ind even if we have not | a as [srael in the Wildi ■ our little rebellions are fcneas of God's Oh, Christ ins, be in earnest Hid may be filled with -race ; th.it the • our iniquities may ■ h iply that suppoai- ■ historian ahould at ind the New Zealander on the broken arch of . wonderu 1 away \8pUT- Mirih. Many a sigh is iid the loud laughter of folly. irth's best joys. Leave, to allay Even the I of tlii- short lived mirth is intolerable, that he cure of anguish ; ; of hell the pa into it. A' ■ this mirth, when :n which would be the treble ridd ma I og of ■ mentary [Bridge], ■ . too far" [Si 1 1 liver him tl hour the hand of the oppressor; and be not faint-hearted when thou sittest in judg- ment (Eccles. iv. 11). Ver. •">. Sabbath. In God's house and business forget thine own ; be there as a member of the Church, not of the commonwealth. Empt)r thyself of this world, thou art conversant with the next. Let all thy senses have no other object but God; let thine ears be open, but thine eyes shut. Remember God regards the heart of the worshipper. We are never safe till we love him with our whole heart whom we pretend to worship [Bp Henshawe]. Deceit. Commerce is a providential appoint- ment, for our social intercourse and mutual helpfulness. It is grounded with men upon human faith, as with God upon Divine faith. Balances, weights, money, are its necessary ma- terials Impositions, double-dealings; the hard bargain struck with self-com- placent shrewdness — this is the false balance forbidden alike by law (Lev. xix. 35) and gospel (Matt, vii. 12). Men may commend its wisdom; God not only forbids, but abominates it[Bridge]. A traight line is the shortest in morals a in geometry [Iia/ial]. Honesty is the best policy. Vers. 4 — G. Covetousness. The man who >ets his heart on riches must necessarily be a stranger to peace and enjoyment. Fear, care, anxiety, sus- CHAP. VIII.] HOMILETIO COMMENTARY: AMOS. 321 picion, and jealousy place him on a constant rack. To the toil of getting is added the trouble of keeping his pelf. Avarice is insatiable as the grave, or rather as a gulf without bottom. The more this passion is supplied with fresh fuel the more vehement the flame [Musticus]. Vers. 9, 10. Go down. So use pros- perity that adversity may not abuse thee. If, in the one, security admits no fears, in the other, despair will afford no hopes. He that in prosperity can foretell a danger, can in adversity fore- see deliverance [F. Quarles], Vers. 11 — 14. "When Divine judg- ments come upon a race which has for- gotten and forsaken God, the once de- spised and hated word is appreciated again. Men "hunger and thirst" for it, but often at first not in the right way. They desire as speedily as pos- sible to hear of promises and consola- tions, and to these every ear is open. But it is in vain. We now need expect no new revelation from God. We have "his word" in the Scripture. But when this is a long time despised, it fol- lows at last that there is no one to preach it, and without a living preacher it is finally lost. Or if it is preached it has no power to console, and men fail to find what they seek. Thus ensues a longing which is not satisfied. The result is otherwise only when men bow in penitence under the Divine threaten- ing as deserved, and under the Divine Spirit inwardly blame themselves for previous apostasy. But who knows whether man will find room for repent- ance 1 Before he reaches that point, while he is in the midst of his vain longing for comfort, he may be snatched away [Lange\. " There *s not a joy the world can give like that it takes away." CHAPTER IX. Critical Notes.] Amos sees God standing, fixed in purpose, by the altar. Posts] Thresholds (Is. vi. 4). Cut] Human victims demanded; wounded with fragments of broken columns (cf. Ps. lxviii. 21 ; Hab. iii. 13). Last] Those left cannot escape. 2.] The Lord everywhere will pursue and destroy them (ch. ii. 14). Hell] Though they hide themselves in the deepest holes and caverns of earth. Climb] the greatest heights (Job xx. 6, 7 ; Jer. Ii. 53). 3. Carmel] One of the highest mountains, full of caves and forests (Judg. vi. 2 ; 1 Sam. xiii. 6). Serpent] A great sea-monster (Is. xxvii. 1). 4. Go] willingly into captivity ; the sword shall slay them. Set] " God has fixed His eye upon them, i. e. has taken them under His special superintendence (cf. Jer. xxxix. 12) ; not to shelter, protect, and bless, but for evil, i. e. to punish them " [Keil]. 5.] God is omnipotent, able to execute judgment. Toucheth] Dissolves the stability of the earth (Ps. xlvi. 7; Ixxv. 4). 6. Stories] Lit. steps, perhaps in allusion to Solomon's throne (1 Kings x. 18, 19). Troop] Lit. a bund dividing the waters above from those beneath the heavens (cf. Gen. vii. 11). Others, all the ele- ments and living creatures, called the host (Gen. ii. 1). Cod has bound the waters by perpetual decrees, and all creatures are subject to his control (Ps. ciii. 20, 21). 7. As children] No longer highly favoured Israelites, but acting like Cushites. Their election of no avail. They had become like the heathen, accursed as Ham, black as Ethiopians, whose skin symbolized spiritual darkness (Jer. xiii. 23). Brought up] Israel's deliverance from Egypt no more than the bringing of As- syrians out of former dwelling-places. 8.] Election therefore will not save the idolatrous nation. God's eye turned upon them, watched in order to punish them (Ps. xxxiv. 14). Not utterly] Threatening is mitigated; grace saves a few. 9.] The figure explains how. For] God will dis- perse Israel, shake them with other nations. Wheat and chaff are mixed together. The wicked, chaff and dust, fall through the sieve and perish ; the grain (solid grain), the godly, will be pre- served, every one shall be saved (Matt. xxii. 12; Luke xxii. 31). 10. Sinners] who say in self-con- fidence. Prevent] To meet one round about, i. e. to come from every side. All self-secured sinners shall perish, but the righteous shall be delivered. History proves, that the kingdom of Israel, tin1 most profane and idolatrous, fell first by the Assyrians ; that Judah continued Ion? after, enjoyed con- siderable prosperity under Hezekiak and Josiah ; that a remnant of Israel, left by Assyrians, were 21 imuiujic COMMENTARY: AMOS. [chap. ix. united to Juduh. and t'.. ined them. After the s.tt.ng-hme comes the Prosperity. 11. . indicating the feeble condition ot the » tamily "l n in m Wall up" • findad »■*»«» should become one. Raise up] Lnlarge ,,. vii. 1 l-lo). 12 They] God's people possess Edom, ..1: some, "the remnant of Edom and of aU the ; bv My name, shall possess Me, the Lord. 1 here shall be a i shall be blessed. 1 he plowman overtakes the reaper One preparation shall be made lor another ; a fulfilment of Lev. I dropdown in rich juice of -rape. 14.] The kingdom shall be planted and enjoyed no longer by the enemy. Reviving 15. J All this perpetual. Plant] Finn and lasting establishment torn up. but firmly rooted and eternally flourishing in joy and peace (Jer. xxxn. of the building up, enlargement, and establishment ot the Christian In Him earth will become an Eden, and the Lord will again dwell with HOMJLETICS. 'I'm- Final Calamity, — Verses 1 — 4. In m i ins we Bee the ripeness of the people and the nearness of judg- | • .. God himself is engaged to execute it. The temple at Bethel is a [era of tli" nation, which gathers round it. The command is given to . . i ills, and buries the multitude under its ruins. The sanctuary thrown by the judgment of God, and the kingdom of Israel totally I The nature of the calamity. 1. It is moral. God stands upon the altar b tli" idolatrous temple. He is ready to depart from them and punish 11 • was forsaking his people because they had forsaken him. warns men, before he departs from them. But idolatry provokes him, and icrifice into a throne of vengeance. The posts and pillars of the .. '• Begin at my sanctuary" (Ezek. ix. 6). The nearer to God, r tie- provocations j the higher the privileges, the nearer to judgment 12; 1 Pet. iv. 17). 2. It is complete. It involves the utter destruction . •' rerthrow of the nation in its corporate existence. (1) The "Cut them in the head, all of them." Civil and religious • 1 their duty, forgotten their dignity, and disregarded the good the nation. God is n r of persons. Head or heel they cannot escape. •• II" ii terrible to the kings of the earth." (2) The "posterity of the people. "1 will ' them with the Bword." God will slay all the remainder, their rity, all that are left, unto the very last. Justice is un- I small, kings and common people, must suffer. [Tniversalityin ility in punishment. Neither pre-eminence nor poverty can When the head is smitten, the body faints, and every member II. The certainty of the calamity. None can escape, for God -1). and God is Omnipotent. I. God has determined to d an attitude of judgment; fixed in purpose, to prohibit honour, [srael's iniquity Mas like that of the house of ifice nor offering for ever" (1 8am. iii. / .ape punishment. (1) The loftiest heights cannot urf,with it ad its fori i i, a hiding-place for robbers ml ron Eford no refuge. " 1 will 3earch and take them out thence." •If could nol hide them. If they fixed their throne in the stars, • regions of spa-", they would fall into the hands of God. i he humble, judge, and condemn them. "Thence will I bring / ■ lepths cannol hide them, (a) If they were to in the deepesl and mosl Becrel places of the earth, God would find ball my hand take- them." (b) "Though they be hid in the CHAP. IX.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY; AMOS. 323 bottom of the sea," the deadly serpent would bite them (Is. xxvii. 1). Diving would avad no more than climbing. Height and depth, light and darkness are alike open to the Omnipresent God. Men would gladly hide themselves from God's presence, but they cannot. (3) The longest distance cannot shelter them. Cap- tivity might seem safe, for men do not often slay those whom they carry away. But God would discover them among their enemies, and remotest countries could not befriend them. Sinners would gladly dig into hell or climb up to heaven to escape from God's presence ; but God is everywhere. " If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there : if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea ; even there shall thy hand lead me" (Ps. cxxxix. 7 — 11). HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 1. Standing upon the altar. The place of mercy turned into judg- ment. The Bible, the means of grace, and every altar of idolatry, literal or spiritual, will be smitten by God. Abused altars will be turned into seats of justice, and cry for vengeance, not sacrifice. " They were in counterfeit of the sacrifices which God had appointed, they offered would-be-atoning sacrifices, and sinned hi them ; God appeared stand- ing, to behold, to judge, to condemn " [Pusey]. Vers. 2 — 4. 1. The power of Divine judgments. 2. The subservience of God's attributes in their execution. 3. The impossibility of escaping them. " Every syllable . is important, even though at first it may seem otherwise. The Holy Spirit designs to shake off our self-flatteries and rouse our innate torpor, that we may not think of God as of our- selves, but know that his power extends to all hiding-places" [Calvin\. I. Desperate efforts of sinners to escape. They dig, they climb, and "they go into captivity," willingly, in presump- tion and fear. In presence of danger men are roused to most strenuous efforts. They multiply endless means, and think they can get out of every trouble by turning away from God. II. Fruitless efforts of sirme7's to escape. What the Psalmist says of God's omnipresence (Ps. cxxxix.) the Prophet declares con- cerning his justice. ' All refuge is hope- less and ruin is inevitable. No depth of delusion nor human devices can se- cure the sinner from the serpent-bite of conscience here, and no mountains nor hills can hide from the presence of God hereafter. Only in Christ can refuge be found. Escape for thy life. He contrasts Mount Carmel, which rises abruptly out of the sea, with depths of that ocean which it overhangs. Car- mel was in two ways a hiding-place. 1. Through its caves (some say 1000, some 2000) with which it is perforated, whose entrance sometimes scarcely ad- mits a single man ; so close to each other that a pursuer would not discern into which the fugitive had vanished ; so serpentine within, that 10 steps apart, says a traveller, we could hear each others' voices, but could not see each other. 2. Its summit, about 1800 feet above the sea, is covered with pines and oaks, and lower down with olive and laurel trees. These forests furnished hiding-places to robber-hordes at the time of our Lord. In those caves Elijah probably at times was hidden from the persecution of Ahab and Jezebel. Car- mel, as the western extremity of the land, projecting into the sea, was the last place which a fugitive would reach. If he found no safety there, there was none in his whole land. Nor was there by sea [Pusey]. HOMILETICS. God's Eye fixed on Sinners. ■ Verse 4. This is a figurative expression setting forth a solemn thought. As we indicate pleasure or anger by the look of the eye, or the form of our countenance, so God nj| EOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. [chap, dc in T,r<,vL,i over the righteous," but his "face is against them sX;v I.-,, i. in displeasure at his guilt. God is not indif- • 11. jets his eye upon all wicked deeds, and will give them rapport If men obstinately rebel against him, he will show nst them. " I will Bet my face againsl thai man" (Ezek. xiv. ,i. 17). :'. //' tracking h is steps. " I will Bearch and take them .. >rs the hypocrisy and finds out the hiding-^place of men. ted as by spies, guarded as by sentinels; hemmed in and forbidden 1 occupation, by eight and by Jay, alone and with others, looka into all their paths (Job xiii. 27). 3. In determination to I evil and qoI for good." The evil man is checkmated in by Nemesis, the prediction and in part the experience of justice, lie . from conscience, from God, and meets them all ! His punish- here below, how then ran he escape hereafter? If the eyes of Tamer- power that men could hardly endure to behold them, what must the G ; If the frown of Augustus Caesar or Queen Elizabeth was death, ndure the angi r of < rod 1 "For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and th all hi-. (Job xxxiv. 21, 22). 3o writhes the rnind remorse hath riven, Unfit tor earth, undoomed for heaven, I );n kness above, despair beneath, aid it fiame, within it death " [Syren]. G ■:'- Powbb a Guabantbe of His Truth. — Verses 5, G. infirm the threat in the preceding verses ; describe the nature and God ; and present him in majesty and might, able and determined to adminisfa r justice. I. He created the universe. " lie that buildeth his stories in the heaven." 1 // i i th heavens. He arranged them in their place and fixed them in their The clouds, the aerial heavens, are balanced by his hand (Job xxxvii. 16). 1|. ;-;.. nds, condenses, and poure oul their contents at his pleasure. The starry lerive their glory from him. The heaven of heavens is the palace of the I 1 tately building, God has reared (artistically and beautifully d order, arranged, Heb. xi. 3) the celestial Bpheres in stories one above another; the bwest, lik< is to the highest, the material to the spiritual, earth to heaven. :t up your eyes on highland behold who hath created these things," &c. 2. He the earth. He draw the plan and prepared the place, provided the the foundation. " Thou hast also founded the earth," given it ad firmness. The "troop in the earth," all the (dements of .d all the creatures ' other people. The gold becomes dim ; the children of Israel become children of the Ethiopians. We may boast of our election, and be esteemed by others for ; but if we break Cod's covenant, avc cannot expect God's protection. ' the Apo of circumci ion applies to election. 1 1 is a benefit to none tote who keep the law (Rom, ii. 25). It will nol avail us to say "Abraham Father," unless we do "the works of Abraham" (John viii. 39 ; Rom. ix. II. God's special providences in fulfilling his covenant maybe abused. I thai God would not cast off his people; for he delivered them from If to be their God. True, God (hose them that they lighl love bin, and bo lor kepi his law he protected and saved them, d favour- do nol exempl from Divine justice. They lay us under greater ob- igation to obey ; for those who have much will be punished more severely for their 1 from them much will be required. Special deliverances may become com- mon provident I mption from Egypt was no more to Israel than the leading f the Philistines and Syrians out of their former into their present dwelling-places who neglecl or abuse their privileges are guilty— 1. Of great ingratitude. 2. rebellion. When men abuse their mercies, and despise the God of mercy, it is only just with him to strip them of their honours and visit their sins. chap, ix.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: AMOS. 327' HOMILETIO HINTS AND OUTLINES. 1. External privileges no ground for are as bad as Infidels and Turks. 3. boasting before God. Others may pos- External privileges are no guarantee sess them. They may he taken from us. against punishment for sin. God ac- What was designed as a favour may lose counts sin under such circumstances all its result by our conduct. 2. External the baser. Instead of hiding the guilty, privileges do not preserve from degenerate such gifts abused expose them to greater conduct. Israel lost their character and condemnation. If we live not up to the Avere esteemed as heathens. Conven- obligation of God's mercies, we forfeit tional Christians and corrupt Churches the honour of them. HOMILETICS. The Sifting Process. — Verses 8 — 10. Punishment is again threatened, but mitigated. All shall not be destroyed. A remnant shall be sifted and preserved. But the impious and proud will be cut off with the sword. I. The nature of the process. Like precious grain, God's people have to be purified and fitted for use. 1. It is a violent process. " I will sift," i. e. cause them to be moved, shaken, or jostled about by other nations. "We have need to be shaken. "We get deeply rooted in our pursuits, confirmed in our sins, and require no light measures to wean us from the world. 2. It is an extensive process. Is- rael were not to be unsettled among one nation, but many. Their life was to be spent "among all nations." The -lews have been found in every country of the globe almost. The whole earth in the design of God has thus become a sieve to his people. Each change in business and residence may be a sifting to preserve from sin and prepare for service. "Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God." II. The results of the process. The righteous shall be saved and the wicked destroyed. 1. The grain is preserved. "Yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth." God's eye is upon every one of his people, in their trials. Like a refiner, of gold, he sits watching the process. Jewish history and Church history prove that this sifting results not in destruction, but purification. " At the present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace." Not one precious seed shall be lost. "It is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones should perish." 2. The chaff is destroyed. " The sinners of my people shall die by the sword." The same process to one will be salvation, to another destruction. Like chaff, the wicked are worthless in their character and doom, blown away with the wind or burned hi the fire (Ps. i. 4). God spares the wicked for the sake of the godly now ; but a separation will come. Each will go to the place for which he is fitted and destined. " He will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner ; but he will burn up the chaff with un- quenchable fire." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 8. The eyes of the Lord are in " When God commands, who dave oppose, every place, especially,' 1 . Observing sin- 0r ask Him wn>'> or what He does p " ners, 2. Scrutinizing character, and 3. God's people are sifted — 1. By God. dealing out justice. Abraham, the Centurion, and the Syro- Ver. 9. I will sift. 1. God the sifter phenician were tried and approved. 2. of his people. 2." Making Divine pur- By Satan. As Peter, saved by the poses real facts. "I will command." prayer of Christ (Luke xxii. 31, 32). He wills and it is done. " The blast of temptation struck down ffOMTLBTIC COMXBNTART: AMOS. [chap. ix. t)lt. j 1 fast." 3. ish history. Is it of any other what- [1 infidelities, (b) evert" [Davidson on Prophecy]. i piniong. "In Vet. 10. Which say. I. The impious lhi. ,;, 01 have tribulation," &c. spirit of Binners. Ignorant, false, con- prophecy contains a fident, and presumptive. 2. The great ,lra.. oinate history: the disappointment of sinners. Their say- , the body politic, to be destroyed ings do not make facts. Punishment .- theearthj bul the does overtake -them, suddenly and griev- to be destroyed, ously. " Evil is often nearest those that . be sifted through all put it at the greatest distance from bat the • if ted not to them." Hope of impunity is only the ::, to fall t i the refuge of the proud and rebellious; God i history made up of oppo- by his judgments will change their ver- tructionandpreserva- dict,and prove it to be a refuge of lies 1 particular custody, (Is. xxviii. 15). Flee to Christ, and lie 1: is the trueoutline of Jew- will be your hiding-place in the storm. IIOMILETICS. Tin: Fallen Tabbbnaolb Rbaebd and Enlarged. — Verses 11, 12. The 1 k which began with dreadful judgments ends in sublime visions. The prophet has bewailed the sin-; of different cities and denounced the wrath of -t them. Now we find him predicting blessings for the heathen. The fun. is turned into a song of mercy. The prophet is rewarded for faith- I with the thought, that after the destruction of ungodly □large, and prosper a kingdom which shall never \ I 1 1"> might In' taken together as including the vision, but ■ them separately. From verses 11, 12, we get a description of the ibernacle. I. The fallen tabernacle shall be reared up. " In that day will I raise up the I from its fallen condition. It was not a mag- . but "the fallen hut." It had been rent and ruined by divisions and wars. Sin will cause any kingdom to decay and any Church to fall. It im- dty, impairs human dignity, and throws into the lowest condition. Bat Divi build up and beautify what sin has pulled down. In the hun. the Christian Church, and the heathen world God is building up a holy t the perpetual residence "t" His Spirit (Eph. ii. --). 2. Repaired in its '. I tp the breaches thereof." Sin breaks down moral harriers, 08 in the family and the fold. God sets up new stones in the Avails, .and unites men in love and loyalty to himself. 3. Completed ill its ■• I will build ii as in the days of old." God will finish and com- the buildi bo its ancient grandeur in the days of David and Solo- ■Jam. vii. 11 16) ; and in harmony with his purpose. The kingdom of the kingdom of < Ihrist, the Son of David. The Christian Church ie reduced in cin , and almost ruined in prospect ; hut that- is no humble cot, the ahatl red I in, may be raised to o-reater wort ber beauty than the temple of old. " Thou shalt arise and :. . upon Zion : for the tune to favour her. yea, the set time is come." II. The fallen tabernacle shall be greatly enlarged. "That they may possess the renin. tut <,f Edom," &c. Formerly the Church was confined in narrow limits but now it shall spread itself over ail nations. 1. The Edomites, near neiut of anything. He is in all • included in anything. '. of this wonderful l's omnipresence [Or///]. 5 vtencee — - • yes to view men's .n th>' heavens P H outstrips men, it has no . i: im <> -I " [Shaketpeare], eat ion. How close does it brin_r the ( Ireator to as, him, i,i, the world, .. ■ :. ■_■ ■! in making it ; i. e. by supplying the life on which its laws, and and incidents, depend. md u i >< .ii it (says an eloquent not the want ■ill to perceive such . : -till, that makes us push all the sanctities into the far spaces we ii. The devout feel that wher- hand is tht re is miracle ; and it i ply an undevoutnesswhichimagines mIv where miracle is, there ran be .1 band of 1 bis servants must not alter their message. "Thus saith the Inn." 1. By an ambassador. " An ambassador is sent." this ambassador be the prophel himself, or another servant, or celestial little. God has agents visible and invisible. Evil spirits and tricked men ar>- permitted to stir up nations to battle. We are ambassadors from b you to take heed and escape the judgment. 2. By other nation*. i rumour, then the ambassador, followed by the gathering of nations. Though ' sompliah their own •■mis. and engrossed in their own pursuits, ■ An-' ye," they respond, " Let us rise up against her in and Persians, tin' Russians and Turks, arc under tin- control of 1 : Almighty. Be can create war or cause it to cease. He has absolute dominion human heart, ami can turn it at his pleasure. One wicked man punishes -inful nation administers justice to another. " He maketh the wrath . in t . praise him." III. The consequences of this execution. "Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen." The greatness of the calamity is set forth by its effects. 1. Small in territory. Edom extended fromDedan of Arabia i in the north (Jer. xlix. 8 — 13). But the enemy "laid his mountains for the dragons of the wilderness" (Mai. i. 3). He was 1 of his dominions, and Bubdued by the heathen. 2. Small in number. 1 fir riches and power (Gen. xxxvi. 7 — 31); blessed with men and Hill and sadly reduced in war (2 Kings xiv. 7). 3. '' in honour. Nbl merely despised, but "greatly despised." This mighty na- ti ■ : aificani in itself, and despicable in the sight of others. Proud l character, and ridiculed by inferiors. They wrongly estimate lightly esteemed by others. Humiliation and shame will ever f their pride and defiance of God. God exalts and abases, makes tall. •• For 1m, I will make thee small among the heathen, and u." ■• M\ pride fell with my fortunes " {Skakespran}. l'n 1 1 u: op II hart. — Verses 3, 4. rolling on the rock which Beemed impregnable, fostered his pride and infidence. But this natural fortification afforded no shelter. God n down from their lofty heights, and retribution found its victims. I. That pride of heart is deceptive. " The pride of thine heart hath deceived i imagined that they were secure in their elevated rocks— that they h of theenemy,and that they occupied an impregnable fortress. d fortifications avail not against the Divine hand. 1 n m in Vie commercial sphere of life. There are godless merchants who build their nests in bright stars— pride themselves on strong finan- ■ I stock, and a hue commercial reputa- . ' ""•>' J ■ a, or introduce religious sentiments in busi- d do withoul it. They say, "Who shall bring me down?" fPe? 1'" ''• "' heart. ^d causes unexpected calamity to work their ruin • i 16). 2. Pride oj lieart deceives men in reference to their intellec- l...iv proud thinkers rejeel the word of God, imagine that they ife in the invincible battlements of logic, and their ability to resist truth and '" ■' w« men in reference to their moral safety. Men pur- ' ^op^yblasphemethenameofGod,andimaginethatthey -t- in the fortification* of social position and wealth. They vainly imagine that HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: OBADIAIL 335 natural qualifications and favourable circumstances will enable them to conduct life safely and well in defiance of the Great Ruler of the Universe. They are deceived. The rocky places are no refuge for the retributive providence of Clod. They may shield from the assaidts of men, but not when God is Captain of the assailing army. II. Pride of heart is presumptive. " Who shall bring me down to the ground]" 1. It presumes unduly upon the natural, temporal, and secondary advantages it may possess. The Edomites presumed unduly upon the natural position of their city, and upon their high fortification. They trusted exclusively in these for protection against the foe. So many favoured with natural, intellectual, and social advan- tages of life, are glad in the enjoyment of these gifts, but their folly consists in placing undue confidence in them. The true fortifications of life are not in stones and rocks, but in love and purity of soul. 2. It presumes ignorantly, without tak- ing into view the access which God has to men, notwithstanding their temporal for- tifications. Edom thought only of elevated position, and not the power of God to touch them at unknown points, and by unexpected agencies. Xo device can avert God's retributive touch. He can send angels on his errands, who are not hindered by the battlements of men. How often do men of social position and intellectual ability — men naturally gifted — look at their own fortress unmindful of God, and become presumptuous. 3. It presumes unwarrantably upon the inability of men to achieve its ruin. Edom never imagined for a moment that God would interfere to work their ruin — did not see the Divine purpose in the armies coming against them, and scorned the idea of men reaching their altitudes. So men enjoy the protective advantages of life, underrate the power of their fellows, and hold in con- tempt the feeble instrumentalities which shall ultimately work their ruin. III. Pride of heart is destructive. " I will bring thee down, saith the Lord." Men who boast of human fortifications which protect them from injury are ignorant of the power of God, or vainly imagine they can elude it — make lawful things the subject of unlawful boasting — invite the scorn of men and the retribution of God. God can send darkness on the noblest intellect, distress into the most joyous home, failure into the most successful business, and will do, if pride of heart be indulged. Pride is the herald of ruin. 1. Such men are often brought to humiliation by commercial failure. Their best schemes fad. Their largest speculations are un- successful. 2. Such men are often brought to humiliation by domestic bereavement. Their fortifications are sealed by the stern foe Death ; and the brightest lights of their homes are put out. Thus are they brought to the ground. 3. Such men are often brought down by social slander. Rumours get about concerning the conduct of the proud, which endanger their reputation, and bring the haughty to the dust of social execration. 4. Such men are often brought down by death. They shall surely be brought down from their nests in the stars, by the last great enemy of humanity. Their destruction is — 1. Certain. 2. Lamentable. 3. Humiliating. 4. Unexpected. 5. Irreparable [The Study and the Pulpit]. HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. I. Natural advantages often beget think that there is none above them pride. 2. Pride leads to insolent defiance (Ps. xii. 14). God's honour is concerned of God. 3. Insolent defiance of God in putting down pride. " I will bring leads to awful ruin. thee down." " yEsop, when asked ' What Pride is the great enemy of God. It doeth God ] ' said, ' He humbles the strikes at his throne and glory, provokes proud and exalts the humble.' And him to oppose and punish it. God re- another, sisteth (setteth himself in battle array < Whom morning's dawn beholdeth proud, against) the proud (Jas. iv. 6 ; Gen. xi. The setting sun beholdeth bowed."' 4°; cf. x. 8 — 10). Pride has its root in [Pusey.] the practical denial of God. The proud No exaltation and power can secure EOMILSTIO COMMENTARY ; OILWIAH. whom God in honour is concerned fail; or a spark to fall in a powder ,WM magazine; water may be wanting; there e constructed and may be pestilence, dysentery, or mutiny m.„l. must not be de- among the soldiers, or bribes may be used ponded upon. For no f ortincation is as scaling ladders. Then all is in vain. or too high when I tod Lb angry, What the world calls protection, cannot will puniah. And he has rarious protect against God's judgment; death :„ into the hands of mounts over all rocks [Lcmgt ), • ■ provisions to HOMILETICS. The [rbbfarabls Loss. — Verses 5, G. x depicts the utter overthrow of Edom. The material wealth on which they relied shall be takes away, and nothing shall remain or be recovered. I. Their treasures are searched out. " How are the things of Esau searched |:,,. ;.. ; places, the must hidden things, are diligently tracked out. ifely stored up in holes of the rock was sought after and discovered. . in hide from God. KTo wealth can protect from retribution. Nothing • 1 and kept on earth. Our best treasures are searched out, stolen by thieves or corroded by time. In the judgment day the hidden things of all men will be brought to light, every biding place of sin exposed, and sinners stripped of their pride and self-confidence. II. Their treasures are taken away. The therer leaves Borne gleanings, thieves and robbers retreat with what they with them : but the enemy would act much worse than ordinary plunder- King shall escape them. The devastation should be complete. A glean- . ;i in [srael (Is. xvii. 6; xxiv. 13), but Edom was utterly spoiled. ensure not from the invader, aggrandize not the possessors, but become poil of the conqueror. Nations may trust to their defences and individuals to their wealth, but God can take themall away. " 1 have made Esau bare. L have and he shall uol be able to hide himself." III. The regret at the loss is great. " How art thou cut off 1" This parenthetic sentence indii amazement of the prophet at the great, destruction of the ungodly. • • men Lose reputation and happiness, the health of the body and the if the family, without the hast hope of recovery. What a sight to behold men I tojudgment, robbed of all defence, and stupefied in their sin. 1. God '■. Judgment is strange work to him. He desires not the death of any ■inner. 0 Jerusalem, how often Would 1 have gathered thee I 2. God's servants pity di truction which he announces in the name of David and Jeremiah wept b< lause men kept not the law. All true prophets apathy with the i pie for whom they labour. A lost soul should cause to flow like riven of water. " Oh that they were wise, that they understood ■ Reliance oh Broken Reeds. — Verses 7 — 9. The destruction threatened could not be warded oil' by dependence upon allied armies, renowned wisdom, ami hemic valour. Every object of confidence is de- Those very projects by which theyseek to protect themselves and secure their I the ruin of both. I Human alliances disappoint. Tims • who forsake God often flee in vain Confidence to man. Hut as K.I, ,m had deceived and persecuted his brother Jacob, .v.. in turn he is deceived and punished by his friends. 1. Confederates are worth- When Edom seeks for help and support from them, ambassadors and fugi- tives are sent back to the frontier or delivered into the hands of the enemy. HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: OBADIAH. .337 Allies will not entangle themselves in the fate of Edom. 2. Neighbours are treach- erous. They deceive or overpower them. Men hide their malice under a pretence of peace. Their friendship is deceitful as a brook in summer, false and perfidious. Hence cried the heathen, " Friends ! there is no friend to be found." The man of my peace, with whom I had no difference, in whom I trusted, proved treacherous. " For it was not an enemy that reproached me ; then I coidd have borne it " (Ps. lv. 12, 13). 3. Dependents forsake them. Those who had bread with them; those entertained by them and who lived by them, laid plots for their overtln-ow. While they professed to aid they secretly desired to wound them. Unkind acts from those in whom we put confidence are most severe. To spurn those from whom we derive our bread and being is the height of ingratitude and malice. " All my friends have forsaken me," cried a Prime Minister of England. " And thou, 0 Brutus ! " said the dying Ciesar, " yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me." Thus the help of man proves to be vain. When nations are united in fear, they may be severed and turned against one another. "Every experiment by multitudes or by individuals that has a sensual and selfish aim will fail," says Emerson. The giants in old time succeeded not in confederacy against the gods. The firmest friendship, the strongest armies, are broken reeds. " Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord." II. Worldly wisdom failed. The prophet makes an appeal to Edom, " Shall I not1?" God will turn their knowledge into ignorance, and their wisdom into folly. 1. Wise men will be destroyed. They will not have wit or wisdom enough to preserve themselves. A wise man, though poor, may defend a city (Prov. ix. 14, 15). A woman's wisdom defeated the purpose of Joab (2 Sam. xx. 14 — 22). Archimedes saved Syracuse from Roman plunder. Wisdom is better than strength, and its merits often more brilliant. Sad therefore is the loss of wise men. 2. Wisdom itself shall perish. " And understanding out of the mount of Esau." " Know- ledge is power," and in " the multitude of counsellors there is safety." But " there is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord." Pharaoh's device was frustrated. Ahithophel's coimsel was befooled when it was thought to be like " the oracle of God." Worldly policy is weak, begets suspicion and leads to ruin. " The best-laid schemes " are often overturned by accident, and the wisdom of legislators " made foolish " by the providence of God. Trust not to human wisdom. It can neither prevent the treachery of men, nor ward off the judgment of God. When we seek protection in " the wisdom of men," from national distress and per- sonal evil, we shall be disappointed. " There is no understanding in them ; " they are bereft of all prudence and help. " The wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." III. Martial valour availed not. " Thy mighty men, 0 Teman ! shall be dismayed." Their courage turned pale. Heroes and valiant men were cowards. Their last hope was cut off, brave warriors were dismayed and trembled in despair. If the mighty fall, what becomes of the weak 1 " Howl, fir-trees, if the cedars be shaken." When armies and fleets fail, the people are defenceless, and " every one of the moimt of Esau may be cut off by slaughter." The nation is panic-stricken, and the rigour of death strikes them helpless (Ps. lxxvi. 5). How terrible was the overthrow of Edom ! Its wealth and confederacies, its renown and its valour, availed not in the day of calamity. " Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils : for wherein is he to be accounted of ? " HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 7. Edom is a type of worldly both respects the punishment of Edom wisdom and secular policy, as well as of is a warning to all Machiavellian politi- unbrotherly enmity to God's people. In cians in these latter days [Wordsworth]. HOMl f.m C COMMENTARY: OBADLUI. V > i. rii,. judgment I will that will not use their understanding to : The time, keep out of the way of sin. He that oertainty of it. will be foolish, let him be foolish still [Lange]. lestruction. l. Its outward 1. Carnal confidences of men. Good moral necessity in God's situations, abundant treasures, powerful ..■ prophet sums up briefly allies, prudence, and mighty men to de- ,n. I in all this. The immediate liver in extremity. were man's treachery, man's vio- 2. The destruction of these confidences. I wisdom in the wise, Every one is threatened, and the terror in the brave. The end is only the forerunner of the judgment -v ill. was their destruction, of God. " The death or disunity of the ; • good to mighty often proves the death and de- 1 ..-. e I rod, and to evil to those struction of the many ; and it is in vain who hate him " [Pusey]. to depend upon mighty men for our ' Mount of Esau, protection, if we have not an Almighty will justly deny those understand- (!od for us, much less if we have an the way of danger, Almighty God against us " [Lange], IIOMILETICS. UOTnERT.Y CON'DUCT AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. — Vd'SeS 10, 11. The prophel shows the equity and the cause of the judgment pronounced against The sentence increases in severity as special sins are more aggravated in their quality. Edom was guilty of many sins, but none so great as unnatural eonducl and vindictive spirit towards his brother Jacob. This violence is mentioned aeral terms (ver. L0), and in particular descriptions (vers. 11 — 14). In vers. 10, II we hav< — I. A brother in circumstances of distress. It was a day of calamity with ! unity mentioned three times to indicate its depth (ver. 13). All areex- er and distress, require sympathy and aid. " A brother is born for rsity." Three clauses form a climax. 1. Judah's possessions /cere taken. rried away his forces," or substance. The country was probably i, and treasures. 2. Judah's cities were destroyed. I into his gates." The gates were fortified and defended; yet ied by the enemy. The capital was taken and the temple destroyed the Edomil (2 Esdi iv. 15). 3. Judah's population were made captives. ipon Jerusalem." When the city was taken, the conquerors di- meof the prisoners, and took the others captive. Such should havi the pity and prompted the help of the Edomites : but " "i the d i they cried. Rase it. rase it, even to the foundation there- II. Unnatural conduct towards a brother in distress. "Thy violence • v brother Jacob." - Violence includes all sorts of ill-treatment, from one whom a at." 1. They took up hostile attitude towards their hr other. ■ on the other side." \,",,t mere spectators of the calamities of Jacob, ppoeed to him. There was lack of sympathy and positive cruelty. brother, and a twin brother ! Edom acted with the enemy, and the contrary side to the dictates of nature; feasted his eyes with the misery, and ight the destruction of Jacob. " Thou wast as one of them." A man should be more affectionate towards a brother than a stranger. But often the the relationship the greater the cruelty. Ingratitude is always black, but lv black inabrother. •• Love as brethren." This conduct is— (1) Mostrepre- bmwible inhuman ; (3) Most guilty. III. Righteous punishment for unnatural conduct towards a brother in distress. Lduni helped the Babylonians HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: OBADIAH. 339 in the overthrow of Jerusalem, exulted in the downfall of Jacob, and thought to secure his own safety and prosperity. They were disappointed. God in righteous retribution visited them with the punishment they inflicted on others. Two periods of ignominy are mentioned in their history. They would suffer as a conquered people, and at length be utterly extinct. 1. They would suffer as a conquered people, " Shame shall cover thee." Not the shame of penitence, but the shame of dishonour. Jacob was not ruined as they expected. They were humbled and made contempt- ible, and the judgment of God confounded them for taking part against those whom they should have loved. Shame will ever be the robe and the result of social cruelty. " Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover them- selves with their own confusion, as with a mantle." 2. They would be cut off as a nation. The sentence was centuries in fulfilment ; but after repeated trials the end came and God cut them off. Justice without mitigation, and ruin without recovery, will come upon nations and individuals, who rejoice in a brother's affliction, and do what they can to increase it (Lev. xxii. 3). Ages abate not the force of God's word, and years change not the sinner's doom. " I will make thee perpetual deso- lations, and thy cities shall not return : and ye shall know that I am the Lord." Violation op Social Duty. — Verses 12 — 14. These words describe what the conduct of Edom towards his brother ought to have been ; and by implied contrast with his actual conduct condemns his violence, rapacity, and murder. They not only neglected social duty, but acted with invete- rate cruelty I. In taking malicious pleasure at a brother's misfortune. The various ways are minutely specified. 1. With insolent looks. " Thou shouldest not have looked," (a) With a look of total indifference. Distressed neighbours require relief, and Ave should not be unconcerned in their sorrows. The priest and the Levite looked on the wounded Samaritan and passed by. Forgetfulness of our common origin and our constant exposure to evd is another form of human hatred, (b) With a look of malignant joy. They looked with scornful eye. They looked and delighted in the affliction of Jacob. The Saviour was pained by the impudent gaze of the multitude. " They look and stare upon me." Those who make mirth at other men's misery, dishonour their nature and insult their God. This selfish cruelty is a fearfid provocation (Prov. xvii. 5). " Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth." 2. In blasphemous words. " Neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly." They enlarged the mouth (margin) with a flow of haughty words. They magnified themselves against God's people (Job xix. 5) ; and mocked them in sorrow. This spirit of Edom exists yet ; men add insolence to pride, and affliction to affliction. Mockery of God's people is mockery to God himself. " Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me : I have heard them." 3. //* cruel acts, (a) Acts of selfishness, (b) Acts of robbery. " Nor have laid hands on their sub- stance." They were drawn into the cities, " entering the gate of God's people to share the conqueror's triumphant gaze on his calamity." Then they laid violent hands upon the spoil. Keep away from sin if you wish to escape it. Enter no place to enrich yourself by the prey of another, lest you be ruined yourself. "Wealth, so gained, will prove like the gold of Toulouse, an evil to all that meddle with it — " A burdensome stone for all people ; all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces." II. In making common cause with the enemy. Instead of helping their brother, they aided the enemy. 1. By secret ambush. They stood in the cross- way, the fork where the roads met, or narrow mountain passes, to intercept the fugitives (2 Kings xxv. 4). The Chaldeans were not so Well acquainted with the ways and passes as the Edomites. Hence they took the cruel part to help the foe and seek the com- plete destruction of their brethren. 2. By cruel murder. They cut off those that escaped and delivered up all that they caught. Every association with thieves and no.mr.ETic commextary.- obadiah. mmandxnent; and those who join with others in seek- ,U1 .„.,. ,„lt ,„.., . ,, », imt murderers. Paul charged the murder • phen upon himself. Malice in any form contains the seeds of all evil, and if ,me by grace, will reign and ripen for destruction. Edom did not com- aided those who did, and hence were guilty of making common with the enemy. "Shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that III. This neglect of duty was at a time when there was y inducement to perform it. " In the day of their calamity " (ver. 13). " In t),.. ,1 lV . : . I, a time should awaken sympathy and tender feeling for ,nir | p0 increase the burdens and conspire against the interests of men l: . l cannot relieve the distressed, do not display your insolence ace by increasing their misery. This is fratricidal and will bring down the judgmenl of Heaven. One burns with indignation at such in- God will turn the current of his wrath upon such offenders (Prov. xxiv. . " This deep disgrace of brotherhood Touches me deeper than you can imagine " [Shakespeare]. IIOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Vera. 13—14. Cruelty. They were ith cruelty. 1. Cruelty of the 2. < Jruelty of heart. 3. Cruelty of tongue. (1) In their anger they cruelly, instigating their enemies . them. (2) h\ their pride insolently, expressing inward • their ruin, by speeches of lisdain, and of triumph over them. lelty of hands. Two things aggra- this cruelty of Edom. (1) A \n I in the time in which For a Turk to oppress a . an infidel a believer, is but a humanity ; Eor Hebrews . tnd one < Ihrlstian to afflict ter, woundeth religion. Brethren .;• d by religion, should Live u brethre i by nature ; live as it Father will be angry if we do not, and the God of peace will ptedfrom Marbury], Nothing is more hateful to God than onnatnralni • "A brother is born to svii 17) ; his birth ; and he musl firs! offer violence to him unkind to his brother; he must tear the I nature out of bis own heart [Trapp\ snoe, bloodshed, unrelenting deadly hatred a t the whole people, for their extermination, had ch ixacti ri itdcs of I Jo-;! and A:a « had already deno^r (loil's judgments against them for two forms of this hatred — the murder of settlers in their own land, or of those who were sold to them (Joel iii. 19 : Am. i. G ; ix. 11). Obadiah warns them against yet a tliird — intercepting their fugitives in their escape from the more powerful enemy. Stand not in the cross way. Whoso puts himself in the situa- tion to commit an old sin, does, in fact, will to renew it, and will, unless hindered from without, certainly do it. Probably he will, through sin's inherent power of growth, do worse \_Puxe>j\ Sin proceeds by degrees; neither is any man at his worst at first. First they looked at the Church's calamity, and then they laughed, and then they insulted, and spoke big words, and then they plunder- ed, and lastly they butchered some and imprisoned some [Trapp\. Ver. 12. The day that he became a stranger. 1. Judah (the Christian Church) chastised. Not treated as a privileged people, but as strangers, and exercised with strange lots. (1) Chas- tised by Cod. (2) Persecuted by men. 2. Judah defended. The Church may 1"' deeply fallen and deserve to be chas- tised j but God undertakes for her, checks the cruelty, and punishes the in- solence of the enemy. God is faithful, though men are unfaithful. However wicked men walk after the lusts and passions of their own hearts, UOMILETIC COMMENTARY : OB AMAH. ;;»i and stick at nothing which they will, against Jacob, yet the Lord tells him, and have power to effect, yet the Lord thou shouldest not have done thus and will let them know, that they stand thus, but wast obliged by the law to do obliged by a law to duty, the violation otherwise, being both a brother and a whereof he will remark, aggravate, and neighbour [Hutcheson]. punish ; for, though Edom satisfied him- self and his passion in what he did " So many laws argue so many shis " [Milton], HOMILETICS. The Day op Ketribution. — Verses 15, 16. Another warning of judgment to come. All men are amenable to law. God notices violations of law and duty. He is present in the affairs and will adminis- ter justice on the sins of men. " For the day of the Lord is near." I. God governs men by a law of requital. Human life appears confused, but God has plan and design. The wicked may triumph and the righteous suffer, but God will rectify matters. Men may disregard and deny the day of retribution, but cannot escape it. They often suffer here hi loss of property, thwarted plan?, and bad repute. Look not then upon the wrath of man, but the judgment of God. 1. This retribution may be near. "The day of the Lord is near." 2. It is fixed in time. " The day of the Lord." 3. It is certain. " They shall drink." " Vengeance is mine : I will repay, saith the Lord." II. This law of retribu- tion will be in equity. " As thou hast done it shall be done unto thee." It is the lex talionis. God renders exactly to nations and individuals according to their works. Adonibezek confessed, " As I have done so God hath requited me " (Jud. i. 7). With the froward God is froward (Ps. xviii. 26) ; with the cruel he is strict, as with Agag and Edom. Men are filled with their own ways (Prov. xiv. 14), and reap exactly what they sow in quality and quantity. "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." 1. In personal experience. " Thy reward shall be upon thine own head." 2. In bitter degree. " They shall drink and swallow doAvn." 3. In long duration. " Drink continually." " His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealings shall come down upon his own pate." " Heaven is above all, yet there sits a Judge That no king can corrupt" [Shakespeare], HOMILETIO HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 15. Thy reward, &c. 1. Then have drunk the red wine in the cup, the take not the law in your own hands, wicked must drink the dregs ; the cup 2. Be encouraged in a good cause. 3. passeth from place to place till all be Fear in a bad cause. drank off." Ver. 16. As ye have drunk. A me- All nations are, in the first instance, taphor found in Scripture and heathen all who had been leagued against God's writers, in allusion to the cup of poison people ; but the wide term comprehends given to criminals, or to feasts where all who, in time, become like them. It the governor gave to each guest (John is a rule of God's justice for all times, ii. 9). As God's people had drunk the Each in turn drank continuously, until cup of affliction, so must the heathen it became as though it had never been, drink of it. The cup of sorrow. 1. To To swallow up, and be swallowed up in God's people— (a) mixed with sweet- turn, is the world's history [Puaey]. ness; (b) it will soon be over. 2. To 1. The Hill of Zion God's holy mount, the wicked— (a) Ml of wrath ; (b) will 2. This mount polluted by the carousals last for ever. " When God's people of men. 3. This mount vindicated and UOMILETtC COMMBNfART: OBADTAH. purified by God, Thfl Church may be unholy ; punish the spoiler and defend ide desolate, I 1 the worshipper. " Here mil I dwell, will purify it ami revenge its enemies ; for I have a delight therein." will make a difference between holy and HOMILETICS. Tin: Kingdom an Asylum in* Judgment. — Verse 17. : Zion is .1 type of the Church of God. While heathen nations suffer in judgmenl it shall be restored, enlarged, and beautified. It will become the seat of empire, and < i> >< 1 shall reign over a redeemed race for ever (vers. 17 — 21). I. The Church of God is a centre of refuge. "Upon Mount Zion shall be 1 ri turn of the Jews is a type of redemption. The Church of ;' those who have fled for refuge in Christ. They are delivered from dominion. The city of God is a sanctuary undefiled and free I iii. 17). It is buill upon a rock, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against itusens are those '•who have escaped of Israel," those who claim its pri- Lrough Divine grace. "In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be de- liverance, as the Lord huh said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call." II. The Church of God is a moral beauty. "There shall be holiness." cal beaut] in creation, moral in the Christian Church. In Christian life we see "the beauty of holiness." I. Holiness is promised. "There shall be." vill complete his work. First, deliverance ; then holiness, redemption, adorn- ment, and Bervice. "That we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might Berve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the •_.'. Holiness should be pursued. By this we are qualified for i and in heaven. In this consists the dignity of our character immation of our Miss. "Without holiness no man shall see the I " III. The Church of God is a secure inheritance. "The house of b shall possess their possessions." 1. They shall regain thevrown inheritance. B their poea >m the hands of Edom and Syria. 2. They shall /. rritoru < of II" ir enemies. The world is the inheritance of the Church. "All thin lure." Ungodly nations will be judged and their dominions t.ik'ii from them; but the Church will regain its privileges, enlarge its bounds, and enjoy perpetual security. " I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy thou -hill beat in pieces many people; and I will consecrate d unto the I.oid, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth." Tin: Kingdom Regained and Enlarged. — Verses 18 — 21. md would 1"- 1 I. and adjoining regions annexed. I The kingdom regained. I. TIte exiles should return. "The captivity," >'• would be reclaimed, and wandering exiles owned as sons of Israel. >i be subdued. "There shall aol be any remaining of the house I tory of the Church is aol by physical, but moral power; not j'.v carnal, bul weapons. The word 0f Cod, the gospel, like a spirit of ■"•"' :iI,cl burning, melts the penitent and consumes the impenitent ; inner and confirms the saint. Multitudes shall be converted, and Lth,like an unquenchable fire, shall burn up error and superstition. Most distant <" be brought to Christ, and most unlikely things shall come to pass. ■ behold, the day cometh thai lull burn as an oven ; and all the proud, yea, : thai dowickedly, Bhall h-stubb].-." II. The kingdom enlarged. Judahand ! I become one, and extend their houndaries to the four quarters of the globe. 1. 1 of tht tribes. All f< uds and divisions shall cease, and Jew and Gentile n» in Christ. 2.1 f oilier nations (ver. 20). The prophet looks HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: OBJDIJIL 343 beyond the return from captivity and conquest of Canaan. He points to the ori- ginal promise (Gen. xxviii. 14). The gospel is aggressive in spirit and purpose. All nations are to be conquered, and Christ must have the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. III. The kingdom supreme. When Israel takes possession of the border nations, judges will ascend Mount Zion to defend it and govern their enemies. The mountain* of Esau express the idea of other lands in contrast to Zion. To judge means not simply to settle disputes, but to exercise dominion. Hence the kingdom will be supreme and Jehovah will de- clare himself to be the Rider of the universe. His royal sceptre does not yet sway all the world. The Saviour, of whom others are only types, is still ruling his people and gaining his dominions. Soon shall his blessings extend, remote as the curse. He must reign till he hath put all things under him. Willingly or by force, they must submit. " The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, ancl.he shall reign for ever and ever." HOMILETW HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 18. The flame and the stubble. Cf. Is. v. 24; x. 17. I. God's people like a fire. " Jacob a fire and Joseph a flame." 1. In their personal love to Christ. This is the fire that ho kindles in the earth. It burns upon the altar within, and like the fire of old, never goes out. " The love of Christ constrain- eth us." 2. In their personal zeal for Christ. They burn themselves, and seek to excite others to love and good works. The Psalmist and the Saviour were con- sumed by the zeal of their master's house. Brainerd wished to be a flame of fire in the cause of God. Basil was represent- ed as a pillar of fire, and Latimer longed for the spark of the Spirit in the preach- ing of the day. II. The wicked like stubble. "Esau for stubble." Vital force has forsaken them. They are empty and worthless; ready for the touch of the flame. 1. In their moral character, and 2. In their moral condi- tion. This fire shall eventually consume all hypocrisy, infidelity, and opposition. " The light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame ; and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day" (Is. x. 17, 18). Opposers and meddlers will be de- stroyed. "There shall not be any re- maining of the house of Esau." Perse- cution fans the flame. Stubble can never quench the fire. Let all enemies beware. " Our God is a consuming fire." Ver. 21. Mount Zion. The perpe- tuity of the Church. Mount Zion. 1. The residence of God. 2. The seat of universal government. God the Head ; Saviour's temporal and spiritual vice- gerents. God will raise up rulers for his people. These riders judge and con- demn the world, but defend and save the Chinch. But Jehovah is supreme, and executes his judgments by all agen- cies and instrumentalities. Let none contest his power, for his glory will bo revealed in the defeat of his enemies and the salvation of his people. His kingdom can never be destroyed. " The Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever " (Mic. iv. 7 : Ps. xciii. 97 : Zech. xiv. 9). Majestic, comprehensive simplicity of prophecy ! All time and eternity, the struggles of time and the rest of eternity, are summed up in those three words; Zion and Edom retire from sight ; both are comprehended in that one kingdom, and " God is all in all." The strife is ended ; not that ancient strife only be- tween the evd and the good, the op- pressor and the oppressed, the subduer and the subdued ; but the whole strife and disobedience of the creature towards the Creator, man against his God [Pusey], -H tiOMILBflC COMMENTARY ': OBADIAIt. ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE CHAPTER. 1. 2. The circumstances of I tv and family are do- lly may not ,1, [„ nd upon the outward lability of men, but derive the authority of such prophecy, and the [ its issues, from God alone. ben must be, not in name alone, •. ( fbadiahs, i. e. servants Cor. iv. 1) [Starke]. Y. r& 3, 4. Prid < rod hath a spc- • ill indignation at pride above all sins •• Be that would build I iy his foundation low." ,-ih. tlu-n cometh shame " In priJi-, in reasoning pride, our error lies; mil rush into the sides. •ill is aiming at the bless'd abodes; ing( Is would be gods." [Pope.] Vera 5, 6. T Paulinus, when ■ Id that the < roths had sacked plundered him of all he had, to heaven, and said, 1, thou knowesl where 1 have laid u]> n B , '/ vrri\. ( Hocks will ,t,ro . but man. irregular man, ft '']• Many had proved themselves 1 not thought themselves //-'''. He thai will ; but there is a wi h multiplieth bitb rr (I 12). ■ I high ; be lowly \\\><:" [Milton.'] " W ngth and ml I I! Neither ahotdded thou. There u a debi of mercy and pity, of nd compa on, of relief and . due to human nature, and pay- able from one man to another ; and such as d •. it the distressed in the time of their abundance may justly ex- it will be denied themselves in time of want [Burkitt]. " Be more glad to see a man's amendment than his punishment." He that is not concerned that his brother should perish, is in great danger of perishing himself [Bp Wilsori\. Vers. 15, 16. Retribution. To the revengeful God will be robed in venge- ance, and to the merciful he will be a God of love. Thus our own characters, whether good or bad, will be thrown back upon ourselves, with the conscious force of Divinity. What is hell but sin's reflections of the Divine character — the rays of the Eternal falling upon the soul through the combustible medium of the moral corruption, and thus setting all on fire1? Let us remember, then, that there is to be a Divine reflection of ourselves, and that exactly with what m asure toe mete, it will be measured to us again [Dr Thomas]. Vers. 17 — 21. The earth is to come under the dominion of Christ, and is given to Him for this purpose. It is thus to Him as Canaan was to the Jews. All opposition will be as vain as it is unreasonable. His enemies shall lick the dust. The word is gone out of Cod's month and shall not return, that to Him every knee shall bow and every tongue confess [./r>//]. We see Jeru- salem emerging from her ashes and standing more beautiful than ever. From Zion goes forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and in the Christ of the Jew all nations are blessed. The mountain of the Lord's house is established on the top of the mountains, and all people arc flowing into it In other words — just as the nations owe their conversion instrument- ally to the dews, so do they look to the Jewish Church as the heart and centre ot Christian life, and seek communion with it. It is thus that the union and unity of the whole catholic Church will be consummated and perfected [Ferguson], HOMILETIC COMMENTARY JONAH. INTRODUCTION Introduction. Jonah was the author and is the principal subject of the book which bears his name. He was the son of Amittai, born at Gath-Hepher, a village of Zebulun (2 Kings xiv. 25), and lived in the reign of Jeroboam II. In his youth he was probably contemporary with Elisha, and afterward with Hosea and Amos, pro- phets of the kingdom of the ten tribes. He prophesied when Israel were oppressed by Syria. " The word of Jonah to Jeroboam appears as the last sun-gleam with which Jehovah's countenance had beamed on Israel " [Baumgarten], Living among the revolted tribes, testifying to their iniquity and the patience of God, he never thought of exercising his ministry among the heathen. The commission to Nineveh was a special and extraordinary event. In love with his own country and prejudiced against others, he naturally shrunk from it. (Jonah = a dove.) In his sentiments he is an image of the people to whom he belonged. Like him they declined to fulfil their commission to the Gentiles, but had to obey and .set forth the mercy of God to the heathen world. The events of his life were not myths, but realities, and typical of the Saviour's death and resurrection, the great facts of our redemption (Matt. xii. 40 : Luke xi. 30). The Book is a simple narrative, with the exception of (ch. ii.) a prayer or thanks- giving. This prayer contains imagery peculiar to itself, and ideas which would naturally be suggested to a Jew in danger (cf. Ps. xlii. 59). The style is vivid and vigorous. " It is pure and simple Hebrew, corresponding to the simplicity of the narrative and the Prophet's character. Although written in prose, it has poetic language, not in the thanksgiving only, but whenever it suits the subject. The thought of the verb is carried on by a noun formed from it. ' The men feared great fear,1 &c. But in the narrative every phrase is vivid and graphic. There is not a word which does not advance the history. There is no reflection. All hastens on to the completion, and when God has given the key to the whole, the book closes, with His words of exceeding tenderness lingering in our ears " [Puscy]. The design of Jonah's mission partakes of the Christian character. For when we IXTRODl'CTIOX. . . ant not only to < any the tidings of the Divine judgment, but also to nplify thi I Divine mercy to a great heathen city; that is, to he a . and that the repentance of the Ninevites through his them to know •• a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of nting Him of the evil" (Jonah iv. 2) ; without staying to whether all this be a formal type of the genius of the Christian religion, it j„ plainly imple of some of its chief properties, in the manifested efficacy . the grant of pardon, and the communication of God's mercy to the world [Davison < Prophecy, pp. 200, 201]. The hook of Jonah is like inbow of hope set by God's hand in the dark cloud of sin and Buffering. It .-hows that whatever judgments arc executed by him on his bitterest insequences of any desire on his part to punish, but are due to . evoking and arming the Divine justice against themselves [Wordsworth]. chap, i.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JONAH. 34? CHAPTER I. Critical Notes.] And (now)] a continuation of the Hebrew writings, not an independent part. 2. That] Heb. the city, the great, the art, a demonstrative force. Nineveh] Cf. Gen. x. 11, Smith's Bib. Diet. Arise] A term of excitement. 3. Tarshish] Tartessus in Spain; others, Carthage ; probably Tarsus in Cilicia. Presence] Lit. from being in the presence, i. e. from standing in the presence of the Lord as His servant and minister (cf. Gen. iv. 16: Deut. x. 8). Joppa] Now Jaffa. 4. Sent out] Lit. to cast or hurl, passive, to be thrown prostrate. " God throws the wind down upon the surface of the sea." "Hurled a greate wynde into the see" [Coverdale]. Was like] Lit. thought to be broken. The ship personified; ship and crew identified in the writer's mind. 5. Afraid] Though accustomed to storms. Lighten] The sailors and ship under a burden. Fast] A heavy sleep, from a word to snore. 6. What] He sleeps, they pray (Ps. cvii. 28). God] Lit. the God; other gods powerless (perhaps the language of hope) ; Jonah's God could help them. 7. Lots] A heathen mode of decision, often permitted by God. " Lots were for (1) dividing; (2) consulting ; (3) divining" [Puscy\ Fell upon] Prov. xvi. 33. 8. Tell] How urgent and earnest this examination ! Fit questions for our own hearts ! 9. Hebrew] A name by which an Israelite was known to foreigners (Gen. xl. 15: Ex. iii. 18). The God] Heathens had distinct gods for heaven, earth, and sea. 10. Afraid] They had heard of, now they felt the power of Jehovah. 11. The sea] " Not only increasingly tempestuous, but, like a thing alive and obeying its Master's will, it was holding on its course, its wild waves tossing themselves and marching on in battalions arrayed for the end for which they were sent, pursuing and demanding the runaway slave of God " [Piisey]. 12.] Jonah reads out his doom, conscious of being the cause of suffering and peril. Cast me] Suicide and guilt to have done it himself. I know] i. e. am well aware. 13. Rowed hard] Lit. dug, intense effort with the oars ; hence " ploughed the main " \Pusey\. 14. Beseech] Eepetitions which indicate earnestness and a sense of dependence. 15. Ceased] Lit. stood hushed immediately, and like a servant obeyed its commander (Job xxxviii. 11). 16. Offered] present sacrifice ; and vowed more when they landed. 17. Fish] Sea-monster (Gen. i. 21 : Job vii. 12 : Ps. lxxiv. 13) ; a whale (Matt. xii. 40). The fact divinely attested. Independent of this there is no improbability in the swallowing up of Jonah. Sharks swallow and retain a grown man in their stomach, and follow vessels many days for what may be thrown overboard. Three] Significant time ! " A hidden prophecy." The miracle is justified by the end in view, to chastise and recover a disobedient prophet, to shadow forth the greater miracle of one laying down his life and taking it up again for us. HOMILETIGS. The Great Commission. — Verses 1, 2. " The icord " came suddenly, unexpectedly, and authoritatively to Jonah. He thought of quietly remaining in his own land. For ages God had confined his revelations to Israel. But he is the Ruler of all nations. His kingdom is not local and geographical like the gods of the heathens. Among the Gentiles the gospel must be preached (Rom. iii. 28) ; and Jonah is sent to the most renowned city of the Gentile world. I. The commission of Jonah. "Go to Nineveh, that great city." 1. It teas sovereign. The word came to Jonah, apparently the most unlikely for the work. God elects his own agents, appoints their duty and their place, and gives no account of his matters to us. Some have more work to do and more honour than others. Let all be content hi their sphere, instead of longing for greater dis- tinction and condemning the less privileged. Greater service Avould bring greater responsibility, and greater failure greater condemnation. God gives to every one according to his ability, and in sovereign authority demands implicit obedience. "Arise, go." 2. It ims ardtwus. There was great danger. Jonah might be ridiculedr It was a" new andTmheard-ofenterprise. Nineveh was great in pride anTsplendour, wealth and population. For centuries it had been growing in power and population. The monarchs of Assyria had filled it with the spoils of empires. JLtliad no equal, and sat asTqueen in.splendour. Nahum predicted the destruction H0M1LBTIC COMilMTARTi JOXAlt. [chap. i. mi a distance, bul Jonah must, go into it. It requires self-denial to ithens now, with higher civilization and greater advantages. d was more difficult and trying. Social relations and selfish pursuits rmand of God. 3. It teas clear. Though brief and .! was definite. With military precision the word is ... aeldja revealed—" tfineveh;" and obedience is expected— I word often cornea to us with positive demands upon our time and purse. o no doubt or uncertainty. Let us feel its convincing and confirming I >, l;iv strengthens doubt and increases difficulty. ing and natural reluctance have few better counsellors than procrasti- may desert the duty, and the enemy be encouraged to rity is exposed to judgment, and men may perish. The ■• Run, speak to that young man." II. The reason for Jonahs commission. " For the wickedness," &c. 1. Great cities are often . Power gives license and custom begets authority. Examples evil communications corrupt good manners. Nineveh was filled 1 with pride and alienated from God. Kb d the poor and helpless (Jon. iii. 8: Nah. iii. 1 — 3). Blood and robbery, idolatry and witchcraft, stained her drew not near to God." Are our great cities and towns free from ad pomp, irreligion and. injustice? 2. God sees the wickedness of great ■ io great for the omniscient eye of the Great Judge. All ire him, and areregistered for judgment in his book of remembrance. ill cries like the Id 1 of Abel for interference. God specially takes cog:. bove human restraint, and manifests holy indignation at r wickedi [pm and Gomorrah. Babylon and unburied Nineveh, are to tins generation. .'<. The irirb :y man, but should be our obedience to every com- buman acts, and words,- maud >f our Divine Master [SibthorrA. BOW upon bis chap, i.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JONAH. 349 HOMILETICS. The Disgraceful Flight. — Verse 3. Jonah arose but to depart from duty. He might be influenced by fear, indolence, and unbelief. But the chief reason for his flight seems to be intense love for his own, and deep hatred to a heathen country. He was reluctant to offer mercy to Nineveh, and desired its destruction as an enemy. Whatever leads to prejudice blinds the mind, sours the temper, and degrades the man of God. I. Flight from duty is not departure from God's control. Jonah believed in the Divine omnipresence (Ps. cxxxix. 7, 12), did not cast off all regard for God, but sought to relieve himself of duty by quitting the land of light and religious ordinances. He did not expect to go where God was not, but where God would let him alone. His creed was better than his conduct. He left the field of action for the place of retirement. Many are of Jonah's temper, try his" experiment, and feel the presence of God too painful for them. A scholar leaves the Sabbath school to avoid the contact of truth with conscience. A young man brought up under religious influence quits home and native country. An ungodly man feels miserable, shuns godly company, and stifles impressions by fleeing into business, worldly society, and amusements. The believer knows his duty, but will not do it. Such efforts often succeed in spite of the restraints of providence and the voice of conscience. But fear gets hold of men at length, God meets them in the way, and it is impossible to escape. " Lo, they that be far from thee shall perish." II. Favourable circumstances in departing from God do not always lead to a successful issue. Circumstances favoured Jonah's design, and gave him an oppor- tunity of_escape. " H^foundj, ship going to Tarshish." The vessel quickly sailed. Jonah thought he was leaving his trouble by leaving his native shore, but vain hope (Amos ix. 2 — 4 : Is. ii. 19 — 22 : Jer. xvi. 16 — 21). " The ready way is not always the right way," says an old author. The greatest hurry the least speed in a path of disobedience. The worst plans may prosper for a time, but such prosperity ends in storms and darkness. Talk not of Providence in an evil course — say not when tempted that you are tempted of God. God might miraculously interfere with men's conduct, but this woidd change the government of the world, render our probation useless, and afford no opportunity for human action and Divine justice. If he thwart the ways of selfish men, you hear no more of Providence. Departure from God is departure from his love and protection — from Divine dignity and unbounded bliss. Follow the directions of the word, and you will enjoy the leadings of Providence. " The Lord meeteth him that rejoiceth and worketh. righteousness." III. Departure from God is more expensive than obedience to God. Jonah paid the fare, like many who scruple not to spend their money on selfish projects, but with- hold from the cause of God. Sin is always expensive, and draws upon our purse and time. Sinners pay their fare, 1. In bitter experience. There is peace in pleasing God, but conscious opposition to him brings an uneasy mind. Jonah could not stay at home. Everything reminded him of God and duty, and such thoughts are painful. Men seek a new country, try fresh experiments, to drown the warnings of conscience, but do not jjucceed. 2. In moral loss. The loss of Divine favour and a servant's dignity. \The Sabbath-breaker, the pleasure-seeker, and the drunkard, pay their fare. Blasted prospects, shattered constitutions, and ruined families indicate the awful price of sin. The pleasures of sin are dearly bought, never last, and always bring disappointment.^ HOMILETIG HINTS AND OUTLINES. Jonah's disobedience. 1. It was life into his own hands. 2. It was foolish; for he took the difficulties of loilful. He deliberately paid bis money. UOMHBTIC COMMENTARY: JONJH. [chap. i. . , ^ take* m consummation of his purpose innseion. Lit was and each following fast on the back of ,„/ [Adapted its predecessor without repentance and, ,.-, as it would almost seem, without re- thecondn La flection. (1) He "rose up to flea" adiencetoGod and (2) He "went to Joppa, (3) lie ;, . ,, L appoints "found a ship. (1 He "paid the todo,dowitl ying. II" fare." (5) He "went down into it. as the shoulders The words are like relentless, consec* M fees increases the tive, fast-falling blows, under which his ainits folly \Lange\ whole character as an obedient man of God is beaten to death and trampled wily, under-fool of .Satan [Hugh Martin \. Man's own wisdom is a worthless JiSfiS,,. guide. He is often move diligent in workmg his rum than m seeking his . i. the disobedient prophet salvation. HOMILETICS. The Retributive Storm. — Verses 4, 5. Sin is not only an expensive pleasure, hut a disturbing element. In the human •. tip' domestic circle, .nil tin' Christian Church, it creates storms. Some are ;t."l t>» escape from God, not so Jonah, Perverse and self-willed as he may e abounds. ■_ mariner*. (1) They feared. "The mariners were afraid." Men of careless and jovial spirit matured in peril, trembled in fear. God can damp the most buoyant spirit and rouse the most secure. (2) They prayed. " And cried each to his God." Perhaps of different nations each had his favourite idol. They were sensible men, knew that their own power and wisdom would not avail in that tempest. Prayer is a law of our constitution and the most sensible part of our conduct. But many do not pray until they get on the sea. In a_ calm they forget God ; in a storm, alarmed by danger, roused by : affliction, They feel conscious of sin, and cry to God for help. But better late than never. When forced to feel that we cannot flee from God, it may be acceptable to Li return in prayer to him (Ps. cvii.). " Lord, in trouble have they visited thee ; they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them." (3) They cast out-- . thdr ivares. God's purpose does not excuse man's neglect. Men risk life some- times to get wealth ; but when life is in danger they will part with the most valuable treasures to keep it. "All that a man hath will he^give for his life." Spiritually we-should be anxious to save the soul. Every besetting sin in the race, every cumber in the voyage, must be cast away. Worldly cares and pursuits which endanger the soul and raise the anger of God must be forsaken. The crew with Paul threw overboard all the merchandise. Lay aside all encumbrance. Life is more value than cargo. Forsake all sin, and you will pray with greater speed than Jonah's mariners. " What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own sold 1 " EOMILETIG HINTS AND OUTLINES. Fear brings many recruits into the speak in anger in the storm. 3. The army of Christ, who afterwards fight impotence of idolatry in distress. Their under his banner from love of his service. prayers were earnest, though ignorant. The cry of sorrow often turns into the But we learn that the deities of pagan pleading of true contrition and filial lands and sentimental religionists are dependence (Acts xvi. 27 — 34 : Is. deaf and dumb like the gods of Baal, xxvi. 16 — 18). To his grace be the "The natural light of reason extends glory. It is well to find these heathen thus far, that it considers God kind, gra- sadors not sunk into a stupid insensi- cious, merciful, and mild. This is a great bdity, nor bewildered with extreme light; but it fails in two particulars, terror, two common effects of imminent In the first place, it believes that God danger on bold and irreligious minds, has power and knowledge to do and to especially in their profession. But one give ; but that he is willing also to do thing alone gives true peace in danger : such things for it, it knows not ; there- assurance of God's love (2 Cor. v. 5 — 8). fore it does not continue steadfast in its Do we enjoy it] do we seek it \_Sib- opinion. In the second place, reason thorp~\ 1 cannot correctly bestow the predicate of In the prayer of the mariners notice, Deity upon that being to whom it be- 1. The light of nature which instructed longs. It knows that God is ; but who them to recognize a Supreme Being. and what he is who has a right to be 2. The power of conscience to hear him called God it knows not " [Lunge]. — ■ HOMILETICS. Contrasts in the Voyage op Life. — Verse 5. Fatigue and sorrow had some influence upon Jonah (Matt. xxvi. 40 — 45) ; but he seemed to be stupefied by sin, and for a time composed himself into deep sleep. The praying sailors and the sleeping servant indicate great contrasts in mural life. HOMILBTIC COMMENTARY: JONAH. [chap. I Contrasts in the family. Diligent and idle, godly and ungodly children. I others live regardless of God. The parents are asleep when they every duty, and set an example to their converted children. irelesswheu mothers and fathers continually pray for them. II. Contrasts in the Christian Church. Many Christians are active and energetic, r the Holy Spirit and the revival of God's work : others murmur and do They are asleep in Zion. III. Contrasts in the world. We i inisiian indifference ; Roman Catholic and ritualistic i nth; heathens and Mohammedans provoking us to good there." Tin: Sleeper Roused. — Verse 0. | had other m beside wind and storm. He often uses rough and ry unlikely instruments. It was nut a pious minister, hut a linn, who rebuked Bunyan fur his profanity. Jonah was roused, not by it a heat hen captain, who suffered no one in common danger • rt his duty or hinder others from performing it. " What meanest thou? " &c. I. •• What meanest thou? " It is most unreasonable to sleep. The bird, the tnd the insect, know their own interest better; flee from danger, and prepare I difficulty (Is. i. o : Prov. vi. 5 — 11: Jer. viii. 7). Surely intelligent n believers, may learn much from animal creation. II. "What fT) ' meanest thou ? " It is most risky to sleep. The ship is in danger of sinking. Thy // Ufe aii'l tli>' lives uf others are at stake. All hands must be at work. It is no I ■ when the house is on lire. We should never sleep in self-security Jq ireperi§hjng around us. III. " What meanest thou V when others are asking thy prayers. I. :v man is longing for deliverance."'' 1^ A&eaoyvm*:. . •!■■< in vain. Kaeh lias looked to his idol, and depended apon : rhich have disappointed. Men turn to you in penitence and bitter . an interest in your prayers. Intercessory prayer is genuine charity. 2. Ask I by those w?io believe that your God can kelp. The ship-master that Jonah's God might possibly be more powerful than any of the ■v. This is the language of hope and earnestness. "Perhaps God The faith of awakened sinners should reprove our unbelief and: We come not to a God unknown and unrevealed. There is more h lps" upon which to ground our faith. We have warrant to pray, for God will b used by circumstances around us to call upon our God in per- pplication, " Let us not sleep as do others." HOMILETIO HINTS AND OUTLINES. was m a deep sleep, a censurable and absurd even to the eye of by ffhich he held and nature to lie secure in trouble. 3. Na- il as deep as that from ture's light will acknowledge that he who which never woke. (The same is the true God hath power to deliver in word is used, Judg. iv. 21.) Had extreme danger [Hutcheson], the ship to sink, the Ver. 6, What meanest thou? Apply ; Jonah would have been that the words to the sinner. /. The con- reprophet. A it is, his deep ,l!t W indicated. Sleep a state of— 1. • D in of the lethargy Darkness; 2. Danger; 3. Insensibility; 4. and Death. Yet the awful condition I. A child oi God may so miscarry of many. The anger of God is upon !i infirmity, negligence, and them. Death and judgment are draw- ition, that he may be blame- ing nigh. Yet they sleep on, wish not thy and reprovable bj • Pa m in- to be disturbed and roused to a con- thfl hght of nature. 2. It is deeply sciousness of danger. //. The question chap. I.] H0M1LETIC COMMENTARY: JONAH. 353 pressed. " What meanest thou 1 " To We see in this instance the great dan- avoid the danger and run away from ger in which unconscious sinners are God 1 Is sleep better than anxiety, and often involved — that the solace sought by sin than salvation1? Do you mean to them often departs from them — that a sleep as long as God and man will let deep sleep remains, and that in the per- you, and then just when the ship is formance of duty the godly are some- sinking try to save yourselves ? Will times more slothful than the ungodly you rob God of your love and obedience, [Lange~\. and expect him to interpose at last to A salutary admonition, from whatever save you? "What meanest thou?" quarter it may come, ought never to be "Awake, thou that sleepest, and Christ despised \_Lange\. shall give thee light." HOMILETICS. Is there not a Cause ? — Verse 7. When great judgments happen there must be great guilt. When a nation, city, or family is brought into danger, it is wise to inquire into the cause. Here we notice — I. Social danger caused by individual sin. Nature teaches a connection between sin and suffering. They are bound together under God's government. The con- nection is not casual. All misery is the result of sin. But while each individual stands for himself, he is also related to others. Nations suffer for the sins of rulers ; families, for the sins of parents ; and the crew for the sins of its passenger. " This man perished not alone in his iniquity." II. Social danger prompting social sympathy. " They said one to another, Come." Great calamity begets great sympathy. Common sufferings knit kindred feelings and hearts in one. " There Avas no independent member, no mutinous spirit amongst the crew," says Mr Exell • "no one suggested another way of relief ; all, as though animated by one common impulse, at once accept this test of innocence." III. Social danger re^ moved by the providence of God. " Nature forces on our heart a Creator, history a providence," says Eichter. In this narrative we discern the power of God over the elements of nature and the destinies of men. 1. Providence over the phe- nomena of nature. The storm — no ordinary one — wras traced to a cause. The mariners, though not true believers, were not atheists. Their gods could do nothing ; perhaps Jonah's God could help them, whom they called " the God." Jonah is reproved for want of devotion to him and lackness of duty to his fellow-passengers in peril. Among heathen nations there was a general admission of one supreme ruler over earth and sea ; a remnant of the primitive knowledge by which Jehovah left not himself without a witness. 2. Providence over the conduct of men. There must be a cause for this evil ; they must find it out, and if possible remove it. They believe some one is guilty, and do not expect that the culprit will tell of himself. They appeal to the higher power, in the only way they know, by lot. The evil is thought of, and not so much the storm. Behind natural phenomena, law, sequence, or cause, they discern moral designs. Man cannot escape his God — (a) In discovering their guilt. Jonah expected to escape, but was found out and his guilt made known. No darkness nor distance can hide the sinner. Murder will out ; and it is true in a measure with all sin. Sin tries to deceive with secrecy and then betrays to others. " There is nothing that shall not be revealed." " God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing." (b) In deciding their destiny. No event can escape the eye of God, and no step in life be taken without his permission. God overruled the lot, and it fell upon Jonah. How completely are we in the hands of God. Believers trying to forget neglect of duty, and un- believers refusing to follow Christ, can hide nothing from his all-searching eye. " My times are in thy hand." " The lot is cast into the lap ; but the whole dis- posing thereof is of the Lord." 23 HOMJLETIC COMMENTARY*. JOS AIL [chap. r. Casting Lots. — Verse 7. Th.- mariners have now recourse to other means of safety than their exertions or in their conduct, First, both tJie power and defectiveness of con- themselve8 deserving of Divine anger; yet each thought him- guilty than bis fellow. The lanthorn light of conscience in a natural ,„.,,._ j view of Bome prominent truths sufficient to cause him to pass odemnation on himself, but i1 searches not the soul's recesses, so as ,n in its extenl and sinfulness, [gnorance and pride are. impenetrable, :iI„l ■ produced by the powerful aid of the Spirit, When that shines into the soul, a man will make Si Paul's confession his own. Secondly, the light \ co] mined inwardly, so this outwardly, testifying to a con- tion between guilt and punishment (Acts xxviii. I). They saw in the tempest judgment, and surmised (rightly) an extraordinary cause. iYr- herein the light of nature was aided by that of tradition and some faint glimmerin 3 riptural truth. We are very slow to admit a connection between iffering. We are apt to lay the blame of the latter anywhere but where it should he, on our own transgressions. Thirdly, the influence of superstition. I. - have sometimes been used by Divine appointment. Here is a- far less clear warrant for them. Vet we may admit some right principle among these sailors, of referring to a higher Being what Beemed beyond the reach of human knowledge to decide. But among the heathen Satan abused them (as other things of a similar kind. BUch as divination) to an execrable superstition, and the establishment of his own dominion (Esth. iii. 7 : Ezek. xxi. 21 : Is. xx. 3). Both in ancient and modern times they have Keen abused to serve the avarice and evil passions of men, and have proved the source of misery, contention, and bloodshed (Joel iii. 3 : Obad. 11 : John xix. 23). We are seldom if ever warranted to have recourse to lots. We have a full and sufficient guide in the Scriptures, and can never be justified in tit is guide, as some do, in the way of a lottery [Sibthorp]. HOMJLETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. This evil. Suffering, penal and social greater with his people and more Ouili \ and discovered in tin: severely prosecuted than against Pagans It. '• In this procedure, there are two and gross idolaters. For — 1. Rebellion things to he attended to: — First, the is idolatry ( 1 Sam. xv. 23), and so much thai each man !>\ making this pro- the grosser as it is in a child. 2. Though I and going into il disowns the they worshipped that which was ho god, guilt: md second, the method by which yet none of them had so behaved to- ■ i [Martin]. wards a supposed Deity, as he had done ■!• all. I. Who is to ho pitied towards the ti"ue God. 3. God may f..r his guilt and humiliation, l'. Be- wink at sins in 1'agans, hut will not let topped in his wan- his own children go on unreclaimed dering from God and about to be re- (Am. iii. 2), it being mercy to pursue them for their folly and amend them is sometimes ( Huieheson], IIOMILETICS. Urgent Questions. — Verse 8. admirable i the dealing of these heathens with the prophet of God. They are in great danger, but press nol his nun ; do not condemn him without oppor- tunity to clear him. It. Theyinquiri concerning him — (a) mildly, (b) minutely, (c) briefly, and (.jnf... ,llr sin— the three elements which appear in the guilt of Jonah and 1 by hinux If. 1. Against what God is in himself. Jonah owns that he baa sinned; against "Jehovah, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry Imd." 2. Against what God has been to him. Jonah confesses that )„. i; •• | am .hi Hebrew : " a member of the people whose God Jehovah ....in Jehovah hath done great things; to whom he hath given "the adoption, ami the glory, and the covenants, and the law, and the service of God, and the promises, whose are the fathers," &c. 3. Against what he himself has Jonah owns that he had sinned: " I fear Jehovah ; " I am one of I have been enrolled among the true Israel— a true child of the . standing in the counsel and in the secret of the h ; for " the Becret of the Lord is with them that fear him." By all these three considerations Jonah oughl to have been restrained from Binning and retained in bis loyalty to God. The glory of God — the God of heaven, of the sea, and of the "' tlie spirituality of that la spirituality which he never e Bui much of this toil is mischievous. It a firmer grip. Giant Despair's prisoners do not all escape ; he i yard full of bones, the relics of willing prisoners who would not be com- sinners make excuses for themselves out of their despair, and let their doul row till fchey cast a thick shadow over them. IV. We will try t" explain a. The way of safety for sinners is to he found in the sacrifice of another on their behalf. Leave out the fact that Jonah was sinful, and he becomes an eminent type of Christ. Substitution saves the mariners: ■ bntion saves sinners. Jesus dies, and there is a calm. Conscience accuses no r. Judgment decides for and not against the sinner. Memory looks back with 30R0W for sin, but with no dread of penalty to come. Let us enjoy the' peace "thai passeth all understanding." Then go to work for God, not to win life and : tie v are ours already ; but loved by him, let us love and serve him with • heart [Sj^nyroij. 110 VI LET IC HINTS AND OUTLINES. of me. "True science when duty and self-interest seem riction of sin will produce honest- to conflict. III. The servant spared confession of sin sometimes to our fellow- from fear of the master. "Do my creatures; always before God. bet it. prophets no harm." If we fear God, add to those bitter herbs of repentance men f eel that they offend him by injurin, g with which we feast on our Passover (1 us. "He that toucheth you, toucheth ' 7, to reflect how often and the apple of mine eye." our iniquity ha aided to make We have here an admirable example the mass of human guilt more offensive of dealing with an offending brother. misery more grievous." They dreaded to punish after his guilt re find,/ Compassion was proved; and they could not tell I when undeserved. I. [n pity how far he was restored again into God's for the Bufferer. •_'. In regard to his favour as a penitent. Let us walk by God. 3. In tear of hi Iguiltiness. the same rule towards fallen brethren // ' overcoming self-interest. \Jones\ Themenw I of calmbygetting ' Learn also — L The benefits of affliction. rid of Jonah; hut perhaps the force of Jonah is no longer perverse and dis- •wed that the guilt of , obedient,' and the mariners are brought Lex would rest upon them if they- tocall upon the true God. 2. The folly threw him overboard. Listen to con- of fighting against God. Providence chap, i.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JONAH. 359 was adverse. They rowed against the tending with the storm. " There is no stream. Kb success in opposition to wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel God. Without his help all schemes against the Lord." are like ploughing the deep and con- HOMILETICS. Pagan Praters. — Verses 13, 14. The men ceased to row, then labour was in vain. They only increased their own danger and prolonged the suffering of one they endeavoured to save — " At once they plough the brine ; and all the deep Yawns wide" \Virg. JEneid]. They recognized the hand of God in the storm, and believed the power of God supreme. They lay down their oars and appeal to God. I. Prayer connected with labour. " It is well to labour, and it is well to pray," said Luther. Prayer strengthens and directs in labour. It sweetens toil and brings success. Jupiter gave no help to the waggoner till he put his own shoulders to the wheel. The fable is abused when men despise prayer and dependance upon God. II. Prayer in trouble. They had done all they could, but were not relieved. For the first time probably these; heathens prayed to the God of Israel. Sorrow and danger give speciality and intensity to supplication (Gen xxxii. 9 : Is. xxxvii. 15 — 20). Pressing trouble forces itself from the heart to the lips. "We cry to God in distress, when we have failed without him. Prayer is our first and last, refuge in trouble. It should ever be the first means we use for deliverance. " Call upon me hi the day of trouble." " The man is praying who doth press with might Out of his darkness into God's own light" [Trench']. III. Prayer in the emergencies of life. There are not only troubles, but special difficulties and dangers in life. These men were perplexed. The storm demands the prophet, but the justice of God might require his blood at their hands. What- ever be our difficulties, prayer offers help and leads us to the great Disposer of all things (Prov. iii. 6 : 1 Pet. v. 7). " He that prays despairs not ; but sad is the condition of him that cannot pray," says Jeremy Taylor. " As when the last sentence of the law is carried out on land, the offices of religion are performed in the presence and on behalf of the culprit, so here there is prayer, most earnest and most appropriate, preceding the last sad act that shall part them and their passenger for ever " [Raleigh]. I. The object of their prayer. " 0 Jehovah." The storm and the confession of Jonah have weaned them from their idols. They take in the idea of God, dis- cern his power, and believe him — 1. To be " the hearer of prayer." 2. To be the Supreme Ruler of all events. " They had but just known God," says Pusey, "and they resolve the whole mystery of man's agency and God's providence into three simple words, ' As (thou) willedst (thou) didd.' " All things, however adverse, were traced to God's sovereign disposal. The storm and the lot, the direction of the prophet and the impossibility to land him. " Our God is in the heavens : he hath done Avhatsoever he hath pleased." II. The nature of their prayer. 1. // was intensely earnest. " They cried." The language is that of earnest supplication, the particle expressive of entreaty being repeated. There was no time for formal prayer. We (leal not in general petitions in trouble like this ; such tribulation becomes the tutor of prayer, and leads to maturity of knowledge and experience. 2. It was wonderfully submissive. Till we can say " Thy will be done," we have need of more prayer and submission. If God please himself let us be satisfied. We cannot alter circumstances. But when the will of God is clearly made known hOMU.TJIC. COVVrA'T.iRY: JOX.tll. [oHAr. I. lei , How it. III. The purpose of their prayer. Ihcy .think of | their passenger. 1. They pray for th preservation oj their own /,» •• i . . ob not perish for the life of this man." They were not prompted by I „• then would they have cast Jonah into the sea. Truth I upon them and God is recognized. They felt his anger and became • his justice. In a Bhorl time tiny Learned much of the true God, tally led to worship him. 2. They pray that the guilt of murder •• Lay not upon us innocenl blood." The light of nature, [ition, and the laws of their country, taught thai they forfeited life when the} took life. Conscience Bpeaks, the providence of God seems to con- linn the confession of his servant, yet they are reluctant to cast him out. If it mug| they pray to I"' forgiven. "The people of Cod were shedding innocenl blood like water, in th- cities of Palestine (2 Kings be. 7 : 2 Chron. xxiv. i): these heathen sailors fear to pour that of one guilty man [ th,. deep, din- offences of professors of religion are often • in awful prominency by th.' restraints which nature and .,i, those of others (Rom. ii. 27 : 1 Cor. v. 1 : Matt, xxvii. 24, 25)." the band of every man's brother will 1 require the life of man " (Gen. ix. 5, 6). 'I'm: Sacrifice wo the Calm.— Ferae 15. A i" v ; [1 solemn event. Il is a trying hour when the remains of a friend or comrade have to be cast into the deep. But no funeral service like that . L \ ,; in haste and desperation, but in solemn silence and respect they lift him it i • and cast him into the sea. The yawning deep engulfs the unresisting prophet anil the angry ocean smooths her face. I. The sacrifice offered. Alter they had done all they could, something else ted. I. A icrifice caused by sin. Jonah's disobedience caused Jonah's ;. When men run into Bin, they run into ruin here ami hereafter. God's favour and heaven are cast away by the wicked. Whatever sin is the Jonah, it it it will drown us in perdition. 2. .4 sacrifice required by the will of Ood. The sea did not cease from raging. Jonah had told them what was required, and the providence of God confirmed the prediction. God's law must be honoured and -in punished. 3. A sacrifice offered for the safety of others. Jonah missive in the face of death, and far more concerned for the lives of others than for his own. lie thus becomes a type of Jesus, who was offered a sacrifice for osom for many." If he had not suffered lor us, the waterfloods of • ml the waves of grief would have compassed us and carried us away. II. The calm which followed. "Tie see 3tayed from her raging." 1. A proof of ■ ■, /■ the elements of nature. The wind ceases, the billows rest., and dan " The lower is subject to the higher, nature to moral providence, and providence to God." "Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves then thou stillest them" (Ps. lxxxix. 'J: xciii. ."> ; cvii. 2(J). 2. A con- firmation of rigid conduct. The nun would hesitate and doubt, but God gives them immediate comfort. They bave obeyed his will, and he will make them know and feel it, by outward dim and inward peace. When we submit to God's will he will not any longer contend with us. 3. A type of peace through Christ. When be forth and Bank into the sea thai threatened the world with ruin there was a universal calm. God's justice was satisfied and his anger ceased. '• Fury is nol in me." We may have peace with God if we cast out of our hearts the -in which provokes his wrath (Jer. iv. 1 : Is. hii. 20, 21). " God hath recon- ciled ns t'i him- If bj JeSUS < In 'I'm; Converted Heathen. — Verses 14 and 1G. Perhaps the.,- men were more candid. and less depraved than heathen generally. Thy .-■■•m at any rate to he prepared by education, and discipline to receive the chap, i.] tiOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOXAIT. 3<- nights' " imprisonment of Jonah ( Ihrist sees a type of himself (Matt. xii. 40). 1. The an dogiee are his confinemenl to the deep and the grave that others might ived. -. The same duration of time in this dark retirement ; and 3. The ■ i light and life igain for the reformation of mankind. Learn from the -1. The presence of God in history. 2. The purpose of God in controlling 3. The powerof (rod in making all things subservient to this purpose. " With the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption." IIOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. I rants of God run away from . their Master fre- quently appoints them a harder task. It" Jonah will nol preach up and down the streets of Nineveh, he shall preach bom the bottom of the sea [Jom si. 1. When < rod pursues his rebellious children in a severe way. yet he doth not ■ off hi- mercy to them, hut moderates their affliction. 2. God may have a mercy and proof of love waiting upon his people in a time and place where they would be leas; expected. 1 Jonah meets a mercy in the raging into which he was cast in anger, as ;. "•. Although < rod's mercy will not destroy his guilty people in their afflictions, yet his wisdom sees deliver them at first, but to their faith and heart [Hutche- V( r. 1 7. •• Prom how many ini- :. unimaginable situations the "f the world has drawn de- votional aspirations I but never, except tuation like this" [John r ■ Tie- gee and her inhabitants are God's and lie at bis will (Luke v. i; ■ John xxi. 6). The mightiest and meanest : \ •■ his pUl po 88, and :iiv auxiliaries . .r B to man •..-.; v. 1_' : 2 Kings xvii. 25) [BOttorpl TJie Type. Three days and three nights (Matt. xii. 40. Cf. Rom. iv. 25; vi. 4). In comparing the two — these twogreal interpositions of Godhead with Jonah and Jesus respectively — the type will illustrate the antitype. But there are pi lints in which our clear knowledge of the antitype may be carried back to illustrate the type. This is the case in the very first resemblance. I. In both cases there is a death and a resurrection. Jonah speaks of his burial in terms in which the Messiah speaks of his "hell" and "corruption." In both cases it is the language df burial and resurrection. II. But secondly: in both cases, the death and burial are judicial processes. Each of the processes is an atonement and expiation, pacifying the Divine Judge, satisfying Divine justice, abol- ishing guilt, restoring peace. III. The burial and resurrection of Jonah con- stituted the gate by which the word of Jehovah passed forth from the Jewish to the Gentile world. In like manner the dentli and resurrection of Christ was the breaking down of the middle Avail of partition. IV. The analogy holds further in this respect, that the experiences of Jonah and Christ consti- tute, each in its own sphere, an enforce- ment of the message which each brings to the Gentiles. V. Jonah's experience was his preparation for new loyalty and CHAP. I.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOXJU. 363 obedience; and in the kingdom of Christ, Christ's risen life is the source of new- ness of life and service. Jonah was a new man on dry land, with a new life and a new career opening before him. 0 believer in a risen Christ, is not this the type and fashion of your life of faith 1 With what freshness — as of the morning light of an eternal Sabbath ; and with what force — as of the eternal power of Messiah's resurrection ; may that blessed appeal be made to us, "If ye then be risen" (Col. iii. 1) [//. Martin}, ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER I. Ver. 1. The name Jonah signifies "a dove." But there is not much of " mourning love," of which the dove has always been taken as the symbol in the record. The name might express his father's feeling ; as applied to himself it seems a misnomer. The hawk, the raven, or the vulture would seem to be more truly symbolical. But let us not forget that he tells his own tale, after the things recorded are past: that he tells it very expressly to the glory of God's mercy, with which designedly he sets his own hardness and thoughtless cruelty in contrast [Raleigh], There is but one reason for the mission stated here ; but several others in reserve — some gently hinted, some unrevealed until after ages [Raleigh]. Ver. 2. "Jonah and his ' arise' giveth a warning to us all, for Ave have all a Nineveh to go into. Magistrates, arise and go to the gate to execute God's judg- ments. Ministers, arise and go to the gospel to do . the works of evangelists. People, arise and go to your trades," &c. [King]. Ver. 3. To leave the presence of God is to "go down;" and the history of many a day might, in the evening, be written too faithfully in the sad record, " I have been going down." Down from communion, from a conscious faith, from quietness, and firm, steady obedience. Down into strife without victory, into toil without fruit ; into mere money- making, mere pleasure-seeking, mere time- wasting. The success and glory of true life can only be found in keeping the upward road — in hearing and fol- lowing the voice which perpetually says, " Come up hither" [Raleigh] ! Vers. 4, 5. Storm. Some years ago an infidel embarked at Buffalo with a printing-press, to set up an infidel pub- lication in Cleveland. He annoyed the passengers by his zeal to discuss the subject of religion. "When a storm arose and threatened them with de- struction, he was not only willing to throw overboard his press, but was con- spicuous for his prayers and cries for mercy. When the storm was over, and he found himself a laughing-stock among the wicked and an object of pity to the pious, he went back to his infidelity and blamed his early education in supersti- tion, as he called it, for his fright and prayers [Mitchell]. Ver. 6. Sleeper. The saint's sleeping- time is Satan's tempting-time. No temptation so weak but is strong enough to foil a Christian that is napping in security. Samson asleep, and Delilah cut his locks. Noah asleep, and his graceless son has a fit time to discover his father's nakedness. Thus the Christian asleep in security may soon be surprised, so as to lose much of his spiritual strength [An old, Divine], Ver. 7. Lots. Religion, even in its rudest forms, has always been faithful to its general principle thus far, that when the anger of the Divinity has been appre- hended, it has been understood to be againrf sins and crimes; and also that the Divinity was believed to know icho was the criminal. The mariners, there- fore, referred it to the avenging Power to point out the criminal by a common ancient practice. A reference thianot to chance, but to a superior intelligence. Coidd our prophet have any doubt where the lot would fall ? No : his conscu nee must have been a prophet to him [Jolni Foster]. Ver. 8. How natural the questions ! " Say, strangers, for what cause Explore your ways unknown ? or whither tends UOUlLBTtC COMMENT.im': JOXAH. [chat. r. Your I Whence come you ? From wh.v Derived ? And bring you hither peace or war ':" [Trapp's Virgil.] V n. 10. 11. U I God be dearly known aa he ia p w ded, and with few men cannol &iri believe m him. A few philosophers will reason and refine, and abide in inteUeatual dis- v.ry wicked men will •• believe a lie," that they may work un- bul the great mass of iik-' these Bailors from Tarshish, will quickly yield, al Leasl by intellectual • tin- influence of the truth Vera. 12, 13. Tah me up, neverthe- wvd hard. .Alan has no i way his own life. We should also be careful of the life of others. The sailors thought R could not be righl nor pleasing to God to east Jonah into the deep. It would be a loss dness, thought, and self-denying I for them. They were actuated by human motives, and illustrated the principle of moral life that our spirit and conduct have a tendency to repro- duce themselves in others. Men have responsive feelings, answer heart to . ind thus make life beautiful. " All life Li tacred in its kind to heaven, And all things holy, beautiful, and good." [Bailey] Vet. 12. Be calm unto you. " Immortal I Takes comfort from the foaming billows rage, And makes a welcome harbour of the tomb." [Young.'] Vers. 15, 17. The men must have talked about the voyage and its issues, especially about what took place after donah was in the sea. He knew nothing about that, and could only record it here because he had been told it by others. By whom i No doubt that story was told far and near, and he might have heard it from any one. But most probably he heard it from their own lips — from captain and ship's company, gathered together, perhaps, on the deck of that very vessel. It is not improbable that the prophet took a journey to Joppa on purpose : that he went to the old place ; that he stood once more on the deck of the ship — captain and crew around him — to tell and hear their mutual stories of preservation. You can fancy, the meeting. You can see the man. You can imagine how the whole matter would be bruited abroad even as far as Nineveh ; and how the story told there, and well authenticated, would prepare that great and guilty city for receiving the message of the prophet when he actually came \Ral&igK\. Remember, therefore, this advice: Never let the advantages with which you begin life's voyage lull you into confidence and negligence, nor difficulties lead you to despair ; persevere in that path which reason and justice point out, and then despair not of reaching your desired port [Hamlain], •HATTER II Critic \r, Notts]. Prayed] Really praised. His] not only to Jehovah as the sailors did. " He shows his faith by adoring Bio u hu God" [Burti], The structure of this hymn, composed like many Plains, and filled with allusions to thorn, falls into three strophes (vers. 4, 6, and 8) ; each of which ri i Iron) distresi to deliverance and hope [cf. Langc\ 2. Cried] More definite than Ps. xvi. l, and cxx. 1. Belly] Womh of Sheol, »'. c. the peril of death ; snares of death (Ps. xviii. 5); it livcrancc rat <>f Bheol (Ps. xxx. 8>. 3. Deep] abyss (Ps. xlii. 7). Midst] Heart of the seas, in pth, away fn>m the shores. Floods] The stream or current of the sea which ■long, u Ps. wiv. 2. Waves] from Strabar, to break; thy breakers and thy billows roll, be fi It in his conscience that the sea with its waves and billows was the serv- ant of God and of hit inatb. to punish sin " [Lut/icr]. 4. SaidJ- in my heart, t. e. I thought that I chap, n.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JONAH. 368 was banished from thy protection and care (Ps. xxxi. 23). Look] Lit. look intently, an assurance that he will yet appear in the temple to praise God (Ps. v. 8). 5] This strophe opens like the Bret, sets forth the peril of death, and describes the thought of miraculous deliverance. Surrounded] Pressed even to the soul (Ps. lxix. 2 ; xviii. 5). Weeds] Sea-weeds, vast quantities of which were found in the Mediterranean, were bound about his head " like a grave band. A peril even to the strong swimmer, entangling him the more he struggles to extricate himself. But to one below, powerless to struggle, it was as his winding-sheet " [Pusey]. 6. Bottoms] Cuttings off, ends or extremities, hence foundations (cf. Ps. xviii. 7 — 15). It seemed as if the earth itself formed the vault, the living coffin into which he was shut up (Deut.iii. 5 : Job xxxviii. 10). " The bolts of the sea are the walls of the sea-basin, which set bounds to the sea that it cannot pass over" [Keil]. Corruption] Lit. the pit (Is. xxxviii. 17: Job xvii. 4). 7. Fainted] Heb. to cover one's self or to veil, then to sink, to pine away : Rem. the triumph of faith over sense. Temple] from which prayers are heard (Ps. xlii. 6 ; Ixxiii. 26). 8.] When prayer reaches to God he helps and saves. Salvation is only from Him. Idolaters forfeit their mercy. Observe] Lit. regard, hold to, an intensive form : " pay deference to court, sue vanity of vanities, vain things which prove ruin at last" [Pusey]. Mercy] Lit. their goodness, i. e. God, their Benefactor, the Author of all mercies (P6. cxliv. 2). 9. I will] The vow of a pious man as opposed to the life of apostates. As the mariners ended their sacrifice with vows, so Jonah ends his prayer with thanksgiving. Sal.] Lit. a mighty salvation (an intensive form) which God gives to his people after affliction, " is wholly His ; all belongs to Him, so that none can share in bestowing it" [Pusey]. 10. Spake] His uttored voice produces everything. In heaven, earth, and sea, all things submit to him. Land] Probably the coast of Palestine. This circumstance typical of a more wonderful event, when death will be swallowed up of victory (Is. xxvi. 19 : 1 Cor. xv. 54). HOMILETICS. In the Deep. — Chap. II. As soon as the prophet was entombed, he knew that he was in a living grave. Then began that new and bitter experience recorded in the prayer of this chapter. We have no external history of those days. But we have a very intense and clear history of his inward life. Speaking generally, there was evidently a great and sudden quickening of consciousness. The man who speaks in this holy psalm hardly seems the same person whom we have seen in flight — dark, moody, silent, despairing. Beneath the waves the whole man reveals himself to God. Men rescued from drowning have told of quickened consciousness in danger — how they have lived again through years of past moments, estimated possible means of escape, and pierced with anticipative thought into the two possible futures — that of time, and that of eternity. Then rapidly this new consciousness became distressful. His soid fills itself fuller than the sea with " affliction." The reserved sorrow of sinning comes all at once. If sinners knew the fruitage of their ungodliness, what the universe would be when Divine presence is darkened out of them, and what the bitterness of that moment when the soul awakes in the thought, " God is now away, perhaps for ever," they would stay the beginnings of departure as men keep back from a slippery precipice. Then he began to "look" — upwards to earth, eastwards to the temple, where he knew that the lost presence was richly mani- fested. This is one of the most characteristic acts of faith — to look, although death may come in the looking. This is a tough battle. It is hard to fight above- ground; but to fight as deep as ever plummet sounded, where stretches the shadow of death, is grand. The look soon became a cry. It may have been literally a vocal cry. The voice was much used by Jews in gladness, sorrow, and worship — especially by great and impassioned souls. This may have been Jonah's habit on land, the means of preserving his life in the deep, and may have so acted upon the sensations of his submarine custodian as to induce at length the disgorge- ment. But it was the cry of the soul, which rose from farthest depths in one in- stant, without injuring natural law, above all heights, to the primal springs of powei and earthly providence. He began to be grateful. Some measure of gratitude mingled with his distress from the first, but as he felt himself still alive as ti un- rolled on, then would come a feeling of thankfulness. There was daybreak in the land of the shadow of death. Then, apparently, his soid passed into a more active state of renewed personal consciousness to God. Religious thankfulness nearly 366 HOMILSTIC COMMENT ART: JONAH. [chap. it. dwaja grows into that The voice of thanksgiving begins with the act of sacri- n when truly madeare paid. The prophet resolved "I will"; acted when ,,, liv, . .... The final stab- of his mind— that into winch all other feelings themselves-^ a state of < ntire d pt ndence, involving a quiet fruatful surrender of himself to God. I havedoneall 1 can, need not cry any pj mfl for active service 1 shall be delivered. If not, I ■hall trust in him : " Salvation is of the Lord " [Raleigh']. Pratbb and Distress. — Verses 1 — 4. Jonah now describes his mournful and dismal condition. Let us notice his a-, prayers, and hopes. I. The great distress. " I cried by reason of my distress." 1. Distress in the Pharaoh's army sank into the deep; and the sea is often as the grave. iri oftlte Beas, far away from the shores, and down into the fathom- / by the floods. "The floods have compassed me" (cf. 3 ; Ixix. I, - ; lxxxviii. 0). (c) Swept by the billows. The broken surges uountain-billows rolled over his head. Sin casts into darkness and dismal ! be punishment of God is often intense, but love is seen in it all. " Thy •_'. Distress in Sheol. "From the belly of hell." His confinement was lik.- tie- lower world, the region of ghosts. But no abyss of grief is beyond Divine help. God can keep alive and deliver from the pit. "0 Lord, thou hast brought up my bouI from the grave, thou hast kept me alive that I should not go down to the pit." 3. Distress away from Hod's presence. " I am driven out of thy sight." This was tli>' worst of all. yet only a just retribution for one who had lied from t]„. presence of God. Jonah's sin, and the, Divine judgment upon ii. pierced his darkened his prospect, ami led him to despair. Hope of deliverance for body or soul Beemed no longer cherished But man's extremity is God's oppor- tunity. Bradford said tie- prison can be made the palace of the Great King. to 1'' near God, ami feel distressed at distance which is (a) a penal conse- quence of Bin ; (/') a sad complaint with Cod's people. " Why atandest thou afar 0 Lord?" II. The earnest prayer. Sorrows within, around, and above him, led hhn to cry out to God. The Church is indebted for its best men, and the world for its best sayings, to affliction. Many of God's children have first prayed by reason of distress. Backsliders have been reclaimed, and prayers quickened into i ri< -. by poignant grief. 1. Its intensity. " 1 cried." Prosperity tends to rmality, and deadness in prayer; distress makes it earnest and ardent 13). "Many, silent with their lips, have cried aloud with their heart," \ justine. '-Many, noisy with their lips, could, with heart turned away, .ii nothing." 2. Its directness. " Unto Jehovah, and Jehovah as his God" (ver. 1 ). an himself, and up to the tin-one of the Eternal, were his con- fidence and desire fixed. He was yel the servant of God, linked to him by past pline and future hope. The covenant of God stands firm, and brighter than bine in the depths of sorrow. "Tins God is our God." 3. Its place. •'The fish's belly." What an oratory! No place is amiss for prayer. The wilderness and the den, the prison, and "the belly of bell." The voice of a chdd i- heard wherever he exit "Call upon me in the day of trouble," &c. ;;. U language. Mosl of 11 i o£ are found in the Psalms. It is well to with Scripture, which gives consolation and aids devotion in all cir- fin. I ' ould be more refreshing to others, and more acceptable n' offered in words of inspiration. 4. Its speed. "Thou heardest my void him <\"ww, lifted him up ; inspired his heart, and answered petition. God had called upon Jonah, and often calls to us, without response. vhen we turn in penitence and prayer to him he listens. There is a voice in faith and pi.iyer which God quickly hears, for "he delighteth in mercy." "Prayer ardent opens heaven" [Young], CHAP. IT.l HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JONAH. 307 Eevived Feeling. — Verse 4. By degrees Jonah gained strength to hope and pray. His despondency was only momentary. A ray of light pierced the darkness, and blessed his heart. " I "will look again" &c. Learn — I. That a servant of God may be overcome with fear. Not only assaulted with temptation and despair, but overcome by them for a time. Men change in feeling, rejoice to-day, and doubt to-morrow. Light and darkness alternate in the spiritual as in the natural world. But resist temptation, seek to gather strength, and look again. " Cast not away, therefore, your confidence." II. That the weakest act of faith may be mighty in overcoming- fear. Faith in God will sustain lis in extremest sufferings, and find a way in greatest impediments. To remain in unbelief, rest under the waves, or trust in anything but the promise, is folly. Jonah looked not at probabilities, at things as they really were, but with fixed eye toward the holy temple. His faith pierced the darkness, and pictured the mercy-seat and the Divine presence. A true retrospect of God's house will tinge the present with hope, and dissipate the clouds that darken our horizon. " All things are possible to him that believeth." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 2. The affliction. 1. Its' ac- knowledged source. Neither himself nor the mariners were considered. All comes from God. " Thou hast cast me into the deep." ' " Thy waves," &c. " It was not you, but God, that sent me here." 2. Its benevolent design. De- sign there was, and that design not malevolent. "God is love." He does not afflict willingly, but for our future good and his glory. " Now let us thank the Eternal Power, convinced That heaven but tries our virtue by affliction : That oft the cloud which wraps the present hour, Serves but to brighten all our future days." Vers. 2, 3. The right use of the Psalter. Even holy men of God, who were partakers of the Holy Ghost, have not refused to appeal to, and to cite formally, the books of Scripture, which existed already in their time. A strong argument for the authority of the Holy Scriptures \_La)ige~\. Depths. 1. Sorrow. 2. Despair. 3. Desertion. " One woe doth tread upon another's heel, So fast they follow" \Shakespeare\. " Thus woe succeeds woe. as wave a wave." [Ifcrricfc.] Look again. 1. A determination to remember God in future. 2. An ex- pression of encouragement derived from displays of Divine providence and mercy. " God gave him no hope save that he preserved him alive. For he seemed to himself forsaken of God. Wonderful pattern of faith which gains strength even from God's seeming de- sertion " [Pusey]. Again, past experience in God's house. 1. When improved, (a) A source of comfort in distress. (6) A ground of hope for future blessings. 2. When abused, (a) Taken an evi- dence of present grace, (b) Made an excuse for further effort. If you have not force enough to contemplate God in heaven, try again by fresh exer- cises of faith and prayer; you may be refreshed with a more excellent view and better hope than Moses had on Nebo's summit. The hasty conclusion. " Then I said, I am cast out." I. Its cause. 1. Consciousness of guilt. 2. Calamity interpreted as visitations of God. II. Its folly. God reproves, and often severely, but never casts away his children. When we speak in haste we do not consider. Our minds are then disturbed, and we distrust God. (Cf. David, 1 Sam. xxvii. 1 : Ps. xxi. 22.) " Hasty words," says one, " are but for a moment on the tongue, but they often lie for years on the conscience." The mischief of hasty conclusions is great. " Waters flowed over mine h< ad ; then I said, I am cut oil'. I called upon thy name, 0 Lord, out of the low dungeon," 368 EOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JONAH, [chap. it. HOMILETICS. The bobbtblb Pit. — Verses 5, G. Hie prophet again enlarges on his terrible and apparently hopeless condition, rfnl deep from whence he was delivered, and admires the power of d his salvation. I. The depth of the pit. The poet or the painter can add nothing to the de- scription here given of the prisoner in the deep. He was cast down into a dark, fearful dungeon, amid horrible gloom and rushing torrents. Forgotten of mankind ; confined in anguish and hell. Sin always casts men into extremity and death. II The dangers of the pit. His perd was imminent. The terrors of the Al- mighty, the elements of nature, set themselves in array against him. 1. He was i toaters. Excluded from the atmosphere and light on the surface, mffocated beneath the waves. His very soul was submerged, and . the floods BO that life was almost extinct. "Encompassed me even to il." L'. Ee was barred by the earth. He was carried to the base of the rocks, the roots of the mountains, whose summits overtopped the waves. 3. He tic >/>. " The deep rinsed mt in." He could sink no lower, and it was impossible to rise higher He was confined on all sides. Earth and sea formed the vault within which he was for ever shut. 4. He was wrapped round ^ritli The alga or weed was bound about his head, and made it like a of death or living corruption. "As the monster within which he was med glided through the vast submarine forests, they seemed to enclose him in their gr» n and slippery coverts, or portions of sea-weed, swallowed by the fish, wrapped itself around him." III. The deliverance from the pit. "Thou hast .lit up my life." Bis i 3cue was like a resurrection of the body, and displayed aid power of Jehovah. God delivered him from sufferings described and recorded when he was on dry land. His soul also was recovered to true penitence, and the light of God's countenance. He could now say, "0 Lord, my i \ .-wcrt renewed Bense of pardoning love is often the pleasant shore on which we step out of the deep mire of our sorrowfid troubles." IV. The grati- tude to the deliverer. It is a good thing to give thanks to God for blessings common with God to deliver when aobodyelse can. Every mercy is th :i of a thought, the manifestation of a purpose. God's mercies are innumerable, and must be publicly acknowledged to quicken our own hearts and xxxviii. 17). "He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, f the miry clay, and Bet my feet upon a rock, and established my goings" (P xl. 2, HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. V< r. Trials like water. Deep, phet. 3. It was Divinely wrought. y, and overwhelming. It is Bad to "Yel hast thou." 4. It was recognized be perfectly sensible of your situation, and appreciated by Jonah. "0 Lord, notable to do anything for relief ; to my God." These words are full of . md become more fettered by meaning, and express the faith and joy the effort. of the Prophet [Exell]. The deli I I liverance Vers. 5, 6. Bringing up and preserv- humanly speaking, most unlikely, alien. Two great blessings traced to 2. It ily benevolent "Broughl the hand of God, and prompting to up in y life." It v, ire beyond gratitude on account of the evils de- all price that VI red to the | nbed. ciTAr. it.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY; JONAH. 369 HOMILETICS. Remembrance of'God. — Verse 7. Jonah continues his reflections, and calls to mind his past experience in the deep. I. Remembrance of God an antidote to fainting. Men faint through heat, thirst, and exhaustion ; but the worst fainting is in the mind (Heb. xii. 3). If the mind keeps strong we can bear up, but if that gives way we succumb to sorrow. Natural infirmities, trouble and temptation, may overcome the. stoutest. The soul is filled with doubt, the heart grows weak, and faints away. Above all, guilt brings fear and drives away God, and casts dark shadows over our path. But if we are humble and turn to God in our despondency our souls will revive, and hope will dawn in regions of despair. Remembrance of (a) God's power, (b) God's promise, and (c) God's readiness to save, will renew our strength. " God will help and that right early." II. Remembrance of God a stimulant to prayer. " And my prayer came unto thee." Much depends upon what men look at in trouble. Ac- cording to the object in view will be the direction of the thoughts. Some look at their situation, with its attendant evils, and faint. Others trust to wrong sources for help, and are disappointed. But remembrance of God will invigorate faith, and prompt to prayer. Constant thoughts of God would make life more devout and successful. Continual prayer to him would secure his presence, and turn the depths of death into a temple of praise. III. Remembrance of God a proof of God's remembrance of US. When Ave truly remember and pray to Cud in sorrow, it is an evidence that we are not forsaken by him. The spirit of prayer is given tj be cidtivated, and offered to him in hearty petitions. No greater mercy can we have in trial than to be kept prayerful and dependent upon God. Contrite prayer and enjoyment of Cod's favour are closely connected. Let us not forget God whatever else is forgotten. The Moral Contrasts in Life. — Verses 8, 9. Jonah now expresses his feelings in sacrifice and praise, resolves to lead a new life, and pay his vows to God. This conduct stands in marked contrast to the ungodly who forget God, and forsake their own interests. I. God is the highest good of men. What is the chief good of humanity has been the problem of ages, the aim of all religion and philosophy. Many have been the theories concerning it; but the declaration of God's word decides the question. 1. God is the supreme good in himself. David calls him, my goodness (Ps. cxliv. 2), my kindness or benignity; the God of my mercy (lix. 17). What is comprehended in the summum bonum of man — wisdom and justice, beauty and love — belong to him. He is the infinite excellence and the ultimate good of all men. 2. God is the source of goodness to others. He is good in himself, and his tender mercies are over all his works. He is the source and fountain of all our enjoyments. When he relieves the miserable it is mere;/ ; when he bestows favour upon the unworthy it is grace ; when he supplies the indigent it is bounty. Cod's mercy includes all the forms of his kindness shown to men ; whether considered as creatures, as sinners, or as believers. "The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." II. The wicked forsake God, their highest good. 1. This conduct is wilful. God does not forsake them. They voluntarily forsake him, and therefore shordd not blame him. Examples warn, hindrances check them, but they go on. In opposition to light and known results they obstinately choose death rather than life. 2. This conduct is injurious. " They forsake their own mercy." They take nothing from God, but rob themselves of natural enjoyments, Divine favour which is better than life, and commit moral suicide. Sinners put God from them, who would be their life, and destroy themselves (Hos. xiii. 9). "He that sinnelh against me wrongeth his own sold ; all they that hate me love death." 3, This 24 370 EOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JONAH. [chap. it. conduct Lb foolish. "They observe lying vanities." They forsake the true for the ,!,' [dola are vanities. The gods of the heathen, or the idols of modern mpty and vain. The worship of mammon and the desire of fame, the intellect and superstitions, arc worthless things. (2) Idols are lying vanil , are both vanity and falsehood. They deceive by vain show, and in the end disappoint (3) Set men observe idols. They guard and love them, depend upon them, and pursue them with eagerness. Falsehood can neither feed the mind nor calm the conscience. Everything apart from God is vanity and lies. men, how lung will ye love vanity?" III. The righteous serve God, their highest good. The grace that had called forth prayer now ends in Jonah vows, and pays his vows. 1. They offer thanksgiving to God. " The voice of praise." Winn we drink of the stream we should lift up our head to heaven. The least mercies are gnat when viewed as coming from God. Let Qua be felt, then we ahall enjoy them, and gladly offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Our gratitude will be (a) sincere, (/>) devout, and (c) continual. "Lei the sacrifice of praise to God continually ; that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name." 2. They dedicate their lives to God. They renew their vows, and hind their treacherous heart the faster to God and duty. Jonah ready t" go and preach at Nineveh, or serve God anywhere, now. God's loving correction had made hint great and bold. Let our oath of allegiance be red in every deliverance from trouble. Do not show coldness and ingratitude, which Bense of duty and natural shame allow not to an earthly benefactor. Our future life should be a hymn of praise ami a living sacrifice. Let the power derived from discipline, the gratitude prompted by mercy, be practical and abiding. " Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me; and to him that prdereth his conversation will 1 show the salvation of God." EOMILETIQ HINTS AND OUTLINES. Year. />]. them as though they could keep them. Vow. The Hebrew word seemeth to what are they I Lying vanities; imply two things : First, that hit vow •h and wind which none can grasp till paid was incomplete; it was an im- oi detain, vanishing like ay into air. perfect thing ; the better part of it was And what do they who so observe yet wanting. Next, till that were done them | All alike forsake their own be could not be at peace within him- "/•'•//, i. 6. God, whose property is self; for vows are debts; and debts always to have mercy, and who would till they be paid are a burden to an them if they wanted honest, miml, and do much disease it [P "A- [Ibid.]. JIOMILETICS. Salvation of the Lord. — Verse 9. By salvation here we do not understand Jonah's deliverance from death merely. chap. II.] 1I0MLETIC COMMENTARY: JONAH. 371 Dr Gill says there is something so special in the original, the word having one more letter than it usually has when it only refers to temporal deliverance, that we must understand it here as relating to the great work of the soul, which en- dureth for ever. That salvation I shall try to show as best I can. I. Expound the doctrine that salvation is of Jehovah. To begin at the be- ginning, the plan of salvation is entirely of God. Aild as in planning, so it was of the Lord in execution. Salvation, in the application of it, is from God. As to the sustaining of the work in a man's heart, salvation is of the Lord. II. God has hedged this doctrine about to prevent mistake. Some say, salvation in some cases is the result of natural temperament. Others, that the minister converts them. God takes care that salvation is not of man, for usually he blesses those who seem most unlikely to be useful. III. What is, what should be, the influence of this doctrine upon men ? First, with sinners this doctrine is a great battering- ram against their pride. What influence upon the saint'? Why, it is the key- stone of all Divinity. I will defy you to be heterodox if you believe it ; proud, if you feel it, you cannot be. You will not be distrustful. You may always bo joyful if you keep it in mind. This may, by grace, nerve you to work fur God. Go and preach the gospel everywhere, recollecting that God is more than a match for man's sin ; and will ye be master over the earth 1 [JSpurgeonX The Great Deliverance. — Verses 9, 10. These words were the result of recent experience, penned in grateful feeling, and adapted to all ages. I. The inestimable blessing*. " Salvation." 1 . Its magnitude. In the inten- sive form it denotes a mighty salvation. The force of the Hebrew may include temporal and eternal salvation. Jonah's deliverance was unknown in history, unparalleled in God's dealings with men. God's power is drawn out by the emergencies of his people, often reserved for great occasions, and unlimited in its nature. " So great a salvation" is offered in Christ, that men should receive it and glorify him. 2. Its fulness. It was a complete salvation. Jonah was not left in the deep, nor sent to the surface to swim to land. The fish vomited out and cast him on dry land. He was left in no danger, but enjoyed a perfect rescue. " His work is honourable and glorious." II. The Divine source from which it comes. " Sal- vation is of the Lord." It is wholly his ; and not part his, and part ours. It is specially and peculiarly his. It belongs to him, and no other. Hence understand the words, 1. Affirmatively. " To Jehovah beascribed salvation." "Thine is the king- dom, the power, and the glory, for ever." 2. Negatively. There is" salvation from no other source. " Beside me there is no Saviour." III. The wonderful method of its accomplishment. God " spake unto the fish." Some deny an active will and a personal presence in nature. They recognize nothing but matter and force. All creatures are controlled by law and instinct, say they. But Creation is subject to God's will. A fish was prepared for Jonah, and at the bidding of Jehovah it dis- gorged him. Hence, notice — 1. The power of God over all creatures. The beasts of the field, and the fish of the sea; "all cattle, creeping things, and flying fowl," are governed by him. 2. The ease with which God governs all creatures. II'' has only to speak — the world is created, the storm is stilled, and the dead are raised. In heaven above, and in the remotest bounds of space, the highest arch- angel and the smallest atom, hearken and obey the voice of God. , 3. The times in which God accomplishes his purpose in reference to all creatures. '1 he time of the prophet's deliverance was come, and the sea-monster in whose belly he had traversed the deep, could not retain him. With unerring precision it bore him through the trackless ocean to the destined shore. Events are subservient to God, and at his pleasure carry believers to appointed duty, needful trial, and purchased rest. However dark your position or agitated your course, let faith realize, and linmiETir commentary: joxah. [chap. II. • r ask for, the overruling will of God. and all will be well. " My times are in thy hand." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Vet. 0. Salvation of God. 1. The feeling of assurance. 2. The expression of gratitude. •">. The ground of en- •,: to others. Turn the prison of the world into the temple of God and it will aot be able to detain thee 10. That time might not efface his impressions, he would hasten to i. under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, for the instruction of his own countrymen and the Israel of God in all ages, the trials, mercies, and ex- perien t" the lasl few eventful days. The record has reached us, and besides other instruction, may remind us — First, the troubles of believers have an appointed end, and a joyful one: the :' their correction is not for ever d'- Ixxvii. 7—11 : Is. xlix. 14, 15). Let them, then, believe, submit, and wait. Secondly, That trust in God is that grace which it is their privilege and duty to exercise under all circum- stances, even under manifest chastise- ments for admitted sins. The issue of such trust shall be good, truly and thoroughly good, and often, beyond all expectation, blessed and joyful. Th irdly, That Christians should not sorrow over departed Christians, as they who are without hope. This extraordinary cir- cumstance in Jonah's history was typical of the far more wonderful and glorious event of the resurrection of Christ, and those who sleep with him. The grave shall disgorge her temporary prey, and then shall be brought to pass the say- ing, Death is swallowed up of victory [Sibthorp], ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER II. 1 1. Affliction. Sorrow ilthat has passed through - it Bupple and sweet, prompt with gentle sympathy. Larger self- knowledge has been acquired. One can from such seasons deeper emotions, ' of thought, a stronger and enlarged experience. As good arc better made by ill, As odours crush, d are sweeter still." Eere his cry mighl be that of I 'avid in I ' . lxix. Borne of the tried children of God have found cause to make it theirs ; mid all, if he gave the reins to their soul's enemies or dealt with them as their iniquil Lei us look at the suff< rings of Abraham, Joseph, Job, David, Jeremiah, Paul, and i i rod's ancient saints, and adore liis mercy toward u<. Bui lei as look from them .it the Saviour, and at the deep and stormy waters he p through [Sibthorp']. I brings out stars, as sorrow teaches •nith." Ver. 7. Remembered. As God doth plant and actuate grace in the soul, so he is pleased to come in with seasonable supplies and reinforcements to the weak and decayed graces of his people. Thus he feeds the believer's lamp with fresh oil ; gives in more faith, more love, more hope, and more desires; and hereby he power to the faint, and strengthens the things which remain and are ready to die [John Willison], This truth the poet sings — " Thai a sorrow's crown of sorrow is remember- ing happier things" [Tauii/son]. Ver. 8. Vanity. As well try to fill the yawning chasm with a few grains of sand as satisfy the gulf of the soul's desires with the pleasure of an empty world [Macduff]. Ver. 9. Vowed. The Archbishop of ne, being asked by the Emperor SigismuAd how to attain true happi- ness, replied, "Perform when thou art well what thou promised when thou wast sick." Ver. 10. Providence. We are not able to account for the method of Divine chap, til] H0M1LETIC COMMENTARY : JOXAlL 373 providence in many instances. We talk human life is one grand providence and of special and general providence ; but purpose. it would be better if we could see that "Each man's life is all men's lessons." [Lord Lytton. ] CHAPTER III. Critical Notes.] 2. Arise] J. might not imagine that God would send him again. But he appears to have some settled home, and an interval seems to have elapsed before the second commission, to give time for the report to spread. Preach] Lit. proclaim. 3. Went] I am made wiser by correc- tion. Great city] Lit. great to God. Some great through God, i.e. through his favour ; others great before God. " It was most natural to refer the size of a city, of which the Hebrews could form no adequate conception, to the Divine estimation. I have accordingly rendered the words literally, as our preposition to is often used to note opinion, or estimate " [Henderson]. The Hebrews expressed superlative ideas by using the name of God, e. g. " mountains of God," "cedars of God," &c. Three days] in circumference, or the length of Jonah's journey through it. Expositors differ. 4. A day's journey] commenced, when he found opportunity to preach. No time to loiter, nor gratify curiosity. Cried] as a herald. Forty days] The measure of delays in God's visitations. A number of frequent use in Scripture. Overth.] Lit. overturned (evertere), turning upside down, total destruction, as Sodom (Gen. six. 25 : Is. i. 7). 5. Believed] Lit. in God, in his wurd ; trusted in him. Sackcloth] The attire of deep mourning, irritating to the body. Fasting and sackcloth cus- tomary in humiliation (1 Kings xxi. 27 : Joel i. 13). Penitence universal. 6. Word] The matter ; report of Jonah's preaching, and its effects in the city. Nineveh never so moved and shaken. Laid aside] The king approved the proclaimed fast, disdained not to follow the example of the people, but humbled himself with them in common peril. Some think that Sardanapalus was the king, whose motto was — " Eat, drink, play: after death there is no pleasure." 7. Nobles] The government of Nineveh was not an absolute monarchy. The nobles probably originated the decree, and the king confirmed it (cf. Dan. vi.). Beast] " It was no arbitrary, nor wanton, nor careless act of the king of Nineveh to make the dumb animals share in the common fast. It proceeded pro- bably from an indistinct consciousness that God cared for them also and that they were not guilty " [Elzaz]. 8.] Two remedies suggested. Cry] to God in prayer. Turn] Reform ; for prayer, without amendment of life, is a mockery (Ps. lvi. 18 : Is. lviii. 6). Violence] Nineveh's chief sin (Nah. iii. 1). The Assyrian records arc nothing but a register of military campaigns, spoliations, and cruelties [Layard]. "Nineveh and Babylon." 9. Tell] (cf. Joel ii. 14) : to act on a nine possi- bility of mercy, an instance of strong faith in idolaters. We have better hope of pardon (Job xxxi'ii. 27: Jer. xxxi. 18). 10.] God saw and removed judgment threatened; but there was no change in him (Num. xxiii. 19 : Jas. i. 17). This repentance showed a susceptibility in the Ninevites for the word of God, and a willingness to forsake ungodly ways. They reprove and con- demn many more highly privileged (Luke xi. 32). HOMILETICS. Jonah a Sign to the Ninevites. — Chap. III. 1, and Luke xi. 30. Jonah would obey the second commission with renewed strength and Divine authority. He would appear in Xineveh as a sign, an outward proof of a Divine purpose in his life and work (cf. Luke xi. 30). • I. A sign of God's mercy towards men. As in a mirror, we sec much of ( tod and men, of sin and grace, in the history of Jonah. ( Jod proved that he was reconciled. 1. In forgiving sin. 2. In restoring a backslider. 3. En reinstating a runaway prophet, 'if we abuse the confidence of our fellow-creatures, they seldom forgive and employ us again. But God freely forgives, restores to favour after rebellion, and grants commission to unworthy servants. " 1 have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins ; return unto me, fori have redeemed thee." II. A sign of God's inflexible justice towards men. God s servant must be punished and corrected. The sincerity of his penitence and the, honour of bis God, must be vindicated. Nineveh must be threatened, and her sin irOMILETIC C01D1EXTAIIY : JOXAII. [cu.vr. in. ken. Pardon gives no licence to disobedience. Neither the righteous nor tli, wicked can -in with impunity. God will he glorified in the life of his people, the law magnified in the destiny of nations. III. A sign of God's un- changeable purpose towards men. God's plans arc made in wisdom, and must pliahed. Be does not alter them to gratify the whims and caprice of in.m. •• Be is of one mind, and who can turn him 1 " Nineveh must he warned, and Jonah mnsl go. All pleas and excuses arc. in vain. God gives to every one his work, mi to do it. If he runs away he must be fetched back. Treachery and cowardice God has determined to scourge. "He that knoweth his will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes." Tin: Second Call. — Verses 1, 2. If Jonah doubted whether after sin like his he would ever be restored to a and service again, he had nol Inn- to wait fur an answer; for "The word of the Lord came onto Jonah the second time." This second call was — I. Divinely given. The prophet might be ready, but he had need to be certain that God required him to go. If we are willing, we require instruction in ditty. Thi spring of action is not mere religious feeling, but apprehension of God's word. I -ion will not ensure consistent life, without faith in Divine truth. God had ik again. -'The first verse," says Luther, " is therefore written that we may bear in mind thai nothing is to be. undertaken without God's word and command. For lie- first command of I rod having been violated by disobedience, had not God renewed it, Jonah would not have known whether he shotdd do it or not." II. Urgent to immediate service. ''Arise, go," are terms of incitement, and indi- that he was nol girded for work, but resting in contentment and ease. 1. The duty »■<{.■< imperative. The more quickly we perforin, the better for our souls. Dela; , and impeachment of Divine wisdom. We must prove the sincerity of our profession by prompt obedience. "Be ready to every good work.'' 2. The communication "-n* suspended. The exact message seems not to est. Immediate departure to Nineveh was required, and further revelations were delayed. God thus cultivates the dependence and tries the faith of h I lis own authority in prescribing duty must be sufficient. His simple wc.nl is entitled to respect and compliance. Present duty should be enough for oa, God will give enlarged views, greater strength, and "more consolation, if we practise what we already know. "If any man will do the will of God, he -bdl know," &c. III. Specific in directions. 1. Tlie destination was still the "To Nineveh, that great city." The trial is not abated, the dangers are ii"t hidden, lb- h again reminded that it was a great, proud, and heathen city, to which he A city whose inhabitants were pre-eminently wicked and violent, and whom he was to threaten with Bpeedy and complete ruin. But God had given Jonah proofs of his love, and Jonah should give not less evidence of his obedience. 2. I lage would be given him. "The denunciation that I shall ': to thee." He was nol to concern hini.-elf about bis message and its results. ' would \»- given to him when he was ready for if. lie is to add nothing, nor diminish nothing. The christian minister is not left to Ids own discretion, nor must he study t.. gratify the taste of the people. He must preach the Word— the Erom God to him earnestly and faithfully. If he tries to explain away "'■n down wh re to the ungodly, "he takes upon himself a double responsibility- n iponsibility for the salvation of the souls entrusted to him, and risibility for his own disobedience." Many may speak to us smooth things, but we Hint ii'. t please men, for how can we then be servants of God1? Jonah inu-t be faithful: (1) In the ,„,,//,,- ,,f his preaching. The unwelcome message l( livered. Nineveh was to he denounced for sin. (2) In the manner of his preaching. Be was to "cry." Cry in compassion for perishing men, as a t of hi- own sincerity, to rouse a careless and .sinful people. "Proclaim the chap, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JONAH. 370 preaching that I shall bid thee." (3) A second call summoned him. [ngratitude and failure had disgraced his conduct. But God had chastised and forgiven him. His experience Avas a preparation for service. Before -we can proclaim metcy to man we must receive it ourselves. Profound repentance and perfect restoration to Divine favour will qualify us for a proper discharge of duty. Repeated acts of grace to us are a ground of hope for others. Severe trials and deep sorrow are often forerunners of great trust and high distinction, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach trans- gressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 1. God does not utterly reject and integrity; (b) It would inspire him him who has failed once ; but he rather with the assurance that he was not gives him a new opportunity of correct- returning alone — that he had One who ing former faults [Lange\ would carry him through all danger, The most prominent lesson in this and give him success in his work. 3. verse is that God gives to men successive As an afflicted man, whose affliction opportunities for tlie accomplishment of had been eminently blessed. Like the their life-work. We are not crushed Psalmist, before he was afflicted, he went by the weight of our first sin or failure, astray, but was chastened and subdued. If so, few would have anything like He knew the " goodness and severity of hope for the future. Life would be a God," and was fitted to teach them to dreary foreboding, lest any message others [77. Martin]. committed to our care should be neg- The preaching. Nothing should be lected, and entail final condemnation, more sacred to the preacher of God's The Avorld would be full of wretched word than truth, and simplicity, and mortals, upon whom would rest the inviolable sanctity hi delivering it woe of unfulfilled mission \Exell\ [Pusey]. The grand doctrines of the Ver. 2. Jonah would resume his New Testament are eternally fixed. We work with a new obedience. 1. As a must preach them all, faithfully and sinfid man, whose sin had been end- fully ; should we alter, add, or diminish, nently forgiven. He would accept his Ave' do not preach unto the people the mission in a spirit of gratitude, rever- preaching which the Lord bids us. If, ence, and submission. 2. As a prayer- instead of this, Ave preach another ful man, Avhose prayer had been emi- gospel, we shall bring doAvn upon us a nently ansAvered. Prayer ansAvered Avas curse and not a blessing \Jones\ (a) a testimony to him of his sincerity HOMILETICS. Jonah's Obedience. — Verses 3, 4. God's chastisement brings forth fruit, and secures dutiful obedience. Weak parents correct their children, and leave them to please themselves afterwards. The results of discipline are lost. Chastisement is an evil unless it produces obedience. " Happy is the man Avhom God correcteth." I. Jonah's obedience was prompt. The command Avas "arise," and "Jonah arose." He consulted not his oaati interests as before. Impressed with the mercies of God, and the obligation of his voavs, he promptly obeys. He goes in no rest- less, turbulent spirit. He is hearty and enthusiastic. We are commonly re- luctant, especially when danger threatens. We are too formal and time-serving. True ready obedience to God is liberty and bhssedness. " I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments." II. Jonah's obedience was complete. He neither delayed nor stopped short of his destination. " He went to Xmeveh. ' When he got there he lingered not at the gates, nor gratified curiosity by survey- JinMiir.Tir COMMENTARY: .mxAlI. [chap. hi. temples, ad the princely palaces. Neither did Jtei in its delivery. Before the mansion of the rich, .nd • of the poor, in the marts, and in the streets, he gave the alarm b, we must follow the Lord fully (Num. xiv. 24), or wholly. ,n of character, (6) unreserved obedience, (c) undaunted B] .:,,... •■ My fool hath held his stops, his ways lined." III. Jonah's obedience was divinely directed. I of the Lord." Fear, self-will, and prejudice had in- l : l's law is supreme in his bearl and life. Religion is d ran guide himself, nor be a law to another. We require one in its sanctions, (b) practicable in its requirements, (c) plain in beneficial in its results. God's "commands are not ind delightful ; " in keeping them there is a great reward." ••Hi- adorable will lot us gladly fulfil, improve, ktience of nope, and the labour of love." EOMILETIG HINTS AND OUTLINES. . &c. Did you xxvii. 32 — 3G) [Sibthorp]. Xincveh, through a painful crisis, a the city of God. God cares also for patience, faith, or the heathen (2 Kings v. 1 : Jer. xxv. keeping in viewall the while !•) ]Luther\, ind procedure, your ver. 4. Speak promptly, and delay ad policy, Bhould he "accord- not. [n God's kingdom every moment • i the word of the Lord"1 And i- precious. The time when he puts did you fail 1 No; and you never will his word in thy mouth is the right f.ul while tip- desire of your heart, and time; nut that which thou fanciest for . ling of your hand, are ruled and thyself [Langt |. Tin-, i- tic essence of L. God is able to reach and overthrow 1 ity — tic- i of faith the greatest persons or places when he [Martin]. has a controversy against them. 2. The cities have niani- Lord often sees it lit, in great wisdom, , in their erection, to conceal any thoughts of love to a :li, and Bplendour; people, and holds out only threatenings I, -infiii nature, in the and severity to induce them more a which they foster, Beriously to repent \Hutcheson\. proved moral p If God had meant unconditionally to rwallowing up the wealth of a overthrow them, he would have over- • tie- crimes of thrown them without notice. Yet, kind; aid tie justice, an I always denotes some longsuffering of '■ f, in their total annihila- God" [Pusey], '• i: la oil 19 : Ezek. HOMILETICS. Jonah's Preaching. - We I temenl which the preaching of Jonah would !. and crowds would gather round him. The brief and alarming cry would t..ll forth, yet forty days and Nineveh shall be over- Hen we have a description of Jonah's ministry. I It was divinely suggested in its matter. " The preaching that I bid thee." H phy or scientific theories, no inventions of his own; but red the denunciation given him. The minister may not be .specially guided chat, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JONAH. 3ft like the prophet and the apostles, hut a revelation is given from God. " If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God." The mind of God is discovered in the Scriptures. Here " God speaks much, and man little," says Chrysostoni. We must preach not morality, hut the gospel. II. It was intensely earnest in its spirit. Jonah was no statue in the streets, hut a living man. "The spirit and manner of a minister often affect more than the matter," says Cecil. " To feel is the readiest Avay to the hearts of others." " All men are orators when they feel; the language of the heart has an unction and an energy which no eloquence or sublimity can reach," says Bishop Hopkins. The words of Channing are weighty — " Earnestness should characterize the ministry ; and by this I mean, not « louder voice or a more vehement gesture ; I mean no tricks of oratory ; but a solemn con- viction that religion is a great concern, and a solemn purpose that its claims shall be felt by others. The life and sensibility which we would spread should be strong in our own breasts. This is the only genuine, unfailing spring of an earn- est ministry." There must be no weakness of heart, no feebleness of effort. " Cry against it." III. It was wisely practical in its aim. Jonah intended and earnestly desired to produce a reformation of life. If the preacher is to be a man of power he must arrange his thoughts, point his language, and embue his spirit with unction. He must get at the consciences of men. An ancient father wept at the applause given to his sermons, felt that his words had not gone deep enough, and exclaimed, " Would to God they had rather gone away silent and thoughtful." Nathan said to David, " Thou art the man." The truth must be driven home, the heart searched, and men roused to repentance. The word must strike and stick. One remarks that " every action is done by the touch." In preaching, this doctrine is true. Massillon's hearers carried away the arrows fastened in their consciences, thought themselves to be singled out, and never regarded others. Peter's audience " were pricked to the heart " by his earnest practical appeal. IV. It was wonder- fully successful in its results. Nineveh penitent is not only a splendid specimen of the power of the Divine word, but a wonderful achievement of an earnest man hi proclaiming it. What Demosthenes did in the Athenian Senate, what Augustine, Chrysostom, and Luther achieved in days of old, may be done yet by the right men. The revivals 0f Pentecost, of Whitfield and "Wesley, are not to be regarded as isolated facts beyond accomplishment now. The moral need is the same, and the word of God can satisfy it. Multitudes remain untouched by the most successful preacher. In our largest cities are people living in idleness and vice. The preacher must go forth to warn and urge men to repentance, lest while they " cry peace and safety, sudden destruction come upon them." " The great pvoclaimer, with a voice More awful than the sound of trumpet, cry'd Repentance, and heaven's kingdom nigh at hand To all baptized" [Milton]. Nineveh Warned and Nineveh Eeformed. — Verses i — S. Jonah's message was like a thunderbolt in the' guilty city. It was a short, most impressive, and successful sermon. It produced results which the preaching of Noah for 120 years did not produce, and which have never been equalled since. I. Nineveh warned. Jonah had no long address to give, nor many persuasions to offer. He had only to repeat one terrible denunciation. "Yet forty days, and Nineveh overthrown." 1. The judgment was great. "Overthrown." Overthrown by neighbouring nations whom they had made enemies by oppression? by con- spiracy, revolt, and massacre within? by floods, fire, or brimstone from heaven? by earthquake shivering its defences, overturning Its proud palaces, and burying everything in ruins 1 None can tell. God has evils to let loose, arrows in his quiver, which men know nothing of. A guilty conscience forebodes the worst of judg- ULETir COMMENTARY: JONAH. [chap. iff. a defend, and no city escape, when he determines to punish. . imminent, < holy " forty days." It may begin before they are, i Wi!l be c tmpli • ■ ' tii'- end of them. It is a fact that great n unexpectedly and suddenly overthrown. Sodom and Gomorrah, Nineveh and Babylon, are solemn warnings in history. Shortness ■i.l execution should give weight to fchj message, ami , / >. nt was morally necessary. Nineveh was I 1 iwn. This death suspended over the heads of nearly a • ■ physical nor political necessity. It was God's righteous il law. •• The. violence " of Nineveh demanded a moral ment. "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." J***\fl' "Justice, like lightning, ever should appear To few mi n's ruin, but to all men's tear" [Swcnam]. II. Nineveh reformed. Sometimes searching appeals, solemn warnings, and gtrikii • leave no influence behind them, But, in Nineveh, a revolution without bloodshed and strife, memorable in its history. 1. It was re- i right principle. They " believed God." Believed in his tment over the universe ; believed in his purpose and power rhey believed in his justice and mercy towards men. They • ■ be a message from <'">d to them. The approaching : d. and though no promise of merry was expressed, yet they God in faith. If men would believe in God, social corruption would he ness and ambition would cease to rule; hatred, violence, and murder would be cured. 2. // was repentance encouraged by the royal court. Alarm an the body, bo do orrupi the reel | Trapp}. I :ii iii his lu.v'nv and pride reflect his tec to pomp. Self- humiliation would, have everything re- flect its lowliness. Sorrow would have everything answer to its sorrow. Men think it strange that the horses at Nineveh were covered with sackcloth, and forget how, at the funerals of the rich, Mack horses are chosen, and are clothed with black velvet [Pusey]. The mighty cry. The Easterns are given to expressions of feeling in anger, sorrow, or devotion. But this cry de- notes— 1. Intense earnestness : not merely asking or seeking, but a cry. An agony, as one in deep distress, or intently en- gaged in solemn pursuit (Gen. xxxii. 24 — 26). 2. Deep fervour. It was not i inly a cry, but a mighty cry. There was deep contrition for sin, and strong desire for pardon. Faintheartedness and feeble prayers gain no Messing. The effectual fervenl prayer avails much. The prayer that stirs and labours for its ends (Jas. v. 16 : Heb. v. 7). 3. Great confidence. They believed that God could and would help them. They turn away from idols, and look to the God of mercy. 4. Great '■ranee. Not onee, but continually, did they cry, and felt the necessity of 1 >ivine protection day by day. We must, always come to God humbly, fervently, and incessantly. "0 Lord, to Thee will I cry." NineveKs repentance. Its nation- ality. Its expressions. Its efficacy | MarHri\. The repentance of the Ninevites a model of a genuine national repentance. 1 . It hears God's proclamation, and asks nol why I (vers. 1—4). 2. It springs from faith, and is accompanied by faith (vers. 5—9). .3. It bows itself under the curse of the common guilt, and not a ingle < arson asks, " How much have I deserved?" (ver. 6). 4. It is united with the purpose of amendment [Lange\ H0MILETIC8. Who can MLL? — Verse 9. This was the forlorn hone of Nineveh. 1 shall notice three, things. I. The miserable plight in which the men of Nineveh found themselves Ih.-y won like those m the days of Noah; ate and drank, builded and planted. chap, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : JON AIL 3S1 They fell into abominable sins, and their vices probably rivalled those of Sodom. But their boasting was cut off, and the sound of their mirth ceased. They discovered their great sin. Added to this, they had information as to the shortness of their days. " Forty days." The shortness of time should rouse us from slumber. The third thing was the terrible character of the judgment. II. The scanty reasons they had for their hope. Notice in Jonah's message, there was no proclamation of mercy. It was one short sentence of doom. Another thing would cut off their hope — they knew nothing of God except, it may be, some dreadful legends they had heard of his terrible acts. They lacked another encouragement which you and I have. They had never heard of the Cross. Jonah's preaching was very powerful, but there was no Christ in it. III. We have stronger reasons to compel us to pray, and more comfortable argu- ments to urge us to trust. Eefer to the Scriptures. Eemember David, Manasseh, and Saul of Tarsus. Your only hope lies in the mercy of God. Cling to it tenaciously. Eemember, for your encouragement, God delights to save. Men object not to an expensive thing if it bring them honour ; but if honour goes with a thing they are ready enough to do it. If God saves you, it will honour him. In prayer you ask for that which glorifies God and benefits yourself. Come, humble sinner, and cry to Christ, and he will have mercy upon thee \_Spnrgeon\. Nineveh's Hope and Nineveh's Eeprieve. — Verses 9 — 10. Hope is the gift of God, and a powerful principle in the human mind. It is the ground of support in trouble, and the mainspring of all effort. Fill the earth with hope, you fill it with light, life, and exertion. "Where hope dies a man is buried in gloom ; where it lives he looks forward, and strives for better things. " I do hope good days," says Shakespeare. 1. Nineveh's hope. " Who can tell?" are words which express some faint nope. But hope rests on some foundation. If not, it is rather presumption, and will disappoint. What were the grounds of Nineveh's hope? 1. The light of nature xoould prompt them to hope. It is something not to despair. Nil desperandum we cry. There is hope in a peradventure. But there are human feelings from which to judge of the feelings of God towards us. The tender parent is reluctant to punish the penitent child. We argue from the knowledge of God within us that he may be merciful. '' The miserable have no other medicine But only hope." [Shakespeare.] " Hope springs eternal in the human breast." [Pope.] 2. Jonah's message might encourage hope. Why forty days ? If God had been determined to destroy us, would he have given any time, any respite at all? There must be some secret thoughts of mercy, though not revealed to us. If God's messenger speaks of only judgment, God's conduct indicates forbearance. Let us indulge hope, improve our time, and seek deliverance by fasting and prayer. " Who can tell?" 3. Jonah's history would encourage hope. Here is a man whom they knew to have been disobedient, punished and saved. If God had mercy upon him, why not upon us ? The forgiveness of some is a ground of hope to others. Paid was a pattern of God's mercy to men. Jonah was a sign, an outward symbol of hope, to Nineveh. At any rate, if they must perish, it could be no worse to perish in repentance than in wickedness. Who knows ? was the anxious question. God only knew. If they acted thus in the darkness of heathen idolatry, what will become of many living in the light of gospel day ? You have better hope than Nineveh. " If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die." II. Nineveh's reprieve. The lloMU.F/riC COMMENTARY: JONAH. [chap. hi. r away, and the day to dawn on the city. They repent, and God I the evil which he had threatened. Nineveh guilty was destroyed by of its inhabitants, and Nineveh reformed was preserved by the •• Qod repented of the evil," &c. This is not the place fur the lifferent questions concerning the character and the government of , i no change in his purpose, and no contradiction in his word. We that if we turn to him, he will be gracious to us (Job ' 27 : •'■ :■ wxi. 18 : Ezek. xviii. 27). Luther says: "1 stick to this rule, questions as entangle us with the throne of the Divine majesty as „U1, ■!. | It is much better and safer for me to stay down by the cradle of ■ Christ, who has become man, than to puzzle one's self with the I the conduct of the Mnevites. " God saw their works." liscerned their fei lings, and noticed their acting. Their repentance, prayer, and ire approved by him Though the amendment might be temporary and rnal with many, yet this showed some faith in his word, fear of his name, and his mercy. He honoured, accepted, and rewarded it. There is no im- m God He knows the heart, and observes the life. The finest pro- ii without practice provokes him to anger; but the penitent suppliant moves him ■ •• Return unto me, and I will return to you." 2. God [/ranted a .\ vites. The whole city was preserved, and not one was put to ... 4,It was not his repentance altering their predicted fate, but their repent- mplishing his compassionate purpose." For God to destroy a penitent, p] , would have been apparently as inconsistent as to save the wicked tit y in its impenitence. " That the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee ; shall not the Judge of all the earth do right]" When Nineveh after- tilled up the cup of its iniquity, the threatened destruction came, and so ilete was the overthrow that we axe only now learning that the shapeless .■Is of the desert covered the palaces of mighty kings. In its repentance Nineveh is m encouragement to seek (Jod's mercy; in its overthrow a warning to ull those who provoke his wrath. "At what instant I shall speak concerning a a and concerning a kingdom to pluck up, and to pull down, to destroy it; if whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that i thought to do them." EOMJLETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. 9. Who can tell ! In the true to fact, and their reformation of lopment of tl within the character not according to the circum- • of Nineveh we behold the truest stances of the case. They believed in a - /. It was not Deity capable of anger and destruction; dation, hut a true confidence in the the former ,if which they had excited, arbiter of the moral and the latter of which they had : men, that inspired and re- narrowly escaped [Exdl\ i this hope, in ii,,. development \ soon as prayer took possession of old the first daum of them, it both made them righteous, and The Ninevitea are true to forthwith corrected the city which had •tier nature, humble and expect- been hahituated.to live with profligacy, rk «-iit in their conduct and wickedness, and lawlessness. More I in their hearts, powerful was prayer than the long usage 1 new light, and of sin. It tilled that city with heavenly tveuly life, laws, and brought along with it temper- 1,1 ; raentoJ this hope we be- ance, loving-kindness, gentleness, and / tki anger of care of tho poor [Chrysostom]. tedited the Divine Ver. 10. The repentance of God is Uth would have been un- included in his gracious decree. It is CHAT. III.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JONAH. .383 the harmonizing of wrath and forgive- ness, justice and love. Wrath is not the final end ; but it has for its end and object, love. Woe to him who makes light of the wrath of God : he can never taste of love [Lange]. Works. 1. God looks not at outward performance. " Bring forth fruits meet for repentances." 2. To be acceptable to God we must renounce all sins. The sins of the city and the sins of indi- viduals. If we regard iniquity in our hearts, God will disregard us (Ps. lxvi. 18). 3. God will bless feeble efforts to forsake sin and reform life. Temporal favours are a type of spiritual blessings, and temporary repentance an image of true penitence. If men through fear of judgment depart from evil and avert temporal evils, what will repentance unto life gain ? Learn: — 1. That God may intend mercy amid darkness and judgment. 2. But men, sensible of their sins and desert, are often uncertain whether he will have mercy or not. The Christian in affliction and the penitent sinner seeking mercy, put the cpiestion, "Who can tell?" 3. By keeping the mind in suspense between hope and fear, judgment and mercy, God stirs up to greater diligence. Be not disheartened nor deterred from duty in trouble. God will hear prayer. The answer will be (a) certain, (b) season- able, and (c) compassionate. "Repentant tears." [Shakespeare.] ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER III. Vers. 1 — 3. This is substantially the same commission, and yet different. The " second " call to a man is never exactly the same as the first. The third is never a repetition of the second. Another tone is in the voice of the speaker, firmer or milder. Other shades of meaning are in the message. If it is " the second time," still more if it is the seventh time, or the seventy-and-seventh time, there will be changes in the message corre- sponding with changes which time has brought in circumstances and in charac- ter. It may seem a refinement, but, pro- perly understood, it is but a simple truth, that he never receives exactly the same command or. invitation from God more than once. " If slighted once, the season fair can never be renewed " [Raleigh]. A great city. Nineveh covered a great extent of ground. Historians say that its walls were 480 stadia, or 60 nnles, in circumference. It was great in population. Jonah mentions 120,000 who could not discern between their right hand and their left. It was great in splendour and power. "The re- searches in the mounds have astonished Europe with the barbaric grandeur of the statuary, and the full detads of life and history sculptured on marble, or stamped in arrow-headed characters upon the bricks." But it was morally great to God on account of the human souls, and their spiritual condition. In God's sight, grandeur, territory, and architectural beauty, are nothing to immortal souls, and the influence which they exert. The material worlds, the sun with its satel- lites, are not so great as a man. Try to realize how great you are in the sight of God. Ver. 4. Yet forty days. Delay in the execution of sentence is sometimes an encouragement to sin (Ecc. viii. 11) ; but gives space for repentance, and dis- plays the long-suffering of God (see Ex. xxxiv. 5, G : Ps. ciii, viii. : Joel ii. 13, 14 : 1 Pet. hi. 20). Ver. 5. Fast. They did not wait for supreme authority. Time Avas urgent, and they would lose none of it. In this imminent peril of God's displeasure, they acted as men would in a conflagration. Men do not wait for orders to put out a fire, or to prevent it from spreading. Whoever proclaimed a fast, it seems to have been done by acclamation ; one common cry out of the one common terror [Pusey]. Vers. 5, 6. The message first kindles in the humbler hearts. Poor men, and humble men, do not think what immense compensation they thus have for poverty, straits, and tods, in being kept, as to natural condition, so much nearer God EOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JOS AIL [chap. hi. and | re of hia gracious kingdom. . n teach them easily. Rich men, and those standing on the iciety, '1" not think how the earthly advancement is apt to be I by the spiritual disad- Raleigh]. ■■ Fha pridi ol kingl] iway." [8hakeapeare!\ X : 8, We double the greater I our faults by the excuses which we make use of to justify them — excuses which are a kind of patches when a renl de, f.ir more unseemly and misbe- coming tlum the renl itself [N<-<ng patience and forbearance ; allows for repentance, and seeks to pardon and save. Great kindness is seen in in provocation ; in great gifts upon the unworthy, and innumerable upon the julUt i„. Bought to relieve an overburdened spirit, rouse a dormant I m. It an impenitent heart. When we retire Prom duty in fretfulness, v. thou here, Elijah?" Whi a we indulge in . Ldence, and hatch imaginary ills, a voice speaks, " I h I ,1 bis servants, and seeks to relieve them. ! thinkethon me." II. The wisdom of God. Jehovah did not give Ued upon Jonah to assign a cause for anger, or by silence nth men are left to judge themselves, to pass sentence on They are completely in the power of God, and ho need not II ,, rati is voluntary obedience. To secure this, and prepare us mt, he enlightens the mind, quickens the conscience, and con- each — "Doest thou well I" 'I'm: Folly o» a Fretful Mind. — Verses 4 and 9. Tl; uo condemnation of lawful anger. As a natural emotion, anger is i. •• Be ye angry and sin not." The blame is against the ..:" it. I; v, - the zeal of false patriotism, passionate grief excited by an act ' ••.•. ine m. ■ I. Doest thou well to he angry without any real cause for thine anger ? oary. Thy grief is unnecessary ami unreasonable, unjust and wick from groundless causes. We picture the worst, needless. Our reason for displeasure is future, of our own ii as events may negative and disappoint. Think seriously whether a being angry. ' lontrol indignation in principle, purpose, and degree. : man worketh no1 the righteousness of God." II. Doest thou well to be angry when the dealings of God with thee teach thee to be thankful ? variance with his mercies and position as God's servant. •;tudc from one so highly favoured. Hut thankfulness with mercies, Those who receive most do not always make the e should dilute or remove the acid in our temper, teach us n formed, and make US conscious how rough and sinful re in the God. III. Doest thou well to be angry when (ousequences before God and man are most serious? 1. It excites the anger iption and self-assertion, disobedience to his will, and ■ de. The ungrateful can have no enjoyment of God's him to take away what they have, and to give less in the 1 i mnot improve their cticumstances. God's will is •• Is thine eye evfl because I am good?" 2. It is ■' to man. I i ood and just toward God, what can it a t It proves a man to be of narrow views and weak morals, (a) Never leial to one who indulges in ii. An ill temper is an affliction to its possessor, . and buanj 38. It distracts from his strength and beauty, 1 ; /and work. (A) Never beneficial to others. per thai Ed. Burke quarrelled with Wilberforce and the title ol "the inconsistent and incomprehensible Burke." ion delight the enemy and wound the friends, dishonour Christ of his religion. It leads us to imitate, repeat, and chai\ rv.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JONAS. 3S9 perpetuate wrong. It should be checked, for it is both mischievous to oneself and to others. " Doest thou well to he angry 1 " " When anger rushes unrestrained to action Like a hot steed, it stumbles in its way " [Savage], Jonah's Retirement. — Verse 5. As soon as Jonah had delivered his message he left the city, remained outside on the east side, and built himself a temporary shelter. The report of the city's repentance reached him; dissatisfied with himself, and displeased with God's dealings, he had neither comfort in duty nor retirement. I. The place of retirement. " The east side of the city, and there made him a booth." He was not unmindful of personal ease, takes time and bestows trouble to build a hut. We are often more concerned for our own comfort than for the interests of men. Selfishness is graven in the heart, drives men to grasp at shadows and not substance. It leads them to resign duty, quit the field of labour, and expect more tban they get. Adam parted with his holy robe, lost the presence of his God, and tried to make up for the loss with his own device. Selfish ends and worldly devices are nothing more than booths in which men can never rest and find shelter. The path of obedience alone is the path of happiness. II. The spirit of retirement. Here we have a noble man, a servant of God, blind to the interests of men and the claims of duty through pride and personal feeling ! Dis- appointed in labour, he wished to resign it ; tired of life, he prayed to leave it. There he sat, in silence and disgust. Heaven smiles on the city, joy and gladness fills its streets, but Jonah walks into solitude with a sullen temper. He is at variance with God, regardless of man, and shut up in selfish aims. " Oh what a blessed thing it is to lose one's will," said Dr. Payson ; " since I have lost my will I have found happiness. There can be no such thing as disappointment to me, for I have no desire but that God's will may be accomplished." III. The purpose of retirement. " Tdl he might see what would become of their city." Perhaps he did not wish its entire destruction, but he watched to see what would be done — if its repentance would last, and if after all God would fulfil the threat. Abraham interceded for Sodom, Christ wept over Jerusalem, and we should resemble these eminent patterns of compassion. But if our views of sin and God are clouded, if we value not the soul, and limit the mercy of God, we shall be indifferent to the moral condition of men. If, ISTerodike, we do not play whde the city burns, thousands may perish without a sigh or a prayer for their escape. We should have pity upon offenders, and haste to reclaim them. " Pulling them out of the fire." The Divine Correction of a Fretful Man. — Verses C — 10. God teaches not as man teaches. In God's school the lessons are mercifully given, and wonderfully adapted to our mind and circumstances. Here we have the Divine rebuke of Jonah's petulant temper. I. God corrects by refreshing the physical nature. The gourd was prepared " to be a shadow over his head." The first lesson and cure of despondency is to remove fatigue and bodily weariness from over-work. Elijah's despondency was partly physical, and the angel brought him refreshment. Food and rest are required, and God seeks to quiet the mind by cooling the body. There is an intimate connection between both, and we often get at one through the other. Regard for the body is urged from the lofty nature and the important use of the soul. They are helpmates in God's service now, and will be in his kingdom above. Fretf ulness, petulance, and irritability oftener spring from physical weakness than moral unloveliness. If God in providence deals mercifully we should not be harsh with such feelings. II. God corrects by influencing the moral nature. The method taken is worthy of special attention. Sensible signs teach spiritual HOMTLBTIC COMMENTARY: JONAH. [chap. iv. truths A parable work the form of facta is given and interpreted by God himself. 1. G by symbol "The Lord prepared a gourd," for all the in the dia ipline of a g 1 man are divinely ordered. Worda merely might no\ | ufficient. The Lesson is brought home by means of symbol. Man with nature, and God often touches this sympathy. Spring and unn, summer and winter, begel kindred feelings in our hearts. When llowers 1.1, ,,,111 an. I trees ihi Itei ice ; when beauty decays and plants perish, we prepared a worm which devoured the gourd, exposed Jonah to the burning sun an. I the vehement wind, then there was a change of feeling. He flint, d, complained t" God, defended excessive grief, and enforced his preference ah t. Life. "I do will to be angry, even unto death." Jonah is now prepared, bis moral nature is duly touched and displayed, and if he cannot rejoice in Nineveh's joy he musl understand that God does. 2. God speaks by verbal God now speaks to the Prophet, argues with him, and reasons fn»m the less t" the greater. Anything to break sullen silence is a blessing. The of a bird, thf voic ■ of a child, and the ripple of a stream are often music to : raise our thoughts from self to God. God holds up Jonah's feeling, makes his pity, nol the life of the plant, the symbol of his love. Pity onagourd for which he did not lahour, the son of a night, and the existence of a day ! 1 his fancy and Berved his wish! Did he want to spare this Bhort-lived little shrub! shall not God, then, spare immortal souls, the work of his hands, and rejoice over tin' humbled, penitent city? Our sympathies with tin' beautiful and good may he right, while our moral nature is wrong. God trains this instinctive feeling of the mind, sanctions its validity, and exercises and makes it the type of his own procedure. " If ye, being evil, know how to give good nnto your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give good to them that ask him ( " Withered Joys. — Verse 7. Man is capable of joy. True joys are only found in God. The worm of ;w- the rool of our best and mosl loved earthly joy. Everj^ creature my, and death smit gourd of life. Joys which specially decay I. Joys which are sinful in their basis. If we regard our own ease and the interests of men, and disapprove of God's ways, our joy is ish and will Boon decay. If we depend for happiness on anything beneath the hall come to grief. II. Joys which are gained without labour. Jonah her planted nor watered tie- tree which gave him shelter. Men often seize that , and trust to that which costs them nothing. God is constantly aching that nothing valuable is obtained without labour. The acquisition of It result-, not fn. m sulky labour and melancholy feeling, I duty and a peaceful heart. " I! pli asure ; i (Fort is the price ; The ; at the j"_\s of man " \Yomg], III. Joys which are deceitful in their results. Jonah's joy sprang from bodily ial feeling. The coroforta which removed his troubles were carnal d dying comforte. Our joj 3 are often Bhadows of our sorrows. Whatever be "1""' U8, if they exclude God, and submission to him, all creation is them. 1 1 ace, bul God in justice and love, who smites :- Wealth, friend hips, and honours seem to quicken n beauty and vigour ; but they bring decay and Whi u . treat, lo, a worm at the root! " Of j ;. - di parted • inlul the remembrance" [Rubt. Blair]. CHAP. IV.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: JONAH. 391 HOMILETIO HINTS AND OUTLINES. "Ver. 6. "Exceedingly glad," and "exceedingly grieved." Extremes in human feelings — their causes and con- sequences. It is a law of the mind, verified in ourselves and others, to he susceptible of sudden transitions, elevated to-day and depressed to-mor- row. Ver. 7. Destruction is " prepared " by God as well as life ; trouble as well as joy. And both are Divinely ruled with a view to the education and puri- fication of human souls. Here are em- blems of the closely-linked joy and sorrow of this mortal life. The fine plant, leafy green, types so well our comforts, successes, joys. The single day of shade it furnished to the heated Prophet speaks touchingly of the tran- sciency of our pleasures. The loorm reminds us that a small and mean creature may be a formidable enemy. The place of its operation, probably under the soil, shows us how powers and agents, invisible and unknown to us, can touch and smite in secret the springs of outward prosperity. The time when decay began — at the rising of the morning — makes us think mourn- fully how human helps and comforts often wither at the very season when they are most needed. How often when " the morning " of family life is "rising" are comforts swept away! Ah ! how often is there removal of sheltering fatherhood, or nourishing motherhood, or both ! The utter loss of what had given such intense enjoy- ment warns us not to set our affections passionately upon anything which can be utterly lost, but to lift our supreme affections to things above the sphere of the " worm " and the " moth," beyond the reach of the "rust" and the "thief " [Raleigh]. The worm teaches — 1. That things which destroy our gourds are often little things. 2. That things which destroy our gourds are often invisible things. 3. That things which destroy our gourds are always prepared by God. Under his control the meanest and most invisible creatures can accomplish the most wonderful purposes. They destroy the largest armies, and demolish the strongest fortresses; they overturn thrones, and lay waste empires. Earthly joys. It is kind in God to remove them, when he sees that his gifts are occupying our affections to the exclusion of the Giver. It is lawful for him to take them at any time. It will be just to do so, if we abuse and pervert them. Let us receive them with thank- ful acknowledgments of their Author, hold them with a readiness to relinquish them any moment, use them with care- fulness and moderation to his glory, and seek that, whatever they are in kind and number, our affections may be set on things above [Sibthoip]. Ver. 8. In this verse we have ex- emplified the conduct of some good people under affliction. We find that the afflictions which come upon men are Divinely commissioned — that they are often very severe. "A vehement east wind." They are often complicated. Not only the " wind," but " the sun," beating upon Jonah's head. They often happen at the most inopportune time, and have often a most exhaustive effect upon those to whom they come. " Ho fainted." These afflictions often oc- casion a complaining spirit. It is better for me to die than to live [Exell]. Ver. 9. Docst thou well? I. The question put. 1. To reprove Jonah. 2. To convince him of his error ; and 3. To bring him to a humble and obedient spirit. II. The answer given. Jonah had not dared to speak before verse 4, now he answers and defends his wicked spirit and conduct. We see the old spirit and pride with more actual sin and provocation. "I do well," Sec. A fearful outburst ! Eesist passion at the first rising, else who knows whither it may transport us] "Passions," saith Fuller, " like heavy bodies down steep hills, once in motion, move themselves, and know no ground but the bottom." " We oft by lightning read in darkest nights ; And by your passions I read all your natures, Tho' you at other times can keep them dark." [John Croivne.] •MMEXT.ini': JONAH. [citap. IV. HOMILETICS. fob Cinr.DRKX. — Verse 11. The mention of children and cattle in the description of the city indicates more than I ler mercy of God, and affords no ground for the brub. God estimal . not according to wealth and of its population. " Here," says one, " was a reason ;v, and for bringing the adults to repentance in order to ildren have a distinct rank assigned to them. They are distinguished f , higher than brutes. Hence they must not be looked upon r or hindrance to the welfare of humanity. Many regard them in the di land rank in the scale of being. Christianity differs tinction from ancient Polytheism and modern materialism in its ■ • wards little children — teaches that they are not to be regarded as inci] in human form, but as immortal beings, and of celestial beauty. the kingdom of heaven." II. Children have special claims upon talk of them as "little children," so many incarnate trifles or common- : humanity. Such treatment is neither justified by religion nor reason. ii its lowest forms involves mystery ; but if we recognize infants as manifesting id taking a definite rank in creation, we shall feel that certain lue i" them. Their innocency is pleasing, and their influence powerful. p chai icter and training depend the happiness of society and the destiny Few | • base enough to injure their children, but parental ful apathy prevail in every home. Children's claims are forgotten ■ I, and we are still under the moral implication of Christ — "Take heed if these little ones." III. God's mercy to children is an example to us. Priority and prominence are given to the children, and God appeals ah's human .sympathy. That heart must be desperately hard that I ! for the injury and death of infants. Herod's outrage brands him with '■ony in evi i But God <\<»^ nol play merely upon Jonah's feelings. He for children, and reveals his true character as a gracious God. played Divine love by taking them into his arms and blessing them. children should urge as to care for them. His pity for em in pain and danger Bhould be a model for parental conduct, and an ment to cultivate true disposition of heart. < 'hrist recommended true ■ hild in the midst of his disciples, and taught that Christian life was " Excepl ye be converted, and become as little children, ye ■ •*.i of heaven." God's Cabe for Oxen. — Verse 11. hildren there were also "much cattle," of infinitely more value I an .1 rd, and perfectly innocent of the crimes of which the Ninevites I. Here we have an argument for mercy to beasts. The city must be spared " "f ,; ■ ■■"■ tittle children and dumb creatures intercede for ' bepitied. "Doth God take care for oxen?" Yes, to teach us to be ' 1 ' !or. ix. 9 : I lent. xxv. 1). How unlike God are those who ,I"1 1,in1' ' sufferings upon them. Men whom God preserves menl of Bin wreak their rage upon their beasts, starve and ill them in sport and cruelty. " A righteous man " "f I i bu1 the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." e we have an argument for mercy to men. God's care for cattle suggest* a ion of sympathy when persons bestow CHAT. TV.] IIOMLETIC COmfENTARY: JON ATI. 393 upon brutes an extravagance of kindness which they refuse to children and men. Stables and kennels are often more comfortable than cottages ; animals are petted while the poor starve. " God would have us love and pity not merely our own gourds, but all his creatures — men, women, children, and even cattle — according to their respective worth in his sight." The selfish man shrinks up in envy and cold indifference, but " blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." HOMILETIO HINTS AND OUTLINES. Here we have a picture of the Aveak protecting the strong, infants shielding the parents. Ungodly families are often spared for the sake of the little ones in them. Justice calls for the punishment of the wicked, but mercy delays lest the innocent should suffer with the guilty. Many great and fruitful truths lie couchant here. It is manifest, for ex- ample, that infants are regarded by God as personally innocent. They inherit many of the consequences, but do not share the guilt of Adam's sin. God here seems to say : " What have they done 1 " They have had no part in the guilt of the city. Would you bring a storm of judgment upon them ? It is manifest, also, that unconscious beings may have, really have, a great moral power and place in the universe. When men or women all through the city were " cry- ing mightily to God/' there was a cry mightier, although inarticulate, going up from six-score thousand unconscious suppliants. The infants of Nineveh did. what all her armed men could not do — they helped to turn away the wrath of God, and to draw down his mercy. This reference to the infants tells us that life is good. It is implied that it is in itself a blessing — a thing to be de- sired to make one wise. The Prophet had said, " It is better for me to die than to live." In an indirect manner God says, " It is better to live than to die," better even for infants to live, although they might die without tast- ing the bitterness of death. Better to live, even in a place like Nineveh, where the wickedness is only arrested fur a little, and not extinguished, than not to live at all [Raleigh]. The whole chapter is a wonderful ex- hibition of Divine mercy. I. Mercy is displayed. Displayed to Jew and Gentile, young and old. Mercy to- wards a guilty city, and an ungrate- ful servant. II. Mercy is vindicated. 1. Against the ignorance of man. 2. Against the selfishness of man. Wo substitute justice for love. It is true that God hates sin ; but he is merciful, and prefers pity to punishment. As we do not see the world in the blackness of a thunder-storm, so we do not know God in the outpouring of his wrath. " Fear never made the childish nature good. March winds never made the buds blossom — only April showers ; it is not the father's severity, but the mother's love, that makes the child repent." The mercy of God concerns us in- finitely. We are personally interested in this argument and in this demonstra- tion, as much as Jonah, as much as the JSinevites. Is there anything else in which we have half the interest that we all have in this1? This is the very foundation of our hope ; it is the bright charter of our salvation. We enter only by this door. Without the mercy of God wo are clean gone for ever. By this mercy we are spared. By this mercy, in its forms of forbear- ance, and forgiveness, and renewal, we hope one day to reach complete redemp- tion [Raleigh], ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER IV. Ver. 1. Displeased. Anger begins with folly and ends with repentance [Maunder]. Anger and haste hinder good counsel [Fielding]. Be on your guard against your temper. It will frustrate all your designs if you listen to it. It wili make you lose the most important opportunities, and will inspire 3f>l H0MILBT1C COMMENTARY: JONAH. [ciiaf. rv. the inclinations and aversions the prejudice of "]• / Live virtuously, i„v i innol die too Boon, I Rtusel]. int and blind, that did not God ihold in mercy what we ask • aid U; ruiuud at our own request." [II. More.] 5, n ,st thou well? II would , complainings under the tnd turn them the very modi of trial with which he visits irown vilenessand desert all. and the greal grace Bhown to- , 1 3 j Ps. ciii. 10 j Job j. The Divine Being always like to use exl . bul tli'- mi ' men aot only be disciplined by pain, ! conviction. Hence ently comes to the human guage of this verse, and t 1 dou well to be angry?" this quiet method of correction is frequently effective, awaking in the soul thouf ■ ad in a return to reason and purity \Eaci //]. Ver. 7 — 'J. The Lord's servants are under a continual course of instruction. of every day and hour ; roper lesson for them, which it is their duty, wisdom, and pri\ U to 1 mi. Thi ; their •i is entire sanctification and I lory through conformity ' I ' '1. When they ore Jonah uow w i ,God takes rial method to ] I them to duty, and pursue hi their growth in grace [Sibthorp], 1 1. The teachings of Mature, which unbelievers vaunl as all-sufficient, : unkind to a < knowledge of God, nor produced holy feeling ; and they never can. But they may prepare for the Word, and be used to convey it, illustrate it, and iix it in the memory. God schooling Jonah in patient, tender love, and through him preparing instruction for Israel and for us, uses Nature to prepare the way for the lessons of the Word. As when ho sent Nathan to David with a parable, to make I >avid condemn himself out of his own mouth, so to Jonah he sends tho gourd and the worm, the wind and tho sunshine, to prepare the way for making his better feelings condemn his worse. He will make his pity for the plant ex- plain God's pity for Nineveh, and con- demn Jonah's want of pity for that multitude of souls \Mitchel\. This wonderful hook of Jonah has given us a picture of the human heart, not in its lowest degradation, but taught by revelation, restrained by conscience, influenced more or less by piety, but stripped of its disguises and company dress. God takes us behind the scenes to show us how in Nature his hand and purpose are working by storm and sun- shine, fish and worm, and so puts a window for ns in the heart of man. Jonah speaks out to God, and acts out before us, and writes down for us to read, without suppression, palliation, or extenuation, the sinful thoughts which oilier men have, but do not make known. We have at once a picture of God's character, and a mirror in which to he- hold our own [//'/U< 1 by, and Micah reapp the herald, not of sorrow, but of v. men from afar, in the uohility of their simple belief, asked, ' 1(7,. re is he tJtai is born King of the -A we 1 ' The answer was given unhesitatingly, God, in the words of Micah. When he was born, he the object of worship to the first converts from the heathen on tie- authoritj of Go I. through Micah " [P&sey]. ciiAr. i.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY : MICAII. 397 CHAPTER I. Critical Notes. 2. Hear] Lit. Hear, yc peoples all of them. "Some 110 or 1.50 years had flowed by since Micaiah, son of Imlah, had closed his prophecy in these words. Now they burst out anew. From age to age the Word of God holds its course, ever receiving new fulfilments, never dying out, until the end shall come" [Pwsey]. All therein] Heb. the fulness thereof (Ps. xxiv. 1). Similar appeals in Isa. i. 2, and Deut. xxxii. 1. Witness] in a hostile sense, in judgment, as 1 Sam. xii. 5 : Mai. iii. 5. Temple] i.e. from heaven where he is enthroned (Ps. xi. -1), and from whence wrath is revealed (Rom. i. 18). 3. Tread] upon the proud and idolatrous (high places) people, as Ituler over all the earth. 4.] Imagery from storms and earthquakes, to describe the terrors of God's judgments (Ps. xviii. S). The similes, "like wax" (as in Ps. lxviii. 3), and "like water," are intended to express the complete dissolution of mountains and valleys. " The actual facts answering to this description are the destructive influences exerted upon nature by great national judgments" [Keil], 5. Trans.] as the cause of this judgment. Samaria and Jerusalem, the capitals of Israel and Judah, are the centres and source of corruption which has tilled the kingdoms. 6. Heap] Samaria, judged first, will be destroyed — not a trace of the city will be left — and become like a heap of stones gathered from the field. Pour] Dash down the stones of the city into the valley beneath. " The stones of the temples and palaces of Samaria have been carefully removed from the rich soil, thrown together in heaps, built up in the rude walls of terraces, and roiled down into the valley below " [Porter's Handbook]. 7.] Iler treasures were gathered from the hire of a harlot, and to the hire of a harlot must they return. Literal prostitution was practised in Babylon and Syria, and the hire was dedicated to the support of the priesthood, and idolatrous worship. 8.] The Prophet first laments himself, that he may touch others. Stripped] i. e. of shoes or sandals. Naked] i. e. without upper garment (1 Sam. xix. 24). This representation accords with Isa. xx. 2, and symbolizes what would befall the people. Dragons] Jackals or wolves (Job xxx. 29), whose howlings are at night most lamentable. Ostrich] Remarkable for its peculiar shrieks in pain. 9. Wounds] Lit. the strokes inflicted upon her. Public calamities are often compared to diseases (Isa. i. 5). Gate] "Because in it, par excellence, the people went out and in." Even the capital would not be spared. 10.] The Prophet thinks now of the malicious joy of heathen neighbours. Ten places are mentioned in verses 10—15 to depict what would happen in them. In most cases the things said of each city are a play upon the name of that city, a method of writing well adapted to impress the memory [Coivles]. 11. Forth] To console others (Jer. vi. 25). Standing] i. e. the sustenance of the foe. 12. Waited] for better fortune, but in vain [Calvin]. 13. Bind] Flee as fast as possible from the advancing enemy. Begin.] The first to introduce false gods. 14. Thou] Israel would renounce all claim to Mot: and give it up to the foe ; and Ach. would answer to its name, and disappoint Israel's hopes. 15. Heir] A new possessor, viz., the Assyrian shall occupy the place, as they expelled former inhabitants, and Israel's glory (Adullam) shall decay. 16. Bald] A token of deep mourning (Job i. 20 : Isa. xv. 2 : Jer. xvi. 6). Children] wept for, as the loss of a mother. Eagle] Not the common eagle, but the bearded or carrion vulture. Judgments in general are described, not particular definite punishments, without precise methods of accomplish- ment, so that the predictions embrace all the judgments against Judah which took place from the Assyrian invasion until the Roman catastrophe [Keil]. HOMILETIGS. The Prophetic Message. — Verses 1, 2. " The Prophet's first address is throughout of a threatening and punitive character ; it is not till quite the close, that the sun of Divine grace breaks brightly through the thunder-clouds of judgment" [Keil]. In these words we have an appeal to all nations to observe the message of the Prophet. I. A message from God. " The word of the Lord." All prophets have the same truth to assert. Their message is Divine and not from " the will of man." It declares the purpose, reveals the mercy and the judgment of God. It is seen in prophetic vision, felt and known to be certain and true. It bears witness to God in the hearts of men and in the nations of the earth. II. A message from God through man. " That came to Micah." The Prophet and no other man of his day was specially chosen to declare the word of the Lord. He was qualified by vision and spiritual intercourse with God. There is a human as well as a Divine a tMlT.ETIC COMMENTARY: MICAH. [cn.vr. i. ■ nt in the spoken 01 written word. < rod acta not on, but in and through, man. . ie not lost in a passive Btate, and growth reduced to mere existence. Xhe proph by mechanicaJ impulse or dictation. Their natural and gpirit i... They had sympathy with truth and men. Their intellect and h fixed on the same pursuit, and God's word found them in a waiting position. III. A message from God through man for all people. For the] pie of • and the future generations. 1. The present. Samaria and Jerusalem w< re immediately concerned, the chief cities of the two kingdoms. a .it the house of < rod. «7i rusalem, God's people, must not be • ither people are often prominent in sin and punishment. Samaria hief in provocation. Cod deals in equity with men and chastises . are threatened and comforted j others judged without pact equity in our intercourse with each other. Shall not the Judge of the earth do right, mete justice to each individually and to all men in every- thii: ■ all ranks will lie adjusted, and to every one will be given his due. 2. 2 "Hear, 11 ye people." God warns the future through the present Lngels and men, heaven and earth, are cited to witness the solemn The whole creation stands in court, to reprove the sins of men, and testify to th i Divine pleading. The guilty cannot escape. The "holy temple" will not protect the hyp tutelar deities were thought to protect the heathen. Xhe : from heaven will overawe and silence the sinner. God will loor, and discern between his nominal and real people. "He shall call to ti. from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people." EOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. V i. _'. 7" Word. Micaiah son of of his conduct. He warns before tho Imloh closed bis prophecy with these stroke. Seek to be saved, and rest not words (1 Kings xxii. 28). The minis- in Ik >ly places and carnal security. one prophet are a continua- Hearken, 0 earth. 1. The trial of Hon i They are not ihe Great Judge. 2. The parties ac- ils, but connected with cused. 3. The witnesses called. 4. J > i \ i : ry age, and lill The seat of the Judge — The Judgment up one grand design. Bence learn, 1. of the visible Church. It is Divine, ; the Word. 2. The public, searching, solemn, and righteous. ; the Word. .">. They,./-- Holy temple. The elevation, suprem- , of the Woi 1. acy, and invisibility of God's throno // pie. The judgment of \Spurgeon\. " The Lord is in his holy I L 1. A warning t<> all people, temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven : •_'. A typt of final judgment. God by bis eyes behold, his eyelids try, tho t this word is a " wit- children of men." .;lt of sin and the equity HOMILETICS. Tin: Awful Judgment. — Verses 3 — 7. licken attention to bis i the l'i iphet declares God's purpose to humble the most eminent and manifi I his justice to all. I. The seat of judgment. "The Lord cometh forth out of his place." If tho ins either the temple or hea^ en itself, the procedure is not ordinary. God quits the temple, and turns the men;, eal into a throne of judgment. He has not rernment of the world, but rends the heavens and comes down in awful justice to sinful nations. Bis daily providence affords no rule to guide when he " ol bis place." Be manifests himself in surprising i i. xwi. 21), and performs "terrible things which we looked not for." II. The circumstances of judgment. "The mountains shall be molten under chap, i.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: MIC All. 399 him," &c. This may he figurative language, but it conveys a real truth. Nature trembles, and its stability dissolves at God's presence. The hills melt like wax before the fire, the mountains pour down like floods into the valley. The earth in its lowest depths feels the indignation of a righteous God. Nature often realizes the destructive power of Divine judgments. History proves that all her forces are yoked to accomplish God's purposes. The hardest will melt, the strongest cannot resist ; " for, behold, the Lord will come with fire, to render his auger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire." III. The cause of judgment. " For the transgressions of Jacob, is all this." Jerusalem, the centre of holiness, and the residence of Jehovah, was the seat of idols, and the fountain of uncleanness (2 Chron. xxviii. 24). The unity, the claims, and the being of God were denied in the worship of Baal (Ezek. xvi. 31 : 2 Chron. xxviii. 24, 25). Samaria, the rival capital, was the seat of injustice, and the corrupter of the country. The sins of these places were, obstinate and aggravating. Sin is the cause of all ruin, material and moral. Multiplied sins (transgressions) will bring severe strokes. External rites and out- ward profession will not secure " the house of Israel." Wealth and population cannot defend Samaria. All have provoked God to anger, and must feel his severity. Those who take no warning and feel no shame, ought to learn that shame and warning are a desert and a presage to ruin. " They are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah." IV. The effects of judgment. " The order of the sin was the order of the punishment," says one. 1. High places would be overturned. God will "tread upon the high places of the earth." Men of eminence, scenes of idolatry, and military fortifications ; every- thing set in opposition to him would be trampled down and levelled in the dost. The lofty and the proud, the mighty and the secure, will be cast down. Those who trust in the height of the mountain or in the fertility of the valley, the muni- tions of rocks or the abundance of wealth, will be disappointed. There is no security against Divine judgment but in Christ Jesus. 2. Idolatry would be demolished. The idols themselves woidd be stripped by the foe and destroyed. All graven images would be beaten to pieces. Gross superstitions and refined idolatry are spiritual adultery, and provoke God to jealousy. The hire and support of idolatry would be taken away. Micah adopts the language of Hosea (Hosea ii. 5 — 3; ix. 1 ; x. G). The wealth or rewards received for worshipping idols, the gifts and votive offerings laid upon the altars, would enrich another nation. They had been gathered as the hire of a harlot, "and they shall return to the hire of a harlot." Eiches gained without God will be scattered away. Cursed in their origin, cursed in their end. " 111 got, ill spent." " Whatever material prosperity is gained by ignoring or dethroning God is the hire, the price of the soul, and shall be burned out with fire." Men shall be put to shame that abuse their gifts, and their sinful gain shall turn to everlasting loss. 3. The city would be destroyed. Samaria, the crown of pride (Isa. xxviii. 1), was to be reduced to its original mean- ness, the site of vine-plantings. Its gorgeous palaces and noble temples would bo destroyed. The stones would be rolled down the hills, and gathered into heaps as monuments of ruin. The foundations would be laid bare, and not one stone left upon another. The destruction would be complete ; fragments of human habita- tions, emblems of man's labour and luxury, should lie amid the beauty and fertility of nature. Traces of sin and punishment are written in commercial ruin, national disgrace, and natural scenery. Whatever we build without God, church systems or family fortunes, and cement by strongest sins, will be hurled down with the storm; great will be their fall and eternal their ruins. "See ye not all th e things % verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down." The Incurable Wound. — Verses 8, 9. The strokes inflicted by God are most severe. The wound is incurable. Morally HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: MICAS. [chap. i. . individually and generally, the case is desperate. Hence the IT0W" "TV • I. The moral disease of men is incurable. Obstinacy in sin will bring Divine . ;i r 1. 1 no hand can cure the wounds that God inflicts but his own. 1. It ; is incurable," lit. she is grievously sick of her ; iIk kingdom, are tainted, the capital is cor- The calamity begins with Samaria and dem, the seal of justice and of religion. 3. It is a hopeless disease. iw if remedy in the present state of things. This is a sad picture idition of the dinner, lie is not simply in distress, but morally diseased Uy incurable. "There are anodynes that may deaden their pains, and : em of their torture," says a writer ; "but a morally incurable into anguish, intense ami mure intense as existence runson, Ivonturo without end." ""Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous." II This morally incurable wound should create intense sorrow. The rief in all ways of expressing grief. He goes stripped, " half- j, tk" I ats of beauty, despoiled, plundered by an enemy. the pitiable cry of a jackal in the night, or an ostrich bereaved of her /. i:h increasing feeling for the chastisement, and as an example ile. We should lament not only the sufferings of saints but the punish- Ministers thei ls1 be affected with the message they ,l,]i. To win souls they must be men of sympathy. The impending odly mu bhem to tears before God. " I will grieve from , perish," said one. "Who is weak, and I am not weak % , tended, and 1 burn not 1 " " Why is my pain perpetual and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed1?" The Pbophet's Lamentation. — Verse 10. v of God's people and the sorrow of the Prophet were such that should be unknown to the i aemy, It be Bhould indulge in malignant joy, and add liction. Hence, in language borrowed from 2 Sam. i. 20, they are urged to 18, suppress weeping, lest the Philistines in Gath shordd hear. . I. That some rejoice in the affliction of God's people. " Declare it not," Many would be glad to see the Church in deepest misery. Strange to say are often bitterest enemies. GatJi was next to the borders, but did uol partake - stance 1 Health 1 Children ] Friends ] Does the Scripture oidy cry, " All is vanity ; " and, "Cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils'"? Docs not all history, observation, and experience tell us the samel Let the young, and all, be sober in expectation of earthly things. It is the way to escape the surprise and anguish of disappointment. Make the Lord your hope. Ho will not deceive us : he canm t fail us. " Llessed are all they that put their trust in him." Sec also the source of 2G 403 HOMILBTIC COMMENTARY : MICAS. [chap. I. ity. •• Evil came down bom the Lord." This seems strange when we are . erj perfect gift" comes down from him. Micah Datura] evil, or the evil of suffering. And what calamity is there that Scrij • rfbed to < tod ? A storm at sea? " Ho breaketh the ships of Taiahiah." Barrenneea of soil? "Ho tumeth a fruitful land into barrenness." f connections 1 "Lover and friend hast thou put far from me." We nnect war with the follies and passions of men than other evils; but ho to destroy." Never view sufferings, public or private, I!v from God. Let not the instruments lead us to over] m \. They could have no power at all against us except it was n them from above. But how does this evil come from him1? Some view ute from justice ; and others justice as separate from mercy : one of pri amption, the other despair. Extremes should be led in considering God as the righteous governor and the tender father. fthing in his present administration is adapted to show the union of holiness and goodness, to awaken fear and hope. The evils he sends are the effects of sin; the/, tits to take away sin. We deserve them and need them; the one shows that we have no right to murmur, the other that we have no reason to complain. Cheer- ful submission is required ; but this can only be given when we see the relation that affliction has to our desert and improvement. Mark also the time of deliver- ance. Though God - ive his people he may permit destruction to draw very nigh. In this case he could have hindered the calamity at the frontier, but evil came. "unto thi -1 rusalem." So far, but no farther, did the insulting foe come. were his proud waves stayed. Eere his power and triumph ended. Ileze- kiah conquered him on his knees, and the Lord put bis bridle into his jaws and drew him luck. The angel ma le a great slaughter in the camp that night, showing that can not only deliver in the greatest straits, but that he frequently does not interfere till the evil has reached its extremity. The delay is not abandonment. He waits to be gracious, and the season in which he will appear will display his . an. 1 draw forth our praise. It is often darkest just before the break of day. •■ /• tin mount ll shall he seen " [Jay\. EOMILETIG HINTS AND OUTLINES. V L0. I . be indifferent to tho against trusting to human help. 1. honour of God, and to have no sorrow By their own experience. 2. l!y the i ii being brought on the cause experience of others. "The houses of a through the fall of its pro- Achzib" might have taught wisdom, the mark of tic carnal, unre- for they are "a lie." 111. The failure ite mind [Fausset]. of all human helps is conspicuous. II. Selfish men are often so They are known by their names, natures, D up with their own sorrows that and results. They deceive, they are " a ■ □ j mpathy for others. " The lu ." inliubitant of Zaanan came not forth in Ver. 15. All possessions, houses, thi mourning of Belh-ezel." lands, and families are insecure when Ver. 13. B ngofrin. What a God is provoked — may be taken from world of evil lies in the three words 1 us, and another may be the heir to them, be tic- in ■ M and " / will bring an heir /nth, thee." block in a land's d The glory of Israel. l.Keligious privi- ties brings on exemplary judgment Leges are the glory of a nation, 2. This | //.A-/,.,,,,,]. glory 1|];IN ^3^ through a nation's sin. ver. II. Learn I. 'I hal b trouble When religious ordinances are neglected men often Bee to human help. Treat i, 8, or abused, and God is provoked, they and bribe are all tried rather cannot ward off judgment. A nation's than God. 1 1. That I tod warn i men glory may then be laid in the dust. CHAP. I.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY : MICAH. 403 Ver. 16. 1. The signs of sorrow. Baldness, enlarged baldness. In other cases baldness forbidden Israel, but in sorrow for sin they were called to it (Isa, xxii. 12). .4s the eagle, which not only loses its feathers, but its beauty, swiftness, and courage with them. 2. The causes of sorrow. The captivity of children. Indulgent fathers may be- come parricides, not parents. " Those who give themselves up to luxury are at least given up to miserable slavery. When a man makes his children effemin- ate he makes for himself grief and heart-pangs " [Lange\. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER I. Ver. 1. Word. The Word of God is the bodying forth of his mind, the incarnation of his thought, the vehicle of his will; by which he would bring himself near to us, to woo us and awe us, to attract us by his love or terrify us by his judgments. It is the sum of all that the world knows of him. It is the expression of his character, the history of his procedure [Legge]. Ver. 3, 4. Earth. Inanimate nature knows its Creator, and worships him in its own fashion. " States and kingdoms which stand out upon the world like mountains are utterly dissolved when he decrees their end. Systems as ancient and firmly-rooted as the hills pass away when he does but look upon them " [Sjmrgeon]. " Macbeth is ripe for shaking, and the powers above Put on their instruments" [Shakespeare]. Ver. 5. Transgression. God's justice on offenders goes not always in the same path, nor the same pace ; and he is not par- doned for the fault who is for a while reprieved from the punishment [Fuller]. Ver. 6 — 8. Heap. Travellers speak of the site of Samaria as strewed with masses of ruins ; of its rich soil now cultivated in terraces ; and of the stones that are collected together into heaps. The whole face of this part of the hill suggests the idea that the buildings of the ancient city had been thrown doAvn from the brow of the hill. Ascending to the top, we went round the whole summit, and found marks of the same process everywhere [Narrative of Scottish Mission]. Ver. 7. Broken. Its idols in whom she trusts, so far from protecting her, shall themselves go into captivity, broken up for the gold and silver whereof they were made. The wars of the Assyrians being religious wars, tin; idolatry of Assyria destroyed the idol- atry and idols of Israel [Pwey]. Ver. 9. Incurable. Moral disorgan- ization can never be remedied by intel- lectual culture. Social reforms may alter circumstances, but the gospel only can remove the evils of society. "Pause not ; for the present time's so sick That present medicine must be ministered, Or overthrow incurable ensues" [Shakes^ Ver. 10 — 16. God's providences illustrate his word. Nations are punished for their sins. "History is a practical comment upon revelation, and revelation is a sure key to many parts of history." This passage of Micah (ver. 10 — 16) is to be compared with that noble one in Isaiah (x. 28 — 32), where the Prophet describes the panic which spreads from one town to another near Jerusalem, when the Assyrian army under Sen- nacherib invaded Judah, and took all its fenced cities (xxxvi. 1). Micah continues the prophetic description of Isaiah. Isaiah represents the panic, alarm, and havoc produced in the days of Hezekiah by the Assyrian army under Sennacherib invading Jerusalem from the north-east. Micah repre his career to the south-west, even to Lachish, mentioned by both the pro- phets (See ver. 13). "We know from Jeremiah (xxvi. IS) that the prophetic warnings and reproofs of Micah wrought powerfully on the mind of the good king Hezekiah ; and that for a time the judgments impend- ing over Jerusalem were averted by his repentance. Similar results appear to have been produced on him by the cheer- ing voice of Isaiah, vim completed tho work of Micah, by inspiring the king KM HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : M1CAH. [chap. ii. with faith and hope; and God blessed people, and by destroying the army of the work, of the two prophets, and Sennacherib, when it returned from th,. | the penitent king, who at Egypt in triumph, beneath the walls of had faltered (See 2 Kings xviii. Jerusalem. (See above, on Isa. xxxvn. 14—16), i'\ delivering him and his 30.) [Wordsworth.] CHAPTER II. CBTTK m- NoTM.] Judgment lias been pronounced in general, now special sins are described. • ie nobility is denounced. Devise] Heb. to form plans (Pb. xx.xvi. 5). Work] : Iviii. - . Practise] To execute (Is. xli. 4). Beds] i. e. by night • i : J"b iv. 13). Morning] i.e. at break of day. Hand] Their hand is their God ; ii ult d by might 2. Covjt] Cf. Ex. xx. 14: Deut. v. 18. Oppress] Defraud. 3. Family] Nation. Devise] Cf. ver. 1, "to set clearly before our eyes the/?« talionis prevalent in (Ex. xxi. -3: Is. xxxiii. 1) [Lange]. Necks] You cannot shake off punishment done law. Haughtily] Stiff necks will bave to bend; they will not carry themselves [Ps. hiii. 9), for their iniquity causes an evil time. 4. Par-] Wickedness and punishment will v ■ mm 'ii convi nation. Doleful] Lit. laments with a lamentation of lamentations, mournfully mournful Bong. Say] " ' .' it is all over! an exclamation of despair." Turning! i. A causes the inheritance to pass to the heathen ; some," to a rebel, our fields he divideth." 6. Cast. No p est nion left for the osual mode of division. 6. Prophesy] Lit. to drip, to cause to flow, prophesying (Am. \ ii. 16). "The people, the false prophets, the politicians, forbade prophi iy. Prophesy not] God, by Micah, recites their prohibition to themselves, " [Ptuey\. Shame] Lit. shames, manifold shame (cf. Am. >n. 16). 7. Straitened] i.e. shortened, impatient, These] »'.<■. the punishmente threatened; a . which claims for itself the promises regardless of mural condition. God not less merciful y (Ex. ixxiv. 6); but their sins have changed his proceedings towards them. 8. Late] Lit. \ not long since; or again, recently, the people stood up, took an hostile attitude. Pull o:: "■lit with t: rment, they rob passers-by of the ornamental robe, strip th. in ot tin ir habiliments ai spoils of war. 9. Women] Widows, unprotected (Is. x. 2), were driven to which they wen attached, and which they inherited from their husbands. Children] iridowa not spared. Glory] My ornament, i. e. garment or upper-coat. For ever] No ■urn oi the coat according to law (Ex. xxii. '15 — 27). 10. Arise] As you have cast out o' Canaan was no longer a rest to them. 11. Spirit] Lit. walk ■•■.hat is vain or worthless (Is. xxvi. 18; xli. 29); some, "the man of spirit, i.e. claiming inspiration." Prophesy] Soothe you in gluttony and drunkenness; he would be listened • flattered you. 12.] A sudden transition from judgment to joy. The remnant of Israel -h ill be gathi p d together, multiplied, and governed by Jehovah as their king. Bozrah] 13. BreakerJ " A traditional Messianic explosion," will break a way and enemy. Cyrus delivering from Babylon is an eminent type of i teeming from nn. Gate] ot the city of captivity. Before] them, as in going up out of uii. 21 : Deut. i. 30, ■ the way. ""The fulfilment of this prophecy com- ■ 1 with the gathering tog thi t ot Israel to its Ged and King by the preaching of the Gospel, re time when the Lord shall redeem Israel, which is now pining o, out of the i. ttt n -I its unbi bet and lite of sin" [A'uVj. ° HOMILETICB. Tin: Conokptiob anh Practice op Injustice. — Verses 1, 2. S] ire qo w condemned. The injustice and oppression of the rich are denounced and threatened with puni hment. I. Injustice in its purpose. "That devise iniquity." Iniquity is first con- trpoeed, ox planned. They plot and forecast before they act it. Actions 1 to principles. D iring is the incipient working of the principle. The thought ie the fountain of the deed. God calls it the work of evil and holds oaibk for it (Prov. riv. 22 : Matt. vs.. 3, 1). It is bad enough to bo oiiap. ii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: MIC AIL 405 led into wickedness by others, but to devise, to scheme it is the depravity of "inventors of evil things" (Horn. i. 30). II. Injustice in its maturity. They "work evil," mature it in thoughts and desires. 1. It is matured in the night, "upon their beds." In the rest and stillness of night when they should commune with their own hearts and their God. They turn the chamber of sleep into a place for plotting, and abuse retirement by wicked designs. "Ho deviseth mischief upon his bed ; he setteth himself in a way that is not good." 2. It is matured in the day. "When the morning is light." Early, very soon after conception it is perfected. On their bed, and in their waking hours ; no leisure between deliberation and practice. It is done (1) Openly, in the light. (2) Deliberately, in fidl light. (3) Shamefully, against knowledge and conscience. 3. It is matured by might. "Because it is in the power of their hand." Might, not right, regulated their conduct. The lust for power increases in strength and law- lessness, until it becomes a law to itself, the master passion of the soul. Then no sacrifices are too costly, no measures too atrocious, for the attainment of its object. " This they begin to do, and now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do." III. Injustice in its practice. " They practise it." There is a gradation in evil. First they sin in thought, then desire, and afterwards in act. To covet and to rob, to desire and to take, were the same thing with them. 1. It is a forbidden practice. They covet, disregard law, and seek to add field to field. 2. It is a violent practice. " Take them by violence." Grossly and openly, by force and fraud, did they seize the property of others. 3. It is an inhuman practice. " They oppress a man and his house." They took away houses and heritages, and ruined whole families and their offspring. Human life was not held sacred. Like Ahab, they first coveted, then sought to destroy their fellow-men by violence and false accusation. "Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours." 4. It is a cursed practice. "Woo to them !" Woe in Hebrew means all kind of pain, sorrow, and misery. Covetousness is the root of all evil to ourselves and others (1 Tim. vi. 9, 10). A covetous man is cursed in this life and in that to come. " Beware of covetousness." " You take my house when you do take the prop That doth sustain my house ; you take my lire "When you do take the means whereby I live " [Shakespeare]. HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. The reign of selfishness. 1 . Each what a man has been occupied with even one strives and plans for himself alone, on his bed [Ibid.]. 1. JSTotico the 2. Each one trusts in his own strength, gradation of the evil. Conception, 3. Each one disregards the law [Lange earnest preparation, and execution by (adapted)]. What a temptation it is to force. " They say, they coveted, they, have the power to do what evil spite took," like Achan. 2. The relation suggests ! What would many a one do between .wicked thoughts and wicked if the power of the hand were as great deeds. The oppressor in his bed, in his as the boldness of the heart ! As it is, heart, and in his life. Besist the first however, God judges according to tho attacks of sin lest yo bo eventually counsel of the heart, and brings to light overcome. HOMILETICS Betributivb Punishment. — Verses 3 — 5. Sentence is now pronounced against tho sins specified, and tho woe threatened (ver. 1) is explained. God will inflict such judgments, and bring such times, that will effectually humble their pride and recompense then wickedness. I. Punishment in kind. God is not an idle spectator of oppression, and delay H0MILET1G COMMENTARY: MICAH. [chap. ii. in puirishment is not disregard. 1. They devised evil against others, and evil is thi i u •• A. tiusi this family do 1 devise an ovil." Retribution is ,,„! p^ | wicked men. Infinite wisdom will frustrate and b human d -'• They took the lands of others, and their own land shall . The inheritance was given to the foe and would never be by special providence may be removed in main. If we forsake God he will forsake us. Riches, he can turn into captivity, and unjust gain will pass into the Words are no! sown in the wind, and actions written in the perishable Beed they spring up and fructify in human life. mansowetb that shall he also reap." II. Punishment most humiliating. 1. They would be humbled in their pride. "Neither shall ye h." Men dream that if they cannot avoid judgments they will be us under them. God can humble the proud, subdue the iJled, and throw the mightiest into captivity and sorrow. 2. They would i in (hi ir sufferings. " In that day shall one take up a parable The calamity was not an ordinary one, but a common proverb in the Sinners are often an example of God's justice and a warning to Wh( d others insult and jest at our grief it is most bitter to endure. The haughty and prosperous will then be dejected and sad. 3. Their condition lamentable. " Lament with a doleful lamentation." (a) Because great. Cud had taken their possessions and fixed others in "He hath changed the portion of my people." (IS) Because their case ■■ Wi be utterly Bpoiled." What reverses in life to prove the folly of men and the providence of God. " Son, remember that thou in thy life- ..•i-i thy g 1 things, and likewise Lazarus, evil tilings; but now he is L and thou art tormented." III. Punishment most irretrievable. "An evil fr<'in which ye shall nol remove your necks." It was a yoke they could r avoid nor .-hake off From the two tribes the yoke was removed, but the to withdraw their necks. The punishment was most severe and proportioned in justice to the sins. Those that will not be ruled by grace will me by judgment. Prefer the easy to the iron yoke. Flee now from sin that yuu may Imj saved from judgment at last. " For this time is evil." EOMILETIG HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. V- r. I. The dirge which follows is impenitence they think it a change of purposely in abrupt brief winds, as purpose or will. But what lies in that • in troul . itb i iree a we be utterly despoiled? Despoiled of h r>r utterance. First, in two everything; of what they felt, tem- Boftened infiec poral things ; and of what they did not " 1 1 ■ utternesa of their feel, .spiritual things. Despoiled of the Then, in a threefold sen- land of promise, the good things of this three life, hut also of the presence of God in his ■ ■■' '-"I has temple, the grace of the Lord, the image done, but name him i; they of God and everlasting glory [Pusey], with him. God's cha Blessings abused are at last removed m« - : do not by the Almighty Giver. ie(Amo8vi 10) [Pusey]. None by lot. Wickedness casting '•/- Joelspokeof the parting of out a people, 1. From the protection a and blessings of God; 2. Will cast out d of the heathen (iii. 2). Now they from the presence of God hereafter. videth our fiehls, Dot to us, Neither part nor lot in this matter lands he (Acts viii. 21). change of act ; in - chap. ii.] 1I0MILETIC COMMENTARY: MICATL 407 IIOMILETICS. Opposition to God's Word and its Consequences. — Verses G, 7. A second accusation is brought against them, for contempt of God's Word and opposition to his servants. The wicked could not endure the threatening of judg- ment, sought to silence the Prophet (Amos vii. 10 — 12), or make him preach to please only, as their false prophets did. This conduct adds to their sins, leaves them without true teachers, and throws them into deeper shame. I. Man's opposition to God's Word. " Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy." Opposition to God's Word is an insult to his character, and a denial of his authority. 1. Men are offended with the faithful preaching of the Word. The truth is unwelcome to those who live in sin. Judgment terrifies them and conscience accuses them in guilt. The cross is an oifence, and the gospel a stumbling-block to many. They want the preacher to please them, withhold the truth, and speak peace when there is no peace. " Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits." 2. Men are offended with the constant preaching of the Word. "Drop not," distil not; indicating habitual and unceasing warning and lamentation. Occasional appeals may be overlooked ; but to be constantly threatened is disagreeable and oifensive. It is vinegar and nitre dropped in the conscience instead of dew and refreshment to the heart. It argues an ungodly life and a degenerate age to resist the warnings of the gospel. "Did we not straitly command you, that ye shoidd not teach in this namel" II. God's purpose to fulfil His Word. When the wicked said prophesy not, the Lord answered, they shall prophesy. The Word must be published. Men must be warned whether they hear or forbear. 1. GckVs servants must obey their commission. Persecuted and opposed, they must be faithful to their trust and to their God. " Of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears " (Jer. xxvi. 10 — 15). 2. God's Spirit cannot be restrained. " Is the Spirit of the Lord straitened ] " Can you overcome God by opposing his servants 1 Can you restrain the Spirit from uttering the truth, or resolve its purpose to what you please %'"' Can you quench the sun or imprison the light"? Then you may limit the Holy Spirit in its operations. If God thunders in judgment, it is not because he cannot give mercy. His power is not diminished, and his mercy is from everlasting to everlasting (Cf. Isa. 1. 2 : Ps. ciii. 17). But sins and iniquities hide his face from you, hinder his word, and procure your punishment. III. The awful consequences of opposing God's Word. God takes them at their word. They shall not prophesy, and their shame shall not be removed. 1. This will deprive them of the faithful ministry. If men silence God's ministers and hinder God's word, God will leave them without light and reproof. They will have their wish and be righteously punished for their choice. Ephraim is joined to his idols, let him alone. 2. This will offend the Spirit of God. In silencing the prophets they did what they could to silence and limit the Spirit. " Is the Lord's Spirit straitened 1 " But impenitence cannot shut out conviction from the heart. Human sinfulness cannot frustrate Divine purposes. 3. This trill rob them of religious privileges. " Thou art named the house of Jacob," but this conduct is most un- reasonable for such dignity. Men study to keep up a name, but it is only a name, without anything to answer to it in life. God discerns between show and sub- stance, fair titles and truth. Men may boast of descent, rely on false security, and flatter themselves that they are Abraham's children ; but God will reject them, call them a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity. Their privileges will be taken away, and their profession will bring 'a curse and not a blessing. " Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." The Advantages of Revelation. — Verse 7. The Word of God must operate according to the principles and dispositions. MILETIC COMMENTARTi MICAH [chap ti. within us. If 1. il is nothing to the dead, but to the living only. The only to them thai walk by it. We are not to expect that his words will ,1,, Qggood that is, without our consciousness or activity; or that they will act in us a> physical causes operate in the body, where the concoction of nd the circulation of the Quids go on when we are asleep as well as when . being independi til of our volitions and thoughts. The Scriptures can •'//. in a way of motive, in the exercises of the mind, and in the :.s which ( i<4 has appointed. This is the only way in which we are ! to look for it t" work. We must read, hear, and understand them; wo must pray over them, Bpeak "f them, and reflect upon them. It is endless to describe il they will then .In for us. They will do us good in a way of information. the .-"id to he without knowledge it is not good. There is no knowdedge like that of the Scriptures. I: is clear, full, and blessed. It gives life to them that have I i an advantage in duty and perplexity to hear the voice : This is the way, ilk ve in it. They will do us good in a way of excitement. We get dull and formal, ■ live, lint aie dead. God quickens us according to his Word, ■ to us, and enables us t" remember it. "I will never forget thy pre- ■ with them thou nasi quickened me." They will do us good in a way of They never Hatter, Inn deal truly with us, and frequently reprove us. If Qcerned ha- our welfare we shall not esteem them our enemy becauso they tell us the truth. It is improper to liinil the benefit of the Word to eneourage- :■ have never a good opportunity, unless it comforts us. It - a blessing to he humbled ami emptied of self, to see our vileness, and cry "God oner." We talk of benefactors ! What good has the Bible What millions has it blessed! How much do we owe it ! Thanks be until God for his unspeakable gift | ■/"//]• God's Appeal to I^xperience. — Verse 7. God's Word I and not harm. It is folly, therefore, to oppose it. You then acting nol merely in op] o ition to God, hut against your own benefit and the b country. I. The words of God design to do good. Words express mind. God's Word !- God's will ami design, and this design is merciful. There are mysteries, but n . proofs of malevolent feelings, in the world. Benevolence predominates in nulnrr, notwithstanding .-in. Providena wears a benign aspect. The sun shines and the falls "u the just ami the unjust. But in the gospel we have the purpose of '.e, the words of God to hless. " Cud liaviiij; raised up his Son Jesus, ,im to hh--; you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities." II. The words of God have done good in human experience. Their truth has been I within o . '111.- reatest sinners have received good. Saul of Tarsus, Banyan, and Newton have been forgiven and saved. We, can point to trophies of i- power in characters most iniHl and profligate. " Such were some of you ; but L, hut ye tilled, hut ye are justified," &c. III. But the .good which the words of God effect depends upon our moral condition. To a that walketh uprightly. They operate not on outward hut moral nature, ufluence us a rding to our relation to them. The sun that melts the wax will harden the clay. doth ■ sham 1. Shame shall rest upon them. 2. The cnAr. ii.] JTOMILETIC COJLVEXTJRY: MICA If. 409 Word shall be proclaimed to others. " God would have turned away the shame from them ; hut they, despising his warnings, drew it to themselves. It was the natural fruit of their doings ; it was in its natural home with them. The sinner hath hut to remain as he is; the shame encompasseth him already, and only departeth not. The wrath of God is already upon him and ahideth on him [Piise;/~\. Ver. 7. Named. The name is belied, 1. By conduct which contradicts pro- fession. 2. By claiming the promises of God regardless of moral condition before God. Jacob was not copied in spirit and example by those who boasted of his name, a name which re- minded of favours, which they abused, and of which they were deprived. Is the Spirit of the Lord straitened? No, for that would — 1. Contradict his Word. 2. Be at variance with the facts of human experience. It is free and unfettered, gracious and abundant in its operations (Cf. Mai. ii. 15 : 1! Tim. ii. 9: 2 Thess. ii. 9). "Turn you at my reproof : behold, I will pour out my Spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you." My words. 1. The benevolent nature of God's words, " do good.'" 2. The power of God's words, " do good." 3. The persons who enjoy the benefits, "the upright." Those who return to the way of righteousness and do not for- sake it (Prov. iv. 26, 27). That is the old and still practised way of avoiding God's threatening, namely, that men so readily form con- ceptions of God, and imagine that he cannot be angry because he is merciful. Let one learn, first of all, to understand God from his own sayings. He who hates the light may for a while resort to imaginary comfort, but it cannot help him [Lunge]. HOMILETICS. Grievous Sins and Bighteous Betribution. — Verses 8 — 10. The Prophet describes the sad change that had come over the people. Their fathers were famous in war, heroic in the defence of their country against the? enemy, and humane towards others. But they had barbarously treated peaceful subjects and innocent women and children. God threatens to do to them as they had done to others. I. What are the sins denounced ? 1. Eebellion against God. " My people is risen up as an enemy." (a) This rebellion was recent. " Even of late ; " only yesterday you have added to former sins. When men cast off the restraints of God's Word and God's Spirit they will commit greater folly. No bonds will check the ungodly and rebellious. (b) This rebellion was tinjirovoJccd. God was not their enemy, but designed their good. They had risen up vehemently (Cf. Micah v. 4; vii. 14 : 1 Kings xi. 14) against God and man, and become Ishmaelites rather than Israelites, (c) This rebellion was universal. They rose up as one man. Whatever their profession, they were ono in their sympathies and conduct. Sin is determined opposition to God. Those who assume this attitude are enemies to God and their country, put themselves away from the benefits of God's Word, and prefer darkness to light because then.' deeds are evil. 2. Hostility to man. Casting off the fear of God, they had no regard for man. (a) They robbed peaceful travellers. Men averse from war and strife were hindered in their journey, stripped of their comely dress, and violently treated as prisoners of Avar. What injustice to permit this ! What inhumanity to man ! " Deliver me, 0 my God, out of the hand of the wicked ; out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man." (//) They abused, defenceless women. "The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses." God, the preserver of men, has tender regard for the weaker sex, and will punish aggravations against them. " They devoured widows' houses." (c) They maltreated innocent child mi. 410 EOMUBTIC COMMENTARY: MICAS. [chap. n. bed them of the Btting apparel which God had given them, kept the which they had taken, and never made restitution. They sold captivity, and »ed their oppression. Sex did nut save the women, nor age the children. Human rights and human happiness were disregarded. 'I'lll: 1. w],,, ia a hushand to the widow and a father to the II. What is the punishment threatened ? 1. They were treated as \ upon qui as if they were suspicious characters ; ill naed friei I they had been enemies. God now considers them as •• M\ people is risen up as an enemy." 2. They were deprived of their As they had driven helpless widows from their homes, so God ionding punishment. The land shall not be their rest; they if it by force, for it is polluted by their sin. "Arise ye and depart." ■■ be no resting-place in sin. A place polluted by guilt will soon itruction" of its inhabitants. " Ee that leadeth into cap- tivity shall go into captivity; he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the Bword." The Christian's Call from Earth. — Verse 10. We may take these words as a call to Christians to arise from the world with all attractions — an admonition not to live too much for earth. For everything laims the transitory nature of things below, and reminds us that "here wo have no continuing city." Every condition justifies the sentiment of the poet — •• Too low they build who build beneath the skies." I. Earth is not the scene of repose. "This is not your rest." We get no ■ physically. Outward circumstances, however smooth, get upset and (haii / ' llectually we gei no satisfaction. The more we know, the more we desire to know. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the intellect with know- ing. Bui spiritually rest is impossible on earth Earth is an inn, not a home ; our passage, not our portion. Only at the end of our journey will be "quietness foj " II. Earth is not the place of destination. Many idolize the world, and live as if they had nol to depart hence; but the Christian ad a pilgrim on the earth. "1 am a citizen of the whole world," I ked what countryman he was. Our citizenship is in .. iii'l, like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we look " for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is < rod," "a better country, even a heavenly." III. Earth is not suitable for our residence. " It is good for pilgrimage, hut : ible for resident ue. With all its beauties and pleasures it is /•■/. Sin and death abound and blacken its fair skies. Sin defiles the land in which it is committed. " Corruption in the world through lust." If you do not keep youi ipotted from the world, but settle down in it and make it . . "U will be overturned "with a .-oil- destruction." " It i- not for me to lie Booking my bliss, <>r building my hopes in a region like this; I look fot a city that hands have not piled, 1 pant for a country by sin undefiled. HOMILETIC HINTS AND .SUGGESTIONS. I. The description of the world. 1. It Avoid its company. "The friendship "It of the world is enmity with God." shall destroy you." .".. Hence it is not Renounce its maxims and conversations. II Th command In depart "Those who arc bound for Canaan -'■■ '■ ■' \BCOmpre- must, not speak the language of Ash- from the dod," says Philip Henry. Live above world, and touch not the unclean, the allurements and pleasures, the chap. II.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: MIC AIL 411 anxieties and cares of the world. Set Eeuben and Gad, prefer an inheritance yonr affections on things above. 2. It is on this side Jordan. The godly them- urgent "Arise and depart." Like Israel selves have need to have their pure from Egypt, and the pilgrim from the minds stirred up by way of remem- city of destruction, we must hasten and brance. God sends them therefore the delay not. 3. It is needed. We are message, " Arise ye," &c. There are apt to grow careless, settle down and live ways by which he scuds it. Tho say, "In my prosperity I shall never first is his Word. The second is a jilir- be moved," but God wakens us by his turn. The third is worldly success. providence and Word, " Arise, and dc- The fourth is the earnests and foretastes part." of a better ivorld. The last is death. The present is not our rest. It was This orders us to depart really as well not designed to be our rest. It is not as morally. Every apprehension and fit to be our rest. If we are Chris- approach of it cries, "It is high time tians we have relinquished it and to awake out of sleep," &c. [From Jay\ chosen another rest. But many, like HOMILETICS. The Ministry of False Teachers. — Verse 11. Predictions of judgment were unwelcome to corrupt men. They opposed tho true, but would listen to false prophets who flattered them in sin ami declared lies. The ministry of such is here described. I. It is lying in its nature. Falsehood and lies. It misrepresents God and his Word, the gospel and its claims. It is not purity, light, and power, but false and misleading. It ignores or sacrifices truth, and springs not from the Spirit of God, but the spirit of man. They pretend inspiration, but walk in delusion and believe a lie. " Woe unto the foolish prophets that follow their own spirit and have seen nothing." II. It is sensual in its purpose. Its great design is to minister to the sensual enjoyments of the people. " I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink." The false prophets pleased the rich and emboldened the sell- indulgence of all by promising abundant harvests and rich vintage. The promises of God are often emphasized, but the conditions of those promises are forgotten. Congregations are assured that without exception and without penitence they will be free from judgment and sure of salvation. False teachers pander to vitiated tastes, sanction sinful customs, and disturb not the consciences of tho people. But true ministers strike the prejudices, condemn the carnal gratifications, and seek to save the souls of men. They handle not the Word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commend themselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. III. It is pleasing to the people in its method. Unwel- come truths would not be heard, but a prophet of lies would be popular. " Ho shall even be the prophet of this people." Spiritual appetites crave for food, conscience is dissatisfied, and the heart restless. Men want rest and God. If any come in God's name to set them at ease in sensual pleasures, him will they receive with joy (Jer. v. 43). All they desire is freedom from reproof and licence to sin. " They teach their teachers how they wish to be mistaught," says a writer, " and receive the echo of their wishes as the voice of God." " The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so; and what will ye do in the end thereof?" IV. It is disappointing in its results. It is "walking in the spirit," or " walking with the wind," as the margin gives. 1. There is no nutriment for the soul. It is a ministry empty and un- substantial as the wind, mixed with error and falsehood, not " sound speech that cannot be condemned." 2. There is no efficacy in the word. It is not truth spoken in tenderness, love, and concern for the hearers. None arc enlightened in UOMLETIC COMMENTARY : MI( '. tU. [chap. ii. n.in i . ' cience, and converted from sin. The words are mere the wind, devoid of results in heart and life, barren to God and man. ■ feedeth on wind, and followBth after the east wind; he dady increaseth . : "ii."' Tin: Glorious Future of Israel. — Verses 12, 13. There is now a sudden transition from threatening to promise. Mercy is the end 1 punishment to the penitent. A remnant shall bo delivered and gathered thor, increased and governed by Jehovah their Shepherd and King. I. Israel shall be delivered. The captivity threatened will come; bnt, as of old, they shall be delivered from it. Babylon, no more than Egypt, can detain them in Blavery. [ron gates and massive walls will give way before the Breaker's pow< ■:. An i atrance will be made into the city. The Conqueror will go in, and the captives go out through it into liberty and joy. The prison shall open and Bel them free. This deliverance from earthly Eabylon is a type and pledge of redemption from spiritual bondage, by Christ Jesus. Men are bound in ignorance, prejudice, and sin. Christ gives light and redemption to the -..iil. and opens the prison to them that are bound. "He redeemed them from the band of the enemy." II. Israel shall be united again. "I will Burely assemble Jacob." They shall be gathered together in tenderness and . in families and social privileges. God will bring his people from the liatance, and gather them into his fold. Public calamities and vicissitudes of fortunes hide not his face nor obliterate his covenant. Under the law believers . and under the gospel we may enjoy, this promise. 1. This gather- ing is certain. I will surely gather. 2. It is constant. The repetition indicates the progressive and persistent nature of the work. 3. It is extensive. Though God's ] pie are a remnant, ye1 all shall be gathered, and not one forgotten. ll A/l of thee." III. Israel shall be increased. Not a small number, but "the multi- tude of men." God can turn remnants into multitudes, and multiply his people Bock. In the Church it shall be said, "The place is too strait for me : give place to me that 1 may dwell," Arc. (Isa. xlix. 20). At last angels wdl gather the elect from the four winds into that "great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and people, and tongues." IV. Israel shall be defended. They will not be united and left to themselves or to others. God will possess them and rule them by his love. 1. They will be secured as a flock. "As the flock in the midst of the fold," in perfect peace and safety. 2. They will be guided as a people. "Their king shall pass before them." As in olden time, his hall go with them and make an easy passage through death and the to eternal life. •"». They will be governed as a nation. "The Lord on (at) the bead of them." As a captain and conqueror to lead and rule them; to over- 11 "IT ';'""- to " break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder tho of iron." EOMILETIG II IMS AND SUGGESTIONS. Notice— 1. The object in Isa. xl. 1 — 5. TheProphetse.es "' *iew. In s. t free. 2. Theoppos- the conqueror Cyrus breaking into • '.. The destruc- Babylon, smiting asunder the bars '""' "f ' ''""• Completeand which kept Israel captive, as in a . I:r' "'■'• ''• prison ; and how they went forth, after , ""■ " ;it Chnstas- 1. The the issuing of his decree, in joy and r. 2. [Tie Guide. 3. The triumph to their own land. Ami from : eoplo. " A magnifi- this prophetical view of Cyrus and his cent transition fron l I Christ, as victory, and its blessed consequences, CHAP. II.] UOMILETIC COMMENTARY : MICAIL ■l i ;i he passes on by a rapid prophetic flight to speak of the Divine Cyrus, Jesus Christ, and of his triumph over death and the grave [Wordswort/t]. There is no passing on, nor going forth, without Christ our King, who is both King and Lord [Jerome]. Broken up. "The three verbs — thy break through, they march through, they go out — describe in a pictorial manner progress which cannot be stop- ped by any human power [Hengsten- berg']. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER II. Ver. 1, 2. Covet fields. No passion so deeply agitates and degrades, so effectually enslaves and destroys, the soul as covetousness. The man who sets his heart upon riches must be a stranger to peace and enjoyment. Fear, care, anxiety, suspicion, and jealousy place him on a constant rack. To the toil of getting is added the trouble of keeping his pelf. Avarice is insatiable as the grave, or rather as a gulf without bottom. The more this passion is sup- plied with fresh fuel the more vehe- ment is the flame [Rusticus]. ~No houses, no fields content those who cannot rest in the lust of concupiscence. Yet only seven feet of earth will suffice them at last. Ver. 4. He hath divided our fields. The land was but the outward symbol of the inward heritage. Unjust gain kept back is restored with usury ; it taketh away the life of the owners thereof (Prov. i. 19). The vineyard whereof the Jews said, the inheritance shall be ours, was taken from them and given to others. So noAv is that awful change begun when Christians, leaving God, their only unchanging good, turn to earthly vanities, and for the grace of God which he withdraws have these only for their fleeting portion, until it shall be finally exchanged in the day of judgment [Pusey~\. Ver. 7. My words. They do evil and injury to many. Thousands will curse for ever the hour they became acquainted with the Scriptures, for they derive from them only an increase of gudt and condemnation. But this is not the effect of design or of natural tendency in them, for the Bible is intended and adapted to do us good only, but is the accidental result of depravity ; and therefore it is confined to those who pervert it, abuse it, neglect it, and thus turn the blessing into a curse [Jay]. Ver. 8, 9. Women and children. " The cries of orphans, and the oppressor's rage Doth reach the stars " [Dri/den], Ver. 10. Not your rest. " This is the scene of combat, not of rest ; Man's is laborious happiness at best ; On this side death his dangers never cease, His joys are joys of conquest, not of peace." Ver. 11. The horrible subtlety of false teaching in each age or country is to meet its own favourite requirements, without calling for self-sacrifice or self- oblation, to give it a god, such as it would have, such as might content it. " The people willeth to be deceived, be it deceived," is a true proverb [Pusi ■//]. Ver. 12, 13. As the flock. Now the sheep are scattered in all lands; but the shepherd shall search them out and bring them into the fold, where they shall be (a) constantly supplied, and (b) eternally safe from beasts of prey. Breaker. The image is not of conquest, but deliverance. They break through, not to enter in, but to pass through the gate, and go forth. The wall of the city is ordinarily broken through in order to make an entrance, or to secure to a conqueror the power of entering in at any time, or by age and decay. But here the object is expressed to go forth. Plainly they were confined before, as in a prison ; and the gate of the prison was burst open to set them free (Cf. Isa. xliii. 6; xlviii. 20; hi. 11, 12 [Pusey]. 1I0MILETIC COMMENTARF: MICAH. [chap. hi. CHAPTER III. ■ < • \ - Pnnuhment is threatened against the heads and leaders of Israel. 1. Princes; Adminiatratora of justice. You] Above every <>nc. To know] To regard justice (Is. 2 Pluck1 Proverbial I Bt injustice and inhumanity (Ezek. xxii. 27 : Zeph. ; fifty 8 - forth still more their barbarity and cruelty. 4. Then] Time of punish- , ind expressed. Ill] Lit hive made their deeds evil, reversing the call of the Fer. xxxv. 16). 5. Prophets] False prophets flatter and promise security from judg- ment Bite] Lis . cry, Peace] When they are doing mischief. PrepareJ Lit. "sane- im (of. Joel rii. 9); as if the cans.' of their 6wn appetite were the cause of a!" [Word*]. 6. Night] Calamities like a dark night would come upon them (Is. viii. r. Is: \iii. 9). 7. Ashamed] Because their predictions proved lies. Confounded] l ■ . d no visions from God, " Their lying being punished m its results, they become, God by no word oi hi tps thi m out of their necessity, entirely disgraced " [Ilitzitj], Cover ttp to the nose, a sign ofsorrow (Lev. xiii. 45); hereof shame (Ezek. With their lips they had lied, now they are dumb and covered with shame. "They shall med of themselves as nol to dan '•• open their mouths, or boast of the name of propl 8. I] In contrast to raise prophets, am filled with power. Judgment] A B . Might | "Moral intrepidity in speaking the truth, at all costs " (2 Tim. .. Not to Batter with false promises of peace. 9. Hear] Resumed from ver. 1. Heads] ilv conduct i- brii fly rammed an again. Abhor] As a thing loathsome and abominable ) 10. Build] Lit. building with wealth and money obtained by bribes and murder of tho : Ezi k. wii. 27 : Hab. ii. 12). "Or by blood 'he may mean that they ba- ll away life, in that, through wrong judgments, extortion, usury, fraud, oppression, r detaining them, they took away what was necessary to support life" [I'u.sa/]. 11. Reward bes, when they should teach gratuitously (Lev. x. 11: Dcut. xvii. 11). Prophets) false prophets. Money] "Giving the answer which their employers, the rich nun. L, as if it were an answer from God'' [Fusey.] Among us] Enthroned in the temple to 1 amity. 12. Therefore] Culminating the threats of ver. s, a great contrast to .. conclusion of chapter II. They thought to build, when by their conduet they destroy Zion ; "for eplowed." "The predicates are divided rhetorically, and the thought is this: the royal palace, the city, and the t. he so utterly destroyed, that of all the houses and heaps of rubbish will remain, and the ground upon winch the city stood will he partly I field, and partly overgrown with bushes " (cf. Is. xxxii. 13, 11) [lui/]. Hezc- • delayed the execution of the judgment for more than a hundred years; but troyed by Nebuchadnezzar and by Titus. HOMILETICS. Tm: 1'iNiMiMiM of Ungodly Magistrates. — Vefses 1 — 4. us of tho people, now he threatens the civil rulers and religious teachers of the nation. The Judges of the law should have plary in knowledge aud virtue, but they were corrupt in thought, and iduct I. The sins of which they were guilty. They are specially challenged by the prophet, and accused of no ordinary guilt. "Hear, I pray you." 1. 8ms jht. They were expected to know and love the right. From the i l :. and the of the country, they knew the rules of equity. 11:1,1 I,|r;i' taining the right, to administer impartial justice, and could not plead e (Jer. v. 4). Affected ignorance and wilful neglect 1 rod. < 'ml rulers sin againsi superior privileges, public sentiment, and moral law, when they pervert justice. " [s it not for you to know judgment?" ' against r They were the heads, the riders of the their authority and dishonoured their position. Instead of '• ,h'v loved e\ iL When teachers corrupt doctrine, and preachers with- thegospel ; when rulers and princes pervert equity, and neglect special duties for the defence of winch the) air put in office; they poison the stream of life and chap, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: MIC AH. 415 turn it into deadly fountains. 3. Sins against the claims of humanity. They robbed the innocent, and devoured the helpless. Their furious rapacity sur- mounted every tie of humanity. Instead of feeding they fleeced the sheep, and sucked out the very blood of the people. The words indicate (a) Their intense greed ; and (b) Their inhuman cruelty in satisfying it. 15 ut great men who oppress the poor, and hold themselves above law, Avill be accountable for their deeds and condemned for their cruelty. " Woe to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves ; should not the shepherd feed the flock," &c. (Ezek. xxxiv. 2 — 4). II. The punishment with which they are threatened. Men cannot fare well if they do ill. A just God rules over all things, whom they wickedly forget. 1. Punishment is certain. " Then," predicts the prophet, with solemn certainty. A day of retribution was before his mind. He warns them of it. Though unseen, it is fixed in the purpose of God, and will surely come upon them. 2. Punishment is proportioned to their guilt. " As they behaved themselves ill in their doings." God's law is unchangeable ; those who show no mercy shall have judgment without mercy, (a) They will cry and not he heard, in their distress. If the cries of the poor are disregarded by us, they will be heard against us (Ex. xxii. 23). Men should have a feeling heart and a helping hand ; should count it not charity, but a duty and a privilege, to defend the poor. But covetousness hardens the heart and makes the ear deaf. A time is coming when the scorner and the oppressor will cry to God in vain. " Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of tho poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard" (Prov. xxi. 13, 18, 41). (b) They will be forsaken of God in their distress. " He will even hide his face from them at that time." They cared not for others ; God will, therefore, withhold his kindness and presence from them. Forsaken in heart and office, bereft of power and protection, they will be undone for ever. Before God, kings and paupers, priests and people, are treated according to their character and deserts. He is above all principalities and powers, and impartial in his rule. Usurped power shall be dethroned, and with the froward God will show himself froward. " Lo, this is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors which they shall receive of the Almighty." HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 2. Hate God and love evil. This depends, to get at the very marrow of is an awful transformation of moral their life, and so feed themselves upon character. Man at first loves good, them [Pusey]. Alas that kings and though he pursues evil. There is con- ecclesiastics should do the same things stant strife in the soul, to end which now ! Men are robbed of the means of many quieten conscience and blind subsistence, cut to pieces, and treated judgment. " Then they hate the truth like cattle — or good with a bitter hatred, because it disturbs the dnrkness of the false neace "And lie that stands uPon a sIlPPCI7 PlflC0< aisrai Ds tnc darkness ot tne raise peace Makeg nice of no yilc hdd to stay him „ with which they would envelop tnem- [Shakespeare.'] selves." "Love of evil is always con- nected with hatred toward the good, Ver. 4. As they behaved. "Measure although men commonly in practising for measure " will ever be meted out to evil keep up a semblance of love for the the evil-doer. " As I have done, so good" [Lange]. God hath requited me" (Judg. i. 7). Ver. 3. He heaps up their guilt act Vers. 1 — 4. A warning to judges, by act. First they flay, i. e. take away 1 . Their responsibility as possessors of their outer goods ; then they break their knowledge. 2. Their sin: violation of bones in pieces, the most solid parts, on duty and self-seeking. 3. Their punish- which the whole frame of their body nient [Lange]. 416 UOMTLETIC COMMENTARY: MICAH. [chap. in. HOMILETIO& 'I'm Description <>r F.\i>k Teachers. — Verses 5 — 7. iu mi just judges Micah turns to false prophets, who are accused of flattering lacing b j error. Corruption and crime in the nation will always ingei the < Ihurch. It is bad enough to lie under ungodly rulers, but worse to tided by false teachers. I They are mercenary in their purpose. Their chief end and only desire : tithes, preferment and honour, govern their lives. Their god is their bally, filthy lucre their aim, and their "gospel is their maw" — supplied with food, they are satisfied ami promise peace; hut when no one puts anything into their mouths they are offended and intolerant. "They are greedy dogs which can never hare enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand \ they all look t.. their own way, every one for his gain." II. They are deceptive in their teaching. They flatter ami mislead the people. '-They make my people err." An unfaithful mini-try carries the people from God and leaves them to perish in sin. "■ I'm- tli' Le i lis nl' this people cause them to err, and they that are led of them are destroyed." 1. They deceive by predicting prosperity when there is They cry peace when God threatens judgment. They bite with treachery ami deadly poison in their mouths. 2. They deceive by flattering rebellion wheu they should urge to repentance. They rebuked no extortion and excess. They I and smoothed the people, and fawned like greedy dogs to those who fed them. " 'Will ye pollute me aiming my people for handfuls of barley and for : I : the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive hould nut live, by your lying to my people thai hear your lies 1 " III. They are hypocritical in their spirit. "They even sanctify wax against him "that withholds their due. Acting professedly on the authority of God, they abuse the word ■ ■;' God. .Men now are denounced as "'atheists" and "infidels," condemned • disloyal " and " traitors," if they obey not the behests of the priest. Eccle- breaten and discountenance, bless or curse, to get what they require. They oly when their gains are disturbed, and comfort others to promote their own la IV. They are judged in their ministry. They promise what never I lsI id of peace they have calamity. 1. They are darkened in " Therefore, night shall be unto you." Moral obliquity shuts out the Light, darkens the iiml . and brings judicial blindness. When Lie dark, how can lighl be expected 1 " If the blind lead the blind," &c. 'lenced in their "pretensions. They pretended to do good, but sinned condemned hy tin ir own consciences. Deprived of power to divine, and robbed of an answer of God ; they had neither vision nor courage 'k. Thi .n in their true colours, and deciphered before the world. 3. / confounded in their ways. Events put them to shame, reputation ofidence failed them. Tiny kept others in the dark ; God kept them in the dark, ami perplexed them with their own devices. When God's providence tradicts the religious teacher, he is opposed to God's will, and proved l. They were overwhelmed in their circumstances. They preached falsehood, walked in darkness, and stumbled in distress. There was darkness without and darkness within, b oighl of Borrow and calamity. Their sun went down, and dark eld night settled upon them. They had to cover their lips and hold their tongue. The Tbub Minister. — Verse 8. Micah now contrasts himself with the fake prophets, sets forth the nature of the true ministry, which is one of Divine power, earnest appeal, and pure aim. I. It is a ministry of power. " I am filled with power." 1. Personal power. Power lodged in him, controlling heart and life. 2. Power exerted upon others. ciiap. ii.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: Mir AIL 417 Power must be in the soul, before it can be expressed in the doctrine. This will prove the Divine calling and vindicate the real character of a minister. 3. Power of the highest nature. " By the Spirit of the Lord." Not the power of intellect and gifts, but "power from on high." "The power of God unto salvation." 1. Power in the greatest degree. " Filled with power." Here is no stint nor mea- sure, except moral capacity. This is most needful, and the best furniture to the minister. Mr. Gladstone recently said that we had nothing to depend upon hut moral power. " Tarry ye, until ye be endued with power from on high." Power in yourselves, power in your words, and power in the hearts of men. " Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." II. It is a ministry of light. "And of judgment." 1. The minister himself is enlightened. He is endowed Avith "a spirit of wisdom and knowledge." He has judgment to discern tilings that differ, to speak a word in season, from a sense of justice, a regard to truth, and not to please men. 2. Thedoctrine which he preaches enlightens others. It is judgment; an impartial view of God's word, righteous indignation against sin, and mercy to the penitent. He has an ardent love for souls, and great zeal for the glory of God. Under such a ministry, sinners are convinced, inquirers en- lightened, and saints edified. III. It is a ministry of courage. " And of might." He feared not the wrath, nor flattered the sins of man. He had courage to brave, danger, adhere to truth, and reprove the mighty. He was manly in his utter- ances, endued with spiritual boldness, and steeled against all opposition in declar- ing " unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin." " Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful " [Shakespeare], HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 8. Here we have a pattern All the fruits of one Spirit, all to qualify ministry by which to test all others, for the discharge of one duty, " to declare Israel's prophets were demoralized, and unto Jacob," &c. " So, then, of these had sadly declined from the dignity of three gifts power expresses the Divine the days of Samuel. The entrance of might lodged in him ; judgment, the the earthly-minded and unspiritual into substance of what he had to deliver ; the sacred calling will be a curse to the might or courage, the strength to deliver nation. Here Ave perceive the distinc- it in face of human power, persecution, tion between a false and a true prophet, ridicule, death" [Pusey]. between a converted and an uncon- Vers. 5 — 8. Warning to the Heralds verted teacher, and the different ground, of God's Word. 1. Their ideal character nature, and object of their office. There (ver. 8). 2. Their danger of darkening is with the true man, spirit, power, light, God'sWord through self-seeking, in that self-denial, wise temperance, pure, un- either they for personal advantage preach corrupted delivery of God's plan of what the ears of people lust after, or salvation; and with the false, envy, brand their personal enemies as*;. id's imagination, self-love, which puffs up, enemies. 3. The aggravation of their personal gam, respect of persons, decep- sin; desecration of the "Word ; confusion tion, &c. [Lange]. of God's congregation. 4. Their pun- The Three Gifts of a true ministry, ishment ; they lose the capacity to dis- 1. Their Divine source. 2. Their human cern God's Word, and speak to the dis- necessity. 3. Their practical design. gustof others and of themselves \Lange\. HOMILETICS. Guilty Leaders. — Verses 9 — 11. The prophet gives a proof of his fidelity in reproving the rulers of the nation, civil and religious; briefly sums up the sins of which they were guilty, and which brought their ruin ; and shows that all who are confident of God's favour will not escape his judgments. H0MILE1 (ENTJRF: MICAS. [chap. tit. I. Civil rulers perverted law for selfish aggrandisement. Rulers of the itterns of justice, bul they despised it. 1. They abhorred I. lathed it as abc-min mghl that if virtue could be seen ttractive; buf these judges knew and hated it. 2. They Thoy twisted and distorted it. Not only crushed individuals, but ,' the foundation of justice. •"-. They perverted all judgment, " all right and straighl they made crooked. Xatural conscience both defi< .1. They neither governed themselves by right, nor They encouraged others by their practice, and, as in the age nothing unlawful 4. Their aim was to build ///> Zion. The rich buill their palaces with wealth gained by fraud ami oppression. The city was ned with streets built by rapine ami Mood. The Lord looked " for judgment, but behold oppi ' ir righteousness, but behold a cry." II. Religious teachers expounded law for gain. All are accused of bribery and mercenary conduct. 1 prophets loved the wages of unrighteousness. 1. Priests . They had maintenance assigned to them by God, had much by 1 Sam. i\. 7. 8), and should have made a difference between holy and iinh .. 10, 11 : Dent. xvii. 10, 11). But they sold what they should have given, and combined with the heads of the nation, with injustice. One their power, another their knowledge ; the judge perverted law, the interpreted it. 2. Prophets divined for money. False prophets gave answers to please those who paid them. As the oracles of Apollo were corrupted by the gold of Philip, bo the law of God was sold for money. All sought their own, no! the things of Christ, nor the interests of the people. "Thou shaft take no gift: ift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the Vain Confidence Destroyed. — Verses 11, 12. Notwithstanding their abominable conduct, yi t the judges, priests, and prophets me upon God's favour, and think thai no evil will befall them. The prophet them from their vain confidence. I. They were confident of God's favour. " Is not the Lord among us 1" Pre- sumption feeds men with delusion. External privileges, outward reformation, . will save no man. Those who lean upon these will dishonour God troy them 1. Perversion of truth and abuse of ordinances will drive from us. "Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, temple of the Lord are we." II. They were confident of security from evil. upon us." We are perfectly safe whatever others say. Thus deluded in Bin, and rocked to Bleep in fatal security. If men are not 1 from evil by i the] can never he protected hy them. rarity, fear the Lord, and depart from evil. III. They were doomed to destruction in their confidence. " There shall Zibn," &c. 1. The i. Its stately buildings were demolished, and its proud 1 : i heaps. The ground on which it stood was ploughed as a mon held, and the Bite of the temple became wild as a forest. 2. Their turn 1 ' ruin. "For your sake." Sin will ever draw calamity in 1 irch and St ' rrupl rulers and teachers involve the people in defection, n on the judgment. Thej maj think that they build, when they only re prosperity, • h< n they ruin it. Every sanctuary desecrated 1 hypocri y will be demolished by the wrath of God. Instead of protecting, it i ill fall U] v. ill be the fall of it. " Woe to him that buildoth a town with I>1 1 ! " CHAP. III.] 1I0MILETIC COMMENTARY: MIC All. 419 IIOMILETIO HINTS AND OUTLINES. "Ver. 9. 1. Persons in eminency, ac- customed to sin, are generally deaf to what the Lord saith. 2. The mes- sengers of the Lord must not give up when their message is not received, hut cry till either they get audience or have delivered their souls. Hear, I pray you. 3. It is the duty of faithful min- isters, in reproving the faults of rulers, to be courteous, and not contemn au- thority. Hear, ye heads, &c. [Adapted from Hufcheson]. Ver. 10. Building Zion by wrong means is the way to pull it down. It can never stand erected by sinful ma- terials, and for a selfish end. "Truly we build up Zion with blood when Ave cheapen luxuries and comforts at the price of soids, use Christian toil like brute strength, tempt men to dishonesty and women to other sin, to eke out the scanty wages which alone our sellish thirst for cheapness allows, heedless of everything save of our individual grati- fication, or of the commercial prosperity which we have made our god " [Puscy]. Righteousness builds up because it brings Cud's protection and blessing; unrighteousness tears down because it brings God's curse \Hengsteriberg\. Ver. 11. Leaning. 1. Holy nun sometimes rest on oificiid relationship with God, pollute the holiest things, and become a warning to others. 2. Guilty men will often lean upon the Lord, claim his protection, and Batter themselves into false security. " The sacred office is a grievous snare to un- sanctified hearts," says one..* "No un- godliness, pride, secularity, and hypocrisy are so great as those which stand before God in association with the teaching of his Word." A'ers. 11, 12. False confidence in God. 1 . Its ground, an < >utward temple — sacraments. 2. Its danger, disregard of the distant future, indifference, indulg- ence given to the natural man. 3. Its end. Fate of the Jewish state ; the holy city becomes as the world, and shares the fate of the world. So like- wise we. If we forsake God he will forsake us \Lange\ ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER III. Vers. 1 — 4. Judgment. It is neither the great man's power, nor the poor man's meanness, that a judge is to mind in judgment. A judge, a justice, must never cry out, " Oh, he is a poor man ! " nor yet out of base fear cry out, " Oh, he is a great man ! " The judges in Egypt were portrayed without hands and with- out eyes, to signify that they were not to take bribes, nor to accept men's persons \_Brooks]. Ver. 3. Eat flesh. " Diseased nature oftentimes breaks forth In strange eruptions " [Shakespeare]. Vers. 5 — 7. It shall he dark. Misery assails riches as lightning does the highest towers ; or as a tree that is heavy laden with fruit breaks its own boughs, so do riches destroy the virtue of their possessor [Burton]. Ver. 8. Power. The crowning power of the messenger of God is power over the moral man; power which, whether it approaches the soul through the avenue of the intellect or of the affec- tions, does reach into the soul. The sphere of the Christian power is the heart, — the moral man; and the result of its action is not to be surely distin- guished from that of mere eloquence by instantaneous emotion, but by subse- quent moral fruit. Power which cleanses the heart and produces holy living is the power of the Holy Ghost [Win. Arthur]. Vers. 9, 10. Build. The crimes of the people of England are not denounced by the pulpit as they should be : the abominations of royalty, the injustices perpetrated in the courts of justice, the cupidity of traders, the swindlings of joint-stock company men, by which they become millionnaires, and win a seat in MENTARY: M/t 111. [( n.vr. iv. nation. ] held up, ;is they Bhould r public a, in the broad . 11. Money. The pri of nim bul at two things to get •ii the king and money from ( rold i- the fool's in. which hides :ill his defi i ts Erom irld [Feltl tcriea ofheav'n - -1,-11 turn o" [MM I 12. Z ■ '■ At the 1 ground; one pari of it supported a crop of barley, another was undergoing the labour of the plough, and the soil turned up con- ! of stone and lime, filled with earth, such as is usually metwith in the foundations of ruined cities. It- is nearly a mile in circumference [Rich- ardson's Travels^ On the S.E. Zion slopes down, in a series of cultivated terraces, sharply, though not abruptly, to thesites of the king's gardens. Here and round to the s. the whole declivi- ties are sprinkled with olive trees, which grow luxuriantly among the narrow slips of corn yi'i'rli r~\. CHAPTEE IV. Critical Notes.] The Balvation of Zion is closely connected with its destruction, and a future mountain, which is ;i wild forest. Last] The dayB of Messiah, the completion of all things. Mountain] i.e. the whole city; its elevation, moral dignity, not local situation. Estab. A permanent foundation. Heh. abidingly established. "An expression denoting con- dl continually remain on its settlement." 2. Many] All nations ■ wiv. 14); a powerful movement in the heathen world. For] The reason for rach intense eeal in going up. Law] i. c instruction in the ways of God ; the law as a rule of holy ration. 3. Judge] Instead of nations going to war (Isa. ii. 4). Rebuke] • m. 8,9); lit. to Bet right, settle disputes. Many] In contrast to one mi rlv aoknowledgi d Jehovah ; " who were hitherto for the most part inclined of the sword" Beat] implements of war into implements of peace. 4. ■ ren in op< ii fii Ids (cf. 1 Kings i\. 26 : Lev. wvi. 6). 5. Name] i.e. profession, andii ' l 8am. rvii. 15: Zech. x. 12: Prov.xviii. 10). Heathen gods can em. 6. Haltethl lake Bheep wearied in a journey. "Limping denotes the ■i into which the dispersed hav< been brought " (cf. Psal. xxxv. 15; xxxviii. 18). [ration will not fail, for all the miserable and scattered shall be assembled. 7. Express* • monarchy, i existed in present or past. "Alicah docs not tion th ! I i\i'l In re, but J< hovah himself, not to exclude the kingdom of David, ii",l will prove that hi was the author ot that kingdom, and that all power is his. certain differ* nee here between that shadowy kingdom and the :n which God will openlj .t the advent of the Messiah" [Calvin]. 8. Tower] no sheep, Jerusalem is the tower from which the king guards thetlock. I ell tp.vii. 11). Unto thee] Allirms more than id up tin way to the goal [Keil]. 9.] ■ king, wandi r into captivity, bul will be redeemed from "her enemies. King] Loss I him ntation, more painful to Israel than other people ; the king 10. Pain] Fig. of a woman with child (cf. Jer. iv. ol). Out of the city. rth the greatness and certainty of the calamity. There . . thee] Emphatic I deliverance. 11.] Distant sunlight overclouded by id. Now) .v red not to hear the law (ver. 2), but for war. Defiled] Like a 12. Gather them] To be punished in turn when they havi answered his purpose, when II'" the numbers of the foe, all arc but as one sheaf 13. Arise] Deut. xxv. 4. Horn] To push the enemies (1 Kings xxii. - v. 19). Lord] Not for Zion's selfish cuds (Isa. lx. Whole earth] Who through subjugating the heathen has proved to he such (Ps. xciii., xcvi.). chap, iv.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY ': MIC. I If. 421 H0MILETIC8. The Church of the Future. — Ferses 1 — 4. Mount Zion is not doomed to be a perpetual waste. A glory is here predicted which it has not yet realized ; but its chastisement shall end in mercy and moral dignity. It will become the residence of God and the centre of nations. I. The moral elevation of the Church. The elevation here is not physical, but moral ; a spiritual exaltation. 1. Its eminent site. " The tops of the moun- tains," fee, "exalted above the hills." It is pre-eminently above all worldly heights. Above earthly potentates and above idols. Other eminences are insig- nificant compared to this mountain. Its doctrine and design, its author and its life, are above the wisdom of men. Small in its beginning, it shall grow and shine with greater lustre than kingdoms of this world. Lower than they, it will rise above and overtop them all. " A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid." 2. Its impregnable nature. It shall " be established." Exalted, it shall be estab- lished above human institutions. Human elevation is unstable. This is built upon a rock, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. Its foundations are in the holy mountains (Psal. lxxxvii. 1) ; its head stands securely aloft, between heaven and earth, and it rests, unassailable and serene, upon the purpose of God. "Mount Zion cannot be removed, but abidcth for ever." II. The attractive power of the Church. As a dominant, supreme power, it will be attractive to all nations. 1. As the centre of numbers. " Many nations shall come." It shall not be confined to one people nor locality. " I will make of thee a great nation." " People shall flow into it;" indicating multitude and eager- ness. Like a river, distant peoples shall come and throng in one continuous stream. A flood once covered the highest mountains and destroyed everything on the face of the earth. But this river shall bring spiritual life and fertilize the universe. " They shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord." 2. As the place of instruction. They go to know God and to learn his ways; not to be amused with idle speculations and novel theories". They go for grace, to practise what they know, to " hear of heaven and learn the way." Religious instruction has ever been connected with Divine worship. The more we know of God, the more anxious shall we be to praise and please him. " He will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths." 3. As the residence of God. " The house of the God of Jacob." More glorious than the tabernacle and the temple of old. This is the pavilion of God's splendour, the place where his honour dwelleth. Here he dwells and displays special signs of grace. " The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts." 4. As the seat of empire. " And he shall judge among many people" God will here fix his throne and exercise spiritual rule over the world. He will rebuke the proud, convict the sinner, and subdue all things to himself. Tyrants and thrones, idolatries and superstitions, shall fall before the power of the Gospel. "For the law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem." III. The abiding1 prosperity of the Church. The Gospel is a rule of order and peace ; brings tranquillity and prosperity to all people. 1. Wars shall cease. In the best governed states we see restlessness, suspicion, and insecurity. Kingdoms have been torn by civil and subdued by foreign wars. But here Jew shall not hate Gentile; implements of strife shall be instruments of peace ; and nations shall learn war no more. 2. Social gteietness shall be enjoyed. Vineyards shall be possessed by the poor ; the lig, the characteristic fruitfulness of Palestine, shall not decay; and every one shall sit in domestic harmony. Each "will be content a id undisturbed in his lot. Abundance of peace shall mark the future ('lunch. 1 a secrecy men will sit securely, and openly walk in perfect safety. " ISTone slia'l make them afraid." This glorious future seems almost impossible, judging from •)_-' iiomiletic ( '0 mm i:\r.tn V : Mil 'All- [chap. iv. the present But ('."'1 has purposed, and will briny it to pass. I hath spoken it." EOMILETIG HINTS AND OUTLINES. for the mouth -. 1. Flow. The metaphor of ng importeth the coming of ] pie , th( preaching of the Go 1.1 Psai . Zealously, bearing down all obstacli s that would dam up their •" i qsI mtly and continually, i in perpetually, by reason of perennity of their fountains; ami dried up, though sometimes fuller than others; as rivers swell "ft with Budden showers and overflow the ml all expectation, many doth God propagate his truth, ■ • 2 ti,,. bounds <>f his ( Ihurch new confluxes of converts \Trapp\. ■J. /. ' us go iii>. 1. Tin- ol luroey. " The mountain of •_'. I he Bpirit in which they it. '• And jay, < lome, let us," I | \ pirit of fervour. (2) A . utual love. " Exhortin \ ; • ■ ■ shorted his brother 1 Philip Nathaniel, ami the .iiia those of her city, to 1 L so all since, \\ ao i won by him, by word or pic, h\ preaching or by deed, in in private, bring along with k him whom they : >und " [ Pusey\ 3. worthy end they have in view. •• Be will i. ach us of his waj s." " They in holy simplicity to Learn what- ever he will condescend to teach them ; in holy confidence, that he, the Infalli- ble Truth, will teach them infallibly." •1. The practical result. "We will walk in his paths." Law out of Zion. 1. The blessing issued. '• Law." Not mere doctrine or religion \ not the Jewish law : but law (without the article) as the rule of lifo (I'rov. vi. 23 ; xxviii. -i), which should be revealed to heathen nations (Lam. ii. 9 : Isa. ii. 3). 2. The method of its issuing. "Go forth." A personal, direct act of God; a continual influence of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit in the Church and Christian experience. 3. The centre from which it issues. Out of Zion and Jerusalem. Vers. 3, 4. The universal spread of the Gospel. Modern theories of the future exposed and refuted. The guarantees for the fulfilment of this prediction and its benefits described. This prophecy is fulfilled — (1) In the character of the Gospel. (2) The prophecy has been fulfilled, within and without, among individuals or bodies of men, in body or mind, in temper or in deed, as far as the Gospel has pre- vailed [/'"■<' //\. The cessation of war an effect of the prevalence of Christianity [Foster's L> ctures, vol. ii.]. "Nil more shall nation against nation rise, Nor ardent warriors meel with hateful eyes, Nor fields with gleaming steel be covered o'er, Nor brazen trumpets kindle rage no more: Bui useless Lances into scythes shall bend, And the broad falchion in a ploughshare end " [ J 'opt — The Messiah] . UOMILETIGS. CHBI8T] smi v Mil: ONLY GUARANTEE full BETTER D.SVS. — Verse 5. The prophet has just predicted a bright future for the Church. But Jehovah a bring it to pass. "For" idols are impotent, and those who worship . do nothing. Christianity i the only hope of mankind. Human systems mplish tin- woi I Ancient systems did not brinj better days. What have the myths of and India done 1 What did the religions of Greece and L'ome pliaM .Many nation.; excelled in wealth, intelligence, and refinement, but chap, iv.] 110MILETJC COMMENTARY : MLCAll. 423 were degraded in morals. Religion is always more potent than philosophy and culture. The latter can never affect the former. An inferior never changes the character of a superior power. Hence false religions become worse, gravitate to the centre of evil, and lose all influence to elevate and bless the world. II. Modern systems cannot bring better days. If history and experience determine the fate of nations in the past ; if Christianity has been the only power to copo with heathenism and eradicate evil, will the verdict for the future differ from the past] "We may advance in commercial prosperity, education, and civilization, without improvement and elevation in morals. The religions of intellect and of emotion, of imagination and sentiment, the theories of philosophy and utility — which are the boast of the present day — will never abolish war and bring the anticipated millennium. In man we cannot trust. In systems half-human and half-divine we have no guarantee for the future. Our faith must stand not in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God. With this we shall be safe, happy, and triumph- ant. God has promised, and will accomplish better days. " 'Tis coming on the hills of time, And this old world is growing brighter ; We may not see its dawn sublime, But high hopes make the heart throb lighter." The Zeal of Idolaters an Incentive to Christian Life. We may take ver. 5 as a resolution of JeAvish and Gentile converts to cling to God and walk in his ways, exciting themselves by the example and spirit of idolaters, who were zealous and pertinacious in their ungodly course. I. Every one has a god. It is a trite but true saying that man will worship. If he does not love the true, he will a false god — an idol. Under the Gospel, and in heathen nations, idolatry is prevalent. II. Every one makes a pro- fession of his god. "Every one in the name of his god" — that is, under the law and in conformity to the will of his god. 1. It is an open profession. They are not afraid nor ashamed of their profession. 2. It is a consistent profession. They "walk" in the fear, and not against the authority, of their god. Their moral conduct does not contradict their religious faith. 3. It is a stedfast profession. They "will walk." They were constant and persevering in their practice. They were determined not to forsake their worship ; for a nation will seldom change its gods (Jer. ii. 11). 4. It is a universal prof ession. For all Avill walk, "every one," &c. Hence if these idolaters were so earnest and resolute, what should we do1? says the prophet. Their ardour should kindle our indifference ; their exactness shame our inconsistency; and their numbers provoke our efforts. Our confession and resolution should be, " We will wallt in the name of the Lord our God." This not occasionally, for since there is nothing unreason- able or wearying in this service, it should be "for ever and ever." The Kingdom of Christ. — Verses & — 8. From the salvation promised even those that are scattered abroad and dwelling in misery will not be excluded. God will finally remove all impediments and bring his people together into one glorious and perpetual kingdom in Christ Jesus. I. The seat of the kingdom. "The Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion." Zion is the place from which the law went out (ver. 2), and a type of the Christian Church (Isa. xl. 9; lii. 7). Jerusalem was the special abode of Jehovah, the seat of theocratic government, and the centre of prescribed worship. The Church now is the Mount of God, for elevation and dignity. Here he deigns to dwell, to bless his people, and rule the world. " The city of the Great King." II. The subjects of the kingdom. Jew and Gentile, the distant and most degraded, will be gathered together. Persons that are despised and forgotten by UOMILETJC COMMENTARY i MICAH. [chap. iv. human governments, the indigent, and the poor, will become citizens of the Great King. i. /' rally weak. " Her that halteth." Men are spiritually tired, maimed, and disjointed. Moral halting had been the chief sin of Israel, serving Baal il Kings xviii. 21). Men halt, hesitate, and counterfeit in God's tpelessly scattered. "Her that is driven out." Jews ; . force, aid Gentiles led by dumb idols (1 Cor. xii. 2). All that flock from the fold of God. " I will save her that halteth, c her that was driven out" (Zeph. iii. 16). 3. The grievously distressed. •11 rthal I have afflicted." Men are nol merely driven out from God, but are ind afflicted in body and mind. Winn God afflicts them they are specially to him All grievances shall be redressed, and all distempers healed. "I will Beek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will hind ap that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick" !\. 13 1''". Ill The glory of the kingdom. The glory of the was obscured by the sins of kings and priests. Earthly monarchies erg eclipse; but the glory of this kingdom excelleth. 1. It will be 'I'll.' kingdom will come to the Church with a glory exceeding "even tie- ln-t dominion." It will shine with a greater lustre than the reigns of David and Solomon. 2. It will be strong. " A strong nation." (a) Strong in numbers. The remnant scattered and depressed shall be restored and multiplied, like the a or the sands on the sea-shore, (b) Strong in victory. It will no be subdued by petty monarchs ot neighbouring confederacies. Hut its gth is not human might, temporal greatness; but strong in spiritual warfare, in faith, and achievements. " A little one shall become a thousand, and a small mg nation." 3. // will be perpetual. The Lord shall reign over them, The valour and strength of David, the honour and wisdom of S< •!■ bul shadows of this kingdom. The King eternal is not subject to • dity, nor exposed to danger. The glory of the Church and the height of its the constant presence and prerogatives of Christ Jesus. "The Lord • unto him the throne of his father David ; and he shall reign over of Ja ob for ever; and of bis kingdom there shall he no end." EOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Vet. 5. ' in worship. 1. strength. "At that time they shall call of the world rejecl God. 2. Men Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and • ie world worship their own god. all the nations shall be gathered together .".. But Christiana are determined to love unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jehovah. That -which is the Jerusalem." acandal to the world, to them is a motive Ver. 7. Tin Lord shall reign. As ud to union. There are King, hi — 1. Of rebels makes them sub- isions in the world, let jects, willing to he ruled by him. 2. ther in the He preserves them in that privilege hy 'We will walk in the name his Spirit, 3. He gives them law's far of '•' Letter than those of the twelve, (aides in 1 ' ' ( 1. R ■, which yet far exceeded (saith flock in a state of he) H . Cicero) all the learned libraries of the I afflicted. 2. The flock philosophers in worth and weight. 4. ether by the G 1 Shep- Ho sweetly inclineth their wills to yield Gathered by providence and universal obedience thereunto, and to found by grace. 3. The flock defended, cross themselves so they may please the flock," they him. 5. lie rewards them with corn- el) inspected ; (2) envir 1; (3) fortandpea md with life eternal The Church is de igned to hereafter. 6. He destroys all the ene- . Mice and tower of spiritual _ jnies of his Church, and then, at last, chap, iv.] UOMILETIC COMMENTARY: MICA1I. 423 delivers up the kingdom to his Father tidings the (gladder Ivy repeating and (1 Cor. xv. 24) ; not his essential king- enforcing them" [Pusey]. dom as God, hut his economical kingdom Vers. 1 — 8. The kingdom of God. 1. as mediator [Trojiji]. Its central point : the glorified and ex- Ver. 8. The world is a field, the alted Zion, the source of the statutes Church a fold in that field ; and a and revelations ; and through grace, tbo strong fold (strong as a tower), yea, a ancient, chosen seat of God's dominion, stronghold; Ophel, as it is styled in the 2. Its citizens : those who flow towards next words ; and that of the daughter it thirsting for righteousness, longing of Zion, that is, of the Christian Church, for salvation. 3. Its order : God's law the inviolable security whereof is here and God's peace (ver. 3). 4. Itsblessed- noted [Ibid.]. ness : rest, security, prosperity (ver. 4). Come and arrive. He twice repeats 5. Its duration: eternal, like God him- the assurance, in equivalent words, for self (ver. 5) \Lange\. their fuller assurance, "to make the good HOMILETICS. The Suffering and Triumph of God's People. — Verses 9 — 13. Israel's history, like human life, has its dark and its bright side. Before the glory promised is ever gamed, sorrow and trial must be endured. This is — 1. A constant rule ; and — 2. A necessary order in God's discipline. But the scene of trial was to be the place of deliverance. The sufferings shall bo over-ruled for the salvation of his people and the destruction of their enemies. Notice : — I. The bitterness of the affliction. " Pangs have taken thee," &c. Pangs with- out remedy, and painful as a woman in travail. 1. Tlie loss of Icings. " Is then1 no king in thee 1 " A visible king was a protection, and a symbol of God's presence to them. The loss was most serious and irreparable. It was a condition of helplessness and shame. 2. The loss of counsellors. " Is thy counsellor perished 1" Kings and judges were their counsellors and guides; but they were bereft of wisdom to direct, left in the hands of the enemy, and governed by captive nations. 3. The loss of liberties. "Now shalt thou go forth out of the city," which shall be captured ; " dwell in the field " exposed to danger ; and be carried "even to Babylon" into long captivity. This was a sad exchange of liberty and luxury for bondage and misery. But it is the picture of many a soul reduced to slavery, bereft of God and writhing in agony. II. The comforts under the affliction. All is not lost, though they have neither king nor counsellor. God will make up for everything. 1. Affliction will cud in good. "Jerusalem's pangs are not as dying agonies, but as travailing throes, which after a while will bo forgotten for joy that a chdd is born into the world." Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning (Ps. xxx. 6 ; lxxiii. 24 : Jer. x. 24). 2. Deliverance will be granted. "There shalt thou be delivered." There, where sorrow is greatest and hope is faintest — even in Babylon, the most unlikely place, " the Lord shall redeem thee." The utmost degree of affliction is often the nearest to the end, and help is not in the holy city, but in the stronghold of the foe. "Man's extremity is God's opportunity." The Red Sea must be the scene of triumph to Israel, and the prison the place of deliverance to Joseph and Peter. This magnifies God's grace and power. " When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we -were like them that dream." 3. Enemies will be subdued. "Thou shalt beat in pieces many people." In their weakness, God will be their strength, and make them victorious over confederate nations. Their burns shall be iron, to push their enemies; and their hoofs brass, to tread them down. The destruction is universal and complete. All enemies shall be put under their feet, as conquered foes, or willing subjects. " Fear not, thou worm Jacob. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument, having teeth : thou shalt thresh H0MILET1C COMMENTARY: ML | the mountains and beat them Braall, Mini Bhall make the hills as chaff' (Is. xh. 1 :i 1 .V. III. The spirit in which they should bear the affliction. If such Ik-, their prospects in the trial, how should they d< mean themselves? 1. They should cherish a, rit. "Why dost ti >ut aloud?" Calm fear and hush affliction be grievous at present, it shall afterward yield the fruits of | : its the menace of the foe, but passion takes his part. " Patience doth conquer by out-suffering all" [Fed]. •_'. They should cherish a 'stive spirit. "13c in pain," &c. Grieve, but ;. fretfulness, and rebellion, are unreasonable. Resistance L- fully, submission is triumph. •• Bj Dot opposing, thou dost ills destroy, And wear thj conquered BorrowB into joy" [Young]. .'.. They should cherish a spirit of hope. What a bright prospect opens up before them : Why doubt or despair > God will accomplish his word. Hope will sweeten trial, and, hke the sun, paint the rainbow on the clouds. " Black though our side of the canvas be," said Sir Harry Vane, in going to be executed, "the Divine beautiful picture on the unseen side." 'I'm: Deotbuotion of Zion's Foes. — Verses 11 — 13. Those who exult in Israel's fall, and seek to defile and outrage her, will be dis- inted. [nscrutable wisdom will correct the children with the foe, and then y the foe with the children. I. They are frustrated in their design. "Let her be defiled," &c. 1. They sought her injury. They desired to defile her with blood, and condemn in guilt The wicked delight in the fall and inconsistencies of God's people. They often become tempters, then accusers; "first desecrators, then timonious justiciaries," says one. 2. They feasted their eyes on her ■■ Lei our eye Look upon Zion." The world always hates the Church in ; Eklom delighted in the chastisement of Israel I. L2.) \ and the sufferings of the martyrs "were a spectacle to the heathen. blind to all virtue, and eyes ran always see what hearts can wish. "Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen II. They are crushed in their efforts. " Many nations are gathered against thee." The powers of earth and hell are sometimes arrayed against the Church, but all in vain. They are against God when against his people. They may have wickedness to imagine, craft to devise, but are not able to perform (l's. xxi.). God kie.ws tloir thoughts, but they cannot defeat his purpose. Pharaoh's counsel to h issued in the increase of the chosen people. The wisdom, power, and oify nothing, if they oppose the decrees of God. "He taketh in their craftiness." Learn — 1. The folly of designing against God. 2. t obediem I - God. III. They are ruined in their numbers. "Many nations" combined against Zion. The armies of Babylon, with their :. , the foiv. of Edom, Alum Moab, and others, who exulted in types of the anti-Christian powers of the latter days. Neither numbers nor craft avail before God. They only ripen themselves for God to into the iloor." HOMILETIG HINTS AND OUTLINES. 1, 10, I The moral condition of the privileges of that city, whoso builder ' "■ Km/!. . in captivity and maker is God; exposed to danger, bio to cope with Bin, tumult, and the distractions of life. II. ind the world. Without. TJte purpose of. God concerning men. To IV.] UOMILETIC COMMENTARY : MlC.Uf. 427 redeem, to govern, to guide, and to exalt above all misery and opposition. He will shortly bruise Satan under their feet, and every power of body and mind shall be consecrated to him. Vers. 11, 12. The enemies of Zlou. 1. Their number. 2. Their purpose, — to defile and rejoice. 3. Their spirit — proud and determined. 4. Their help- lessness. "They know not the thoughts of God." 5. Their ruin. " He shall gather them," &c. God's people begin, and he will finish, the work. Gather them as sheaves. Persecutors. 1. Ripened by their own conduct. 2. Gathered by the providence of God. 3. Threshed by the judgments of God. " This prophecy received a primary and partial fulfilment in the victories of the Maccabees (1 Mace. v. 1). But its adequate accomplishment is in Christ. It is to be applied to the work of the apostles, and apostolic men, missionaries of Christ, who are compared by St. Paul to oxen treading out the corn (1 Cor. ix. 9 : 1 Tim. v. IS : cf. Is. xxxii. 20). Their work is indeed one of bringing the nations into subjection (2 Cor. ii. 14; x. 5 : Eph. vi. 12); but it is in subjection to the law of love, in order that the good grain winnowed from the sheaves on the floor may be gathered into the garner of heaven" (cf. Ps. cxlix. 8) [Wordsworth]. Yer. 13. The very image of the threshing implies that this is no mere destruction. While the stubble is beaten or bruised to small pieces, and the chaff is far more than the wheat, and is carried out of the floor, there yet re- mains the seed-corn. So in the great judgments of God, while most is refuse, there yet remains over what is severed from the lost heap, and wholly i crated to him [Pttsr//]. The Lord of the whole earth. 1. ( '•< id the supreme ruler of the world. Not merely the God of Israel, but ruler " of the whole earth." 2. All things governed in the interests of the Church. The nations subject to Zion, not for selfish aggrandisement, but for her good and his glory (Isa. Ix. G, 9 ; xxiii. 18). 3. The glory of victory should be given to God. All gains of merchandise, all achievements of intellect, all success of spiritual elforts, spring from him, and should be consecrated to him. Holiness to the Lord should be written on all things we do. Vers. 9 — 13. Of the struggles of God's congregation. They must be maintained : 1. Under heavy sorrow, in secure expectation of their final re- demption (vers. 9, 10). 2. Under the mighty assaults of the foe, in sine con- fidence that the Lord sits upon the throne (vers. 11, 12). 3. In constant self-examination. For although the victory must certainly be given to God's cause (ver. 13), nevertheless, until Christ is born in the congregation (and in each individual, ver. 1), the result of every contest is deserved disaster and disgrace (ver. 13) \Lange\. The whole chapter sets forth — 1. The glory ; 2. The peace ; 3. The dominion ; and, 4. The victory of the Church. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER IV. Vers. 1, 2. Last days. God's pro- mises are dated, but with a mysteri- ous character ; and for want of skill in God's chronology, we are prone to think God forgets us, when, indeed, we forget ourselves in being so bold to set God a time of our own, and in being angry that he comes not just then to us \Gurnalt\. ^ Ver. 3. War. There must be peace when the art of war is laid by as useless, and shall bo learned no more. That will be a blessed time, indeed, when the art military shall be out of date, and (being itself the greatest interrupter of learning) shall be learned no more. When soldiers shall turn husbandmen and vine-dressers. When a man casts away his sword we may well conclude. he intends to be quiet. Thus the Lord gives quiet to nations which have been engaged in Avar, by causing wars to cease [CW /■///]. Ver. 4. Peace of country life. "In all things grew Lis wisdom ami Lis wealth, And folk. buLoldJii"; tLc lair state and kuahh. 428 . !/,')': MICAS. [chat. iv. tli it now at last \ - cast (H, i ;. ite." [ Win. Morris."] 8, As the pli i the future will be spiritual ami pure, the ..1 and wise man in this • Qce should be himself for a tx tter, by controlling tlir unworthy propensities of his nature and improving all bis better aspirations \ t.p .1,. his duly, first to < rod, then to his promote the happiness i those who arc in any pendent 1 1 ] >• «i i him, or whom ... the ni'-ans ..f assisting; never ; to injure the meanest thing that lives; to encourage, as far as he is useful ami tends to refine ami exalt humanity; to store Lis mind with such knowledge as it is fitted . ind be is able to attain ; and employ the tah-uts committed to iiv that, when the account is re- quired, lie may hope to have his stew- ardship approved [Sout?u y\ Ver. '.'. A'/":/. " Kings are like stars — they rise and set— they The worship <>fthe world, but no repose." Vers. 8 1". The kingdom shall come. . \\ is a kingdom t hat is to come not to go to it. Also, it dngdom of the dead, but of the living. Also, it is not to come all at once, but quietly; nobody knows how. "The kingdom cometh not with observation " [Ruski//]. Vers. 10, 11. It belongs, in truth, to tin' ( 'lunch of God to sillier blows, not to strike them. But at the same time, let it lie remembered that the Church is an anvil which has worn out many a hammer [2?«za]. Ver. 12. TJioughts >>/ the Lord. To those, the eyes of whose understandings are enlightened, and the avenues of their hearts opened to discern and adore the perfections of God, how manifold are the instances which occur of the provi- dence of God interfering to direct the course of human events towards a salu- tary end ; to make afflictions of men the by-path to enjoyment; out of evils, temporal and transitory, to produce substantial and jiermanent good [Bj>. Mant]. Ver. 13. Hope doth three things : it assures good things to come ; it disposes us for them ; it waits for them unto the end, each of which will be of singular use to fit us ft >r pious sufferings \_Pulh ill] . Arise. When God has conquering work for his people, to do, he will furn- ish them with strength and ability for it * will make the horn iron and the hoofs brass : and, when he does so, they niu-t exert the power he gives them, and execute the commission; even the daughter of Zion must arise and thresh [Matt. Henry]. I IIA1TK1; V. Thou] invading army (not Judab). Us] The prophet identifies himself with Bmitfl ! . ui. 30: Matt. v. 39: sxvii. 30). Judge] or king 2. Beth. | Tli j (vers. L — fi) combined with what goes before and 11 - Christ, and is the groundwork of i the New [ Word* }. Eph. To distinguish it from another Beth, in Zebulon (Josh. xix. I ••' in -i/e aad population that it was not enumerated among the I); nor in the li 25) ; ii became a city under Rehoboam Thous.] Tribes divid , over which a leader presided, and com- , iviii. 21, 26: Num. i. 16: Dent. i. 15). / Family ' is given, Judg. vi. 15. •■'■■ r. Out of] Beth., as his native place, antithetic to. he eternity of Christ's Divine nature and chap, v.] IIOMTLETIC COMMENTARY: MICAS. 429 person [Gill]', and the displays of his power of old from everlasting, which may be referred to his covenant engagements, and to the work of creation [Booth:]. 3. Therefore] On account of this fixed plan of God, his people will be given up to suffer, until she] "the virgin" mother of Jesus (Isa; vii. 14) ; or the people of Judah, from whom a ruler was to come forth (Gen. xlix. 10). Suffering is the necessary travail-pain which precedes the joy of birth. Then] Blessings described which result from the Messiah's birth. Rem.] The remainder, not only inhabitants of Judah left from the judgment, but members of the revolted ten tribes; all Israelites dispersed in foreign hinds. Only brethren, sons of Israel, his race, have the right to return. 4. Feedj Lit. rule (Matt. ii. 6) [margin'] ; (Isa. xl. 11). Stand] Persevering and diligent, in the attributes and name of his God, i.e. one in relation and purpose with Jehovah (Isa. ix. 5). They] Returned remnant. Abide] Dwell in perfect peace and security (cf. chap. iv. 4 : Isa. xiv. 30). Now] in the fulfilment. He] Alone (cf. Joel ii. 10, 21 : Luke i. 32). 5. Man] Ileb. this, emphatic (Gen. v. 29) ; the cause or author of peace between God and man (Zech. ix. 10 : Eph. ii. 14, 17 : Col. i. 20). Seven and eight] Numbers complete, victorious, and contrasted with the enemy (Job v. 19: Prov. vi. lfi). Prin.] Shepherds equivalent to princes or rulers (Jer. vi. 3 : Nahum iii. 18). 6. Entrances] The borders where garrisons and its chief strength lie (2 Kings iii. 21). Waste] Lit. eat up; the metaphor of shepherds (Num. xxii. 4). Sword] With her own naked swords (Ps. Iv. 21). He] Messiah. 7. Rem.] Shall quicken and have the same influence as imperceptible dew] (Deut. xxxii. 2: Ps. lxxrL 6). An earnest of greater blessings hereafter (Isa. lxvi. 19: Zech. viii. 13). Showers] From clabar, to multiply, multitudes of drops ; from God, and independent of human agency, as dew and rain. 8. Lion] To take vengeance on her enemies (Isa. lxvi. 15, 16 : Zech. xii. 3 — 6 ; xiv. 17, 18) ; and strike terror into all opponents. A prediction of victory under the Maccabees and after-times. 9.] Exultant feeling ; High be thy hand (Isa. xxvi. 11) to destroy the foe (Exod. xiii. 9). 10. Horses] All human resources on which to depend (Isa. ii. 6 — 8 : Ps. xx. 7). " The Church will never be safe till she is stripped of all creature-trusts, and rests on Jehovah alone" [Cfefom]. 11. Cities] Salvation so complete that neither forces nor strongholds would be wanted. 12. Witch.] Such offences would be no more found amongst them (cf. Isa. ii. 6 — 8). Sooth.] Signmongers by hand and observations of the sky. 13. Images] Graven idols made of wood or metal. Stand.] Statues, stone images, or stones dedicated to idols (1 Kings xiv. 23). "Thou shalt no more be an idolatrous people" [A. Clarke]. 14. Groves] Lit. " Stems of trees, or posts standing upright, or set up as idols, which were dedicated to the Canaanitish goddess of nature" (cf. Ex. xxxiv. 13) [Eeil]. Cities] In or near which idolatrous groves were planted (2 Kings x. 25). " These two rather subordinate objects are mentioned instar omnium, to express the entire abolition of war and idolatry'-' [Eeil]. 15.] The Lord will take vengeance upon nations that have not heard, i. e. not hearkened or obeyed his voice. " In other words, he will exterminate every ungodly power by a fierce judgment, so that nothing will ever be able to disturb the peace of his people and kingdom again" \_Keil], HOMILETICS. The Church Militant — Verse 1. Calamities are to precede prosperity. Lest Israel should fall into carnal security, she is warned of her danger, and roused to defend herself. Zion, in her warlike attitude, is a type of the Church militant. I. She is endangered by the foe. " He hath laid siege against us." In this world the Christian Church is engaged in conflict aud exposed to suffering. The powers of evil have arrayed themselves against her. Infidelity, popery, and persecution have besieged her gates. Sin threatens her character, liberty, and existence. The foes are numerous, strong, disciplined to arms, and possessing manifold advantages. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood," &q. II. She is often deprived of earthly leaders. "They shall smite the judge of Israel." Hengstenberg thinks this expression indicates a time when no king of the house of David reigned. Deplorable is the city with an enemy at the walls, and without a commander within to help. In early days the Church has been without leaders to teach and guide. Apostles were im- prisoned and martyrs put to death. Men were determined to destroy the very existence of Christianity. Hence the great persecutions through which it has passed. But when the godly men cease and the faithful fail, then God will help (Ps. xii. 1). "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our law-giver, the Lord is oui king ; he will save us." III. She is roused to action. " Now gather thyself in troops." 1. Immediate action. " Now." Every Christian, weak or strong, is commanded to arise and be ready. The present is the day fur exertion, and those 430 EOMILETIC COMMENTARY: MICAH. [citap. r. who work Bhould do it with vigour. 2. United action. "Gather thyself in ; . feat. CTnited and personal action are required. Stragglers Qera< Never let the enemies' watchword prevail— " Divide .in,i , i y ranks, and lei each soldier keep his place. Supported by the promise and presence of God we should fear no evil ami Bhun no duty. "The people that do know their God Bhall be strong, and do exploits." - Tin: RULEB OF ISBAEL, — Verves 2,r3. 7,, • ; danger and the deepest degradation of Zion a ruler shall arise to delh I raise her to be a dreaded power in the world. I The place from which the ruler came. 'Bethlehem, the most insig- lem, the royal, city, gave birth to Jesus. Little, in a world nol the least among the cities of Judah; but eclipsed •ill in spiritual dignity. God perfects strength out of seeming weakness, and immortalizes obscure places by the events of his providence. Some men derive honours from, and others confer celebrity upon, the place in which they were bom. Many cities have striven for the honour of Homer's birth. In [Bethlehem we see the Divine purpose to choose "the base things of the world, and to bring to nought things that are." II. The method in which the ruler came. 1. He was promised. "Out of thee shall he come forth." Chief priests and scribes gave the right answer to Herod's questions i. When it was rumoured that he would come out of Galilee, his ;ld say. "< Jhrist cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of hem, where David was." When we think that the promise has failed, God i- arrangin . choosing agents, and fulfilling his word. 2. He was appointed. \w the purpose of God he was set apart, and according to the command of God ho II me not of himself, but the Father sent and sealed him (John vi. 27). "Then .- lid I, Lo, I come : in the volume of the book it is written of me" (Ps. xl. 7, 8). 3. He was l">rn of a woman. "She which travaileth hath brought f>ith." He was born of a woman ; the virgin conceived and bore a son (Isa. vii. 14). Hi I irtfa were of old, hut his birth was in time. He was real God true man. God was manifest in the flesh ; and in the coming of the Messiah lay read the truth of (led, and discern the purpose and presence of God. as now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thingwhich has come to pass." III. The purpose for which the ruler canio. "Who shall be ruler in Israel?" circumstances of his birth and life seemed to bespeak anything rather than ! dominion. Pilate put the question, "Art thou a, king, then1}" The answer waft, " I am a king. Hut my kingdom is not of this world." He had no temporal dominions, hut he governs the hearts and lives of his people. He rules the nations ■ .<■ earth, and will rule to the end of time. The judge of Israel was smitten, r came 1,1 nought, but the reign of Christ shall endure for ever. with rapidity to boundless inheritance, but finished his course in J exile; contrasted empires founded on force with that of Jesus founded upon love, and exclaimed, "What an abyss between my deep misery and the Dal tringd aa of Christ, which is proclaimed, loved, and adored, and is extend- over the whole earth!" IV. The result- which spring from the ruler's coming. "Then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of '• Deliveranu from captivity. They shall return from bondage to < .in iin and to Jehovah. The remnant Bhall become genuine sons of Israel, people n in covenanl with God. 2. Restoration to unity. Exiled Jews, Gentiles of then nations, .shall be united as brethren under his reign, and incorporated into ritual commonwealth. Then men become Israelites not in name, but in spirit and truth. Grace maki of God. The promise is not only to Israel after the flesh, but to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call (Ai • CHAP, v.] TJOMILETIC COMMENTARY: MIC AIL \?,\ The Ixcarxation and Birth op CnmsT. I. Who it was that sent Christ forth. " Out of thee shall he come forth to me." Jesus Christ did not come forth without his Father's permission, authority and assistance. We are too apt to forget that while there are distinctions as to the persons in the Trinity, there are no distinctions of honour; and we frequently ascribe the honour of our salvation, or at least the depths of its mercy and the extremity of its benevolence, more to Jesus Christ than we do to the Father. Contemplate that the Father sent him, and in every period of his life think that he suffered what the Father willed ; that every step of his life was marked with the approval of the great / Am. II. Where did he come to at the time of his incarnation ? First, it seemed necessary that Christ should be born in Bethlehem, because of Bethlehem's history. Again, there is something in the name of the place. The word Bethlehem has a double meaning. It signifies "the house of bread/' and " the house of war." Jesus is the bread of his people on which they feed. Here the bread of life was first given to man to eat. It is also called " the house of war," because Christ is to every man " the house of bread " or " the house of war." Ephratah signifies " fruitf ulness " or " abundance." All our fruitfulness is from Christ. His incarnation fattens the soil of our hearts. Next, notice the position of Bethlehem. "Little among the thousands of Judah." There are many little ones, unknown and dwelling in obscurity. Christ is always born among the little ones ; lieth not in great hearts, but in little ones. A broken heart and a low spirit shall have the Saviour, and none else. Another thought, how wonderfully mysterious was that providence which brought Jesus Christ's mother to Bethlehem at the very time when she was to he delivered. III. What did Jesus come for ? " To be ruler in Israel." He was " born the King of the Jews." Men are born princes, but seldom born kings. But he is not ruler of Israel after the flesh, but after the spirit. Hast thou submitted to the sway of Christ1? IV. Did Jesus ever come before? "Whose goings forth have been ever of old." First, Christ has had his goings forth in his Godhead. "From everlasting." He has not been a secret and a silent person up to this moment. That new-born child is the infant of to-day, but the ancient of eternity. 1. Of old he went forth as our covenant- head in election. 2. He had goings forth for his people, as their representative before the throne, even before they were begotten in the world. Secondly, wo believe that Christ has come forth of old, even to men, so that men have beheld him. He appeared to Abraham, to Jacob, to Joshua, and to the three youths in the fiery furnace. Observe that each of these four great occurrences 'happened to the saints, when they were engaged in very eminent duty, or when they icere about to be engaged in it. When Abraham interceded for Sodom, Jacob engaged in wrestling, Joshua exercising bravery, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in high places of persecution. Christ hath not left going forth yet. Becollect he goes to Bethlehem. Are you little 1 He will go forth to meet you. Ho will come to your poor house, — wretched heart. Trust him, and he will go forth to abide with you for ever [Spurgeon\. The Shepherd King. — Verse 4. The government of this ruler is further described under the similitude of a shepherd feeding and defending his flock, establishing and extending his kingdom in all the earth. I. The work of the shepherd king. He shall " feed " — a word which indicates to feed by ruling, as in the Greek in Matt. ii. G, " Out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule (feed marg.) my people Israel." 1. He vill feed his flock. The soul is hungry, and men crave for food. The word of Christ can feed the soul, and satisfy the wants of humanity. Those who believe in him "shall not hunger nor thirst" any more. 2. He will rule his flock. He will EOMJLETIC COMMENTARY: MICAH. [chap, v, and guide, rale and provide. We require control as well as nourishment. All i. iw him, for thej know his voice And a stranger will they • »llow, bnl will Bee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers." II The qualifications of the shepherd king. Israel's princes had no power, but clad in the Btrength and displaying the glory of the Lord. 1. He "Rule in the Btrength of the Lord." He is invested with 1 his flock againBl wolves and robbers (Johnx. 11, 12). Care would vain if the sheep could nol be secured from danger. " No man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." 2. He has Divine tenderness. His power is tyrannical He loves where he feeds. His might is used to protect, not to ... flock. He does nol flee away like an hireling, but lays down his own life for the sheep. " He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his hosom, and shall gently lead those that . it 1 1 jroung." •"-. He has Divine majesty. "In the majesty of the name of the Lord his God." All power in earth and heaven is given to him. Majesty is displayed in his love and teaching, in his nature and work. He is invested with more dignity than ordinary kings. He bears the name of God (Isa. ix. 5; x. 21); the spirit of might rests upon him (\i. 1) ; and in the greatness of his majesty he any (Ex. xiv. 7). III. The attitude of the shepherd king. M He shall stand and feed." 1. He is actively engaged. To sit is the attitude of a judge, to stand is the position of one ready to succour and defend. He defended I from the attack of heathen nations. He wdl watch and feed his Church to the end of time lie is always present and vigilant. "Behold, he that keepeth 1 shall neither sleep nor slumber." 2. He is constantly engaged. He never down in ease and neglect. He stands fixed in purpose, and none can hinder nr remove him. He endures, surveys, and guards his Hock on every side. " He shall nol fail nor be discouraged until he hath set judgment in the earth." IV. The blessings which flow from the work of the shepherd king. Through the care and providenci of Christ his ] pie shall be increased, established, and acquire tnd dominion. 1. The •perpetual existence of the Church. " And they shall abide." His people shall not wander to and fro, as hitherto. They shall and abide in permanent security and peace. None can hurt or destroy them. they shall live. The original promise, often forfeited through disobe lience, shall be fulfilled : " Ye shall dwell in your land safely. And I wdl ■ in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid " . ixvi 6: I-i. \iv. 30). 2. The increasing greatness of the Church. "For now shall he be great." A "little Hock" only follow him now, hut this Hock shall in numbers and influence, its king shall become famous, precious, and attractive to others. " I have made thee a great name, like the name of the • thai are in the earth." 3. 77/'' universal dominion of the Church. "He shall be great unto the ends of the earth." There shall be no end to the increase, limit to the power of his empire. Souls shall be converted, nations brought under the yoke of Christ, thus the greatness of his love and grace shall beset forth to the eery ends of the world. " I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 1. 1. Christ's ordinary har- whom a people may he kept from con- bingei and forerunners, when he i to fu ion and the Church protected, is a b with mercii to his Church, are special ingredient in the affliction of afflictions to fil them for such mani- the visible Church. See Hutcheson. tions. 2. These afflictions are often To be smitten on the face betokens «rous. The contempt and injury shame; to smite with a rod betokens • inthority and m under, destruction. Now both shall meet in cnAr. v.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY : MICH I. 133 one ; as in the Great Day, the wicked shall awake to shame and everlasting contempt, and shall perish for ever [Pusey]. Ver. 2. Bethlehem. God orders all in the continuous course of liis wisdom. All lies in perfect harmony in the Divine mind. Each event is the sequel of what went before. So hore the prophet joins on, what to us stands in such con- trast with that simple and. Yet he describes the two conditions as bearing one another. He had said that the judge was smitten, and that Israel had no counsellor nor king ; now he speaks of the Ruler in Israel. He had said that the rule was to come to the tower of the flock; now, retaining the word, he speaks of the ruler in whom it was to be established. But he has greater things to say, so he pauses — And thou! People have admired the brief appeal of the murdered C?esar, " Thou too, .Brutus." The like energetic conciseness lies in the words, And thou! Bethlehem Ephratah [Pusey]. Goings forth. 1. In the purposes of eternity. 2. In the creation of the world, 3. In the manifestations of Old Testament. 4. In human birth. 5. In the events of providence. Yer. 4. The shepherd character of Jesus indicates : — 1. The helpless and lost condition of man. 2. The love of God in assuming the character and office of a shepherd. 3. The benevolent de- sign in redeeming mankind. Feed. This expression shows how Christ stands towards his own, the Bheep that have been intrusted to him. lie. does not rule over them like a dreadful tyrant, who oppresses his subjects with fear, but he is a shepherd, and cares for his sheep with all the gentleness that can be desired. But since we are sur- rounded with enemies, the prophet adds: He works with power; that- is, with all the power there is in God, all the protection there is in Christ, as soon as there is need to protect the Church. We should learn, therefore, to expect from Christ just as much salvation as there is power in God [Calf lit]. Hut neither feed nor rule conveys the full idea of the original expression (Matt. ii. G). The full idea is, who shall act the part of a shepherd to my people Israel, — who shall at once protect, and guide, and feed, and govern or rule them [Morrison]. " As the good shepherd tends his fleecy c;ire, Seeks freshest pasture and the purest air, Explores the lost, the wandering sheep directs, By day o'ersees them, and by night protects ; The tender lambs he raises in his anus, Feeds from his hand, and in his bosom warms; Thus shall mankind his guardian care engage, The promised Father of the future age." [Fope.] The world hates the Church, and feasts its eyes upon its misery. HOMILETICS. The Peaceful Eule of Christ,— Verses 5, G. This one just mentioned will bring peace within his kingdom, and bestow means sufficient to secure it when given. Literally and spiritually this promise belongs to the whole Church, and indicates tne peaceful reign of Christ over men, I. He will give peace to His people. Peace to the individual and to the Church is the gift of God. 1. Peace in his aim person. "This man shall he the peace." The soul is dissatisfied and restless; filled with fear, anxiety, and a sense of guilt. The inner life of men is a prayer for peace. Everything points to God as the only sufficient satisfaction. Christ reconciles to God, gives peace with God, and peace with conscience. He is "the Prince of peace, and sends peace on earth" where all is strife. He "came and preached peace to you who were far oil', and to them that were nigh." 2. Peace by his own agencies. "Then shall he raise up seven shepherds," "&c. AYhatever number this may signify, the soldiers of Christ in themselves are weaker than the armies of the world. Hut the feeblesl become heroes in Christ to conquer the enemy and secure the Church. Valiant achieve- ments have been made by the shepherds and princes of the I Jhurch. God require, 28 EOMILBTIC COMMENTARY: MICAIL [chap. v. not numbers nor prowess, ffismstramentalities are feeble and more than enough. trongex than rin. God La mightier than man. The weapons of our re are "nol carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong- II. He will defend the peace which He has given to His people. I Ihurch is in danger, the peace of the Christian is often disturbed, and " in the world ye shall have tribulation." But this man gives and secures peace to the individual, the Church, and thecountry. 1. He delivers from the enemy. "Asshur •u B tyi f the nations of the world by which the people of the Lord are attacked, the time of the prophet this power was the imperial power by which waa , ,, Nimrod was the founder of the empire, Gen. x. (J, and the hostility of this power. Notice— (1) The imminent danger. The within the larders — prevails in the land, and enters their palaces. Senn armj entered Judah, took defenced cities, and besieged Jerusalem cxxvi. 1 ; xxxvii 3. (2) The complete deliverance. Asshur was driven •d in his <>\vn territory with the sword. He was defeated and crushed at his own gates. 2. //• defends from the enemy. When defeated the attack is often renewed. But the Church will carry the battle into the dominions of sin and Satan. Those who try to waste her shall be foiled and wasted them " Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as tho licketh up the grass of the field." (tin Peace in Trouble. — Verse 5. The Messiah is here intended. The word man, in Italics, is not in the original. The translators should rather have put in the word Ruler or Shepherd. But if he, himself be understood, it is all the same, Avhatever be the supplement. The .1 - is used metaphorically, for some enemy. It is common for sacred writers ilieant adversary by the name of Egypt, Assyria, or Babylon; for these powers distinguished themselves by their hatred, oppression, and enslaving of the .lews. We may include everything that annoys and alarms, that would injure and destroy. J'.e the case what it may, he is our relief. He does not ex- empt us from conflict, but affords help, comfort, and deliverance. Enemies assail, but he keeps our minds stayed upon him in perfect peace. Let us think of A rians, and see how he is our peace, when they invade and would ■wallow US up. hues the broken lata of God threaten us? A man has nothing to from the law when perfectly kept. The curse enters through every breach of ion. Who is not therefore exposed? The commandment coming — sin reviving hope dying -and nothing expected but a certain fearful looking for of mi nl ' But he IE our peace, who died for our sins and rose again for our justification. 1 toes our adv< rsary the 1 > vU tei rify \ When you think of his wiles and -ti' ngth, and consider yourself, you are rilled with despair. You are no more than a worm to a mountain. The promise is, " Fear not* thou worm Jacob ; for thou shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small as dust." In the Lord you have md strength. In all these things you are more than conquerors, through him that Loved you. Do we complain of the sin that dwelleth in its? A Christian must feel and ought to fee] it, and he deeply humbled. " O wretched man that I am!" &c But where does he find relief? "I thank God, through 'I.'' He has beguu and wiU finish the good work in. me. My ctification will be a> complete as my justification now is. He is not only able b 'in falling, bul to present me faultless. Do we consider the troubles of />'/■ t In the world ye shall have tribulation, but in me ye shall have peace. the Bufferings of Chri I abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ" Modern Christians may nol be called to suifer persecution as the dis- ciples did ; but they may be subjects of the same personal and relative trials, which require the .same support and .-.Lee: they equally belong to him, and are never cttap. v.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY : MICJll. I.;.-, dearer to his heart than in the hour of affliction. He will not leave them comfort- less. But death/ Death is called the king of terrors. Where would be the triumph of faith if we did not feel its approach ? But it is possible to rise above tbis enemy. We know it from Scripture and observation. Whence comes the victory? There is only one relief when this Assyrian comes — to see Him that has " abolished death." The enemy is not only disarmed by him but turned into a friend — the curse converted into a blessing. To die is gain. " Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death," &c. From Jay. IIOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 5. This Man. ^ Christ is our joined with the crook. Cf. Ps. cxlix. peace, because through* him we have 6 — 9 [Wordsworth]. The more widely peace above us with God, within us in the Gospel spreads itself among the our conscience, around us with other nations of the world, the more bitter men, and under us with Satan [Lange]. will be the spirit of unbelief and un- Ver. 6. Seven shepherds. Feeble godliness [Kci!]. instrumentality. Contrasted with the Princes of men. Victorious army of powers of evil. Its work. Its strength, believers and preachers [ Wordsworth] . Its exploits. In the Church of God Shall toaste. Note, says one, those the work of pastoral teaching is always that threaten ruin to the Church of Grod a work of warfare against error. In the hasten ruin to themselves; and their escutcheon of the Church the sword is destruction is the Chinch's salvation. IIOMILETICS. Israel as the Dew. — Verse 7. The remnant of Jacob through participation in the Messiah's work shall have a beneficent power, and spiritually influence surrounding nations, as rain and dew revive withering grass. I. The Divine origin of dew. " As a dew from the Lord." Israel's re- storation and increase here entirely from the Lord. This " orient pearl " glistens with Divine light. It is one of " the precious things of heaven" (Deut. xxxiii. 13). Everything that quickens and invigorates spiritual life, every influence that pre- serves it from corruption and decay, comes from God. " I wdf be as the dew unto Israel." II. The sovereign laws of dew. " That tarrieth not for man," &c. It is independent of the contrivance of man. It does not originate by human caprice and calculation. Man with all his science and skill can neither make nor hinder it. God supplies it according to his own purpose and law. "Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?" III. The blessed influence of dew. Distilled in the silent night by the influences of heaven and earth, it bathes and refreshes each blade and flower with stainless moisture, and becomes an image of choicest blessing. 1. It is quickening in its influence. Without rain a Christian or an ungodly community is like grass dry and withered in appearance. " All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field." 2. It is gentle in its influence. The word showers implies multitude of drops. "Drops as the gentle dew from heaven." Imagine sin its of water falling at once. What destruction to life and vegetation ! God breaks the force by its distribution in the needed showers, and each shower into countless drops. Not even the tenderest plant is injured. It descends noiselessly and penetrates deeply. Herbs grow and flourish under the soft influence which waiteth not for the sons of men. " My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew ; as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass." 3. It is copious in its influence. "As the showers." Multitude of drops in falling rain we call a shower. Showers are dispersed in drops over the HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: MICAH. [ciiai\ v. •!,. "God hath divided a watercourse for the overflowings of water" (Jobxxxviii 35). Pentecost and times of revivals illustrate this. Thus the. in- Quenoe of the Church upon the world should be like the effects of rain upon dry flelds and withering planta It Bhould quicken and strengthen, make fruitful and ,,t. The godly should mitigate God's anger which burns up the ungodly; draw beaven in personal and social life; and lie as the dew "in the midst of many p< • >jdf." '• \r,w diding streams their thirsty plants renew, And Feed their fibres with reviving dew" [Pope]. Lbbakl as a Lion. — Verses 8, 9. i nid his people have not only a '<•< nignant but a terrible aspect towards men, dew to the well-disposed, and as a lion to the assailants. In many respects the ( !hurch may be like the lion. I. In that religious awe which they exercise over the minds of ungodly men. The lion among beasts of the forest and the young lion among flocks : 1 beyond description. The good examples and consistent of pious men often strike terror into the conscience, and check the evil of the wicked. They are awed by them and dare not harm them. John because he was a holy man (Mark vi. 20). II. In the courage with which they attack antagonists. "If he go through, both • ih down and teareth in pieces." It boldly faces and braves the force of arms. Wounds rather provoke than repress its fierceness. It is not daunted by numbers; will often attack an entire caravan, and if overpowered in the combat, i flying, will gradually retreat with its face to the enemy until it dies. Luther and Latimer were the linns of the Church. Christians now through God i oeur-de-lions, and endued with invincible power. " Terrible as an army with banners." III. In the victory which they gain over the enemy. " Lifted up upon thin riea," 1. The victory is resistless. "None can deliver," how- ng and determined. '_'. The victory is complete. "All thine enemies shall he cut off." Ceasing to be enemies or destroyed in their opposition. The i the Maccabees were earnests of future glories. The hand of the Church shall be strengthened by the might of Jehovah. All adversaries will shortly be i 1 under her feet. "And he went forth conquering and to conquer." minatkin of Wab and Idolatry. — Verses 10 — 15. yah will scenic the peace of his people by the destruction of Avar instruments, the axb iiiiin.it i> 'ii of idolatry, and the infliction of judgment upon resisting nations. Appliances of war will nol be required in universal peace and security. I. War abolished. < rod will deprive them of everythingto make war, that they depend upon him alone. 1. Human aids will be taken away. Menmultiply I chariots, and trust in them (Ps. xx. 7). Israel was accustomed to rely on Egypt and A yria (cf, 1-. xwi. 1—3; lies. siv. 3), but the time will come when the Church of God will nol lean on an arm of flesh. 2. Outward defences fill ted. Strongholds and fortified cities will be demolished. "And throw down all thy strongholds." God will tea b his people not to look to war- and secular allies, not to seek refuge in temporal support. He will be then md deliverer. Cities have been provisioned and besieged for years and yet have fallen: but God defends his people, " all of them dwelling without and having neither bars nor gates." II. Idolatry destroyed. In the Church of God there may be illicit intercourse with idols. When men are im- patient in affliction, in their mind, and curious to know the future, they ip gods and groves of their nun. 1. Systems of divination mil be destroyed. Witchcraft, conjuring, and fortune-telling will be cut off. The work of men's hands ■ '• "' be • • imancvj pyromancy, and astrology are diabolical CHAP. V.] 1I0MILETIC COMMENTARY: MICAII. 437 arts. Such tricks are abomination to God, who will judge them in his wrath. 2. Idolatrous worship destroyed. Graven images will lie demolished. Groves and plantations will be plucked up, and not a remnant of idolatry left behind. God will cut off whatever hinders his purpose and corrupts his people. Confidence in creatures is idolatry. Holiness before God is essential to victory over the foe. Every curious art and devilish practice is destined to fall before the preaching of the cross (Acts xix. 19). HOMILETIO HINTS AND OUTLINES. Vers. 10 — 14. The purification of the Church. Everything of an ungodly and idolatrous nature must be taken away before it can conquer the world and be fit for God's residence. This is, 1. A necessary work. 2. A painful work. 3. A Divine work. " The greater the glory and purity of the Church, the less it needs or hangs upon human aid. The more it is reft of human aid, the more it hangs upon God. So God promises, as a blessing, that he will remove from her all mere human resources, both what was in itself evil and what, although good, had been abused" [PuseiJ]. Ver. 15. The doom of heathen nations and ungodly opponents. 1. Vengeance without mercy. 2. Venge- ance unprecedented. "Such as they have not heard." " In like way, the woe on those who obey not the truth, also looks on to the end. It too is final. There is nothing to soften it. Punishments in the course of life are medicinal. Here no mention is made of mercy, but only of executing venge- ance; and that wit li wrath and fury ; and that such as they have not heard. Eor as "eye hath not seen, nor heart conceived, the good things laid up in store for those who love God, so neither the evil things prepared for those who in act show that they hate him" [Pusey]. The Prince of peace. 1. His coming, (a) In lowly guise, ver. 1; humble, (b) And yet to the throne, ver. 1 ; glorious. (c) Because he was appointed to this form of old ; eternal, (d) At the ap- pointed fulness of time, ver. 2 ; tem- poral. 2. His work, (a) To seek and save that which was lost, ver. 2. (b) To bo a shepherd in truth, ver. 3. (c) To prepare God's kingdom even to the ends of the world, ver. 3. (d) To give peace to his followers through the protection which he will afford and the bestow- ment of power, ver. 4. (e) To judge the world, vers. 5, 14. 3. His congregation, (a) A spiritual congregation, ver. G. (b) A powerful congregation, vers. 7, 8. (c) A holy congregation : (1) trusts in God alone, vers. 9, 10 ; (2) inquires after God's will alone, ver. 11; (3) fears God alone, vers. 12, 13 [Lange]. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER V. Ver. 2. Bethlehem. By a remark- able interposition of providence, inter- woven, however, with the course of events in the world, was it brought about that the promised King should be born in Bethlehem (as Micah the pro- phet had foretold), the very place where the house of David had its origin; while, at the same time, the lowly cir- cumstances of his birth were in striking contrast with the inherent dignity and glory that were veiled in the new-born chdd [Neander~]. Both names were derived from " fruitfulness," " House of Bread" and " fruitfulness ; " and despite of centuries of Mohammedan oppression, it is fertile still. It had been rich in the fruitfulness of this world ; rich, thrice wch, should it be in spiritual fruit- fulness [Pusi'i/]. Ver. 3. Give tliem up. (1) Into the hands of their enemies. Indeed the far greater part never returned from the captivity, but remained, although will- ingly, in the enemy's land, outwardly shutout from the land of the promise and the hope of their fathers. But (:.') all were, more than before, given up to MLETIC COMMENTARY: MICAIL [ciiAr. v follow their own way.-. God was less visibly presenl among them. Prophecy a after the return from cap- tivity, and many tokens of the uearness of his i ommunica- v. iih them, tli" Aikandthe Urim and Thummim, — were gone. It was a time ad waiting, wherein the fulness of God'a gifts was withdrawn, .: look on to 1 1 i in who tlu time thai she uhie '■ hath brought foi'th, i. e. until the Virgin should conceive and Son | Posey]. Bow like a rid would 1»', flourishing in joy and rest, it' men would cheerfully tion, and hopefully con- tribul content. Holy . in that one term of usually comprehends all ind. contents, all felicity and pro- ■ thai the heavenly consorl of h d tie y agree most highly to and to wish the greatest happiness to mankind, could not better express than by Baying, " Bo on b peace, and good-will among men" [/. Barrow], " Peso hath her victories Not less renowned Hum war." — [Milton.] Ver. 7. Dew comes down from n, is of heavenly, not earthly, origin, transparent, glistening with light, reflecting the hues of heaven; . . ,-. weak in itself, refreshing, ng the strong heats of the day; con- i H ■ it. yet thereby preserving falling on the dry and withered i, wherein all nature droops, and lling it to fxethni of life. And .-till more in those land , v. here from the beginning of April to the end of I ■ i, the close of tie- latter and the ain J of t lie early vain, "lining all the hot months of Bummer, the lite of all hi rb ige di pends upon the dew alone \i i -. 8, '.». The lion was the emblem ; v (The Lion of England). Illustrative of Israel (Num. xxiv. 9), and Judah ((Jen. xlix. 9); the courage of bravemen (2 8am. i. 23; x\iii. 20), and the boldness of saints (Prov. xxviii. 1). The lion is fearless nf men (Is. xxxi. 4; Nah. ii. 11). AVI Kit can a javelin do against his strength! But even the king of tho forest can read the eye and the language of man. Mural force is greater than physical force. What then must be tho strength of the Christian Church under the leadership of " The Lion of the tribe of Judah" ! Vers. 10 — 15. Christianity is by its ual uie adapted to effect these and similar changes in the physical, intellectual, and social state of our world, and by the decree of the Eternal it is hastening their accomplishment. It came into the world not only to reinstate man in his proper relationship to God, but to restore to him the forfeited inheritance n| earth. It has already done much. Europe has been indebted to it for most of its civilization. England owes to it most of its elements of happiness and security. Within our own time it has achieved much good in the enfranchise- ment of the slave, in the partial civdiza- tion of Polynesia, in a thousand in- strumentalities of blessing that are now at work in almost every quarter of tho globe, It shall go on until it has at- tained all its happy and benign results. If shall yet enter, penetrate, and suffuse the entire frame of mind and existence. The Church shall become an eternal ex- cellence, and a joy of many generations. The held of the world shall present tho aspect as of a paradise regained. The race of man shall appear as the ransomed of the Lord, joy and gladness on their leads, sorrow and sighing for ever fled away [/ egge]. " 0 scenes surpassing fable and yet true, Scenes of accomplished bliss, which who can see, Though but in distant prospect, and not feel The soul refreshed with foretaste of the joy, — The joy of an assembly such as earth .Saw never ; such as heaven stoops down to see ! " [C'oivjw.] chap, vi.] UOMILETIC COMMENTARY: MICAII. 439 CHAPTEE VI. Critical Notes.] The third division now begins, after declaration of judgment and salvation which awaits the future remnant. Hear] Plead with God in controversy. Mts.] Witness and murmur with the echo (Deut. xxxii. 1 : Is. i. 2). Contend] in strife or quarrel (Judg. viii. 1 : Is. 1. 8. 2. His] Emphatic intentionally to indicate Jehovah's right to contend, and to sharpen their con- science by pointing to their calling [Keil], 3. What] opens the suit. Israel, tired with the dealings of God, bad backslided from him. Wearied] By demanding what is irksome (Is. xliii. 23 : 1 John v. 3) ; or failing to perform what is promised (Jer. ii. 31). 4. For] God had done good only, deliver- ance from Egypt and guidance by Moses the chief proofs of it. 5. Now] A very tender word, like our " do now remember," or " do remember,'' beseeching instead of commanding [Pusey]. The special period mentioned and the wonderful acts performed in it display the justice, mercy, and righteousness of God (Judg. v. 11: Ps. xxiv. 5). 6.] Remembrance calls ingratitude to mind, and leads to inquiries. Come] (Deut. xxiii. 5.) God enthroned on high (Is. lvii. 15 : Ps. cxv. 3. Burnt] Prescribed Lev. i. Calves] Thought to be most important (Lev. ix. 2, 3). 7.] " In case of calves value is heightened by quality, in rams by quantity" [Kcil]. Climax culminates in first-born. But this only, of external, heathen origin, atones for sin by sin. 8.] God has showed them in the moral law that he requires ; not outward sacrifices of any kind ; but the fulfilment of moral obligations in three ways — do justly, love mercy (which are the sum of the second table), and walk humbly, i. e. as a holy nation should, in fellowship with God (cf. Deut. viii. 14; x. 12 : 1 Sam. xv. 22). 9.] Israel lacks these virtues. Crieth] Earnestly and loudly in Jerusalem. Wisdom] Wise men will bear and discover God's authority in the message. " Thy name sees wisdom, i. e., has the true wisdom of life in sight " [Keil], Thy name looks out, the holy manifestation of thyself in judgment (Is. xxx. 27: cf. Ps. xiv. 2) [Lange], Rod] Judgment threatened (Is. ix. 13). 10. Yet] notwithstanding warnings, treasures acquired by fraud and oppression. Scant] Lit. lean ephah, the measure forbidden (too small), not the right measure (Deut. xxv. 15, 16: Lev. xix. 36). Abom.] Smitten by God (Prov. xxii. 14) ; cursed (Num. xxiii. 7 : Prov. xxiv. 24). 11. Pure] Men dream that they can be clean by sacrifices to God, in spite of daily sins. The prophet destroys this hope, reproves the rich for violence and the people for deceit. Bag] In which money and weights were carried (Deut. xxv. 13 : Prov. xvi. 11). 13. Sick] i. e. 1 smite thee mortally (cf. for expression, Nah. iii. 19 ; for matter, Mic. i. 9). 14. Satis.] Eulfilment of Lev. xxvi. 26. Food would not be enough, nor sustain. Midst] Cast down in borders and in the metropolis, people will lice into the fortress, but only to die, not to be delivered. What goods and families are carried away will bo given to the sword (cf. Jer. 1. 37 ; xlii. 16). 15. Reap] The enemy will reap the harvests and plunder the stores (Lev. xxvi. 16 : Deut. xxviii. 38—40). 16.] This punishment brought upon them- selves. Omri] The conspirator and regicide (1 Kings xvi. 16—28). Statutes] By which this abandoned dynasty had disgraced the throne of Israel ; human ordinances, not God's commands (Lev. xx. 23). Bear] " The present generation is ripe for the curse, which the Lord had cast forth in the law for the future of his people " (Is. lxv. 7) [Lange]. HOMILETICS. A Listless People Eebuked. — Verses 1, 2. These words are an introduction to what follows, an expostulation to an un- grateful people. God wishes them to see their guilt, and hear his voice in the controversy. A sinful people are obstinate and listless. But they must he roused and reproved : I. By the voice of God. " Hear ye now what the Lord saith. God speaks to us and reasons with us in his word. He pleads with his people in con- descension and grace, requires them to justify, if possible, their cause, and seeks to prove the equity of his dealings. " Put me in remembrance : let us plead to- gether : declare thou, that thou mayest be justified." II. By the earnestness of the Prophet. The Prophet was reluctant to herald woe to Ins people, but the command was urgent. Arise. 1. He was earnest in his tone. " 0 my people, ver. 3. Bedewed with the spirit of his message. 2. He was earnest m hu attu hide. Arise, stand up as one having authority to rebuke, ready and undaunted before men. He must rouse himself that he may rouse his hearers. A cold frosty heart can never touch and kindle others into a flame. 3. lb- was earnest m his method. "Let the hills hear thy voice"— any way to stir up a careless people. i 10 Wi ) UILBTli 'CO i/.i//. a run : Ml' -111. [chap. vi. Ill By the stability of creation. " II lar, Oye mountains." Mountains remain ind bills are not carried from their place. The earth changes in its inhabitants pass away, but rocks endure for ever. Yet Nature is and trembles at his voice, but men are stupefied and hardened I heavens, and give ear, 0 earth; for the Lord hath spoken, I Ight up Children, and they have rebelled against me." Tin: CONTBOVERST BETWEEN GrOD AND MAN. — Verse 2. I Man's complaints against God. He complains, 1. Of a corrupt nature; tationj 3. Of the dealings of Providence. II. God's com- tgainstman. I. Mercies despised. 2. Grace refused. 3. Calls neglected. in vain [/•'. Wagstaff]. Weariness in God's Service Unjustifiable. — Verses 3 — 5. many, like [srael,are weary in the service of God, complain of their lot, and seek Id. G "1 pleads with such, proves that their conduct is un- No wrong has been done to them ; on the other hand, they have sinned d have I wearied thee?" I God's claims upon men °.re just. " 0 my people." Israel were God's ivenant relationship. God chose them and they promised to serve him. All men are God's by creation and providence. They are raised to this rank and gifted in their mind by him. Hence God has a just claim upon their To refuse is ingratitude and insult. II. God's commands are reasonable. God doi - not demand what is impossible or unreasonable. He does like an Eastern tyrant, compel men to Berve him with rigour and hardships. them by unlawful requirements (Is. zliiL 23); or unfulfilled pron . ii. 31); but they weary him with their iniquities (Is. xliii. 2-i). M His commands are nol grievous," why then complain or get wearied? ""What iniquity have your fathers found inmel" III. God's kindness is remarkable. '• I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt," &c Israel were specially blessed. 1. They were from bondage. "And redeemed thee out of the house of I nation of slaves they were priests to God. 2. They were I in the wilderness. " I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam." They had instruction, intercession, and praise. 3. Theywm defended in their progress. 'J he power of Balak and the device of Balaam were frustrated, and the curse was ag. From Shittim to Gilgal their progress was safe and tri- umphant. <1'"1 could have done no more for them, yet they "forgot God their had done great thin hi Egypl ; wondrous things in the land of i 't our life ■•■ idness and mercy, and abundant reason ide. In deliverance from trouble and the destruction of the enemy, we ; the fulfilment of the promise and the display of the righteousness of •• ( >h that men would prai e the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonder- ■ i the children of men !" M\n'~ Questions and God's Answers. — Verses 6 — 8. I God not merely with respect, like bowing to a superior — hut come : honour and duty (Deut. xxiii. 5: Ps. cv. 2). In whatever spirit thi they indicate the importance and necessity of coming to God. They are the recurring question, pressing upon all ages and all individuals " How shall man be just with GodV They set forth God's answer to the question and Bpecify the way of acce] itance before him. I. Man's questions. ■• Wherewith shall [come,"&c. Convicted by the previous d the people inquire how Jehovah .may be appeased. 1. By external forms ? " With burnt offerings —with calves of a year old I" Men naturally cling first to chap, yi.] E0MILET1C COMMENTARY ; M1CAH. -HI outward forms, trust io customary rites to heal the schism of the soul. They are liberal in their offerings, zealous in their profession, and ready to sacrifice anything for peace of conscience. But the blood of hulls and of goats cannot take away Bin. 2. By human sacrifia s ! " Shall 1 give my firstborn \ " Nations have " burnt their children in the fire" (2 Kings xvii. 31). They have been driven to desperation in their sin and superstitions, and sought to please God by inventions of their own. Jewish rites and heathen sacrifices were alike in vain. No spotless beast nor human blood could quench the lire of the soul. " There was wanting," says Porphyry, "some universal method of delivering men's souls, which no sect of philosophy had ever yet found out." II. God's answer to man's questions. God has revealed his will to man and showed what is required from him. 1. // is revealed in the written word of God. "He hath showed thee, U man." In the Scriptures we have an answer to the questions of the soul and the problems of life. Without the Bible man is in the dark. The world by wisdom knew not God. The light of nature is insufficient, and the doings of providence say, It is not in me. We have no need to guess nor grope the way, " the word is nigh imto thee." 2. It is declared by the servants of God. The prophet plainly declares what God requires. Nothing ceremonial, nothing impracticable. Three things are specially mentioned. (1) To do justly. Not mere profession, but practice. Justice to God and integrity to man in all our dealings. God's religion destroys injustice and oppression. We must do injury to none, but right to all. Lender to all their due. (2) To lore merry. We must not only be just, but kind to all. Our mercy, like God's, must be allied with equity. We must not merely show mercy but love and delight in mercy. Mercy gives more than justice demands. The hard exacting man is not a child of God. "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful." (3) To walk humbly with God. To walk with God implies reconciliation, faith, and constant intercourse (Gen. xvii. 1 : Heb. xi. 5). This is the essence of religion and the whole duty of man (EccL. xii. 13). This is what God requires from us. The heart, not outward forms; sincerity and truth, not fair profession. "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy sold 1 " Is it not True. — Verses 6 — 8. Our knowledge of good and evil comes from God. Conscience uninstructed by him is useless. Some things which only seem to be good are sought after most diligently by men wdio are strictly conscientious. Other things good in them- selves, which seem undesirable, are eschewed by the same persons. Human con- science is a depraved conscience. In the text we read the doctrine that God has showed to man that which is both acceptable to himself and profitable to us. I. The revelation. He hath showed, 1. " What he has revealed. Himself as the chief good. His attributes a subject for praise. -His service delightful em ployment. His favour of infinite value. 2. How he has revealed these things. (1) By nature. Here he faintly exhibits somewhat of himself. (2) By history, especially inspired history. (3) By Jesus Christ. Whatever nature or history has taught, by Jesus is amplified and confirmed. By him we behold the Father's loving-kindness, tender mercy, forbearing grace. (4) By our own experience. We are convinced of the blessedness of holiness, of justice, of a humble walk with God; indeed of everything the Lord has declared is good. II. The re- quisition. God does not show us what is good merely to enlarge our knowledge, but to insure our service. Every good thing if rightly used redounds to his -lory. 1. He requires us to demonstratt our knowledge. The light must not be put undec a bushel. The man who hid his Lord's money was condemned. 2. //< require us to display this in a particular way. (1) To do justly. It i* not enough I i speak fairly. Unpractical religion is unscriptural religions (-) To love mercy. •HJ IIOMILF.TIC COMMENTARF: MIC AIL [C1IAP, VI. ■ aough to '1" merely from a Bense of duty. We must delight in the- thii: - (.'.) To walk humbly with thy God. Nor does God require deeda ..f justice and love of mercy, without dispensing that grace without which these tiling can exist In order to do justly weare invited to walk with God, deserving ceiving his mercy. Ab a little child, observe the Father's practice, and . d do like him [Stems and Twigs]. HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. . &c. I. God's iih his i" ople attest— 1. His ■_•. His faithfulness ; and 3. Bis :-. II. These dealings are often , 1, Thought- ad 2. Ingratitude. "Micah kg by :i rare idiom of the righteous- of the Lord, each act of mercy being effluence of his righteousness. The very names of the pi i est the ■ id, the unrighteous [Ptisey]. Vet. 8. N I '■ 1. The thing ' I, " Who will show us any good I" Righteousness, low. justice, humility. 1 1. The method oi tin_' it. God reveals it, hath si It is not a discovery of man, >Vc. -/; ■',. To do j udgment are, chiefly, ;ill acta "f equity ; to low mercy, all deeda of love. Judgment is what ; rm rcy, what love. Yet, • do judgmenl is to pass judgment in all ad so, ; i, judge not according to the irance, bul judge righteous judg- ment ; and as to one's gelf also. Judge equitably and kindly of others, humbly -•I" tl. . elf. II" addeth, love nu rcy : ■ merciful out of love, not of ne- 1 loveth a cheerful giver i . intain the whole duty of man. ading with and formed upon the mercy and justice 1 ; Ixi. 7). All which • •, any bow, 01 ill any way, is of judgment; all which i ward man, although not free toward God, is "i mercy. There remains, walk humbly irith thy God ; not /'■"'■ thyself only they ha I offen d (ver. 6)j . walk with him only, as did h, Noah, Abraham, Job; but walk humbly (lit. bow down //"■ going). Set with thy < tod ; never lifting up :. ing, nevei .standing still, but ever walking on, yet ever casting thyself down ; and the more thou goest on in grace, the more cast thyself down, as our Lord saith, Luke xvii. 10 " [Pusey], A good man, like a good angel, is ever in God's presence, and must there- fore walk "worthy of the vocation wherewith he is called (Eph. iv. 1, '!), with all modesty of demeanour, especi- ally when he draweth nigh to God in holy exercises. Then it must be his care to exercise three-fold humility. First "precedent: before he sets upon God's service, he must in heart devote and dedicate all that he is and hath as a due debt to the Almighty, saying with David, It is of thine own, Lord (1 Chron. xxix. 14). The second is con- comitant; when in the performance of good duties he hath grace (this lovely grace of humility especially), "whereby he may serve God acceptably" (Heb. xii. 28) j which is an awful respect to the 1 uvine Majesty with whom we have to do (Heb. iv. 13). The third is subse- quent ; when having done his best he is dejected with a sense of his failings, and looking on his plumes he is abashed before God. As many as walk accord- ing to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God [Trapp). Walk humbly. 1. In prosperity ; for God is our benefactor. Everything comes from him. 2. In adversity; for he corrects in wisdom and truth. 3. In all circumstances of life; for ho disposes our lot. We are dependent creatures. Oui times are in his hands. Wait upon God. lie will renew your strength and guide your life. To doubl thy goodness would be base Ingratitude in me : Past favours shall renew my hopes, And tix my t'uiih in thee. chap, vi.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: MICAH. ir.i HOMILETICS. The Voice of God in the Dispensations of His Providence. — Verse 9. These words refer to the solemn warnings given to Israel by the ministry of the prophets, and to the judgments about to fall upon Samaria and Jerusalem, becau.su of their sins. First. In what way may it be said that "the Lord's voice crieth" unto cities and nations. God has spoken by the prophets (Heb. i. 1) ; by his Son and by his Spirit in Apostles and teachers. In an indirect way the voice of God is heard in his works (Rom. i. 20; Ps. xix. 12 ; Acts xiv. 17). But especially in providential dispensations, of mercy or judgment, in events of an afflictive nature. He speaks to cities and nations when he exposes them to tear and their young men fall by the sword — when the fruits of the earth are blasted or rot in the ground — when famine succeeds and thousands pine away with hunger. In pestilence, in dreaded cholera, the voice of God is distinctly heard. Secondly. Mark the impression which the voice of God produces upon different classes of individuals. Some boldly deny that he has ever spoken to men, except perhaps by the voice of natural conscience, and treat the doctrine of providence as super- stitious (2 Pet. iii. 3, 4). Others are insensible to what is passing around them (Is. xxvi. 11). Others brave the threatenings of the Almighty, as if secure against all attacks (Is. v. 19 ; xxviii. 15). On some only a temporary impres- sion is made : it alarms but fails to convert (Is. xxvi. 16). Others lay claim to superior wisdom, think in the discovery of the proximate or second causes of calamity that they have solved the mystery, and exclude the great First Cause that moves and regulates the whole. " The man of wisdom," the enlightened and con- sistent believer, " hears a voice they cannot hear, and sees a hand they cannot see." Thirdly. Notice the proper improvement to be made of such afflictive dispensations. " Hear ye the rod and who hath appointed it." View it not merely as a national calamity, but as a chastisement from the hand of God. "While others treat it with mute surprise or affected indifference, and refuse to acknowledge a Divine hand in it, beware of such a pernicious course. Let us search and try our ways and turn to the Lord. Deep humiliation and sincere repentance should be accom- panied with proofs of active and self-denying works (Is. lviii. G — 8), in nations and individuals [Scottish Cong. Hag. 1847]. "The Men of Wisdom." — Verse 9. Wise men are here contrasted with ignorant, careless, and wicked men. Wis- dom here signifies essence, and the men of wisdom are the men of essence, not men of emptiness and folly. They hear the voice of the rod and understand the pur- pose for which it is sent. I. Wise men discern the providence of God in the calamities of life. " Tho Lord's voice crieth unto the city." 1. The rod of God speaks to men. It has a voice and cries aloud. Scourges and calamities speak of the neglect and sins of men. They are the voice of God speaking in power and authority. Awful judg- ments and visitations are a rod to check and chastise for sin, to prevent folly and further misery. Yet many see but hear them not. God speaks once, yea twice, yet men perceive it not (Job xxxiii. 14). 2. The rod of God is appointed for men. " Who hath appointed it." Hume in his English History ascribes famines and desolating events, to the ignorance of the people, the rude methods of agricull ure practised by our forefathers, and affirms that the progress of science and art will prevent calamities eventually. Men ascribe them to chance or to second causes, and ridicide the idea of Divine appointment. But these men recognize Divine purpose and direct interposition — believe in a fixed time and place; hear the rod and know it for their good (Job v. 6). " For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me; and many such things are with him " (xxiii. 14). II. Wise men learn the lessons EOMILETIC COMMENTARY: MICMI. [chap, vi. of God in the calamities of life. "The man of wisdom shall sec thy name." ■ and discern the majesty of God. They see the name of God, the power and presence of I ■ >d in his dealings with men. The glory of the Divine lie layed in the administrations of providence. 1. They understand Chey hear and read what is spoken. They see the mind, word of the Lord (Jer. ii. .'il). Few are wise and understand these things. ; ij the rod in its reports of evil deeds and God's disp] •■ The knowledg i of the Holy (< >ne) is understanding." 2. They sub' < lod's voice cries to all men, but the wise only hear and obey. They bow to the rod as under the command of God. They mourn for [s. xxviii. 21), and find that "the school of the cross is the light." By humiliation they seek to avoid or mitigate the stroke. "When the blow has fallen they Look to God "who hath appointed it," and learn the spiritual profil for which it was sent. "Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not Bee : but they shall see." "Doth not wisdom cry? and under- standing put forth her voice1?" \.i: i\i [mmoralitt. — Verses 10 — 12. 11 we t ive a special accusation of sins which procure the rod. Sins which c immon in all ranks and committed after many admonitions. In social inter- . ; 1 business transactions covetousness, violence, and deceit prevailed. ight and acquired by cruel and unlawful means. I. Fraud in the shops. Trickery has never lacked its representatives in all departments of trade. 1. Dishonest dealings. " Wicked balances, and with the ■ ■it ful weights." Rich sellers gave scant measure and short weight. They ted and deceived the poor in the necessities of life. The law is violated in the presenl d , drapers, and corn-merchants always honest in busi- 0 many lines for "colouring," "adulteration," and hall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in mete-yard, in weight, or in Just 1 dances, jusl weights, a just ephah, and a just hin shall ye have." / • •■'.•• [he treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked." ought by wickedness. The house was a store-room of vanity, a monument of injustice, and an abomination to God. To heap up wickedness is to - Rom ii. 5). "Treasures of wickedness profit nothing" (Prov. II. Oppression in the market-place. " For the rich men thereof arc full of violence:" not the \ rout of distress, but the rich in covetousness and try, lived by violence. Dishonest bargains, hard dealings, and rapacity were d.iik Equity v 1. Justice, the foundation of the state and the openly defied. Commerce was a means of gain, not of nil help. National injustice was the fundamental sin of commercial life. id in violence will crush the possessor. Robbery with authority " Envy thou nol the oppressor (a man of violence, marg.), and ." III. Falsehood in the mouth of the poor. "The in- habitants thereof h ive spoken lies." 1. This was a common practice. As often as they speak, in daily in: i ml conversation "their tongue is deceitful (lit. ith." Nothing but deceit, and deceit to ruin others and enrich them I al practice. No exception is made. "Apopul- stion of i one. " Ii cannol be wrong for it is always done," "It would be il L business in any other way," are pleas to justify the con- duct of some in trade. Christianity requires no concealment, no misrepresentation, • adherence to truth. Noearthly tribunal, no ancient custom, can exempt An honest man will be guilty of no fraud. "The obliga- tion of an honest man can w ver die," said De Foe. "Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; hut al his mouth shall be filled with gravel." CHAP, vi.] IIOMLETIC C01DIENTARY: MICAII. 445 HOMILETIG HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 10. Treasures of wickedness. I. alike by law (Lev. xix. 35, 3G), and Illegal in their acquisition. Gained, 1. gospel (Matt. vii. 12 : Phil. iv. 8). Men By dishonest means; 2. In opposition may "commend its wisdom " (Luke xvi. to Divine warning. II. Risky in their 1 — 8) ; God not only forbids, but ho position. "In the house of the wicked," abominates it (Prov. xi. 1) [Bridge]. which is exposed to danger and decay. Ver. 10 — 12. I. Men are apt to sin III. Unsatisfactory in their nature. IV. even after many admonitions. "Are Doomed in their existence. No power there yet treasures," &c. II. Men are or combination of circumstances can apt to dream of God's approbation in keep them from the judgment of God. their sinful ways. Hence the challenge, Ver. 11. He also has a false weight " Shall I count them pure ] " III. After who judges not his neighbour with the they have enriched themselves by sinful same measure as himself ' \Lange\. God ways they grow worse and openly op- requires exact justice in all our dealings, press. " Full of violence." But God is and therefore it is our duty to take care a righteous judge, and will not acquit that the weights and the balance be the guilty (Ex. xxxiv. 7). As men deal just [IFeZ/.s]. Impositions ; double- towards their fellow-men, so God deals dealings ; the hard bargain struck with with them. " Neither will he help the self-complacent shrewdness (Prov. xx. evil-doers " (Job viii. 20). 14) — this is the false balance forbidden HOMILETICS. Moral Consumption. — Verses 13, 14. God threatens to smite Israel with mortal sickness ; not so much bodily sick- ness, as desolation of land. By oppression they had made others weak, so Divine judgments will crush them by famine and invasion. Their calamity is a wasting sickness. The origin, seat, and consequences of this moral consumption are plainly described. I. Sickness in the centre. "In the midst of thee." The sinking down, the wasting away, was in the very centre of the country. The capital, the seat of their wickedness and treasures, was smitten, and the plague spread among the people. Inward decay always begins at the heart. And when the vital parts arc affected what can arrest its progress] II. Sickness with sufficiency. "Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied." They had abundance of wealth, an Insatiable appetite, but their food did not nourish them. Their desires were a disease, not a moral strength. Like the deadly wasting that assails the human frame, there may be a spiritual atrophy to derange and emaciate the soul. The victim cries out with Job, " Thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me, and my leanness, rising up in me, beareth witness to my face." III. Sickness aided by outward circumstances. God's judgments only hastened on the end. The moral atmosphere was foetid, and all their surroundings unfavourable to health. In God's favour is life ; but he Avithdrew the fruit of the fields, and the blessings of the skies. When God departs from a people nothing will be left but inherent emptiness and pining consumption. "Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth." IV. Sickness morally incurable. " I "will make thee sick in smiting thee." The sickness was the result of tho smiting. " Thy wound is grievous," lit. makes sick. It was an incurable wound : "There is no healing of thy bruise" (Nab. iii. 4). Robbed of their families, smitten in their vineyards, and helpless in their condition, what hope of recovery was left ! Spiritual leanness is the greatest calamity that can befall the Church. If God withdraws his help everything will decay. Life, light, and power, hope, UoMILETIC COMMENTARY: MW.il I. [chap. vi. . will die away. Creeds and ceremonies will only hasten the ruin. irvive the death, the moral consumption, of true religion. "My leanness] myleanni ' Woe unto me 1 " Laboub without Pkofit. — Verses 14, 15. odgments are farther enumerated by which God would make them sick and desolate. They would bow and plant for others to reap. They would not he able to i' Bene what they had lost, noi preserve what they possessed from the foe. iuld follow another until the land was desolated, and its inhabitants put to shame. I. Fields would be sown, but no harvest reaped. " Thou shalt sow, but thou nfrftH The crops would bo blasted and withered, or the enemy would them for himself. They reaped where they sowed not; so they must sow for others to reap. Sin provokes God to frustrate man's efforts to subsist. He takes from the covetous and unjust the fruit of their efforts just when it is within their It' we wish to enjoy the results of our physical and intellectual labours, we G I and love justice. 1. The necessities, and 2. The luxuries of life, the fruit of the field, the oil, and the wine, depend upon the providence of God, and may be taken away in his anger. "Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but Bhalt neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes." II. Goods would be rescued, but delivered up to the enemy. " That which thou deliverest will I give up to the Bword." Children on whose account they got their wealth, goods and substance fur which they had toiled, would be suddenly taken from them. If anything at all was rescued, it was only for a time, and could not be held. No effort can deliver from the power of God's executioners. "What we hold to be ■ precious is often most unsafe, and what we are determined not to lose that we lose suddenly. III. Men would take flight, but could not escape. "Thou shalt take hold," to rescue or remove to a safe place, but in vain, "but shalt not deliver." How can men flee from God's vengeance? No human hand can rescue »wer. No harbour can hide from his presence. Heaven is the seat of his ue of his power, and hell the place of his wrath. " What can '.scape the eye of God all seeing, ( >r deceive his heart omniscient! " [Milton.] Sins and Punishmbnt: an Unbroken Link. — Verse 16. This judgment the people brought upon themselves by their ungodly conduct. '1 hi ir calamities were the results of their sins. I. What were the sins of which they were guilty. First. They had broken the covenant of < rod and observed the statutes of men. "For the statutes of Omri Bj . • iy motive of hope and fear they were commanded to obey God. the purpose of their existence, and the ground on which they held their privileges and country. But the Baal-worship of Omri was patronized and raised ito the popular religion (1 Kings xvi. 31,32). Secondly. They observed the Lhab. Ahab's idolatry and persecuting spirit were commended. The ry, wickedness, and oppression of the court, were sanctioned. Yea, men more 1 than others, men who sold themselves "to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord," were their examples (1 Kings \xi. 25). 1. These customs were dili- :>'"' '■ The margin gives, Ee doth keep diligently. One and all wero k'T' b and diligence. 2. These customs were univers- ally observed. Judah was si variance with fsrael in many things, but they were v. 3. Tfu ■ customs were continually observed. They had been introduo I ore Micah's time, yet ho found them prevalent and all-power- fuL Custom isthedepo n of the past in the life of the present; the link which binds the present to the future. Thus, evils are preserved and perpetuated from CHAP. VI.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : MICAII. 417 one generation to another. II. What was the punishment which followed these sins ? The actual results were very different from the expected fruits. Their con- duct was so framed as if they had purposely desired the punishment. "That 1 should make thee a desolation." 1. A privileged nation was made desolate. They were deprived of their privileges and honour. Sin will desolate the richest nat i< in and the most flourishing Church ; make people an astonishment to some, and a hissing to others. 2. An exalted nation was made a reproach. "You shall bear the reproach of my people." They would have been God's people if they had kept his covenant, but their sins brought shame and reproach. The God whom they had forsaken and offended left them in the hands of the heathen. The conduct which they deemed wise and expedient proved fatal to its originators and imitators. True honour is only found in God's service. Sin and disgrace are bound together by an unbroken link. " "We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us." HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Vers. 14, 15. 1. The law of God is the standard of right in all ages. The threatenings of the law of Moses were in force in the days of Micah (Lev. xxvi. 16 : Deut. xxviii. 30). 2. The execu- tion of the law in the history of a nation is not always a warning to a people. 3. The punishment of the law to such as continually violate it is most bitter. Disappointment in labour, de- privation of the necessities of life, troubles in the family and the nation. " When our services of God are soured with sin," says a quaint author, "his providences will justly be embittered to us." Ver. 16. Statutes of Omri. Idol- atrous customs. 1. Originated by great men. 2. Sanctioned by a wicked court. 3. Observed by a religious people. Anti- quity and priestly or princely authority are of no force against the command of God. Fashion rules with an iron sceptre, and those who ought to stand up for God, often bow to the law of man. " Custom's the world's great idol we adore, And knowing this, we seek to know no more." [Pom/ret.] Reproach. Sin in God's people is especially great. And as they haye peculiar privileges, so their reproach or punishment is proportionable to their profaning of their privileges (Ezek. xxxvi. 20, 23) [Hutcheson]. "If pro- fessors of religion ruin themselves, their ruin will be the most reproachful of any ; and they in a special manner will rise at the last day to everlasting shame and contempt." ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER VI. Vers. 1, 2. Hear. If Adam needed to hear his Father's voice, sounding amid the fair bowers and the unshaded glory of Paradise, surely much more does this prodigal world, that has gone astray from him, need to hear a Father's voice asking after us, and the first inti- mations of a Father's desire that the lost may be found, and the dead at length become alive [Dr Cumming]. Vers. 3 — 5. Well fare their hearts who will not only wear out their shoes, but also their feet, in God's service, and yet gain not a shoe-latchet thereby [Titos. Eidler]. Remember. "Wherever thou be, let the voice of God be still in thine ear. My son, return inwardly to thy heart, ab- stract thyself from all things, and mind me only \Leighton\. Vers. 6 — 8. God desires not merely outward virtue, but inward purity, and the penitent's sense of sin is greatly deepened as with astonishment he dis- covers this truth, and how far he is from satisfying the Divine command. Always has the Holy One estimated men by their inner nature, and not by their out- ward professions; to him the inward is as visible as the outward, and he rightly ■;:\7\ 1UY : MIC All. [CHAP. VI - that th>' essential character of an action lies in the motive of him who it [S V, • 1 hath a \ that us in t li«- hands "f earthlj fathers, but children hear it not, they under- stand it not till they are hashed and quiet, and brought to toss it, ami sit silently under it ; no more shall we hoar or understand the v. .ice of the rod that, i, in oly Father's hand, till wo to kiss it, and .-it silently under it in, 11. Upright simplicity is -t wisdom, and perverse craft the merest shallowness [Barrow]. " No i'i' but he thai is honest" An upright posture is easier than a stooping one, because it is more .: il, and one part i.s butter supported by another ; so it is easier to he an honesl man than a knave [Skeltori]. Vers. 1- — -15. Crafty counsels are joyful in the expectation, difficult in the management, and sad in the event [Tacitus]. "There is no law more just than that the contrivers of de- struction should perish by their own acts." "The deceiver is often ruined by deceit." Ver. 1G. " The essence of wickedness is forsaking God." "Those are marked for ruin that are deaf to reproof and good counsel." Those that prefer the rules of carnal policy before Divine pre- cepts, and the allurements of the world and the flesh before God's promises and comforts, despise His word, giving the preference to those things which stand in competition with it [Matt. Henry]. CHAPTEE VII. Che rimrch now mourns it-i If. and confesses that its condition is like a vintage No cluster] to 1" found. Ripe fruit] of excellent flavour chiefly desired. 2. Good ! to man (Pa \ii. 1) ; delivi red from the evil to come (Is. lvii. 1) ; or /—lit. Ii' •. from whom all help comes. 8. Rejoice] The enemy • link tlii- condition t" !»■ perpetual ; light will break through tic darkness. 9. J Hence bear punishment (Lam. Hi. 39), until] the promise of ver. b is fulfilled. 10. Then U discover her mistake, be covered with Bhame, and he prostrated in the dust IL] This confidem Day Fences ill be built up. Decree] The law imposed upon [arae] by heathen fGod for her captivity. 12. That day] when io walla an: limit, t: • He] i. e. many from Assyria, &c, scattered believers an i in alin nations. From scaj i. <. from the Mediterranean to the Persian Sou. Mtn.] i.e. from to Lebanon in the north. 13. Notwith. | Glorious the prospect of restoration, ct remember judgment. Land| opp d to the Church of God* In Zion alone deliverance, net-id.- will be desolation. 14. Feed] Lit. rule; a prayer in the name of the ' fed "" the fruitful i intain-range (Carmel) of the western sea-coast (Is. x. 18; b pasture-land east of Jordan (Num. xxxii. 1: Marvellous] Wonders of -nice, special manifestations of God's • "'"'" UI : ' I i ■■■ will confound and silence the enemy (Ps. c\n cuap. vii.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: MICAff. 4 |.g 42 : Is. lii. 5). 16. Deaf.] They shall be afraid of hearing thorn, because they continually fear new- disasters, when they see the God of Israel to be so powerful [Calvin]. 17. Lick] Abject prostra- tion as suppliants (cf. Is. xlix. 23: lxv. 25); an allusion to Gen. iii. 14. Worms] Kiirtb-crecpers (Deut. xxxii. 24). Like snakes driven out of their hiding-place, or when charmed out of their holes, so nations come trembling out of their castles (Ps. xviii. 4G), and tremble, flee to Jehovah with trembling, as alone able to help [cf. A'eil]. 18.] In allusion to his own name, Micah praises God, and closes the book. Who.] The rescue from Egypt and the restoration predicted, exalt Jehovah above other gods, and reveal his incomparable grace and compassion (cf. Ex. xv. 11). Passeth] Not conniving at it, but forgiving it; not choosing to look itito it (Prov. xix. 11 : cf. Ps. exxx. 3), Heritage] Surviving judgment, and typifying the remnant of grace (ch. iv. 7). 19. Subdue] Lit. tread underfoot as something deadly ; guilt and power of sin, both taken away. Depths] Like Egyp- tians into the Red Sea. All] not some; pardon, full and free. 20. Truth] Faithful promise. Mercy] from which promises spring. Fathers | (Ps. cv. 9, 10). Mercy and truth are the scarlet threads which run through the unity of God's plan from beginning to end [La/iffc]. The seed of the patriarchs should never perish, but would be restored as often as they turned to God. The mystery of this purpose is revealed by the Apostle (Rom. xi. 25, sqq.). "There is no prophetic denunciation of judgment against Israel, which is not concluded with promises of mercy " [Abarbinel], HOMILETICS. The Scarcity of Godly Men. — Verses 1, 2. The prophet mourns that he lives in a degenerate age. Good men have perished. Instead of finding the nation like a ripe vintage, there is not " a cluster to eat." It is gleaned of the best and filled with the worst of men. I. Godly men are scarce upon the earth. " The good man is perished out of the earth." We should not complain, like Elijah, for we are not left alone in the present day. Yet good men are few. 1. Some are removed by cruelty. They are cut off by those who " lie in wait for blood." In all ages the blood of martyrs has been freely spilt. The wicked plot and persecute, lie in ambuscade for the reputation and life of the godly now. All malice is cruelty, and would put to death those whomjt hates. " Deliver me from the Avorkers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men." 2. Others perish by moral defection. Iniquity abounds, and the love of many grows cold. Difficulties and dangers terrify some, others are not sincere, get disappointed, and " draw back unto perdition." " They went out from us, but they were not of us ; for if they had been of us no doubt they would have continued with us." 3. Many are taken away by death. Good men ripen on earth for the blessedness of heaven. They are gathered like the summer fruits, and thus escape the severity of winter. " Merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come." II. The scarcity of godly men upon the earth is a cause of regret. " Woe is me !" Godly men are precious and profitable as the first ripe fruits ; useful to the Christian Church and the world. 1. They are a loss to the Christian Cluireh. Their presence and example adorn and strengthen the Church. They are pillars, " the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof." "We require the wisdom and zeal, the faith and power, of former ages. Every death seems to diminish the faithful, and make theru " as the grape-gleanings of the vintage." 2. They are a loss to the world. As lights their influence is diffusive and blessed. " Like the sun," says Hume, "they cheer, invigorate, and sustain the surrounding world." As salt they preserve the earth from corruption, and quicken men to higher lite. Their prayers draw blessings from heaven, and ward off judgments from men. They refresh and fructify the place in which they dwell. When they die, justice, benevolence, and beauty depart. " The world is upheld by the veracity of good men," says Emerson ; " they make the earth wholesome. They "who lived with them found life glad and nutritious." " The saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent in whom is all my delight." 29 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : M/r.l/f. [chat. tit. M \n in i v Required by < Iod.— Verse 1. These words may be taken as expressing God's desire foi ripeness or maturity in they relate to our experience, character, and efforts. I God requires maturity in human experience. " M.v soul desired the first ripe frnii." I. I d mutt be renewed. No clusters of grace and beauty adorn their conduct They arc like trees without foliage and fruit. Barren and unfruitful in '1"' works and ways of God. '• II, iv elem( ats have lost their uses, Air ripens not, nor earth produces" [Swift]. \itent must ripen in humility. Not mere blossoms of sorrow, but fmit-i n t for repentance must be produced. Penitence and pardon, faith and holiness, must be risible. " First (lie blade, then the ear, after that the full corn m ,i II. God requires maturity in Christian character. Christian character grows. In this growth are seed time and harvest ; progress in knowledge and holiness. There are babes, but we must come to the full stature, not the mere outline, but the perfect likeness in Christ. "He is but the counterfeit of a tian who hath not the life of a Christian," says one. All the virtues of Christian conduct must ripen. God is glorified, and ministers glad, when we bring much fruit. "I desire fruit that may abound to your account." III. God requires maturity in personal effort. There must be thought and maturity in thing. 1. In efforts we must put forth our strength and work earnestly. Whatsoever our hands find to do, must be done with all our might. Decision and v must be thrown into every undertaking. 2. In offerings we must give the ripe fruit. In Bacred worship and daily life let there be nothing sour and unripe. In the Sunday-school and the sick-room, think, prepare, and do your best. 1 would not offer to God of that which cost nothing. If we spare the seed . ill reap no harvest (Prov. xi. 24 : 2 Cor. ix. 6) ; but thorough consecration will secure overflowing vintage. " Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy i : ill burst out with new wine." HOMILETJC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Vet. I. The moral contrast or, 1. Brotherly cruelty. " They hunt every What is desired " The first ripe fruit." man his brother." 1. Wicked men plan •_'. What is really found. "There is no to assail others. 2. These plans are tlu i.l)... crafty. Nets of various kinds laid to Vet. '-'. The picture of a good man. ensnare. 3. These crafty plans often I. The good man in hie character. Good succeed. Fraud is added to force, and here means merciful, actively good and craft to cruelty. The guilt is greater benevolent t" men. 2. The good man because a brother, by race or grace, is in hie influena He upholds justice, humbled. Nearest friends are often . and testifies to God. entrapped like birds by the fowler. When merciful men die, uprightness Every man is the brother of every - ami cruelty enters the land. "The man, because he is a man, born of the • in in i- perished, and there is none same first parent, children of the same upright." S. The good man in hie Father: yet they lay wait for one another, death. The < Ihuroh and the servants of as hunters for wild beasts (cf. Ps. xxxv. ■ lane nt the h,,-. " W'ue is me \" 7 ; lvii. 7 : Jer. v. 26) [Pusey]. ,.,,-.• , . • i j "0 what are these ? ■iline,.,,,. and a form. Indeed, Death's ministers, not men: who thus deal death When efeivgoddldaeemtoeel hi Inhumanly to men; and multiply To give the world anranaoe of a man. a ,,, t,luutrilI1(lr„1(1 lhe sill of ^J^ slew [Shakupear,.] Ui(j brothet.. [Milton}. chap, vii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : MIC AH. \h\ HOMILETICS. With Both Hands Earnestly. — Verse 3. There is little of excellence in mere earnestness. The more earnest a man is in vital error, he inflicts, of necessity, the deeper injury on the interests of truth and men. The wicked men, in this picture of the prophet, stand in the very attitude which every good man should assume in the work of God. I. Without hands. Some good men seem to he without hands. " They hava hands, but they handle not ; feet have they, but they walk not." They work with hands in other things ; strive manfully in a political struggle, or in a question of social right. They are diligent in business, but in Christian work idle, both hands drop down and there they stand — without hands. " Curse ye Meroz, curse ye bitterly ! " Why 1 What had Meroz done to merit the curse ] Nothing. That was the sin, that she had " not come up to the help of the Lord." II. With one hand. This is the second state in which many serve God. This is well to begin with, but a little more must be added, and so the service must grow into fulness. The Apostles were grand workers, learned by watching and following him who went about doing good. They were but onedianded men, made many mistakes, but got the use of both hands in time. The Master has always a great company of young workers, some young in life, some young in toil, but all learning and needing the word of encouragement from those of more experience. If you are speaking for Christ, anywhere, at any time, doing but a little service in a quiet way ; God speed you in your work. III. With both hands we say to all one- handed men ; for there is no perfection, even of a relative kind, with one. Both hands are given for use ; the other will not be idle, but will grasp at something, raise up another force of evil to balance Christian activity ; so life in a little while will be in poise, not in motion ; then in a little longer there will be motion, but in a wrong way. " With both hands'' for safety. With all the powers and with all the talents given. None of them must rust, all must go out in use. How few things there are in the house, in labour, in business, that we can do with one hand ! David's men " were mighty men, helpers of the war ; they were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left." These are the men whom Christ needs to fight his battles and do his work ; " workmen needing not to be ashamed " of the work they do, or of the way in which they do it. IV. There is a higher, the highest stage of obedience, expressed by all the words of the text, with both hands earnestly. It is not enough that the talents be laid out ; they must be laid out to the best advantage. Every power and passion must be enlisted, baptized, inspired and energized in Christian service. This is just the thing to make some happy, heroic, and victorious. They work with both hands — the mechanism is perfect and the action steady — but it is mechanical not vital action. Christian earnestness is not mere vehemence and heat : it is " zeal according to knowledge." Many reasons might be urged for an earnest life : Self-preservation requires it. Our faculties and senses cannot be kept bright and clear without use. The rust of moral decay will be within us unless we work "with our might." Honesty requires it. We have undertaken a great service — if at all — on certain terms, clear conditions laid down by the Master. We must fulfil them or we do not live fairly. Benevolence requires it. If we love our fellow-men, the one thing we can do for them above all other things in value is, to live truly and intensely before them. Gratitude requires it. This is all we can do for Christ. He will take nothing from us but this. Time requires it. Not one of us would go out of the world without having lived for some time in it in this way. The future is unknown, and carries secrets undisclosed. We are not fully matched with the day unless working " with both hands earnestly " [Raleigh]. UOMILETIC COMMENTARY: MICAII. [chap. vit. ■ Corruption and Universal Judgment. — Verses 3 — 6. rruption is prevalent in all ranks of the community, resta upon a compromise 0f the ruli , and thus the foundations of morality are destroyed. I. Universal corruption. Sin was veiled under the name of virtue, or com- 1 in the pretem I justice. 1. In official ranks. Men in authority expose jU8tio and avow bribery. They play into the hands of others to strengthen then .il. (1.) The prince taka for gifts. (2.) The judge seeks reward. (3.) utters his mischievous desires. 2. In religous professions. "The t them is as a briar." The mosl upright and moral were carried away with f the day. They were crooked in their dispositions, and sharper than il. »rns in their •■•• >;■ -. [nstead of being a protection toothers, they were positively aid oppressive. 3. In social circles. Faith was not kept anywhere ; all treacherous (Jer. ix. 2—6). (1.) A friend was not to be trusted. I unili< a would not help and advise. The guide or counsellor, and i i his bosom (Deut xiii. (i), were alike guilty. (3.) The members of families were in a state of lawlessness and impiety. Natural relationship was perverted. The son .ailed the lather a fool. The daughter testifies against her mother, and a man- foes were found in his own household. Oppression was followed by inhumanity. The strongest ties of nature and religion were dissolved. A moral condition descriptive of the last times of the gospel dispensation (Luke xxi. 16: l' Tun. iii. 1 — 3). II. Universal judgment. When men become oppressive and dangerous, and moral disease becomes universal, it is a sign of approaching ruin. 1. There will be a day of visitation. "Thy visitation cometh." Men's actions and lives are seen by God. God will reckon with them and visit them with punishmenl for sin. 2. This day of visitation is foretold. Watchmen and proph e it and warn men of its speedy approach. 3. When it comes and finds m* a unprepared it is terrible. " Now shall be their perplexity." Sinners are h Hess, and the day breaks suddenly upon them. They will be caught iu their own Bnaies and, as they entangled others, they will not be able to escape their own retribution. " For it is a day of trouble and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord God of Hosts." HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 3. The triple alliance for evil, each from the other, and disjoints the .. is necessary and advan- whole frame of society. Passions and for evil is disgrace- Bin break every band of friendship, ful and injurious. 1. The Prince asks i. e. kindred, gratitude, nature. The words for the condemnation of the righteous describe partly the inward corruption, and innocent 2. The Judge grants for partly the outward causes which shall !""" "'• reward. 3. Tne great call it forth. There is no real trust in """' i with both. "So they any, where all are corrupt. The words wrap it up," turn and twist their efforts deepen as they go on. First, the friend, into a threefold cord which cannol easily or neighbour, the common band of man be broken. and man; then the guide (or, as the \'r- '■ Men a» briers. Givinggrief word also means, one familiar, united for help, and Herein- when they ought by intimacy, to whom by continual l" Protect Hard and sharp in their intercourse the soul was used) ; then deali ingand injurious in their the wife who lay in the bosom, nearest conduct "Folden together as thorns" to the secrets of the heart ; then those (*«*»« i- 10 to whom also reverence is due, father »ew.5,6. I' of the perplexity and motJier [PuseyX , that all relationships 1. There is no sure hold upon any an pat out of joint. Selfishness rends man, however strictly he be bound, who chap, vii.] UOMTLETIC COMMENTARY: MICAII. -1.-/5 is declining from God, and hath not a not easily take prejudice, and to walk tender conscience standing in awe of warily and prudently ; Trust not, saith him; for in this declining time, friends, he, put no confidence, keep the doors of guides, wives, &c, are not to be trusted thy mouth, especially trust in or look in. 2. In times of defection and back- to none for help, but only in God sliding, the godly out of love should [Hutcheson\. believe all things (1 Cor. xiii. 7), and HOMILETICS. Three Resolutions. — Verse 7. The prophet is predicting a period which marvellously corresponds to the first age of the Christian era. For, he says, the day of thy watchmen and thy visita- tion cometh, the time our Lord foretold, when Jerusalem was destroyed. Then the Church was as sheep among wolves. Princes indeed did evil with both hands earnestly. Judges like Pilate could pronounce in a breath, that the accused was innocent and yet condemn. Treachery crept into every home. Hypocrisy pre- vailed the land over. The Church was in the midst of uncompromising enemies. The nearest of their relatives, as fathers and sons, betrayed them to persecution and death. There was no help for them in man. So the eyes of faith turned to God alone. He would not fail them. Each of us should adopt these resolutions. Many reasons indicate the wisdom of so doing. I. The resolution of faith. " I will look." 1. The promises encourage me. 2. Experience teaches me. 3. The Lord commands me. 4. The engagement will comfort me. II. The resolution of patience. "I will wait." 1. For his time is best. 2. For his blessing is worth waiting for. 3. For I shall not be disappointed. III. The confidence of hope. " God will hear." 1. Though, my cry be feeble and my faith weak. 2. Though my request be great. 3. Though others disdain me. 4. Though I am alone. Fti\v pleaders in Israel. 5. For he is near [Stems and Twigs\. He turned away from creatures, knowing they were broken cisterns that could hold no water; and turned. towards God "the fountain of living -waters." "There- fore," he says, "I will look unto the Lord." Observe, first, that this is a designed experience, and not a casual one, on God's side. God is more concerned for our welfare than we are ourselves — does not wait for our application, but excites it. For this purpose He has given the Sabbath, the Scriptures, the sanctuary, and the preaching of the Gospel. All these dispensations are arranged in subserviency to the purpose of his grace and our afflictions. He therefore says, " I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offences and seek my face." Elihu, reviewing afflictive dispensations, says, " All these things worketh God oftentimes with man, to bring back his soul from the pit," &c. Observe, secondly, it is a necessary experience on our part. God does nothing needlessly, and we may be assured that he doth not "afflict willingly." AVe have a strong propensity to turn away, to make flesh our arm, and earth our home ; but " the prosperity of fools destroys them," the things ordained for their welfare prove "a trap." Hence, though trying, these dispensations improve us by the goodness of God. He " hedges up our way with thorns," that we may not be able to " find our paths." He embitteis earth, that heaven may be endeared, and verities the language of L)r. Young: "Our hearts are fasten'd to the world," &c. Oh! it is a blessed experience when, with the Church, we are thrown from ourselves and from creatures upon the Divine resources \JaiJ\. God maintaining the Interests and securing the Triumph of His People. — Verses 8 — 10. Now the Prophet holds out hope, and gives special grounds of consolation and <-., UOMILETIC COMMENTARY i M1CJ1I. [chap. vii. encouragement God watches over his people, and will not suffer them to be I The sad condition of God's people. 1. Cast Mo trouble. "When I fall." The strongest Baint ifl infirm and liable to fall. Sin within and temptation with me us. Disasters may strip us of everything, and sorrow bring to 1 tut the fall shall not be fatal. " Though he fall he shall not be utterly | v. ;i." _. Sitting in darkness. "I sit in darkness." The darkness of -.. captivity, and m] sterious providence. Clouds hang over us, friends desert .■'.. j bide I rod from us. " We walk in darkness and have no light" 1. 10). :*. Mocked by the enemy. The enemy has advantage sometimes over [e, and treats them with insult and reproach. The world exults at the fall of ■ godly in hi. - Malice is folly," says one, " and when it holds a festival its • ii exceed all the freaks and mummeries of the lord of misrule." aed their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, Aha, our eye hath II. The blessed hope of God's people. God chastises his children, but oot rive them up to despair. Neither despond nor mistrust him. " He shall deliver thee in six troubles, yea, in seven shall no evil touch thee." 1. Lifted le. " I shall rise." Trials have their limits and design. If we "have the will to rise, he is at hand who will cause thee to rise," says a Father. The sinner lies when he falls, and perishes without recovery. " For a just man fidleth seven times, and riseth again : but the wicked shall fall into mischief." 2. './. ied in darkness. "The Lord a light unto me." Shadows disperse; joy and brightness beam upon our lot. Darkness of sorrow and ill-repute flee away, and noon-day Bplendours shine again. " The Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light." 3. Restoration to last privileges. God will declare the right of his people, their glory conspicuous, and restore them to former dignities. They shall be publicly honoured and greatly enriched with the covenant blessings. "I shall behold his righteousness." III. The sure triumph of God's people. The truly godly man has been subject to derision in every age. Men have asked in scorn, '• Where is the Lord thy God]" But the triumph of the wicked is short. 1. Joy in'// to shame. The enemy rejoiced in God's apparent forgetfulness of his ] pie, and laughed at their profession of confidence in him. But God punished the blasphemy cast upon his name and the calumny heaped upon his children. The enemy was disappointed, confounded, and covered with shame. 2. h from the enemy will be complete. Judgment will be executed upon the enemy. He will be treated as straw, and trodden as mire in the streets. " And they shall be as mighty men which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in t lie battle; and they shall tight because the Lord is with them." Light in Darkness. — Verse 7. 1. In ilirl: spiritual experience God will be a light unto us. When sin is strong and grace is weak — when comforts fail and sorrows multiply — when faith yields and unbelief prevails — when we search for God and find him not — then he will succour and till our hearts with light and gladness. 2. In dark providential ensations God will be a light unto us. Whim the clouds are black above, and our way is dark, and we know not where to go — when every fresh turn of events serves to increase our perplexity- when the scenes through which we pass defy all mortal wisdom - then be will disperse the gloom and reveal our way before us. 3. In the darkness of death God will be a light unto us. When we enter the damp thick shades of the tomb — when all earthly lights, even those that have burned with the steadiest and purest lustre, will be extinguished — then the Lord will be our light. He will guide our feet, we shall pass through the dark valley without danger, and enter the regions of eternal day. chap, vii.] H0MILET1C COMMENTARY: MI ('All. i56 " Then let me not despairing; mourn, Though gloomy darkness spread the sky ; My glorious Sun will yet return, And night with all its horrors fly" [Adapted]. HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 8. When I fall, I shall rise. A chastisement. If we murmur and get strange event and a strong hope. Trials impatient, the end has not been yel (a) must be expected, (b) are temporary, answered. " Wherefore doth a Jiving (c) have their results, and (d) must be man complain, a man for the punishment endured in hope. These words contain of his sins]" 3. Such as bear Divine sweet comfort for slandered saints. indignation in the right spirit will be Ver. 9. 1. Sin is the cause of Divine delivered. Bear it patiently, hopefully, indignation. Men make themselves rods The time is short, "until he plead." by their own guilt. " Because I have His promise is good. " He will bring sinned against him." 2. This Divine me forth." indignation must be received as fatherly HOMILETICS. A Glorious Day. — Verses 11, 12. The Prophet predicts a glorious time, when Jerusalem shall be divested of enclosures and narrowness ; when the Church shall be enlarged by the return of captives and the conversion of nations. I. A day of deliverance from bondage. " In that day shall the decree be far removed." God's decree to punish, and the decree of Nebuchadnezzar to retain in captivity. Tyrannical rule would be destroyed, and perfect freedom enjoyed. No power on earth can detain God's people in bondage when he intends to deliver. II. A day of gathering together the scattered tribes. From fortress and fortified cities ; from sea to sea, aud from the utmost bounds of the earth, shall captive Jews return. As proselytes from all nations came to Jerusalem of old, so shall converts from north and south flow into the Christian Church. " In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt," &c. (Isa. xix. 23). III. A day of peaceful restoration. The walls of Zion shall no longer be in ruins. They shall be reared for a habitation and defence. Sin pulls down the walls and creates mischief. God alone can prosper and establish the Church. Without his aid we build in vain. Our prayer should ever be, " Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion : build thou the walls of Jerusalem." The Land Cursed by the Sins op its Inhabitants. — Verse 13. Salvation may come to the people, but the desolation of their land would remind them of their sins. However glorious the prospect, "the fruit of their doings" would curse the country in which they lived. Many are the sins of a people which are calamities to the land in which they are committed. We notice a few. I. National idleness is a curse to the land. The ground is cursed by the sin of man, but will yield produce when cultivated. But idleness will bring ruin in all departments of trade. As men sow, so must they reap in this respect. II. National intemperance is a curse to the land. It squanders financial resources, aggravates the curse of poverty, and leads to failure in the means of comfort and subsistence. It devours savings and capital ; and causes theft and destruction of property. III. National war is a curse to the land. Devastated fields, the destruc- tion of towns and villages, are some of the fruits of men's doings. In many ways judgments from God, as real as the fire upon the cities of the plain, desolate the HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: MICAH. [chap, vii of them tli.it dwell therein (Hos. iv. 3 ! Jer. xxiii. 10: Gen. xix. • V fruitful land into ban i the wickedness of them that dwell in." HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. , ]1_ 12. These words are a bebuilt. 2. God's time is to be patiently ind consolation to the Jews, waited for in the restoration of his ition i- here foretold as Church; for there is the day for doing told it (eh. iv. it which he will keep, and no sooner. But the whole is not limited to 3. As it is one of the greatest trials to B with remarkable indefi- the Church, to lie under the tyranny niteni • Be does not and oppression of strangers, who, by ' ,.; come, Bui he twice sets decrees and injunctions executed with boundaries, from which vigour, labour to ruin her and destroy should come; and since these the work of God; so, when he has • being coincident, cannot wrought his work upon his Church by ad the same subject, such trial, the Lord will deliver them there two distinct in omings. from the yoke, set them at liberty to "While in the first place the restoration set ve hi m and enjoy trancpiillity without xA [graeJ is foretold, there follows that interruptions; for, in that day the decree a of the- world which Micah shall be removed [Hutchesori], had before promised (iv. 1 — 3), and The lute of the earth and the glory of which was the object of the restoration Zion are here set forth. Zion is niulti- irael [/V.-<_v]. plied by the addition of Gentiles, but 1. The Lord will in due time restore judgment falls upon a sinful world. Sal- ami make ap the ruins of his destroyed vation and peace within, danger and Church and people ; for thy tea//* are to destruction without. llnMILETICS. The TVokk of God. — Verse 14. When w ; the symbolic language of the sacred writers, and the typical the Jewish dispensations, wr are authorized to pass from the natural to the spiritual Israel. 1. Observe the persons to he favoured ; "His people." He I a people tor his Name, described as "the Hock of his heritage." This indicates that they are deep, ami collectively all one in Christ. A man may a flock in his ] ession, and under his superintendence, but not the flock of is heritage. In the Easl a person's whole substance consisted in flocks and herds. rould feel a peculiar concern for them as his own. The Lord takes pleasure in his people. They are his portion, and he derives the revenue of his glory from them. l\ See the Messing implored on their behalf; "feci thy people Avith thy The rod is the symbol and the instrument of the shepherd, and the word by a common figure of Bpeech, is significant of the discharge of all his office. ; will lead them by his Word and Spirit, heal them when wounded or juard them in danger,and restore them v hen astray. Especially does he t and repose. Hence the inquiry, when hungry and thirsty, weary and '• lell me where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon." Ihe Lord is my Bhepherd," &c. 3. Eut how was the to he dispensed. " In the midsl of Oarmel let them feed, in Bashan and /. as in days of old*' Thus the rich< 8t measure and degree of provisions are Suppliant* may be choosers. God giveth liberally and upbraideth not. vol receive, thai your joy may he full." When Alexander bestowed """ ""• recipien! would ly, ' [1 is too much for me to receive." Eut the ""lu,r"r "f ,l'" world would reply, "It is not too much for me to give" \Adaptedfrom Jay], chap, vii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : MIC.il! jy, The People op God. — Verses 14, 15. 1. God's people are a separated people. As Israel was clioosen and separated, from other nations, so God's people are in the world but do not belong to it. They " dwell solitarily," live apart from worldly men, who think only of time and sense. They are alone in their character, tastes, and pursuits (Num. xxiii. 9 : Deut. xxxiii. 28). 2. God's people are a protected people. God rules, and defends them. He teaches, reproves, and delivers with his " rod." The flock may be scattered, helpless, and alone, but the kind Shepherd will protect and bless them. (Ps. xxiii. 3). 3. God's people are an enriched people. " Let them feed in Bashan aud Gilead." The greatest pastures of Canaan typify the blessings of God's people. (1.) Enriched in a wonderful degree. Kest and refreshment without stint. (2.) Enriched in a wonderful method. "As in the days of old." As in Egypt, so now would God display " marvellous things." Wonders of grace -will eclipse miracles of power. God will do for his people more than he has ever done. " So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever : we will show forth thy praise to all generations." Wonderful Answers to Prayer. — Verses 15 — 17. In answer to the prophet's prayer God declares that he will perform marvellous things, in bestowing good upon his people, and entirely subduing their enemies. I. In the bestowment of good upon his people. In the deliverance from Egypt and entrance into the land of promise, wondrous things were seen. Redemption from Babylon was a blessing, a " great thing " which gladdened the heart (Ps. cxxxvi. 1 — 3). Special manifestations of mercy are seen now. From the beginning to the end of Christian life, God will show them his marvellous loving-kindness (Ps. xvii. 7). II. In the overthrow of their enemies. " The nations shall see " these marvellous deeds of God to his people, and be astonished and confounded. 1. They shall be frustrated in their purpose. "Confounded at all their might." They failed in their opposition. All their might proved weakness. Human power can avail nothing against God's people and their endurance in suffering. Its strength is baffled before the might of God's grace. 2. They shall he silenced in their slander. " They shall lay their hand upon their mouth, ashamed of what they have said, and unable to say any more." Their ears shall be deaf " to the report of God's dealings," before the thunder of Jehovah's mighty deeds (Job xxvi. 14). Extreme astonishment will take away the power of speech (Judges xviii. 19 : Isa. lii. 15). 3. They shall be humbled in their pride. To lick the dust is an emblem of extreme humility. They will be cast down as low as possible, to the very earth. As they lifted themselves up against God, so will they be abased, like the serpent under the curse of old (cf. Ps. lxxii. 9 ; xxii. 29). " They shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet." 4. They shall be exposed in their folly. Brought out of their hiding-places, they will tremble in fear. Like worms of the earth, they shall move out of their holes. No security nor secret place can protect them. Discovered in their designs, ashamed of their conduct, they will stand before God in that fear which is a fore- taste of the judgment-day (Luke xxiii. 30 : Bev. vi. 1G). " Wit that can creep, and pride that licks the dust" [Pope]. God Delighting in Mercy. — Verse 18. The Prophet saw mercy unequalled in God's dealings with Israel. The heathen cods and all imaginary gods of men are unholy, revengeful, and cruel. " Who is God like unto thee," &c. 1 I. God's mercy is founded upon God's nature. It is not something without him, or something acquired like human virtues. It belongs naturally to God. It is something without winch he would not be God. It is the essence and HOMILETIC COMMENTARY ': MICAH. [chap. vii. mamifeetation of God. "God is love." All attributes join together in his character ami ways, hut merov Lb the brightest ray. Judgment is strange work, but i delight to God, He puta his anger by, and while he corrects he ever the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have ; him." II. God's mercy is displayed in God's works. In the il and mora] world we have abundant illustrations of this truth. 1. In the ./•// we have proofs of God's mercy. Famine, pestilence, and dearth come, but thev pass away. Mercy dawns again in seed-time and harvest, •ummer and winter. The rain falls and the sun shines upon the just and the unjust The world, in its laws and constitution, indicates no malevolent Creator. 2. In -'I world we have proofs of God's niercy. In the Divine forbearance with sin. and the moral constitution of men ; in the conversion of the sinner, and the life of the believer, mercy is displayed beyond expression. In Christ we have .- like a fountain full and free. Paul was a pattern of this mercy to others. If the wricked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and return unto . " he will have mercy upon him and abundantly pardon." This truth, (1) Set3 firth the highest excellence in every moral being. To be like God is the crown and substance of moral life. (.) Gives a reason to trust God at all times. A God who delights in mercy can never be indifferent to our happiness. (3) Furnishes an argument to be merciful to others. "Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain y." No Pardon like God's Pardon. — Verse 18. The Prophet here makes a challenge to other deities, and vindicates the glory of "Who is a God like unto thee1?" exclaim all who have embraced the lived the forgiveness of God. I. No pardon like God's in the ground of its bestowment. It is not connivance, BOX mere clemency. It does not ignore sin nor set aside justice. It is pardon through substitution and satisfaction, bought with a price and conferred in a • i honour the law and magnify Divine love. God can be just, and the jnstifier of him that believeth. Caesar, shaking his sword, said to the Questor, who •sought to prevent his entrance into the. treasury at Rome, that it was easier for his power than tbr the goodness of his nature to despatch him. God might justly . but he spares and is ready to pardon. " Here the whole Deity is known ; Nor dares a creature guess Which of the glories brighter shone, justice or the grace." II No pardon like God's in the method of its bestowment. 1. In freeness it is campled. Men are reluctant to forgive when earnestly desired, begrudge - and cherish resentment when it is bestowed, But God waits to be multiplies pardons, and makes overtures, beseeching us to be reconciled l" ''• " Qow,and let us reason together." 2. In fulness it is complete. It but for all sins. « Forgiving iniquity and transgression and «n." It oeeds do supplement, do repetition It is onoe and for ever— sins are forgiven and forgotten. I last into the depths of the sea, blotted out as a thick cloud, not un. He retains do anger, but looks upon us as if we had never Binned. \\ e are aot therefore to judge < tod by ourselves, and measure his pardoning lard oi our own. " For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so ure my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Exulting Confidence in God's Mercy. — Verses 19, 20. The Jews now avow full confidence in God's mercy. He had often pitied and delivered them. But his compassions were not exhausted, would be exercised again 10 display., Oi power and Love. " He will again," Ac chap, vir.l HO.VILETIC COMMENTARY : MIGAIL 4jj I. Confidence in the bestowment of God's grace. Grace in the pardon and subduing of sin, in showing compassion and restoring to Divine favour. 1. In the pardon of sin. Sin is passed by, left unpunished, and God does not " mark iniquities " (Ps. cxxx. 3). It is buried in eternal oblivion, never more to rise in view. As in the Red Sea not one enemy of God's people was left, so in the pardon of sin none are remembered. " In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Isiuel shall be sought for, and there shall be none : and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found ; for I will pardon them whom I reserve." 2. In the subduing of sin. " He wdl subdue our iniquities." He takes away the guilt and destroys the power of sin. Sin is tyrannical, and reduces man to bondage. It combats the moral principles and is victorious over the moral nature of man. Christ gives freedom from the dominion and consequences of sin, and implants a new rule within us. " Be of sin the double cure, Cleanse me from its guilt and power." 3. In the restoration to Divine favour. The Jews were not subdued in Babylon. They were turned again and found that compassion which they had often forfeited. God turns to the sinner and prepares him for his presence. He is reconciled to men in Christ Jesus. When they turn to him, he will turn again to them. II. Confidence in the performance of God's word. " Thou wilt perform the truth." Return from captivity was a striking instance of the fidelity and kindness of God in his covenant promise. But this is only a type of a greater display in the mission of the Messiah. 1. In all ages. In the days of the patriarchs and of the prophets. To Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses and Micah. 2. To all people. Jews and Gentiles. God's mercy and truth are alike pledged to perform his word. " For thy word's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these things." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 15. Here is a present and full enemies of God's people, a proof, 1. of answer to the Church's prayer ; so ready I)ivine power over men ; 2. Divine is the Lord to fulfil the desire of the goodness to the Church ; 3. a ground uf righteous. It is but ask and have ; and encouragement to trust God. tliey are worthily miserable that will not Ver. 18. God deliglits in mercy, make themselves happy by asking. The Illustrate and prove the text. 1. sum of Christ's answer is this : As 1 led Scripture proves this truth. In its laws, Joseph like a flock out of Egypt, through doctrines, histories, ami promises. 2. the wilderness, and fed them there, daily The works of God prove this truth. The and daintily, with angels' food (never world made for the theatre of mercy, was prince so served in his greatest providence displayed in giving mercy, pomp), so will I show thee marvellous 3. All the perfections of Ood are employed things at Babylon, and bring thee thence to illustrate this mercy. God's name with a mighty hand (Ezek. xx. 31), to emblazoned in mercy, his hands employed make me a glorious name (Isa. lxiii. 14), in bestowing mercy. Power, wisdom, and both these deliverances shall be a justice and truth are on the side of mercy, certain type of thy spiritual redemption Let us delight in mercy [Dr. R. by Christ. Lo, this will I do for thee as Vaughauj. The text is also illustrated : in the days of old (ver. 14), and so lit By the beauty and fitness of creation. mine answer ad cardinem desiderii ; give By the great regard paid to nwcy and thee not only the desire of thine heart, the merciful in the word of God. By but the request of thy lips (Ps. xxi. 2), the teachings of providence. By the let it be to thee even as thou wilt (Matt, commission that he gave his Son. By xv. 28) \Trapp\. the purpose for which the ungodly are Vers. 16 17. The subjugation of the spared. By the urgent way in which H0M1LETIC COMMENTARY: MICAII. [chap. VII c.."l asks sinners to be reconciled to him. Bj the way in which he receives and By the way in winch he deals with the infirmities of his own j pie. By the reception he gives them ui the end of life. Learn : how had it with as if « rod had revealed all ruin.,' himself except his mercy? He might as well not have revealed it, if we have nol Bought and found it. It we not found mercy, there is every • k it. Let us seek more of this mercy, and show it more to others every day [Class and Desk], Ver 19. //• wul subdue our iniquities. term subdue (lit. tread under- foot) is military, and indicates spiritual warfare. 1. 77-. enemies. "Iniquities." Many, iful, within and without. 2. The We are helpless. " Mine iniquities prevail against me." Hence (1) Divine. " He " will, &c (2) complete. " He will subline." 3. The means of con- quest. Faith in Christ. Grace in the heart. Sanetification by the Spirit. " By my Spirit, saith the Lord." " We have purified our souls in obeying the truth, through the Spirit." God's pardon. 1. Unequalled in method. 2. Incessant in exercise. 3. Unmerited in principle. 4. Immeasur- able in degree. 5. Blessed in results. Ver. 20. 1. The different aspects of God's covenant. Mercy to Abraham, truth to Jacob, an oath to the fathers. 2. The certainty of its performance. Spoken, written, and sworn to. 3. The confidence which this should beget in our minds. God is mindful of his people, and faithful to las word. " Thou wilt perform," &c. ILLUSTllATIOXS TO CHAPTER VII. 1. 2. Go ■ i nu a / w. They say that fish smell first at the head, and when godly men decay, the whole com- monwealth will soon go rotten. We not, however, be rash in our judg- ment ,'ile were the centres of the ki agloms which lay upon them. Each range of mountains, as it rises on the horizon, seems to present an insuper- able barrier. No barrier should avail to hinder the onflow to the Gospel. Isaiah foretold that all obstacles should be removed, "Every valley shall be exalted," &C. (xl. 4); so Micah prophesies from mountain to mountain [Pusey], Ver. 18. Mercy and pardon. Mercy hath but its name from misery, and is no CHAP. VII.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: MICAII. 4fil other thing than to lay another's misery to heart \_Binneij\. The forgiveness that there is with God is such as becomes him, such as is suitable to his greatness, his goodness, and all other excellencies of his nature ; such as that therefore by which he will be known to be God. It is not like that narrow, difficult, halving, and manacled forgiveness, that is found among men ; but it is full, free, bot- tomless, boundless, absolute ; such as becomes his nature and his excellencies \_Oive>i\. Vers. 19, 20. A merchant that keeps a book of debit and credit, writes both Avhat is owing him, and what he oweth himself, and then casteth up the whole ; but God does not so, his mercy is triumphant over his justice, and there- fore he wipes out what we owe liiin, and writes down what he owes us by promise ; much like the clouds that receive ill vapours from us, yet returning them to us again in sweet refreshing showers [Nath. Shute, 1626]. Truth. The revolutions caused by the progress of truth are always beneficial to society, and are only burthensome to those who deceive and oppress [Du Marsais]. The light of God's truth must not be left to burn secretly within the recesses of the sanctuary, but must be applied to the kindling of a thousand torches in the hands of those who are commissioned to carry it forth into the thick darkness of a sinful world [Bloinjleld], HO MIL ETIC COMMENTAU Y NAIIUM. [NTRODUCTION. Tiik Whiter. Little is known concerning the Prophet Nahura. He was a native of Elkosh (ch. i. 1) ; and prophesied soon after Isaiah and Micah, viz., after iirviiig away of the ten tribes by the Assyrians (b. c. 721), and after the ictioo "f the army of Sennacherib at the walls of Jerusalem (b. c. 712), and re tli-- I. ill of Nineveh \WordnwortK\. Tin: Book. It is the complement and the counterpart of the book of Jonah, Posey. Nineveh repented after Jonah's preaching, and God was represented as merciful. Bat in the time of Nahum the city had fallen into violence, and the judgment of God is proclaimed. Nineveh had no more place for repentance, and the Prophet pronounces sentence. Both hooks form connected parts of one moral history. tints. The phrase, "the burden of Nineveh," intimates that Nineveh is bjecl of the prophecy. There are three parts. " The first (1) contains the introduction (1 — 10) and the theme of the Prophet's oracle (11 — 14). The second I irth the calamity which should come upon the Assyrian empire. The third ('■'<) recapitulates the reasons for the judgments that should be thus inflicted, ami announces the certainty of their coining. The whole forms one continuous position." Styles Bis \ try puts him in the first rank of Hebrew literature. His ire brief, contain multum in parvo, as in the descriptions of God, the - li, and the destruction of No-Ammon. "He is inferior to none of the minor prophets, and scarcely to Isaiah himself, in animation, boldness, and sublimity ; or to the extent and proportion of his book, in the variety, freshness, richness, elegance, and force of his imagery. The rhythm is regular and singularly beautiful; and with the exception of a few foreign or provincial words, his es the highest degree of classical purity. His description of the Divine character at the commencement is truly majestic; that of the siege and fall of Nineveh inimitably graphic, vivid, and impressive " [Henderson]. " In the organism of Scripture, Nahura occupies an important position, not so much on mt of the theological as of the historical significance of his prophecy. Its INTRODUCTION. 4 03 theological importance culminates in the representation of God, Jehovah, Sabaoth (cf. ii. 13), as the actual Judge — a representation accurately adapted to the situa- tion of the world ; and this description is not essentially different from that in the earliest public writings and those of the preceding prophets " [Lange]. Nahum has also a message to men and nations in these latter days. If having received the message of the Gospel from the Divine Jonah, which is Christ, they fall away by unbelief, as it was predicted by Christ and his Apostles (Luke xviii. 8 ; Matt, xxiv. 12; 1 Tim. iv. 1 ), that many do, then they may see their destiny in the prophecy of Nahum, foretelling the misery and shame, confusion, overthrow, and desolation of the great city of Nineveh, which is the prophetic type of the sin and doom of the Infidel form of Anti-Christianism [Wordsworth]. I i UOMTLETIC COMMENTARY '; NAHUM. [chap, i. CHAPTEE I. CBITICA] N Burdenl (Vulg. i,/r the knowledge with which God fosters and provides for his elect, and which ed t>v them (Iios. xiii. 5) [Lange], 8. Over.] Judgment by invading armies, sweeps b the land like overwhelming floods (cf. Ps. xlii. 1 : Isa. viii. 7, 8: Hab. iii. 10). 9.] The troyed and its inhabitants perish. Imagine] By means of defence to ward off r. Second] time from Assyria (cf. Isa. li. 17 — 23 : 2 Sam. xx. 10). 10. Thorns] twisted r, to appear inseparable, and present a bristling front (2 Sam. xxiii. 6, 7). Drunken] . hi kings proverbial for intemperance and revelry. 11. One] Sennacherib. Thee] From ■ h itself arises its own ruin. Counsellor] Lit. a counsellor of Belial, worthless and bad; - to overthrow the kingdom of God (Isa. xxxvi. 14 — 20). 12 — 14.] Repeat the truths i to Judah, and evil to Assyria, predicted. Quiet] In tranquil security ; or complete with unbroken ranks and number, with everything necessary for a successful siege. "The word may also be designed to convey the idea of mental completeness, i. e in this connexion, Kcunty, martial courage" \_Hend.~\. Cut] Mown down like the harvest (2 Kings xix. 35: Isa. xixvii. 36, 37). Give .historical facts. 13. Yoke] The tribute to Assyria (cf. Isa. x. 27: Jer. ii. 20). 14.] The name and power of Assyria to become extinct. Sown] The seed or race to ever destroyed, at destruction of Nineveh the dynasty would, not be perpetuated. Gods] kind of imagi - [Di at cxvii, 15). (SeeLayard's Nineveh and its Remaim, on Idol, of Assyria.) House] Th( ridered sacred. Make] i. e. the house of thy gods, thy grave. Sennacherib (.lain during; worship (2 Kings xix. 37). Vile] Because when weighed according to moral standards worth!." (Job \\\i. 6), found light (Dan. v. 27). 15.] This verse joined to eh. ii. in Heb. text, and nearly like (Isa. Hi. 7). Here di liverance from Assyria, not Babylon. Tidings] Overthrow nnacherib. Mountains] X<> longer covered with hostile camps to prevent keeping feasts. Peace] and deliverance, j. e. great yearly feasts of thanksgiving. Wicked] Lit. Belial (ver. 11), nnacherib. This is a wonderful type of Gospel events; salvation through Christ, victory "Mi mii, death, and hell. HVMILETIC8. The Servant's Burdex. — Verse 1. In this verse we have the substance and object, the form and author, of the whole prop! I. The nature of the burden. A burden is something heavy and important. 1 The commission from God was a burden. An awful responsibility, a solemn duty imposed upon the messenger. Who is sufficient for these things? 2. The commission was a burden upon the mind of the prophet. He was notreluctant to obey, but its solemnity weighed heavily upon him. He had to threaten judgment upon his fellow-creatures, to be Eaithful in his threatening, and declare the whole from God. Bis duty was a burden. He was deeply sensible of its import, of bis own unworthiness and weakness. This is the spirit of all true • A dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me." II. The form of the burden. « J be 1 k of the vision." 1. It was first a vision to the prophet. w whal he uttered. He bad a commission from God, and spoke in God's authority. \\ e should always testify what we have seen, and declare what we have been taught. Some speak a vision of their own heart (Jer. xxiii. 16) • but God's the vision of the Almighty, 2. Then the vision was recorded in chap, i.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: NAHUM. 465 bonk. Reason teaches us to write laws and record events in a book. God's prophets were taught to pen their thoughts in a permanent form fur the benefit of future ages. " Many a man lives a burden to the earth ; but a good book is the precious life-blood of a master-spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life." III. The object of the burden. " The burden of Nineveh. Nineveh repented once, but returned to its wicked ways again. The first was a message of mercy, the second one of judgment. If men despise warnings they must expect rebukes. Employed by God to chastise, Nineveh sought to destroy the chosen people. Now God will punish the city, and its last state will be worse than the first. If men return to their former sins because judgment is not executed, if they cease to do the good they once begin, then God will withdraw his promised favour. "If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them." Jehovah a Jealous God. — Verses 2 — 5. God's judgments are traced to God's jealousy as the cause of them. His honour is injured. His tender feeling for his people is wounded, and though punishment is suspended for a time, eventually it is certain and severe. I. God's jealousy is connected with God's long-suffering. " The Lord is slow to anger." Towards enemies even God is long-suffering. For one hundred years he had endured the wickedness of the Assyrians. Judgments are often delayed. 1. This delay is not through weakness. " Great in power." Men cannot execute their vengeance because they lack power. But God has all power, and can iccomplish his will at all times. 2. This delay is not remission of punishment. He " will not at all acquit the wicked." There is a limitation of mercy. He will not clear the guilty, nor leave them unpunished. He is not insensible to violations of his law, nor dilatory to vindicate his justice. Sinners have a respite in love, but not a reprieve in weakness. All who abuse his long-suffering will smart at last. " For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God." II. God's jealousy is often provoked to vengeance. " And the Lord revengeth." Vengeance is a defect, and censured in man. Here it is predicated of God three times. 1. Vengeance is associated with provocation. Slow to anger, he can be provoked. His jealousy has the warmth of love and the fire of wrath. " The coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame." 2. Vengeance is associated with mastery. " And is furious," a master of fury, one who has anger under control. He is Lord of vengeance. "One who, if he pleases," says Grotius, "can most readily give effect to his fury." 3. Vengeance is associated ivith execution. He reserves Avrath for his enemies, not because he is angry, but because he is slow to anger. He allows it to accumulate, before execution. But he " will take vengeance on his adversaries." (a) This execution is swift. He comes in the storm and the whirl- wind (ver. 3). He sweeps men away swift as the wind. " As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more." (b) This execution is easy. The clouds are the mere dust of his feet. As man walks upon the dust, so Jehovah tramples upon the clouds, as the light dust of his feet, (c) This execution is mysterious. " Clouds and darkness are round about Him." His purpose and his agents are often concealed, until they break upon the guilty like a lightning flash, (d) This execution is often terrible. The heavens above and the earth beneath feel the shock of his wrath. The sea is rebuked by his power, and the fertility of the land is consumed by his presence. The mountains quake and the hills melt ; all nature trembles beneath his anger. No one can stand before fury like this. The strongest will quail, the hardest will melt. " Let all the earth fear the Lord ; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him." 30 UOMILBTIC COMMENTARY: NAHUM. [chap. I. EOMILETJG HINTS AND OUTLINES. V.-r. 1. The Burden. Tin' Bearer. The •mi. .n. "II.- first defines the object of tin- prophecy, whereto it looks; then . and whence it was" V.r. 2. Tli'' titli a of <"""1 rise in awe; ! and Avenger; then • and a Lord of wrath ; the [1 ui-t as man, mastered by ■ i withhold or discharge; ing it. at last, tin' more D the finally impenitent |. Th-- justice and severity of God should ntemplated. 1. As a warning to ],;< auemii - to deter them from evil. 2. ilation to his people to help them in trouble. Ver. 3. Mercy, omnipotence, and jus- 1. The first attribute of God. . to anger." Because he never smites without first threatening. He is very alow to threaten. When God threatens, low be is to sentence the criminal ! when the sentence is signed ami !. how Blow to cany it out ! Trace ittribute l< i Why is God alow to anj ' B • rase he is infinitely • ; he is great. 2. The connecting link. A great reason why I,,, i- great in power. He tl li in power can restrain himself, and is greater than he thai takes \\i,. m < fad's power restrains himself, then it i- power indeed. If he of a < tod than lie is, lie would long ere this have sent forth thunders and emptied the magazines of heaven. I tint the greatness of his !■ i, . .11 r protection. •'-. Th.- last, and most terrible attribute : //- will nut at nil acquit the wicked. Unfold this • •f all. then tie.- it to it- source. will not acquit the. wicked. Never once has he blotted out sin without punishment. Calvary proves the truth of that. The wonders of vengeance in the Old Testament and hell itself are proofs of the text. Trace this terrible attribute to its source. Why is this? God will not acquit the wicked, because he is (jood. Goodness itself demands the punishment of the sinner. The justice of God demands it. If in Christ, never be afraid of God's power. If not fled for refuge, then God will not acquit, but puuish. Reprieved but not par- doned art thou. Reprieve will soon run out, haste to the refuge [Spurgeon]. Way in the whirlwind. The venge- ance of God comes at last swiftly, vehe- mently, fearfully, irresistibly [Pusey]. Cloin/s the dust. 1. God hidden in his ways. Clouds are round about him. Deep and unsearchable in his counsels. 1. God powerful in his ways. Treading on the clouds, and making them as dust to his feet. 2. God terrible in his ways (vers. 4 and 6). Not difficult to put the elements in motion to destroy Nineveh or impenitent sinners. Great things to us are small with him. All nature subject to his control. Vers. 4, 5. The quaking of all things in the presence of an angry God. Celestial and terrestrial agencies subserv- ient to the purpose of God, (a) in punishing the wicked, (b) in protecting his people. " The huge roots of the toweling mountains are torn up when the Lord bestirs himself in anger to smite the enemies of his people. How shall puny man be able to face it out with God when the very mountains quake with fear? Let not the boaster dream that his present false confidence will support him in the dread day of wrath." HOMILETICS. Con's Goodness and Anger. — Verses 6, 7. i things in these words. I. Jehovah's anger. 1. // is real. Human theories of it are not always They are got up to persuade the sinner that he has no need to be alarmed for guilt. But G "t's words are true — not exaggerations. 2. It is righteous. Not chap, i.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: NAIIJ'M. 467 the rage of selfishness nor personal offence ; but the anger of a righteous judge against sin, dishonoured right and insulted law. There is nothing in it unjust or arbitrary. 3. It is terrible. Though calm, it is awful and overwhelming. No power or numbers can withstand it. Expulsion from Paradise, the Hood, the ruin of Sodom, and the destruction of the ungodly, are specimens. 4. It is inexorable. Nothing can turn it aside or quench it when kindled. II. Jehovah's goodness. He is good, and doeth good; kind to the unthankful and unholy. 1. His goodness is sincere. He does not utter words and feelings which are not in him. His words mean what they say, his deeds what they indicate. " God is not man that he should lie." 2. His goodness is power/til. Almighty goodness. He is able to deliver those whom he loves. Their interests are safe in his hands. 3. His goodness is watchful. His eyes are upon us at all times, expecially in trouble. An unsleeping eye, an untiring hand, never weary of blessing, ever delighting to love and help us. 4. His goodness is unchanging. Without variableness like himself, ever flowing and not ebbing. Not like the tides and the seasons, his heart changes not. But the great day of his wrath will come. Judgment lingers not. He .spares in pity, not willing that any should perish. Turn unto him, &c. [Dr. H. Bonar.] The Triumph of Faith. — Verse 7. Here we have a beautiful description of the security and comfort of those who trust in God in the day of distress. I. God a Protection. Not armies, fleets, and fortresses. All other refuges are refuges of lies. He is the only accessible, impregnable, delightful shelter. II. God a Comfort. "The Lord is good." Good in himself and to others. 1 1 is goodness is spontaneous, undeserved, and boundless; consistent with the perfec- tions of his character, and adapted to the wants of our nature. III. God a Fri< nd. " He knoweth." He not merely perceives and understands ; but approves, acknowledges, and takes delight in us. He " takes pleasure in them that fear him, in them that hope in his mercy." God is our friend. His attitude to us is like that to Abraham : "I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee." HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 7. The Lord is Good. He is us all things?" This involves every essentially — immutably good — infinitely other. He is " all in all." By him and good. The good of all creation is in him we are "blessed with all spiritual derived from him. " He is good to all, blessings in heavenly places " [Jay], and his tender mercies are over all his The Lord a Stronghold. From whence works." But goodness does not appear does this trouble arise ] From danger 9 in its highest forms here. These crea- He is our strength for protection. "The tures never forfeited care and kindness. Lord is the strength of my life, of whom We have rebelled, and as children of shall I be afraid 1 " "We are more than disobedience deserve wrath. Yet he conquerors." From duty? He is tin- spares us, and provides for us — fitted up strength to assist. If oppressed with a the world with sights, sounds, and sense of our inability, " our sufficiency relishes to our appetites. But if the is of God." From affliction? He is our bounties of nature and providence were strength to support and deliver. If he stopped, we could say, " Herein is love, does not release, he sustains and com- not that we loved God, but that God forts. "My grace is sufficient for thee." loved us," &c. This ensures every other Whatever the nature and degree of blessing. " He that spared not his own affliction, in God we find a " very pre- Son, but delivered him up for us all, sent help in the day of trouble" \Jay\. how shall he not with him freely give Vers. 7, 8. God a refuge to his people, EOMILETIC COMMENTARY ': VARUM, [ciur. i. who are safe, happy, and cared for in his completely destroyed. God's people only terror to their me- afflicted for a short time, but of the .. who are overwhelmed with calami- wicked he will make "an utter end." '..„ l), pursued with darkness, and UOMILETICS. God powerless. — Verses 9 — 11. \ hiiiii now turns to the invalids, boldly challenges them for their opposition aovah, again describee their ruin, and for the encouragement of the Jews, adds that they should aol be annoyed any more. I Resistance to God in its nature. " What do ye imagine against the Lord?" 1. Resistance in tltought. " Imagine." They thought that they had to do with a weak people, and would gain an easy victory. But they had to encounter God. . iin presumption to plot against him. " There is no wisdom, nor understanding, lunsel against the Lord." 2. Resistance in word. Many imagined evil, but one Leader was specially prominent in counsel. Sennacherib in the mouth of hakeh advised worthless and wicked plans (cf. Isa. xxxvi. 14 — 20). Crafty counsellors are most mischievous, and often bring ruin upon themselves and their country. •'*. Resistance in act. Plots ripen into enterprises. Wicked thoughts lead to denial of God's power and providence ; to contempt of God's people, and opposition to Cod's purpose He sent, " to reproach the loving God " (2 Kings xix. If,), and blasphemed "against the Holy One of Israel" (ver. 22). II. Resistance in its method. The metaphors of ver. 10 may be taken in many senses. Briars and thorns denote hostile armies (Isa. x. 17; xxvii. 4). 1. Resistance combined. " Closely interwoven as thorns." They strengthen one another, and are inveterate towards God. Like the military phalanxes of antiquity, they were armed and arranged to present a bold front. Thorns, '•because they cannot be taken with hand-'' (2 Sam. xxiii. (J). 2. Resistance audacious. Flushed with success, the ians regarded themselves as invincible, and gave themselves to wine and revelry. Benhadad was .-mitten while drinking in his pavilions (1 Kings xx. 1G) ; Belshazzar v : ting when Babylon was taken (Dan. v. 1 — 30). Yet in this condition men have the audacity to resist God. Intoxicated with pride they are prepared for their fall III. Resistance in its end. Men s devices are idle when God works. 1 /' , ople a-' reprepan dfor ruin. •' They shall be devoured as stubble fully dry." 1 >rv stubble easily takes fire, and thorns folded together are ready for the flames. Wicked men are often compared to stubble, and God's judgments to devouring fire. who defy Cod's will only lit themselvi - for the lire that is never quenched. 2. Ruinwa certain. " He makes an utter end." The destruction is absolutely fixed and >ui'.-. No second attempt will lie made. < >ne stroke of the Angel destroyed the Assyrian armies. One blast from heaven levelled Nineveh in the dust. Now Nineveh- great Nineveh— the pride of its inhabitants, the terror of its neighbours, and the envy of the world, has fallen. Its celebrity ceased, and its site for ages remained unknown — " B< hold the pride of pomp, 'I he throne <>t nations fallen, obscured in dust, I mi yet maji Btical the silent scene l.l. it. - the -"Hi " | /'//")• Tin. Dbstrui Hon 01 mi: Enemy, and tiik Bf.demption of God's People. Verses 12 — 15. Here good is predicted to -In, lab, and evil to the enemy. One shall be purifitd and restored, th<- other utterly annihilated. I. The destruction of the enemy. The Prophet notices their present condition, and contrasts it with future ruin. 1. They are unbroken in strength. "Though chap, i.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: NJHUM. 409 they be quid." If they be entire, sound and unharmed, perfect in warlike prepara- tions, that will not avail them. 2. They are undiminished in number. " And likewise many." Their numbers were unimpaired and great. Hezekiah thus exhorted the people : " Be Btrong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the King of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him " (2 Chron. xxxii. 7). 3. They are secure in tranquillity. " Quiet," that is, without fear, and perfectly safe. They were free from attacks, and securely fortified, but not against Cod. They pictured an easy march and a splendid victory in the land, " When he shall pass through ; " but the vast host was swept away in a single night. Notice their future. 1. Idolatry will be destroyed. "Out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image." Their gods in the temple, graven and molten, would not help them, nor be spared by the enemy. God has a controversy with all kinds of idols. The fate of a nation is often bound up with the fate of its God. 2. The dynasty would be extinguished. " No more of thy name be sown." If not immediately, yet eventually the Assyrian line would cease. God commanded this, and it was certain to happen. Their splendid renown would fade away and their name be cut off. The race would be cut down without chance of springing again. "The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth." 3. The palace would be turned into a grave. " I will make (the house of thy gods) thy grave." The temple was polluted by slaughter, and converted into a sepulchre (Isa. xxxvii. 38 ; 2 Kings xix. 37). Men perish in the things in which they seek refuge. The Assyrian power was destroyed. God made a grave for its idols and its people. All were vile and light ; found wanting when weighed in the balance (Dan. v. 27). Whatever honour man set upon them, they were lightly esteemed by God. Wickedness in religious and political life brings contempt and ruin upon a nation. " The seed of evil-doers shall never be renowned." " God needs no indirect nor lawless course To cut off those who have offended Him " [Shakespeare]. II. The redemption of God's people. Deliverance from the enemy would be followed by restoration of worship and peace. All sorrow would end, and every cause of fear be overcome. 1. Deliverance would be- enjoyed. The news would he proclaimed and welcomed throughout the kingdom. If to Sophocles the hands and feet of any one who went on errands of mercy were beautiful, how much more should the heralds of the gospel be received by all who hear them. (1) I), liverance from affliction. " Though I have afflicted thee, I will afllict thee no more." The bitter potion will not be repeated, unless there be real necessity. God doth not afflict willingly, and former trials should not hinder faith in present good. (2) Deliverance from the enemy. Servitude no longer, (a) From the yoke of the enemy. A victorious army shall no longer tax and oppress. " JSTow will 1 break his yoke from off thee." (b) From the fear of the enemy. He shall be completely subdued, and no trace of his steps left behind. He will be cut off in spirit, number, and existence. " The wicked shall no more pass through thee." 2. Worship would be restored. Solemn feasts would be kept. The free use and thorough enjoyment of religious ordinances would be restored. Votes would be performed, and gratitude continually abound. The ransomed of the Lord would return to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. It is our privilege to behold the feet of those who publish peace with God and salvation through Christ. If we believe we may keep our feasts in gladness, and anticipate the glory of that temple into which the wicked never enter. HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 12. Cut down like grass in a tion, and the ease with which it is done, field. The completeness of the destruc- Greatness and number nothing with God EOMILETIC COMMENT JILT : NAHUM. [CHAP. I. 13. The affliction of the Church. method of deliverance. fee." The agent who • •■ / will break." " By the [ my hand I have done it" The time in which it is done. " ' 1 1. leel his own Bhould de- nol put them off altogether to a distant day, but saith note" [Pusey]. 14. [t is sufficient ground of for the coming to pass of things, thai the Lord hath mined they should be; for, tins is given as a sure ground of Assyria's ruin, that the Lord hath given a command- ment, or purposed their destruction, his purpose concluding as effectually the concurring of all means to bring it about, as if they were especially commanded. Name. " The Lord doth justly root out the memory of such persons or states, as make it their only work to get a name mi earth, and to be eminent and terrible ; for such is Assyria's doom : no more of tlty name shall be sown" \_Hutcheson\ ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER I. 1. Burden. He who possesses the virtues required in the care of souls, should not take upon him the priestly office, unless constrained to it; and he who knows he has them not, should not take it upon him, even though he were compelled to it [OregoryV . 2. Vengeance. When God sees it necessary to vindicate the honour of his justice to the world, he doth it with verity winch may make us appre- hend his displeasure ; and yet with that . which may encourage us to repent and return unto the Lord [Stillingfleet], '.',. simr. God delays the punish- ment "f wickedness, and does not strike presently, for a glorious manifestation of I lv attribute of patience. His two ittributes of justice and mercy, the lull season <>t' their manifestation upon the vessels of wrath and mercy, is at an end at the great day of reckoning [J>/>. / '"'./]■ I. This passage is bo sublime, one, that it would be difficult to find its equal May the reader's heart adore the God 1" fore whom the uncon- • irth and sky act as if they recog- nized their Maker, and were moved with a tremor of reverence. " Vain are the attempts of men to conceal anything from him v. hose word unbars the deep, and lifts the doors of earth tt their binges ' Vain arc all hopes of resistance, • nt' his voice makes the whole earth quail in abject terror" ■• "//J. Ver. 7. He who avail- himself of a ■■■ ho i- forced to fly. It is a quiet retreat from a pursuing enemy. And there are trials, and temptations, and enemies, from which the Christian does best to tly. He cannot resist them. They are too strong for him. His wisdom is to fly into the refuge of the secret place of his God, to rest under the shadow of the Almighty. His strength is to sit still there (Isa. xxx. 7) \_B. M. Duncan]. Vers. 8 — 12. When God shakes men as dust from under the summer thrash- iiiL,r-lloor, the right hand of- a man's strength is as powerless as the left hand of a man's weakness, and his wisdom is as folly. What avails the wisdom of the apple to make it cling to the bough when it is ripe in autumn time1? or the wisdom of the leaf to hold it fast to the stem when the tempest calls'? or the wisdom of the tree to make it stand secure when a rock from the cliff comes crashing down throughits puny branches] When < rod sends storms upon men, they imitate the humble grass, which saves itself by lying down. Therefore it is said, " Humble yourselves before the mighty hand of God, that in due season he ma] raise you up " [77. W. Beecher\. Ver. 14. Name. Thou mayest choose whether thou wilt be remembered to thy praise or to thy shame [Bishop PilkingtonX " He left a name, at which the world grew pale, To point a moral, or adorn a tale.' ' ISamuel Johnson.] Ver. 1 5. Peace, newly granted by the grace of God, was to be celebrated by a chap, ii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : NAHUM. 171 new consecration of the people. This has already appeared in Christ, by which has special reference to the king of the Belial, from whom every wicked Nineveh and Assyria, and the promise spirit proceeds, is for ever cast out \Lange\. must have been very precious to con- temporaries oppressed by Assyria. But "Comei aml 1)C8in T»y rciSn to us the fundamental truth is far more r 0f eI!v!f8&C! ; ♦ ™ ip , Come, take the Kingdom to thyself, important, that to the people of God a Great King of Righteousness " [Bonar\ perfect deliverance is near at hand, and CHAPTER II. Critical Notes. Dasheth] Lit. disperser. Keep] in Judah peace, in Nineveh tumult. Watch] for the enemy. Loins] Prepare for conflict (Job xl. 7). Every means of defence will be necessary. 2.] The Lord hath chastised Judah and Israel, and permitted the enemy to triumph; now the excellency of Israel, the former independence, shall be restored. Emptied] Devastations, taken from vine-pruning and cutting young twigs (I'sal. Ixxx. 9). 3. Red] with blood or paint, or overlaid with copper. Scarlet] Crimson, the fighting dress of the nations. Torches] Chariot-wheels like flaming torches in rapidity and motion (Isa. v. 28). Day] of equipment; to prepare, to equip for battle (Jer. xlvi. 14 : Ezek. vii. 14). Fir trees] Shields and lances made of fir, brandished and thrown with destructive power. 4. Rage] The chariots, driven in fury, jostle one against another, and run as lightning (Luke x. 18), in the market-place of the city. 5. He] King of Nineveh, shall muster choicest troops. Worthies] Heroes or brave men (Judg. v. 13 : Nch. iii. 5). Stumble] through fear and haste. Defence] The covering used by besiegers. 6.] From the siege the prophet passes rapidly to the capture of the city. Gates] The rivers round the city break their sluices and overfiood it. 7. Huzzab] Probably Nineveh ; some, the queen of Nineveh. Like a queen she shall be dethroned and dishonoured ; her maids mourn like doves over her fate (Isa. xxwiii . 14). Tabering] Beating their breasts, a mournful attitude (Luke xviii. 23). 8. Old] From antiquity hath been like a pool of water; the confluence of people from all parts, like countless drops ; an unbroken empire for 600 years. Stand] Stand is the cry, but all flee away. 9. Take] God bids the conquerors to plunder. " This does not happen by chance, but because God determines to avenge the injuries inflicted upon his people" [Calvin]. 10. Empty] Lit. emptiness, and emptiedness and waste. The city is left, without its wealth and monuments, a complete ruin. The vanquished are horrified at the destruction, despond, can hardly keep on their feet, and turn pale. " The completeness of her judgment is declared first under that solemn number, Three, and the three words in Hebrew are nearly the same, with the same meaning, only each word fuller than the former, as picturing a growing desolation ; and then under four heads (in all seven) ; also a growing fear" [Pusey]. 11. Where] is the site on which the mighty city once stood? Its warriors crashed the nations like lions in their lust and power. "To fill up the picture, the epithets applied to the lions are grouped together according to the difference of sex and age" [Keil]. 12.] Description of tyranny and predatory lust of Assyrian kings. 13.] The destruction is certain— /against thee; God has proclaimed, and will fulfil it. Her war-chariots, i. e. the whole apparatus of war [Calvin'], will be consumed like smoke ; imperial might shall no longer prey upon the nations, and emissaries, with the king's commands or exacting tribute, shall be seen no more (Ezek. xix. 9). HOMILETICS. The Cause and Preparations of "War. — Verse 1. "Whether these words be applied to the Jews defending Jerusalem, or to the Ninevites defending their city against the Medo-Babylonian army, their meaning is the same. They begin a lively description of the siege. I. The cause of the war. " For the emptiers have emptied them out." 1. Tim Assyrians had oppressed God's people. They had abused their power in the chastisement of Israel, plundered the people, and outrageously destroyed their vines. Now the emptiers must be emptied, and those who chastised others w\\\>l be chastised themselves. " Power abused brings a curse upon its possessors. Power gives temptation, which in turn sets aside honour, social duty, law, and righl ; creates abuse; and abuse, strife, confusion, retribution, bloodshed, sin" [Bailey]. 472 1I0MILETIC COMMENTARY: NAHUM. [chap. ii. Anting hi* people was accomplished. The enemy falls, but God Cwn restore his people. He will re-establish the glory of Israel which Asshur had destroyed Cts eminence, by virtue of its election, will no longer be tarnished. „ excellency in his people which the world does not, and eventually will them - an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations." II. The approach of the enemy. M He thai dasheth in pieces is come up." Notice, L The nature of the em my " The dasher in pieces," not a hammer of war, hut one whom God ,:,„,,: :;, r ,,ther nations. The feeblest people, in God's hands, may be a terror to others The mightiest nations, intoxicated with success, and abusive ot their privileges, may be broken in pieces like a potter's vessel. 2. The nearness of Before thy face." Direct against her, face to face. Men are not I th< ir danger, pnl the evil .lay fai off, when it is nigh at hand. "Serious things to morrow," said the ancient prince, who gave himself to revelry, and was mined with bis kingdom. III. The defence of the city. Some take the words ironically, and equivalent to a prediction. Thou shalt defend thyself, but all in vain. The mosl powerful and courageous preparations are matters of derision !. I. Keep the fortress. "Keep the munition." Strong walls, though ailable by human skill, would not be secure. 2. Guard the avenues. tch tin way" by which the foe may come and repel him. Prevent entrance into the eitv. 3. Encourage one another. " Make thy loins strong." Gather up ad lei nothing he unemployed. Stand, having your loins girt about like men (Ephes. vi. 14: Job xl. 7). 4. Resist mightily. "Fortify thy power btily." It is a desperate affair, no careless, timid defence will avail. Nor will the utmost the wicked can do prevail against God. Impotent are all effoits of defence when God lias departed from a place. "The Lord hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation : for this is the Work of the Lord < rod of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans." Tin: Great Siege and the Vain Defence. — Verses 3 — 7. The assailing army is now described in its might and compactness, its warlike appearance and design, .Notice, I. The besieging force. The order and equipment are graphically pictured. 1. Tin army is formidable. Many are spoken of as one. The soldiers are valiant and accustomed to victory. Divinely collected, and deterred by no foe. 2. The it terrific. Blood-red in uniform.. Chariots like flames of fire, and spears like wavii No quarter given. Tike flames they intend to set all on fire. ."■ / - vrmy is invincible. Its career has been triumphant, and its success is sure. nst such generals as Cyrus the Younger and Alexander the Great, numbers avail let. They appeared in the joyous splendour of Divine warriors (cf. 2 Kings \i. 17), anil in the colour of those who execute Divine judgments (Zech. i. 8: Rev. vi. 1). The heroes are God's heroes, and the bewilderment in the city is from the power of God. II. The vain defence. -vThe inhabitants are summoned her, and no means of defence are neglected. ?. 1. Brave men are summoned to their pott. "He shall recount his worthies." All is at stake. The leaders dally mint set an example of coinage. But they are struck with terror, run in perplexity, and through tear or lack of strength fall, "stumble in their walk." They rush to the walls, hut the enemies are already attacking under cover. Tt is to,, late. 2. The river became the city. The enemy had been three times defeated. The city was intact, and the hosts were encamped before its gates m v iin. lint a sudden inundation, more iriolenl than usual, burst the sluices and the mighty 11 1 broke down the walls. 3. The royal citadel was destroyed. "Thi tall be dissolved." The king utterly despaired, shut himself up with Laves and concubines in his residence, kindled the whole and perished in the flames. One ground of confidence after another failed. The mighty men, the chap, ii.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARTi NAHUM. 478 river and the temple, were no protection. Neither the palace of the princes nor the temple of the gods can shelter those whom God will punish. "Of old the funeral pile was erected ; yea, for the king it was prepared deep and large : it was prepared with fire and much wood, and the breath of God, like a stream of brimstone, kindles it." 4. The inhabitants mutinied. The people of the city, under the figure of a captive woman ; and her maids, the lesser cities, as female attendants on the royal city, were brought to shame and distress, (a) They were destroyed by the flood, or (b) They were led captives, and (c) They grieved at their fate. As a queen Nineveh wras dethroned and dishonoured. In helplessness and grief she mourned as a dove. If we do not repent in time no " worthies " or " defence " will turn away eternal lamentation and despair. IIOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. The overthrow of the enemy of God what had been the fence against the is not the work of men, but his work, enemy became an entrance for them : A disperser comes np ; men would be with the river there poured in also the satisfied with the capture (cf. Obadiah) tide of the people of the enemy. The [Lange]. palace, then the imperial abode, the Neither equipment, nor the appearance centre of the empire, embellished witli of assembled power (ver. 2), nor capacity the history of its triumphs, sank, was of hasty movement and vehement and dissolved, and ceased to be. It is not a varied activity (ver. 5) achieves victory physical loosening of the sun-dried bricks in the battles of the kingdom of God : by the stream which would usually flow- where God stands, there victory comes harmless by ; but the dissolution of the [Lange]. empire itself [Pusey]. Thus ver. 3 describes the attack ; Nahum predicted the destruction of ver. 4 the defence ; the two first clauses the city in its grandeur and prosperity, of ver. 5 the defence, the two last the Hence learn : 1. To adore the providence attack [Pusey]. of God in giving an exact and particular Ver. 5. If kings rely more upon their account of the siege. 2. To fear the heroes and armies than upon God, they power of God in collecting and employ- must become discouraged and flee before ing such terrible forces to execute his their enemies [Lange]. will. 3. To forsake sin, lest we should Ver. 6. The palace dissolved. The be humbled and destroyed by tin; prophet unites the beginning and the judgments of God. end. The river gates were opened; HOMILETICS. The Flight of the Inhabitants and the Plunder of the City. — Verses 8 — 10. Nineveh was a wealthy and populous city. Like a pool of water in multitude of men, but nothing could defend it. I. The disgraceful flight. "Yet they shall flee away." 1. The people lost couraqe. Effeminacy and lust beget weakness. God can dishearten the strongest and most courageous. Patriotism and confidence flee apace, and men arc helpless as the reed when he pursues. 2. The people fled away. Panic seized them. Deaf to the call of a few leaders, none looked back, took a stand, or stopped in the flight. At AVaterloo, Napoleon, observing the recoil of his columns and tie- confusion of all around him, cried out, "All is lost, save who can." In Nineveh the discomfiture and flight were complete. In the day of judgment none can save themselves by flight. "The flight shall perish from the swift." II. The extensive plunder. Enormous wealth was treasured up in the city. Its reputation as a commercial city rivalled Tyre (Ezek. xxvii. 23). Immense riches were acquired also by predatory war and taxes levied to the utmost degree. 1. Its gold and silver .,:, HOMILETTC COMMENTARY: NAHUM. [chap.it. • \Jcen. "Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold." Riches cannot deliver in the day of wrath. They rather tempt and entice the spoiler. Small articles of value have been found in the ruins of Nineveh, but no gold nor silver. "When thou ahalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled." 2. Its pleasant furniture was taken. "Glory out of all the pleasant furniture." Everything considered costly, of desire, treasures and utensils that yielded glory and reputation, carried away. " The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just." 3. Its ition was complete. "She is empty, and void, and waste." (a) The city destroyed. Worldly wealth is vain, emptiness and poverty are the end of worldly greatness. Those who heap up silver as dust, and prepare raiment as clay, only provide fur another's booty (Job xxvii. 17). (b) The inhabitants were U rror-struck. Their hearts melted like wax before the fire, and their knees trembled in weakness. Pain seized their loins, and paleness covered their faces. A guilty conscience turns the most hardy into cowards. Nineveh's strength failed her in the day of need. The terror she had caused to Israel fell in just retribution upon herself, and this storehouse of plunder was utterly laid waste and destroyed. IIOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 8. Wealth may be treasured up Natural men despair in adversity, sink for ages, and increase in value and in courage when robbed of their earthly abundance, yet not be secure. Of old, goods. "It is certainly a great loss 0 e away. Because God spares a when one loses money and goods, but people, and permits them to prosper in not so great as when the heart falls into wickedness for a long time, it is no despair [Lange]. First, the heart, the proof of security from coming judgment, seat of courage, and resolve, and high Punishment is often sure and decreed; purpose, melteth ; then the knees smite ahe .-hall be laid bare; they shall flee tor/ether, tremble, shake under their away. frame ; then much pain is in all loins, Vers. 0, 10. Learn the folly of de- lit. "strong pains as of a woman in pending upon worldly resources. 1. travail," writhing and doubling the Wealdi may be taken away. 2. Num.- whole body, and making it wholly ben may tail and fl.ee away. 3. The powerless and unable to stand upright, greatesl defences may be levelled to the shall bow the very loins, the seat of "The greatest kingdoms finally strength (Pro v. xxxi. 17); and lastly, < le to nothing when the Lord inflicts the faces of them all gather blackness upon them his penal judgments, and all (cf. Joel ii. 6), the fruit of extreme pain, their power is unable to quench and stop and the token of approaching dissolution the fire of his wrath" [Lan^e], \Pusey\. Joy and sorrow will show Ver. 10. The horrors of a guilty themselves in the face as in a glass. ience. 1. Desponding minds. 2. Now if for a temporal mischief there is I treme pain. '■'>. Visible tokens of so great a consternation in wicked men, approaching ruin. The state of mind what shall we think there is in hell? manifested in the attitudes of the body. [Trapp]. HOMILETICS. Nil viii 1 j faced. — Verses 11 — 13. The Prophet, beholding the destruction in spirit as having already taken place, looks round for the site on which the mighty city once stood, and sees it no more. This is the meaning of the question in ver. 11. He describes it as the dwelling- placeof Lions. The point of comparison is the predatory lust of its rulers and their warriors, win. crushed the nations like lions, plundering their treasures, and bringing them together in Nineveh [A'-//]. I. Its site was obliterated. "Where- is the dwelling of the lions," &c. Great chap, ii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : NAHUM. 475 must be the desolation to call forth such an expression. Where indeed is the proud city1? Its place was unknown for ages, and is only just discovered by the ruins which have been dug up. It was secure, the dwelling of the lions ; spacious walked; and wealthy, the feeding-place of the young lions; but its battlements were destroyed and its glory departed. The dust of Nineveh is a witness for the truth of God, and a warning to the nations of the earth. " Assyria lies buried there with all its people ; round about are their graves, all of them are slain and fallen by the sword; they have made their graves deep there below." II. Its rulers were overcome. Over 500 years this great city of God (cf. Jon. i. 3 ; iii. 2) was, under its powerful rulers, the terror of Western Asia. Dynasty after dynasty had transmitted its dreaded name to age after age. 1. Its riders were strong. Like lions in power and purpose, bent on plunder and mischief. They were greedy, ravenous beasts, which could never be satisfied (Isa. lxvi. 11). 2. Its rulers were a terror to others. They tore others, and were not touched themselves. Exempt from fear, they were a dread to surrounding peoples, "and none made them afraid." But the Lord of hosts was against them, and raised up one stronger than they. "The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way ; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate ; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant." III. Its resources were destroyed. Ver. 13 expresses her complete destruction. 1. Its military defences tcere destroyed. " I will burn her chariots in the smoke." Their chariots remarkable for speed and lightness, their horses noted for fierceness and power, were fuel for the fire. All their warlike preparations vanished into smoke, and not a brand was plucked from the burning. 2. Their offspring were cut off. " The sword shall devour thy young lions." The flower of youth, their hope for the future, was cut down. The whole race of oppressors was taken away. God in justice may cut off those whom we seek to enrich, and for whom we are so anxious to provide. 3. Their wealth was taken away. " I will cut off thy prey from the earth." The immense booty they had gathered by fraud and violence was robbed by the enemy. 4. Their agents were no longer seen. " The voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard." Emissaries exacting tribute or conveying the edicts of the king ; heralds and delegates travelling the provinces ; messengers, uttering blasphemy and publishing victory, "should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel." God had hushed them to silence, and the stillness of death prevailed. IV. Its destiny was sealed. " Behold, I come," are words which seal and confirm the threat. God had endured long, but came at last. The city was captured and destroyed. Its ruins have never been revived, and Moslem tribes rear their hamlets on its barren stones. " Desolation meets desolation," says Layard; "a feeling of awe succeeds to wonder, for there is nothing to relieve the mind; to lead to hope, or to tell of what has gone by. These high mounds of Assyria made a deeper impression upon me, gave rise to more serious thought and more earnest reflection, than either the temples of Baalbec or the theatres of Ionia." Conquerors proud, to seal her doom, Swept her to ruin's all-eugulfing tomb. Long ages past, and turf o'ergrew the walls, And silence reigned in Ninus' buried halls. HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Vers. 11, 12. The lions. Oppression "The robbery of the wicked shall de- is brutish conduct. It turns palaces into stroy them." dens, and princes into lions. "As a Ver. 13. God against the sinner. 1. roaring lion and a raging bear ; so is a God is declared to be against him. wicked ruler over the poor people." "Behold" §c. 2. God has power to Unrighteous gain is a risky bargain, fulfil his threats. "The Lord of Hosts." 47G HOMILFTIC COMMENTARY: KAHUM. [CHAP. II. 3. The results will be onmistakeable if the opposition continues. Seek to be iled to God. From the whole chapter we may learn 1. God's hand itructive warfare. The wealth and haughty bearing of Nineveh drew forth the conquering army. The passions and efforts of men were concerned, hut they only performed the pleasure of the Most High. 2. Tlie vanity of human greatness. Heaps of gold and silver are not real possessions. A royal palace and an imperial throne will crumble into dust. " Empty and void and waste," may be inscribed on every earthly glory. "They are but beggars that can count their wealth " [Shakespeare], ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER II. Vera 1,2. Dasher in /n'eces. Deme- trius was surnamed Poliorcestes, the destroyer of cities ; Attilas called himself ( trliis flagellum, the scourge of the world. Julius CsBSar was Kidmen belli, the thunderboll of war; he had taken in his time a thousand towns, conquered three hundred nations, took prisoners cue million of men, and slain as many. were dissipatores indeed, and dashers in pieces, rods of God's wrath; and this they took to be a main piece of their glory [Trapp\. Vers. 3, 4. Chariots were objects of interest. "Their charioteers had an air of perfect fearlessness ; they dashed along as if caring for nothing, hut resolved upon crushing everything. These declarations are perfectly accurate, and cannot be more evident than the sculptures and bas-reliefs of Nineveh have shown them to be. Their chariots are represented, covered with costly as and Babean symbols ; and their horses are exhibited in almost every variety of attitude rearing, run- ning and rushing — exactly as we should i hem to I"-, after reading t li.it. which is said of them in the pro- The siege was no easy task. History declares that the king, at the approach of the enemy, collected all his active forces — that the besieging army was three times severely defeated, and that the Modes could only be held with great difficulty to the work. The Assyrians abandoned themselves to negligent re- joicing in the camps before the gates on account of victory, but were attacked in the night and driven back to the walls. Salamienes, brother-in-law to the king, who had resigned the command to him, was driven into the Tigris (cf. ch. iii. 3) ; but the city was still uninjured, and the enemy encamped in vain before the gates. In the spring of the third year other powers interfered. The river became " an enemy to the city " (cf. ii. 7 ; i. 8 — 10). The inundation occurred suddenly, and violently broke down in one night the walls on the river. The king despaired of his life, and having sent his family to the north, shut himself up with all his treasures, and burned himself in the royal citadel. Immense booty was carried away. The city was plundered, sacked, ami set on tire [Lange, Introduction to -\ahmn]. CHAPTER HI. •iic.M. Note«.] The prophd resumes his description of the siege. Blood! Drops of blood shed in murder [Keif], Lies] Vain promises of help. Depart. ] Ceases not to plunder. 2. Noise] In the -. "This passage is unrivalled byanj other, either in sacred or profane literature" Riders dasb along, the flame of tl„- sword, the f!;ish of the lance, and the multitude of the slain, depict the attack and ita consequences. 4. Whoredoms] The mason of the punishment; not lolatry b I i, which under the guise ol Love sought the gratification of lust: the crafty other States. Selleth] i.e. rob nations of liberty, bring them into bondage or make tributary (Dent UtxiL .'JO : Jud. ii. It). 5. Discover] Language suggested bv preceding I tun ul an harlot ; referring to the custom of Stripping captives, male and female, and exposing chap, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENT ART: NAUTJM. 177 them to nakedness and insult. 6. Gazing-stock] A warning to others (Ezek. xxviii. 17). 7. ] She will be an object of disgust, none will pity the devastated city, for her doom is deserved. 8.1 She will share the fate of No-Amon, a royal city of Egypt, populous, sacred, and strong (Ezek. xxx. 1 1 Ifi • Jer. xlvi. 25), like Nineveh well situated, protected by waters on every side. 9. J Allies numerous and powerful, yet No (Thebes) could not preserve herself. 10.] Its inhabitants subjected to all the cruelties and indignities generally inflicted upon conquered people. 11. Drunken] with the cup of Divine anger. A refuge from the enemy sought and not found in other nations. 12. Strongholds 1 All the fortifications will be easily taken, like ripe figs they will fall into the mouth of the gatherer (cf. Is. xxviii. 4: Rev. vi. 13). 13. Women] Effeminate and timid, or weak and unable to offer resistance (cf. Is. xix. 6 : Jer. 1. 37). 14. Draw] for a long-continued siege, improve fortifications put the kiln in order for burning bricks. 15. Make] Multiply thyself, like the largest and most formidable locusts. 16.] Traders and merchants increased innumerable as the stars, but fire and sword would devour all. 17. Crowned] rulers or vassal princes which encamp in the cold and flee away in the sun. " The wings of locusts become stiffened in the cold ; but as soon as the warm rays of "the sun break through the clouds, they recover animation and fly away." 18. Shepherds] Princes ami great men, royal counsellors and deputies upon whom the government devolved. Sleep] in death. People! The flock scattered and perished (cf. Num. xxvii. 17 : 1 Kings xxii. 17). 19. Healing] Softeuiij" or anointing, no cure. Bruise] Eracture or ruin (Prov. xvi. 18 : Lara. ii. 11). UOMILETICS. Great Wickedness. — Verse 1. The prophet in this chapter repeats and confirms the total ruin of Nineveh, because of cruel oppression and blood. The wickedness of the city is set forth in terrible aspects. 1. Cruel murder. " The bloody city." Its prosperity was tainted with blood. Unrighteous war, oppression of the poor, and manifold bloodshedding are the indictment. " Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!" II. Treacherous dealing. "It is all full of lies and robbery." Lies in word and act. Deceit with man, and hyprocrisy before God. Robbery linked with lies, secret treachery and open violence. Fall of wickedness. Integrity and truth banished from them, and none upright for whose sake God might spare the city. III. Constant rapine. " The prey departeth not." She never ceased, but continued to make a prey upon others. They neither repented nor grew weary of iniquity. Avarice grew more intense, lusts were daily fed, and like a beast they tore in pieces and greedily fed upon their prey. God specially marks and dcnounr is woe upon those who persevere in wicked courses. "Arise, go to Nineveh that great city, and cry against it : for their wickedness is come up before me." — " Who, stung by glory, rave and bound away, The world their field and humankind their" prey " [ Young]. Great Judgments and Great Sins. — Verses 2 — 4. The sentence is enlarged, and the woe explained. Terrible are the preparations of the enemy, and the noise of chariots and horsemen sounds already in the ears. The city is filled with the dead, and the judgments of God are severe. I. Great sins. " Because of the multitude of the whoredoms," &c. 1. Bewitching other nations. " The mistress of witchcraft." As harlots try to dement and ensnare by incantations, so Nineveh sought to draw others to her by subtle machinations. The love of gain acts on multitudes like " witchcraft." They seduce others, hunt after men in excessive lust, and lead them into idolatry and estrangement from God. 2. Enslaving other nations. " That selleth nations." They have no scruples in the use of unlawful means to get power and subdue others beneath their feet. Art and politics, religion and wealth, were used to make the city great and universal. 3. Selfish aggrandizement. All her skill and artifice in ill-doing were employed to gratify the desire of supremacy. Selfishness is often dressed in love to accomplish its own ends. Eeligion is made subservient to worldly aims ; devilish arts enslave man and offend God. Domestic sanctities are violated, the rights of men are 4T8 S0MILET1C COMMENTARY: NAHUM. [chap. hi. trampled down, and justice is outraged. " Such ambition," says Sir Walter Scott, " breaks the ties of blood, forgets the obligations of manhood." II. Great judg- ments. M.ii may -'lory in skill, increase in power, and pursue wickedness, but God will have ;i reckoning with them " Because of the multitude," &c. 1. Judgments lir,. j •• The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses," &c. Military preparations are great: a formidable army is advancing against the city with irresistible speed and power. The judgments I numerous, (6) ready for execution, and (c) will come with over- whelming speed. When sins are small, God is often patient and long-suffering; but when they become notorious and we continue in them, then God will punish ti„.I;: „/, ,,/s ( sept r'n na city, but now how different the scene ! Everything fills the ear with terror, and th>' heart with sadness. (1) The dead innumerable. Death follows death in rapid a, " and there is amultitude of slain, and a great number of carcases." (•_• ) 2 'n every form. They are slain, and the bodies are carcases, corpses, an oppressive number, without end. (3) The dead causing the living to stumble. it tin' multitude of those who perish, that they lie, a hindrance in every street. '• They Btumble upon their corpses" — sad scene ! an awful warning to others. " To fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city " ( Jer. xxxiii. 5). EOMILETIG HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Vcr. 1. Filled with deceit. Great hear the noise of the whip, the rattling often greal centres of wickedness, of the wheels, &c (Ps. vii. 12, 13 : Luke Notice, 1. The wickedness, (>t) deceit, xix. 42 — 44: Prov. i. 24). The enemy (/<) violence, and (<•) blood. God would is sent to revenge the quarrel of God's have destroyed it on account of covenant; the red horse is at the heels idolatry or he would not have sent of the white" (Rev. vi. 4). Jonah : his justice waited for the out- Ver. 4. The mistress of u-itchcrafts. iter violence and impious The Hebrew not only indicates the deeds. 2. The degree of this wickedness, subtlety, but the ease by which the great "I- is all full of lies." " She is wholly metropolis made itself the centre of up of fraud and falsehood, menda- nations. 1. The dominion. "Mistress," ciorum Loquaciasima ; do truth in her meaning power, control, and dominion. private contracts, no trust in her public 2. Tim method of gaining the dominion. t ii- and capitulations with other "Witchcraft." Treacherous friendships, nations ; !>'■ tiny never so solemnly and allurements, to ensnare and bind to confirmed, yel had they no longer force herself other nations. She decked her- with them than stood with their own self like a prostitute to entice from God ,"]• into sin. 1 hit she will lose empire and Ver. 2. Here we have, 1. 77/'' attack, inhabitants, and become like a widow r and furious. Noise of whip, destitute of children. " These two things rattling of wheels, Sec. 2. The results of shall come to thee in a moment, in one the attack. Tremendous slaughter, dead day— the loss of children and widow- bodies everywhere, "Lei those," says hood: they shall come upon thee in their an old writer, " that refuse to hear God's perfection for the multitude of thy t words fear Lest they he forced to sorceries," &C. (Is. xlvii. 9 12). HOMILETICS. Rbtrtbutivb Punishment. — Verses 5 — 7. Nineveh is represented in her virgin splendour, and her punishment under the figure of that which is disgraceful to a woman (cf. Is. xlvii. 3, and Hab. ii. 10). chap, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: NA1IIM. 479 God is against her, and her shame shall correspond to her conduct. As sho uncovered others, so shall she he uncovered. I. She will be exposed to nakedness and shame. " I will discover thy skirts upon thy face." Her long flowing robes, which were part of her pomp and dignity, hut which veiled her misdeeds and pride, shall be lifted up as high as possible (Jer. xiii. 22). She will be treated as a harlot, and stripped of her glory and defence. Her face shall blush in fear, and the consciousness of guilt will be read in her features. Nations shall see her nakedness, avoid and despise her. The same means will be taken to display her lewdness that she used to commit it. "I will even gather them round about against thee, will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness." II. She will be disgraced and insulted. As infamous harlots will she be treated. 1. Made a gazing-stock to men. " I will set thee as a gazing-stock." The city once feared and renowned shall become a warning to others, and exposed to public infamy. " I Avill cast thee to the ground ; before kings will I give thee, for them to gaze upon thee." 2. Treated -with contempt by God himself. " I will cast abominable filth upon thee." She had done abominable things before God (Jer. xiii. 27), which she had forgotten, but God will punish her with abominable things. Filth shall be cast upon her and she Avill be made vile. III. She will be unpitied and forsaken. " It shall come to pass that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee." She would be set to be gazed at, and the effects on those who gaze are described. 1. Unjntied. " Who will bemoan her ? " There will be none to comfort and relieve her. Unwept and unhonoured, she will fall into the grave. Human misery excites pity, but none pay Nineveh the tribute of sympathy. Those who show no pity to others will find none for themselves. 2. Forsaken. She had measured friendship by profit, and forsaken those who did not trust in her. Now she is repayed, and becomes a terror to all round about her. Such will be the portion of all Avho disregard God and live for self. They will be stripped of all adornments, bereft of all comfort, and thrown into eternal misery. " These two things are come unto thee ; who shall be sorry for thee 1 — desolation and destruction, and the famine, and the sword ; by whom shall I comfort thee 1 " The Destruction of Some a "Warning to Others. — Verses 8 — 10. There is no hope for Nineveh, for No-Amon was strong by nature and art, head of many confederate nations ; yet was captured and destroyed. The city cannot protect herself. Destruction is sure. Notice how one support after another is taken away. I. Natural defences will not avail. No was strongly fortified by nature and art. She " was situate among the rivers." The Nile watered her fields and guarded her walls. Her rampart was the sea. She was considered impregnable. No was one of the grandest and most magnificent cities of antiquity. But no situation can shield from God's anger. Nations may be secluded from others and encircled by walls and seas, but God can overturn them. II. Large populations will not avail. "Populous No." It was a great centre for corn and merchandise, and attracted many people. It supplied the country round about with necessaries. But it was no better or safer on account of its numerous inhabitants. " There is no king saved by the multitude of an host." III. Confederate nations will not avail. No's allies were numerous and strong. Her military resources and Egyptian auxiliaries were immense. Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength. Put and Lubim were ready to help. But vast armies fail to maintain empires against the decree of God. " The strongest battalions melt like snow-flakes when God is against them." The leagured might of earth is no match for the power of heaven. " The Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, saith ; Behold, I will punish the multitude of IS'o, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods and their kings," &c. (Jer. xlvi. 25, 26). BOMILETIC COMMENTARY: NAEVM. [chap. III. HOMILETIC 111 NTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 6. The rained cities of antiquity • warning to Christendom. Carthage, Nineveh, and Jerusalem (cf. Matt. xi. 2 \ : Luke x. 12, 13). Warnings proportioned to sins ai t< 1 privileges. •• It will help to keep us in holy fear of the judgments of God," says an old author, "to consider that we are not better than those that have fallen under those judgments before us." Che weakness of all human power before God, The fallacy of trusting in numbers contrasted with faith in < rod. "Lit. Egypt was strength, and Ethiopia, boundless. He sets forth firs! the imperial might of No : then her BtrengVb from foreign, subdued The capital is a sort, of imper- sonation of the might of the State; No, , pt, as Nineveh, of Assyria. When the head was cut oil*, or the heart ceased to beat, all was lost. The might of and Ethiopia was the might of No, concentrated in her. They were Jit, and that strength unmeasured by any human standard. Boundless was the strength which Nineveh had sub- dued : boundless the store (2— 10) which she had accumulated for the spoiler ; boundless the carcases of her slain" [I 'us i '_//]. Vers. 8 — 10. 1. How firm the stand- ing i if Xiurnh. Surrounded by water, defended by inner and outer walls, endless in wealth, and powerful in con- federacies. 2. How fatal the fall of Nineveh. (1) Overcome notwithstand- ing might. " Yet was she carried away." She became an exile, and her people carried into captivity with heathen bar- barities. (2) All hope of recovery destroyed. (a) Young children were dashed in pieces by a merciless con- queror, (b) Noble men were distributed by lot. " They cast lots for her honour- able men," &c. No pity was shown, (c) Officials, men of state, were treated like slaves. " All her great men were bound in chains" (cf. Ezek. xiii. 14 — 16). HOMILETJCS. The Fate of Some "Worse than that of Others. — Verses 10 — 13. No-Amon Buffered greatly, but Nineveh will suffer more. " Thou also shalt be druuken " with the cup of God's wrath. The greatness of thy anguish shall deprive thee of reason and strength, and Btupefy thee like death. I. The punishment is a Divine judgment. God acts by the same unchanging law in all ages and to all nations. No and Nineveh must alike suffer for sins. I Punishment in great degree. Not a mere taste, but drunken. They drink till overwhelmed. The moat prudent will Lose judgment, and act like a drunken man. '■ Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the I send among you." 2. Punishment without refuge. Help shall h ight in vain from others. No stronghold from the enemy. If God forsake, "" help can be found in man. In time of justice it is too late to cry for mercy. tnishmt ni ending in ruin. " Thou shalt be bid." The city once so proud and glorious was buried beneath the mounds, hidden as in a tomb; covered out of sight, and has only lately been discovered. In unearthing Nineveh from its ruins, we read a tale of splendour and power, of cruelty and blood, of sin and retribution. II. The punishment is easily inflicted. The two figures are strikingly expressive ol the extreme ease with whirl, they are overcome. 1. Their valiant men are faint- " Behold, thepeoplein themidstof thee are women." Stone-walls should brave, Bui in the midst, in the very centre, there is weakness and W arnors, whom uo toil wearied and no danger daunted, one and all become - as women. \\ here sin dwells then; is no power to resist. When God the mettle oul of men, the strongest faint away. "The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to light, they have remained in their holds ; their might chap, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : NAUUM. 481 hath failed ; they became as women " (Jer. li. 30 ; 1. 37 : Is. xix. 16). 2. Every avenue opens to the enemy. " The gates of thy land," the fortified passes and natural barriers on the hills, do not check the invader. Passes have been held by devoted men against countless multitudes (Thermopylae), but the whole would be open to the enemy, and frontier garrisons would pass away as if consumed by fire. 3. Strongholds would be easily taken. Weak are fortifications against Divine wrath ■ trees which tremble in the breeze, they only need the breath of God. Wealth and position, self-righteousness and human Avisdom, however great and relied upon, are false towers, and will give no refuge at last (Prov. xviii. 10). The judgment of God will shatter them and sweep them all away. 4. Everything is ripe for destruction. " Like fig-trees with the first ripe figs." They are eagerly soii"ht after, ready to fall by the slightest effort, and "will drop into the mouth of the eater." Without cost or sacrifice the enemy will take the city. The first assault would be successful. What a fearful moral condition, to ripen so easily for the judgment of God. " The wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation." The Last Hope Destroyed. — Verses 14 — 18. The city is laden with guilt, but relies still upon its fortifications and numerical strength of population. The last prop is cut down. There is no hope left. Though provisioned within and strongly defended without, Nineveh must fall, and great will be the fall. I. Inward provisions will waste away. " Draw the waters for the siege, go into clay, and tread the mortar," &c. Water, necessary for siege and the support of life, must be procured. She must furnish herself with all manner of provisions to keep her from surrender or starvation. Clay must be prepared, and the kilns made ready for repairing and building strongholds. The conquering nation were to toil and do the work of slaves. But all would be in vain. The fire would devour her bulwarks, and the sword her population. Swift will be the ruin of all who number houses and fortify walls, " but have not looked to the maker thereof, nor have not respected him that fashioned them" (Is. xxii. 10, 11). II. Outward defences will be destroyed. "There shall the fire devour thee." There, in the very centre of their toil and vast preparations, where the greatest security was relied upon, Avas the devouring fire. What was considered strongest was destroyed with ease, like locusts eating up the tender grass. Singly, and as a whole, the judgments of God will find men out. "Evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him." III. Immense numbers will fall away. " Make thyself many as the cankerworm." Make thyself numerous and oppressive as locusts, gather from all quarters men to help, and seek to become mighty in multitudes, yet the foe will consume like creatures which lick up all before them. 1. Wealthy merchants will not defend. Though multiplied above the stars of heaven, and trafficking in despotism, they cannot lay up in store against the wrath of God. Money is the sinews of Avar, but will not shelter from the consequences of sin. Prosperity suddenly changes iuto adversity. " The cankerworm spoileth and fleeth aAvay." 2. Warlike soldiers will not defend. The captains, confederates, and commanders of the army, will melt away, perish like dew before the rising sun. They are but grasshoppers, mighty as they are. " All flesh is grass." 3. Ruling princes will not defend. "Thy croAvned heads are as the locusts," &c. They subside into quietness in the calamity of the night, and continue their flight in the morning. They are " torpid in the cold and fly in the heat." Officers of state and subordinate chiefs will be completely annihilated. "Their place is not knoAvn where they are." 4. Greed counsellors will not defend. The shepherds slumber in listlessness and exctss ; sink into torpor and stupidity. The nobles and greatest politicians were benighted and bereft of Avisdom. " At thy 31 1I0MILETIC COMMENTARY: NA1IUM. [chap. in. reDU] b, both thechariol and horse are cast into a dead sleep." at men would dwell in the dust, and be buried in silence. God can soon strip . and lay its honour in the dust, Where are they when uh them ! "Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his . unto the clouds, yet he shall perish for ever: they which have seen him shall Bay, Where is he f He shall fly away, as a dream, and shall not be found: neither .-hall his place any more behold him." HOMJLETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Mankind still, with mire and clay, build themselves Babels. nto clay, and become them- thly like the mire they steep themselves in. They make themselves though they thought that their ild continue for ever. God's wrath descends, and cats up like a cankerworm [Pusey], . II. 1"'. I. Man by his en- t m; rt the judgments of Nineveh prepared and provisioned herself, but fell alter all. 2. J/"// may pan carnal means until he is i. Lawful means are necessary, : . ;-: nol rely upon them for security, tf God be againsl us no other help can relieve. "Sunning into God • way to escape him. As to cIom and gel in with him that would strike you doth avoid the blow" [Trapp]. . 15. The prophet gives in three the whole history of Nineveh, its : uing and its end. He had before • uction, though it should be oppressive as the locust : he had .. of its commercial wealth j he adds to this, that other source of its wealth, its despoiling warfares and their issue. The heathen conqueror rehearsed his victory, " 1 came, saw, conquered." The prophet goes farther, as the issue of all human conquest, "I disappeared" [Pusey]. Vers. 15, 16. 1. The mightiest of earth are as locusts before him (cf. Is. xl. 22). 2. The more obstinately they resist, the more irresistible is the judg- ment. 3. The larger and more numerous they are, the more utterly will they be destroyed [Lange]. Ver. 17. Cowardly rulers. 1. Shelter- ing for advantage. In the cold day, camping in the hedges, but fleeing away in sunshine. 2. Living only to eat. They are wasters merely, like locusts devouring everything before them. 3. Deserting when they should help, an emblem this of the world's friendship. Men get what they can out of others, and then bid them farewell in distress. Treacherous friendships abound every- where. Dust. All flesh perishes, but the word of Gud endures for ever \Lange\. HOMILETICS. Sl.IM I;i;j£ING SHEPHERDS AND SCATTERED FLOCKS. •Verse 18. I. Shepherds unworthy in their character. They are destitute of counsel; base and idl- ; can fttl only for their own profil and safety, and not for the interests of the flock. Efficiency depends upon character in the ministry. Good shepherds care fox the sheep, Feed and defend them. "The hireling fieeth because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep." II. Shepherds negligent in their duty. They rail their own ease, instead of defending their city and country. indulgence, and fickleness doth eat like a canker into the ministry of Dm- duties demand entire devotedness of mind and heart. Ministers their high calling, when tiny enter it for ease or commercial advantage. required in study, visitation, and preaching. "Woe to the idol- Bhepherd (one wishing to 1"- his own idol and the idol of his iiock) that leaveth the ilock ! the sword -hall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye." III. Shepherds chap, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: XAIII'M. 4S3 cursed in their efforts. The flock is exposed and scattered, like sheep upon the mountains. They have none to care tor them, consequently get lost. They are lost for ever. "No man gathereth them." Terrible ruin ! Fearful responsibility somewhere ! " I am shepherd to another man, And do not sheer the fleece that I graze " [Shalspeare]. Irretrievable Euin. — Verse 19. Deliverance is utterly hopeless. The prophet declares the end of a nation which ruled with a rod of iron, and oppressed with unmitigated cruelty. I. Nineveh cruel will be repaid for her cruelty. " For upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually ? " Monuments and inscriptions prove the pitiless cruelty of Assyria. In sculptures are rows of impaled prisoners, whose eyes were put out, and whose lips were fastened by rings. God had long borne this oppres- sion, but now guilt must be punished. Judgment must fall, and there is not the least hope of recovery. Cruelty and oppression will be rewarded in their own coin. II. Nineveh ruined will be a joy to others. " All that hear the bruit of Hue shall clap their hands over thee." 1. This joy is great. It is exultation, clapping of hands. 2. This joy is universal. All, for cruelty was extensive, and none can grieve at its termination. The fall of the oppressor is the triumph of the oppressed. III. Nineveh destroyed will never be restored. There is neither comfort in th« affliction nor recovery from it. The wound is incurable. " There is no healing of thy bruise." There is none to help. She had made no friends in her policy, displayed no signs of repentance in her guilt. Now she must perish without pity and without help. The ruin is total and irretrievable. " How hath the oppressor ceased ! the golden city ceased ! The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers," &c. (Is. xiv. 4 — 7). ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER VII. Vers. 8 — 10. No-Ammon. Thebes Ann. xii. 13), and opposite to it, on the was renowned for its numerous gates and west bank of the Tigris, has arisen the vast extent. Its remaining ruins describe city of Mosul. In the year 177G, a circuit of twenty-seven miles [Hender- Niebuhr visited the spot, and supposed son]. There is no definite historical that what were the heaps of ruins of account of its capture by Assyrians. Nineveh, were natural undulations in the But from brief notices in Scripture, we soil (See Rawlinson, i. 326). In more have hints of a struggle for supremacy modern times it has been explored by between Assyria and Egypt (cf. 2 Kings Botta, the French Consul (in 1842), and xvii. 4). See Smith's Diet, of the Bible, more recently by Layard and others, who article TJiebes ; and Keil on vers. 8 — 10. have brought to light those gigantic Vers. 11 — 19. Nahum's prophecy of remains of palaces, statues, and other the future destruction of Nineveh was monuments which testify to the ancient fulfilled by the Medes and Babylonians grandeur of Nineveh, and those annalistic (cf. ch. ii. 1); and according to his pre- inscriptions which confirm the veracity diction, the vast power of Nineveh com- of the prophecies of Nahum and of pletely vanished, and its glory was utterly Isaiah, and of the historical narrative of eclipsed, so that in the year b.c. 401, Holy Scripture : and bear witness to the Xenophon passed by the site without Divine foreknowledge of the Holy Ghost learning its name (Xen. Anab. iii. 4 — 7). who speaks in it; to whom with the Four hundred years afterwards a small Father and the Son, Three Persons and fortress was standing on the site, to guard one God, be honour and glory now and the passsageof the river Tigris (Tacitus, for evermore. Amen [Wordsicorih]. HOMILETIC COMMENTARY HABAKKUK. INTRODUCTION. The Prophet. "We have nothing certain, hut much apocryphal, concerning the life of Habakkuk. Delitzsch thinks that he was connected with the service of the temple, and belonged to the tribe of Levi. In his writings we find his name and the notice thai he was a prophet. Tin: Date. There is considerable difference of opinion on this point. Some :, the first years of Manasseh, and others that he prophesied in the reign of Jehoiachin, about G08 — 60-i b. c. Delitzsch fixes the twelfth or thirteenth year of Josiah'e reign, b. c. 630 or 629. " It is evident from the constant use of the future in speaking of the Chaldean desolations (i. 5, 6, 12), that the prophet must written before the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar, which rendered Jehoiakim tributary to the king of Babylon (2 Kings xxiv. 1), b. c. 606, yet it is equally from ch. ii. 3, that the prophecy did not long precede the fulfilment; and as seem to be no references to the reigns of Josiah or Jehoahaz (b. c. 609), and a> the notices of the corruption of the period agree with the beginning of the reign ."iakim, we cannot be far astray in assigning B. c. 608^as the appropriate date of this Book." Tin: Contents. " The prophecy of Habakkuk is clothed in a dramatic form, man questioning and complaining, God answering with threatening. It announces, of all, the impending fearful judgment by the instrumentality of the ( ihftldeans on the theocracy because of its prevailing moral corruption (ch. i.); and ii- xt to this, in a livefold woe, the downfall of this arrogant, violent, God-forgetting and idolatrous offender (ch. ii.) ; and it concludes with the answer of the believing Church to this twofold Divine revelation — that is to say, with a propheticodyric echo of the impressions and feelings produced in the prophet's mind " [Keil]. "The prominent vices of the Chaldean character, as delineated in i. 5 — 11, are made the subjects of separate denunciations: their insatiable ambition (ii. 6 — 8), their covet- ousness (ii. 9—11), cruelty (ii. 12— 14), drunkenness (ii. 15— 17), and idolatry (ii. 18—20). The whole concludes with a magnificent psalm in ch. iii., ' Habakkuk's INTRODUCTION. 485 Pindaric Ode' (Ewald), a composition unrivalled for boldness of conception, sublimity of thought, and majesty of diction." The Style. In point of general style, Habakkuk is universally allowed to occupy a very distinguished place among the Hebrew prophets, and is surpassed by none of them in dignity and sublimity. Whatever he may occasionally have in common with previous writers he works up in his own peculiar manner, and is evidently no servile copyist or imitator. His figures are well chosen, and fully carried out. His expressions are bold and animated; his descriptions graphic and pointed. The parallelisms are for the most part regular and complete. The lyric ode contained in chapter iii. is justly esteemed one of the most splendid and magnificent within the wbole compass of Hebrew poetry [Henderson]. " His figures are great," says one, " happily chosen, and properly drawn out. His denunciations are terrible, his derision bitter, his consolation cheering. Instances occur of borrowed ideas (iii. 19 : comp. Ps. xviii. 34; ii. 6 : comp. Isa. xiv. 7; ii. 14 : comp. Isa. xi. 9) ; but he makes them his own in drawing them out in his peculiar manner. With all the boldness and fervour of his imagination, his language is pure and his verse melodious." The Book completes the series of writings threatening judgments upon particular countries and cities opposed to God and his people. Obadiah prophesied against Edom, Jonah and Nahum against Nineveh, and Habakkuk against Babylon. The prophet looks back to the victories of Egypt, derives hope for the future, and closes with a sublime expression of faith in God. " Although the fig-tree shall not blossom," the believer may " rejoice in the Lord." The darker the outward circumstances, the greater the succour from God. 486 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: UABAKKUK. [chap. I. CHAPTER L l] Burdenl (of. Nah. i. 1). 2. Howl A complaint; wickedness continued long, and God did n«>t interfi re. 3. Why] dost thou behold violence without checking it ? some ; the prophet is permitted t<> behold iniquity, and this is tiic reason for his cry. Since God the Holy One will not l".>k upon it in Israel (Num. xxiii. 21), why should his servant? Raise] A litigious spirit quietly permitted to enjoy their rights. All was seized by force or perversion 4. Therefore! Because crimes are unpunished. Slacked] Lit. chilled; neither secures obedience nor influence. The word means to relax, to lose strength and vital energy. Forth] Lit. f.ir a pi rmani nee, i. <: for ever, as in many other passages, e. g. (l's. xiii. 2 : Is. xiii. 20) [cf. KeW], Wrong] Unrighteous verdicts given, and godless men encircle the good. 5 — 11]. God's answer to iplainl Behold] prophet and people. God is about to act, and tbey will be terrified at its ii. 11). 6. Raise] To make incursions and at length conquer Judea (cf. 2 Kings xxiv. and xiv.). Bitter] »'. c. cruel (Jcr. 1. 42 : cf. marg. Jud. xviii. 25: 2 Sam. xvii. 8). Hasty] tud impetuous, 7. Their] As they had raised themselves to this dignity so they would permit none to share in tin ir counsels and determinations, but would act in the most arbitrary manner 8. Leopards | which leap seventeen or eighteen feet at a spring. Evening wolves] • ill day, are keen in hunger and commit ravages on the flocks at night (Gen. xlix. 27 : Jer. dry to plunder would be so great that fatigue in the march would be nothing. Like the flight of an eagle] would they rush along (cf. Jer. iv. 13 ; xlviii. 40, and Lain. iv. 19). 9. Violence] Not to administer justice, Faces] Presence. Sup] Swallow all before them. They pass along like a tempestuous wind. Sand] Prisoners gathered like dust by the simoom in the desert. 10. ScoffJ Resistance impossible and laughed at. Heap] Heap mounds of earth, according to the usual method of taking a fortress. 11. Then] Elated by victory. Change] Lit. the wind passes by ; the storm of violence like the wind sweeps over the land. Some refer it to the Chaldee nation, who change in mind, lose reason and moderation, and get proud. Power] is their god, or - power is his own, as one who is a god to himself" [Grotiu.s]. Henderson gives — "Then it gaineth fresh Bpirit ; it passeth onward and contracteth guilt, (saying,) Is this his power 12.] God now vindicated in opposition to the boast of the enemy. God eternal and holy. Die] The Chaldeans will not destroy, only correct us. Mighty] lit. Hock "(Dent, xxxii. 4). Thou] They are only thy instruments. 13. Look] inactively upon violence. Deal] Chaldeans now violent oppressors (Isa.xxi. 2: xxiv. 10). Right] Bad as Jews were, they much better than their enemies. 14.] God made bis people defenceless as the fish, left them in disorder, and without any to care for them. 15.] The enemy easily catches them and exults in 16 Sacrifice] Idolize their military skill and power by which they gained success. ' 8cythiam irly sacrifices to a Babre sel up as a symbol of Mars [ileil], 17. There- fore; shall he empty] Lit spread his net continually to destroy nations ? Empty it and throw it in It is implied that God will 'not permit such conduct to go un- it the answer is reserved for the Bequel. E0HILETIC8. Tin: Importunate Prater. — Verse 2. Tht qui ■! is this : How Long will God suffer his people to pray and still ir 1 I Until they see the plague of their own hearts. We may be astonished at rins of others, and wonderat God's forbearance with them. Hut we forget that of iniquity dwell in our own hearts and ripen in our own lives. We must f. -1 our sinfulness and humble ourselves in the rlust. "Whocansay, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin \" II. Until they remove the hindrances which prevent the revival of his work. .Many stumbling-blocks are in the way. in do Dothing.and will not hour until they are removed. Ignorance, avarice, and slothfulness— all sins musl he forsaken. Wo must lie ready fur every duty, ithchful lest by apathy, selfishness, and unbelief, we hinder the work of God. III. Until they are willing to give God the glory. We may pray for selfish and withhold what is due to God: If in pride and success we claim the ing, this will silence devotion. In prayer we often devour that which is holy, c-'?Ar. l] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY i HABAKKUK. •l \ and consecrate to our own use that which should be given to God (Prov. xx. 25). We desire to pamper our lusts and feed our own vanity. Wrong in spirit and purpose, we cry, " 0 Lord, how long ] " Learn, 1. Why so many prayers fail. 2. To search your own hearts and purify yourselves before God. We way have earnest- ness and grief and yet fail. "Though you stretch out your hands, 1 will hide mine eyes from you; and though you make many prayers, I will not hear you" [Adajited], The Lamentable Sight. — Verses 2 — 4. The prophet is permitted to see the great social and national evils of the Jews. Unchecked and encouraged they grow in magnitude and number, lie laments, in the name of all the godly among them, that their labours seem in vain, and ho is forced to cry bitterly to God for relief. I. The rights of property were disregarded. " For spoiling and violence are before me." They robbed one another, and took goods and lands from others. God himself divided the land, established the rights of property, by sacred law fixed bounds to every citizen, and taught him to be content with his lot. When violence of any kind breaks forth in a land its prosperity will soon fade away. 1. This disregard teas ojienly declared. "Before me." The sins were deeply rooted, and those who committed them cared not who saw them. Modest at first, and afraid of discovery, sinners get bold in their wickedness, and openly and impudently avow them. 2. God seemed to connive at tit is open disregard. " Bow long shall I cry?" When God appears to overlook sin and to countenance it by permitting sinners to prosper, it grieves the heart and shakes the faith of good men. They cry to God for a sense of justice and right to prevail. "It is time for thee, Lord, to work." II. The spirit of litigation prevailed. " There are that raise up strife and contention." They were broken up into parties and factions that bit and devoured one another continually. Hatred stirs up strifes of all kinds, domestic, political, and religious. It sets man against his fellow-men and against his God. It disturbs society, promotes crime, and rouses the moral forces of the universe. "A Trinity there seems of principles, Which represent and rule created life, — The love of self, our fellows, and our God " [Festus]. III. The law had lost its authority. "Therefore the law is slacked," &o. The law of peace and charity and the law of Moses were set at nought. That which was the soul, the heart of political and religious life, ceased to act, like the pulse ceasing to beat. The state of a country may be judged from the authority and influence of its moral laws. 1. The law was first disregarded. Contempt for the word and authority of God opens the door for all wickedness. Neither threatening nor promise will then check in evil courses. 2. Then the law was perverted. "Judgment (justice) doth never go forth." (a) Wrong decisions were given. " Therefore wrong judgment proceedeth." The law was weak, the magistrates wen corrupted, and there was no appeal against injustice. (/>) The ties of humanity were broken. "The wicked doth compass about the righteous." The godly and innocent were surrounded and overcome by men turned into brutes. There was no security for persons or property. "Wickedness," says Bp. Taylor, "corrupts a man's reasonings, gives him false principles, and evil measuring of things." Well, therefore, did the prophet lament and cry to God. " My soul is also sore vexed ; but thou, 0 Lord, how long ? " HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 1. 1. The minister of God in by it, vision. 3. The matter of it, the this prophecy. (1) By his name, burden. In which two questions are Habakkuk. (2) By his function, the moved — (1) Why a burden; and (2), prophet. 2. The manner how he came whose burden it is : a burden in respect 188 BOMILETIC COMMENTARY ': JL1BAKKUK. [chap. r. of the sin punished — of the punishment threatened— of the word of God threaten- 2. 1. Wha1 the prophet did. (1 | II.' cried -with intense feeling, with -, with long patience. 1 2 He cried to God in perplexity and . to >iir li i in in apparent forgetful- remind him of promised good- 2. The reason why he did it. rife, and war in domestic circles, injustice and oppression in courts of law, prevailing without check and without shame. 3. The success he bad in doing it. (1) Thou wilt not hear. (2) Thon wilt not save. As not hearing be imputed to his mercy and i bis not saving is to be imputed either to his wisdom, putting his children to the trial of their faith by afflictions, or to his justice, making one of them, who have corrupted their ways, a rod to scourge the other, neither of them being as yet worth the saving till he had humbled them [Adapted from r//] . Vers. 2 — 4. 1. Prevalent evils grieve the minds of God's servants. Like David and Jeremiah, they weep at what they see. It makes them sigh. It is a burden to them. 2. In their grief they fly to God for remedy. They have faith in his power, providence, and purpose. They earnestly pray for justice and truth to prevail, for sin and wickedness to end. 3. But in th is course they do not always succeed. God is not unmindful of his promise nor regardless of sin, but his people are not always delivered, and retribution not generally sent in the time they fix. God is holy and just : we are hasty and sinful. " Eighteous art thou, 0 Lord, when I plead with thee : yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments. "Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper % Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously % " " Thy God hath said 'tis good for thee To walk by faith and not by sight. Take it on trust a little while, Soon shalt thou read the mystery right, In the bright sunshine of his smile " [Keble], IIOMILETICS. The Wonderful Work. — Verse 5. We have in these words an answer to the prophet's question. God is not an unconcerned spectator. He will vindicate his glory, and unexpected vengeance will fall upon the transgressors. I. The Work is Divine. " I will work a work." God hears the complaints of i remembers the taunt of the wicked, who cry, " Where is now their God ?" God is the agent, though the heathen execute his judgments. He intends and he carries out ; " work a work " in solemnity and power. "This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes." II. The Work is nigh at hand. "In your days." Thai generation would not pass before its accomplishment. Already the clouds blacken : the judgments may be suspended, but will break forth in startling thunder. This evi] day cannot be put off. " It is nigh at hand, and not afar oil." III. The Work is wonderful. " Wonder marvellously." In its nature it was noi common, and in its effects it would be alarming. It would be strange and unparalleled among other nations and in their own history; spectators "among the heathen" would 1"- surprised. " Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land! whal meaneth the heat of this great anger 1" (Deut. xxix. I'l ; xxviii. 37). IV. The Work is incredible. "You will not believe, though it be told you." The .lews did nol credit the prediction of such alarming imed to confide in their cities (Is. xxxi. 1 : Jer. vii. 4), and in Mm strength, they believed they were to,, powerful to be overcome. Men now will not believe in the judgments of God, though they loom in the threatenings. They are stupefied by Bin, despise the Word of Cod, and go on until the curse falls upon them. Fearful is the punishment .of those who presume upon security in evil. '• Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish;. for I' work a work in your chap, i.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: UABAKKUK. 489 days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you." V. The Work demands attention. " Behold ye." The call is solemn and Divine. Behold, since language, the ministry of the prophet, and the complaints of the oppressed, will not do. God will try something else which shall be heard. " I will ivork," be patient and silent no longer. Behold, the heathen spectators of their sins will be instruments of their sorrows. This beholding must be attentive ; regard, not mere gazing. The matter demands serious and earnest consideration. The overthrow of the Jews is a warning to all, a proof that sin will be fearfully punished if persisted in and the way of escape rejected. " Is not destruction to the wicked 1 and a strange punishment to workers of iniquity 1 " The Wonderful Work Accomplished. — Verses 5 — 10. We have now a particular description of the calamities to be inflicted. The Chaldeans, in their preparations and dispositions, in their victories and devastations, are exactly set forth, to confirm the truth and display the justice of God. The Jews are repaid in their own coin, and the dreadfid judgments are inflicted. I. In raising up a mighty nation. " For lo, I raise up the Chaldeans," &c. God never lacks instruments to prosecute his design. He can fetch them from afar and dispose them to his will, though already elated with victory and power. 1. A nation naturally fierce. " That bitter and hasty nation." They are cruel and impetuous, unmerciful, and resolute in their course. They spare no pains and show no pity. Hopeless is the condition of those who fall into their hands. " They hold the bow and the lance " to brandish before the foe ; " they are cruel and will not show mercy." 2. A nation terribly strong. "They are terrible and dreadful." They are great in numbers, armed with Divine vengeance, and emboldened by former conquests. By the force of terror and the dread of death they gain submission. 3. A nation blindly covetous. They will not only overcome, but rob the land and " possess the dwellings that are not theirs." It is not merely to overturn others, they also take their possessions. But the dwellings " are not theirs" by right, only held while God pleases, and then lost again. The rights of society and the interests of others are nothing to the covetous. They fatten on the miseries of men, and consider not that poverty will come upon themselves (Prov. xviii. 20 — 22). 4. A nation proudly ambitious. They roam through the land, violently subdue everything before them, and deport themselves in pride and insolence. They " pass over " in quest of glory to fresh booty and new wars. The mightiest empires have been crushed by the weight of their own greatness. In their own ambitious ends they have gone beyond bounds, and brought their own ruin. When our energies are directed to personal aggrandisement and despotic rule we may expect a fall. " Pride," says Gurnall, " takes for its motto great / and little you." " Think not thy own shadow longer than that of others," says Sir Thomas Browne, " nor delight to take the altitude of thyself." Ambition and pride are often the precursors of ruin. " Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." II. In giving them an easy victory. In the figures mentioned, we notice — 1. That the conquest is irresistible. " Their horses are swifter than the leopards," the lightest, swiftest, and most bloodthirsty of beasts of prey. " They shall fly as the eagle," hastening to devour what it has secured. " Our persecutors are swifter than eagles of the heavens " (Lam. iv. 19: Ezek. xvii. 3). 2. That the conquest is violent. 11 They shall come all for violence." The enemy would sweep over them like the east wind, blasting and bearing down everything before it. Gathering the people •' as the sand," and burying them like caravans in heaps of destruction. 3. That the conquest is easy. No opposition will hinder them from performing their work. (a) The power of kings was laughed at. Princes and confederates would be exposed to greatest contempt and most ignominious treatment. Kings will be put down and set up in pleasure and in sport. " They shall scoff at the kings." (b) The strength 4o0 IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HABAKKUK. [chap. i. Uficatioru was derided. Forts and strongholds in which men trust will prove I derision to the agents of Cod's vengeance. "They shall deride every stronghold." The mightiest fort will be captured and levelled in the dust. •' For -hall heap dust and take it." 4. That the conquest is complete. "Which shall march through the breadth of the land." Far and wide they spread terror and -hath. Unhindered and irresistible they swept over the earth. Kings fled in palaces were plundered with violence, and lands were taken by force. They did as they liked. Their own Inst was their law. No power of God or man seemed to limit them in the infliction of judgment upon the Jews, or in getting honour for God sometimes puts the stubborn and rebellious into the hands of v. bo measure justice by their own judgment and honour by their own dignity. " Their judgment and their dignity shall come of themselves" — "The good old rule Sufficeth them, the simple plan, That tin y should take who have the power, And they shuuld keep who can" [JFordsworth]. Evening Wolves. — Verse 8. W< »lvefl are very fierce when urged to rabidness by a whole day's hunger. They prowl forth in that darkness in which all the beasts of the forests creep forth (Ps. 20). .Such is the disposition of some men towards their fellow-creatures. These evening wolves typify — I. False teachers. False prophets are compared to "ravening wolves," rapacious, mischievous, and injurious to the flock of God (Matt. vii. 15). We are warned against heretics, and false guides, such as Hynienaeus, Alexander, and Philetus. ''After my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock" (Acts xx. 29). II. Cruel persecutors. With relentless spite men pursue others. Christians are wilfully misrepresented hi character and conduct ; reviled, insulted, and spitefully used (Matt. v. 11). Evil men, as "lions horn they may devour," pursue them in envy. With keen scent and feet tluy are swift to shed innocent blood. " The assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul." III. Anxious cares. The cares of this world devour the good in the heart. Domestic life and business impair the growth of Christian character. Excessive care destroys peace, induces loss of temper, hinders ■ r, and hurries into dangerous conduct. "Be careful for nothing" IV. Distracting doubts. Doubts and fears distress the mind, hide the light of God's coun: ad pursue US like evening wolves. " To doubt Is worse than to have lost : and to despair, Is bat tn antedate those miseries That must tall on us" [Mussint/er]. HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Vet. 6. He is said to raise up those Ver. 8. 1. God's hand is seen in whom he allows to be stirred up against furnishing the enemies of his people I'ia I pie, since the events which his with all necessary qualifications for providence permits favours their designs, carrying on their enterprise. Boldness, and ii rests with him to withhold them, swiftness, number, &c. 2. The fierce- lift themselves up for some end of ness of the Divine anger may be read insness or pride. But there is a in the celerity and activity with which higher order of things in which God they execute their designs. 3. It is orders their actions to fulfil by their" vain for impenitent sinners to lean upon iniquities his righteousness [I'uscy]. any apparent ground of security or con- CHAP. I.] HOMILETIC COMMESTAR}': HABAKKUK. 491 fidence when God arises to plead with them. Distance of places, extent of country, and strength of buildings will not avail [cf. Hutchesori], Ver. 9. Violence. Learn, 1. That God often repays violence with violence. 2. Yet those employed by God to punish others may sin themselves by lust and self-aggrandizement. East Wind. " The East Wind, it seemeth, was the most unwholesome breath of heaven upon that land ; within short time withered and destroyed the fruits of the earth, and the hopes of the spring. The Lord saith that the faces of the Chaldeans, the very sight of them, shall be as baneful and as irresistible as the East Wind." The cruelties of men, the calamities which attend wars and conquests, ought to invite sinners not to provoke God to give them up to such punishment — to terrify such as fear not the threatenings of the Word, and to point out to those suffering such a lot, the bitterness of departing from God \Hutchesan\. Vers. 2 — 11. How utterly incompre- hensible are, the Judgments of God! 1. Incomprehensible in their delay, to the view of those who have no patience, and think that God ought to act as speedily as their anger prompts them (vers. 2, 3). 2. Incomprehensible in their threatening, to those upon whom they will fall, and who nevertheless continue to sin in security (ver. 4). 3. Incomprehensible to every human mind in their realization. For — (a) They are greater than any human thought would anticipate (vers. 5, 6). (b) They take place in ways and by means of which no man would dream (ver. G). (c) They are often brought about by men and events that, at first sight, have nothing in com- mon with God. 4. Incomprehensible in their grandeur and universality, to those by whom they are accomplished (ver. 11) [Lange\. God's deeds are always Niphlaoth, and have on them something to exci e wonder and astonishment. Incredib'e as they seem, we know that they will be performed, from past history, present signs, and the light of God's Word, How they are to happen is a mystery. It is ours to fear, believe, and obey. Regard the threatening, and escape the danger. HOMILETICS. Success Abused. — Verses 11 and 1G. Elated with success, the Chaldeans pass over all bounds and restraints. In pride and arrogance they attribute all glory to themselves or their gods, deify their own power, and incur the Divine displeasure. They were intoxicated with their success and abused it. Success is abused — I. When it is over-valued. Men cry, "Nothing succeeds like success," and aim at it, for its own sake. In anticipation and possession it is over-estimated. It creates pride, and sometimes overturns reason. "The human heart," says Volney, " is often the victim of the sensations of the moment ; success intoxicates it to presumption, and disappointment dejects and terrifies it." II. When it is thought to cover sins. If sinful acts are crowned with success, they are con- sidered proofs of prowess, matters of hoasting and exultation. The end is thought to justify the means. The Chaldeans rejoiced iu conquests gained by the miseries of the Jews, grew haughty and insolent, and prepared themselves for ruin by worshipping their own power. Speed iu the wrong direction is construed into providence ; favour to sinful projects and success in evil courses are taken as signs of God's approval. Thus, because God sutlers mischief to prosper, men forget their guilt and rejoice in iniquity. But they prosper only to die, and like beasts fatten to fit them for slaughter. Eat may be their portion and plenteous their meat (ver. 16), but " he slew the fattest of them " (Ps. lxxxviii. 31). III. When it is ascribed to wrong sources. Men render Divine honours to themselves and their idols rather than to Cod, who alone gives skill and success. 1. They attribute r.,-2 I10MILETIC COMMENTARY: HABAKKUK. [chap. I. ■ idols. "Imputing this his power unto his god." The Chaldeans ■scribed success to Bel and Nebo, and blasphemously argued that because they bad conquered his people, Jehovah was inferior to their gods. Ancient Romans deified theil standards and arms. Savage nations have made idols of their implements and arrows. There is no truth in that religion which dishonours the true God, and no stability in that prosperity which is attributed to idols. "He shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvel- gainst the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be tnpliahed" (TV", xi. 36). 2. They attribute success to their own power. rifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag." When men deny God, they deify themselves, and adore their own skill. Ajax called his i. and thanked it for all its brave achievements. Belshazzar said, " I will be like the Most High" (lsa. xiv. 14); the Prince of Tyre said, "I am a (Ezek. xxviii. 22) j and Antichrist "exalts himself above all that is called (2 These, ii. 1). Nebuchadnezzar was proud of the might of his power, and tin' Assyrian declared, " By the strength of my hand I did it; and by my wisdom, for 1 am prudent" (lsa. x. 13 — 15). Sad are those events in life which minister pride, and give occasion to men to deprive God of honour and exalt themselves. " He who boasts of a thing," says Luther, "and is glad and joyous on account of it, but docs not thank the true God, makes himself into an idol, gives himself the glory, and does not rejoice in God, but in his own strength and work." "To our own nets ne'er bow we down, Lest on the eternal shore, The angels, while our draughts they own Reject us evermore" \_Keble], God's Character a Ground of Consolation in Distress. — Verse 13. The prophet turns again to God in sublime contrast to the deifying of human power— vindicates the character of Jehovah as opposed to idols, and declares entire Lance in him as the true ground of consolation in distress — "Art thou not from everlasting 1" Sec. I. God is Eternal. Go back as far as possible in thought, God -was before thought In the beginning God. "From everlasting to everlasting thou art God." . 1. Qod id unchangeable in his purpose. He is a rock firm and immovable. I m the eternity of his nature the prophet infers the eternity of his purpose. " My < rod." lb' lias delivered in the past, and will deliver in the present and in the future (2 Cor. i. 10). Whatever changes he never changes. His people lay hold of his covenant, claim a special interest and express a strong hope in it. "Tbi shall not die." 1. Temporally we shall not die. God will reseive a remnant of the dews to return from captivity to the land of their fathers, to build his temple :ind enlarge his church. 2. Spiritually we shall not die. He will keep his promise, and we shall not lose an interest in a better life. 3. Eternally we shall not die. God having loved once will love to the end — will never cast oil' his people. In eternal wisdom God hath given eternal redemption, and an eternal inheritance. 2. God is unchangeable in his providence. The prophet might be distressed at the description of the enemy — the condition of his people might perplex and seem to contradict the covenant, but present judgment was only temporary chastisement. Their enemies would not destroy, but onlv t them. The rod was in the hands of God. Because God lived, they would live (John xiv. 19). Men might be wicked, cruel, and perverse, but he was always the same. Clouds may hide the light, but do not destroy the sun. " Why ait thou cast down, O my sou 11 " &c. chap, i.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : HJBAKKUK. 493 "Now thou array'st thine awful face In angry frowns, without a smile ; "We, through the cloud, believe thy grace, Secure of thy compassion still." II. God is holy. " Mine Holy One." The prophet implores God as an individual and in the name of Israel. God in a special manner separated them from other nations, avowed and adopted them as his own. He therefore takes special interest in them, and will exercise special mercy towards them (Hos. xi. 9). The chastisement of the enemy confirmed his holiness and purified his people. The victorious heathen were unholy, imputed power to idols, but he was the Holy One of Israel whom they reproached (Isa. xxxvii. 23). God's holiness then is — 1. A guarantee of punishment to sin. 2. Of deliverance to his people : and, 3. Of justice and right to all men. Among his people, or in the wicked, God will not leave sin unpunished. "Who is like unto thee, 0 Lord, among the gods] Who is like unto thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders 1 " God does not approve of Sin. — Verse 13. Men are tempted to think it is vain to serve God, when he permits the wicked to triumph over them. True views of God will check such thoughts. He cannot look upon sin with approbation. His eyes are too pure to behold evil and connive at it. We infer from this that God is holy, and will certainly punish sin. I. The testimony of Scripture proves this. From beginning to end it sets forth the holiness of God. In rite and ceremony, in precept and doctrine, its constant voice is heard, " Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty." II. The testimony of Providence proves this. In the expulsion of angels from heaven and our first parents from Eden — in floods and fire — in the history of Israel, and in the punishment of the wicked. We see justice written in actions, and God's abhorrence of sin in the judgments he has inflicted. Evil may array itself in wit and grandeur, or in villany and success, but it is always the abominable thing which the Lord hates. Its perpetrators are hated, and will be punished by him. " For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in Avickedness : neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight ; thou hatest all workers of iniquity." The Enigmas of Life. — Verses 13 — 17. Troubled thoughts are not easily driven away. Circumstances arise in which perplexities increase — in which God's conduct seems at variance with his Word, and in which God's people find it difficult or impossible to solve the enigmas of life. The prophet seemed astonished, and expostulated with God at his proceed- ings against the Jews by the Chaldeans. " Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously," &c. I. Why does God permit his people whom he loves to be persecuted? Why do the enemies who blaspheme thy name, deal cruelly and perfidiously with thy people? 1. They are devoured. "The wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he." This has always been the lot of God's people, from the days of Abel to the present time. " In the world ye shall have tribulation." But this cruelty was great. They were hunted and devoured like prey. 2. They are destroyed. God permitted the weaker to be taken by the stronger. They were caught like fish in the sea, crushed like reptiles in the dust. They had no defender to protect nor avenge them. God was silent and held his tongue. This seems strange to those who trust in God. To punish the. wicked may be the will of God, but to strike at the righteous is treason. Why then does God permit this? How can he love them? If God has fixed the times for executing his purposes why does he hide them from his people (Job xxiv. 1)1 " Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?" II. Why does Gol, 4P1 BOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIABAKKUK. [(NAT. T. who is holy, permit sinners to prosper in wickedness? "Wherefore lookest thou," &a 1. Wickedness faulting over goodness, ltejoicing in its work of ind destruction. Men glory in their crimes. 2. Wickedness idolizing ifice unto their own net." Coarse forms of idolatry spring from irrupt mind. When the idol La first set up in the heart, men will not be before they worship their wealth and wisdom, their armies and navies. 3. 11 » apparently perpetual. The enemy had gathered immense booty, and rejoicing over it. ' They had caught the Jews like fish in a net. Will they dermic what they have taken ! Will they empty the net again, and unceasingly awithoul check or punishmentl asks the prophet. How perplexing were - hie mind. They have been perplexing to the good in every age. The abnormal state "t the world is a sore puzzle to most men. Ovid was tempted j there were no gods. Brutus condemned virtue entirely when defeated, and Pompey declared thai a mist hail come over the eyes of Providence, when over- oome by Caesar. Thus men charge God foolishly. The Psalmist solved the problem in nearness to God (Ps, lxxiii. 17) — saw that this life was only a state of trial and probation. Things may stagger the godly now, for we are brutish in knowledge, impatient in spirit, and incapable of comprehending God's plans. Wait patiently, all will be cleared up before the great tribunal. "How unsearch- able are his judgments, and his ways past finding out !" " Fixed to the hold, so might the sailor aim, To judge the pilot, and the steerage blame, As we direct to God what should belong, Or say that Sovereign Wisdom governs wrong." IWMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 12. Notice, 1. The grievous affliction of God's people. They were ready to die, oppressed, and almost annihilated. 2. The Divine appoint- ■ of this affliction. "Thou hast ordained them for judgment." The enemy had no power over Israel but what God gave them. Eence the afflic- tion whs (l) Appointed in measure. (2) inted in duration. (3) Appointed trvmeutality. All power is derived bom God, and is under his control (Ps. xvii. 1 1). Men are in his hands, cannot destroy hie people, not frustrate his '■'>. I ■ bh d 'I, sign of this affliction. "Thou h.c-t established them erection." Nol Cor vengeance, not for their own <-nds and pleasure ; but for •Hon. This correction is needed, and .should be expected. "As thresh- eparatee the com from 'he chaff," Burton, "so does affliction purify virtue." Michael Angelo saw in the rude block an angel form, and witli a sculptor's skill carved the image and . d it, beauty ; BO God " rough lews" bis people, forms and fadiioiis them by affliction into his likeness. " Blessed is he whom thou chastenest." 4. The vigorous hope under this affliction. " We shall not die." On the unchang- ing character and the eternal covenant of God, we ground our hope of deliver- ance, and our belief in the perpetuity of his Church. " Virtue," says Dr. Moore, " can stand its ground as long as life ; so that a sotd well principled Avill be sooner separated than subdued." " The Lord hath chastened me sore ; but he hath not given me over unto death." " I am the Lord, I change not ; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." Let us thank God for discipline, and kiss the rod which smites us. It is not the stroke of a tyrant, but the chastening of a Father. " Sueh sharpness shows the sweetest Friend, Such cuttings rather heal than rend." The three titles of God in this verse are significant " The God to whom the prophet prays is Jehovah, the absolutely constant One, who is always the same in word and work (see Gen. ii. 4); he is also Elohad, my, i. e. Israel's God, who from time immemorial has proved to CIIAP. I.] HOMLETIC COMMENTARY: IIABAKKUK. 495 the people whom he had chosen as his possession, that he is their God ; and the Holy One of Israel, the absolutely Pure One, who cannot look upon evil, and therefore cannot endure that the wicked should devour the righteous" [Keil]. Vers. 14, 15. The two figures (fish and reptiles) indicate the low and help- less condition of the Jews. The world is like a troubled sea, the weaker are caught and devoured by the stronger — the more venomous hurt and destroy the rest. Notice also the agencies of cruelty. 1. The angle; 2. The net; and 3. The drag. "Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans are a faint image of Satan, who casts out his baits and his nets in the stormy sea of this life, taking some by individual craft, sweeping others in whole masses to do evil ; and whoso hath no ruler, and will not have Christ to reign over them, he allures, hurries, drags away as his prey " [Pusey], Vers. 15, 16. Notice, 1. The instru- ments of wickedness. 2. The success of wickedness. 3. The insolence of wickedness. " Here is the growth of iniquity ; for first they exercise all cruel inhumanity against the Jews, then they rejoice over them, and then doth the sin grow out of measure sinful, for they forbear not to provoke God himself by their pride of heart, robbing him of the glory of his own work, and ascribing it to themselves" [Marbury], The career of a great conqueror has something intoxicating. Before Na- poleon men degraded themselves and became idolaters. The sin of the world- power is two-fold ; first, it deals with the property of God as if it were its own ; secondly, it does not honour God for the success granted to it, but its own power [Lange]. Ver. 17. 1. The question— " Shall they]" 2. From whence the answer, (a) reason1? (b) philosophy] (c) expe- rience] (d) it must be left where the Psalmist leaves it (Ps. lxxiv. 22). 3. The right attitude in ch. ii. Vers. 13 — 17. There is a limit set to the poiver of the wicked. 1. God is holy. 2. But the work of the wicked is unholy. For, (a) It is a work of hatred against the righteous, (b) It is an abuse of the powers bestowed by God. (c) It does nothing for God, but everything for itself (ver. 15). (d) It does not give God honour, but makes itself an idol (ver. 16). 3. Therefore it must have an end (ver. 17) [Lange], ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER I. Vers. 1 — 4. How long. If men look upon some of God's providential dealings with a mere eye of reason, they will hardly find any sense therein, such their muddle and disorder. But, alas ! the wrong side is objected to our eyes, while the right side is presented to the high God of heaven, who knoweth that an admirable order doth result out of this confusion : and what is presented to him at present may, hereafter, be so showed to us as to convince our judgments in the truth thereof [T. Fuller]. Ver. 5. Wonder. Others only look and wonder, the Christian only looks and loves [Hurrion]. Vers. 6 — 11. Litter. An envious man waxeth lean with the fatness of his neighbours. Envy is the daughter of pride, the beginner of secret sedition, and the perpetual torment of virtue [Socrates]. Ver. 7. Dignity. Self -assumed superiority of the Chaldeans. " Every man has just as much vanity as he wants understanding" [Pope]. " They whose wit Values itself so highly, that to that All matters else seem weak, can hardly love, Or take a shape or feeling of affection. Being so self -endeared " [Shakespeare], Vers. 12 — 17. Let us at all times cherish in our minds an nn relaying certainty, that we shall always find the Almighty perfect in his justice to all, and in everything, and individually to each of us, as soon as we have sufficient knowledge of his operations with respect to us. Let us wait with patience until what we do not perceive or cannot H0MTLIT1C COMMENTARY: HABAKKUK. [ciiap.ii. Bommehend shall be satisfactorily eluci- Walking in Hyde Park one day, I saw dated to oa. We expect this equity in a piece of paper on the grass. I picked mxse with each other. Let us it up; it was a part of a letter; the induct ourselves, in all our beginning was wanting, the end was not thoughts and feelings with reference to there: I could make nothing of it. HiinT whatever may be his present or Such is providence. You cannot see future dispensations personally to our- beginning or end, only a part. When ; 'fltni, ,.]. you can see the whole, then the mystery ■// tfu >/ 1 Providence is often mys- will be unveiled. [Thomas Jones, 1871]. teriuus and a source of perplexity to us. CHAPTEE II. rr.iTKAi. NOTES.] Watch] As those ascending high places to look into the distance (2 Kings ix. 17 : 'J Sun. xviii. 24). Set] Plant myself firmly. To see] what God will say. Unto] Lit. in me; Mtwardly to the ear, inwardly to the heart ; fixed in purpose and earnest in mind he waits for God's revelation. Reproved] when reasoned with, for my expostulation with God. 2. Vision] Outwardly : ,1 inwardly perceived. Write] The revelation important and immutable. Plain] Clearly, that it may easily be read (cf. Dent xxvii. 8; i. 5). 3. For] The reason for writing. Appointed] *'. e. future nnK. j \j 1 1 > in. i. 14; xi. 27). Speak] Lit. breathe out (then speak), hasten to the end. Tarry lingt r, delay a little. Come] It is certain, though future. Not tarry] Be behindhand or p., beyond the appointed time. 4.] Judgment announced. Lifted] Puffed up, then haughty or presumptuous Upright] Not straight, not without turning or trickery. The heart of the enemy was proud and displeasing to God. But] Marking the contrast between the Jew and the Chaldean, the believer and the unbeliever. Live] Upposed to death. The boast of power in one destroyed, the constant faith of the other secures salvation. Faith] from anion, to be firmly rooted or established, as a building upon its foundation, or a tree by its roots. Constant and strong faith is necessary under all the afflictioni of life (cf. Rom. i. 17 : Heb. x. 38). 5.] The thought further developed by a proverbi. <1 laying with special reference to the Chaldeans. They were given to wine and insatiable conqmst. " wine is treacherous ; the haughty man stayeth not at home" [Hend.] (cf. Prov. xxx. 1). Proud] Elated, haughty (Prov. xxi. '24). Home] For lie longs to go forth to destroy. Desire] Lit. n.iil ; passions widi d oi i marge the soul (Ps. xxvii. 12; xli. 2, 3: Isa. v. 14). Hell] Which is insatiable \w. 16). Death] Which spares none, but swallows up every living thing (Prov. xxvii. 20). Gather] Lit hath gathered. " lie describes it, for the rapidity with which he completes what he long! for, at though it were already done " [1'wtey]. 6. These] "nations" and "people" (ver. 4). Parable) A derisive song (Isa. xiv. 4 : Mic. ii. 4), some; ode, given by others, enigmatical in character. Woes] fivefold j,ri\> D, a song raised by the oppressed over the fall of the oppressor. First woe, ill— gains. Increaseth] i. e. seizes what does not belong to him. How long] will he do this with impunitj ; Ladethj To make heavy by a weight or load upon one. Thick clay] (mass of dirt) Lit. a cloud of day, which will cause her ruin. Many render " a burden of pledges gained by usury," by an unmerciful usurer, which he will be compelled to give up (Deut. xxiv. 10). 7. Shall] Answer to question, Hon long I BiteJ of a snake; the enemy like savage vipers (Jer. viii. 17). Rise] i]) from possession. 8. Because] Reason for woe. Many] Boundless the spoil. Bemnant] Onlj a remnant left, will be sufficient to punish. "Blood, land, and city] Understood generally, and not restricted to the Jews with their country and its metropolis" [Hind.]. 9. Woe] and, against establishing a permanent settlement by godless gain. Evil] Covetousness sur- passingli evil and fatal to itself, House] Not the palace but the dynasty (ver. 10). High] As build oasts on high to protect from harm (cf. Job xxxix. 27); "so does the Chaldean to el rati and strengthen his rule by robbery and plunder, that it may never be wrested from his 10. ShameJ the result instead of glory. 11.] Personification. Cry] For the in- justice the] had suffered (cf. Luke xix. 40). Answer] the stone, »'. e. join in its crying. 12. Woe] the third. Townj Babylon, rebuilt and enlarged by spoils of blood (Dan. iv. 30). 13. FireJ Lit. to suffice tbi fire; conflagration and depopulation the result of all labour and fatigue. 14. For] God dl ; usurped glory must be destroyed that his glory may spread (Isa. xi. 9). Waters, Burpassing abundano . This predictive of the gospel times. 15. Woe] the fourth. Bottle] in common use, Look] with delight (Gen. ix. 22). Naked.] The prostrate condition of the drunken man ■ figure ol the overthrow oi a conquered nation (>iah. iii. 11), and theuncovering of the shame denotes the ignominy that has fallen upon it (Nah. iii. 5 ; Isa. xlvii. 3). 16. Thou] shalt chap, ii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIABAKKUK. 407 drink of the cup of sorrow (Jer. xxv. 15—17). Foreskin] As one uncircumcised. Spewing] Shameful vomiting will cover thy glory, i. e. destroy thee. Turned] Lit. shall turn itself from other nations. 17. Violence] Outrage in spoiling cedar forests to adorn magnificent edifices (cf. Isa. xiv. 8). Cover] Completeness of the destruction. Similar violence to that which they had displayed should fall upon them. 18.] Exposure of the folly of Babylon's idolatry. What] use ? none what- ever. Lies] Lying oracles connected with idol worship. Dumb] Nonentity (1 Cor. xii. 1). 19. Awake] to help. Teach] Ironical, it teach ! Breath] Not at all breath, the spirit of life (Jer. x. 14). 20. But] Sublime contrast between Jehovah and utter vanity of idols. Temple] Enthroned in heaven ready to protect his people and destroy their enemies (Ps. xi. 4). lie is not encased in gold and silver. All] i. e. the people must submit in reverence before him, and wait for his judgment (cf. Zeph. i. 7 : Zech. ii. 17). It becomes all to adore such a God who will speak to the soul hushed in silence. HOMILETICS. The "Waiting Servant. — Verses 1, 2. Habakkuk had two great difficulties in justifying the Divine government. First, the wickedness of the Jews and their oppression of the righteous few among them. God removed this difficulty by predicting that he would visit the corruption with captivity, and that the Chaldeans would punish them. But a second objection presented itself- that the Chaldeans were worse than the Jews, the avengers more demoralized than the people. Hence the aspect appeared dark indeed to the prophet. The destruction of the temple, cessation of national worship, and universal depravity. Anxious for further light, he determines to take a stand and discern in the light of God's presence the solution of his difficulties. I. The fixed purpose of the prophet. " I will stand and set me (firmly) upon the tower." The prophet made use of the means which God put within his reach to solve his doubts. All temptations and perplexities should lead us to the sanctuary of God. We shoidd direct our prayer to him and look up beyond human vision. Habakkuk desired — 1. To be Divinely enlightened. "To see what he will say to me." More truth and more light could be had. God could give these, and ho would wait upon him in singleness of aim. The voice, the vision from God would clear away the mists and satisfy the heart. Men are ignorant, and reason is dumb in such circumstances. " I will hear what God the Lord will speak." 2. To be Divinely corrected. " What I shall answer when I am reproved." He had been pleading with others and they had beset him with objections. He desires to be instructed and guided in his reply. Or he might have cherished wrong thoughts and uttered wrong words concerning God in his darkness. The psalmist stumbled and was hasty in his words, when he saw good men suffer and bad men prosper. " Let us be silent, that we may hear the whisper of the gods," says Emerson. II. The appropriate attitude of the prophet. " I will stand upon my watch." This position was most apj^ropriate and safe. It includes — 1. Outward retirement. He ascended the tower, excluded himself from the noise of the city and the excitement of society. Alone like Moses in the rock, he sought intercourse with God. " Apart from the world, and under the tuition of heaven, he was instructed in the principles of Divine wisdom." "All weighty things," says Eichter, "are done in solitude, that is, without society." "Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee." 2. Inward meditation. The prophet was a man of reflection and prayer. He searched his own heart and examined his own ways. He gave his whole attention to his work. " Little can be done well to which the whole mind is not applied," says Johnson. In our great work there must be withdrawal from the world and concentration in self. " Commune with thine own heart." 3. Earnest expectation. The prophet waited in patience and perseverance. He did not think that his prayer was done with when offered. He did not find relief in his attitude but in God's answer. " I will watch to see." Ministers must acquit themselves like watchmen in an army or in a city, be awake when others sleep, and patiently seek to be filled with light and truth to give to others in times of darkness and danger. 32 EC3HLETIC COMMENTARY: EABAKKUK. [chap. n. III. The gracious answer to the prophet. "And the Lord answered me." n was nol disappointed. God issometimes found of them that seek him a himself to hear those who sincerely call upon him, "He 6 in vain." The answer was an assurance of ruin to the Chal- when the chastisement of [srael was accomplished. It, was far distant, would ,],],., l,iu the event was certain and would come to pass. - to be written in a conspicuous place, recorded for the help of the j pie in the suspension of the fulfilment, and known as a proof of Divine power and faithfulness when ai mplished. Both [srael and Chaldea must own. " And the thin- was tin.-, hut tin- i ; pointed lime was long." The Appointed Vision. — Verses 2, 3. The prophet must not only hear hut record the Word of God. What the seer [she must write " Write the vision." I. To be permanently recorded. Tin' preacher must die, for all flesh is grass. Tradition is uncertain and may becorrupted. Philosophy is insufficient, and human reason is delusive. Tin' testimony of men would continually perplex and mislead. \; ■ the Word of God stands for ever, an assurance and guide to all generations. Lhe law and to the testimony." II. To be universally understood. " And make it plain upon tables." It must he legibly and correctly written upon accus- . in tieri d. Not the impressions, the recollections and surmisings of the mind, ■ in. ■thin- Like the thing, lmt the thing itself. It must he delivered in sim- plicity, ict hidden in flowers of rhetoric ; adapted to the lowest capacity, not merely to tic thoughtful few. "It takes all our learning to make things plain," says Usher. "Write upon tin' stones all the words of this law very plainly " (Deut. xxvii. 8). III. To be prominently fixed. "That he may run that readeth it." It must hn so conspicuous that it may catch the eye of the traveller, hinder no duty, hut read at once without difficulty. Some think that the reference is to the ancient posts which directed tin' man-skyer to the city of refuge, and that the reading should hn •■ In- that, runneth may read." "Refuge" was a word so legible that one running for lit'' was neither delayed nor puzzled to read. The writing (a) Excites attention. No one passes without noticing it. (h) Directs the steps. " This is the ■way, walk ye in it." (.•) Encourages speed by well-grounded conviction of its truthfulness. " Tin' words of the Lord are pure ami forcible." IV. To be a little delayed. "The vision is yet for an appointed time." God's promises reach a long distance and comprehend vaBt agenci s. Delay is discipline to us, and God baa re,i-..u> for it. It tests our faith, cultivates our patience, and excites our hope. We cannol hasten the end and must therefore wait. We must not measure God's thoughts by our ways, and tin' purposes of eternity by the hours of time. We mu-t nut attribute delay to impotency or forgetfulness. " The Lord is not slack concerning his prom And the thing was true, hut the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision," &c. (Urn. x. 1, 1 \). E0MILET1C HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 3 1. As tin- mercies promised trying, and delivering. 2. The Lord's to the Church are in the hands of God, delaying to appear diminisheth nothing so is the timing of them; we ate ma of the certainty of performance that he therefore to expect that the performance hath promised to the Church. 3. But imfortable promises or of threatened Buch is our weakness, that when he eance will !»■ always ready at our delayeth the performance we are ready bid, but we must wait the Lord's time, to think that he denies it to all, which who hath his own seasons for afflicting, - is to contradict the verdict of Scripture CHAP. IT.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY : II. IB A KKJJK. ■199 here published \Hutchesori\. " God's time," says one, " to visit his people with his comforts is when they are most destitute of other comforts, and other comforters." Divine slowness. 1. The history of the earth illustrates this principle. (1) Creation. (2) The movement of the seasons. 2. The history of all life illustrates this principle. (1) Individual life in man. (2) Life in national history. 3. Revealed religion harmonizes with this principle. (1) The long interval between promise and the coming of Christ. (2) The manner of his coming, not as the thoughts of men anticipated. (3) The history of revealed religion since the appearance of Christ. (4) The spiritual history of individual believers. (5) So with the events which make up the story of life [Dr. R. Vaughari\. God's xoord speaks and lies nut. 1. It speaks at the end, therefore wait. It will not tarry beyond, though it may tarry till the very hour. (1) Impatience leads to idolatry, as in the case of the Israelites waiting for Moses (Ex. xxxiii. 2). Impatience leads to self-destruction, as in the case of Saul waiting for Samuel (1 Sam. xiii.). 2. It speaks and lies not. All failure is a kind of lying. (1) Failure in truth is a lie in word. (2) Failure in performance is a lie in act. " Every man is a liar, either by imposture, and so in purpose, or by im- potency, and so in the event, deceiving those that rely upon him (Ps. lxii. 9). But God is faithful and cannot lie, " a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he'" [Trapp]. 3. Hence trait far the fulfilment. It will not tarry, it will not lie. " Waiting comprises in it (1) faith; (2) hope; (3) patience, or waiting to the end for the time which the Lord has appointed, but which he intends us to wait for" [Lunge]. Surely come. 1. Here is the truth of the decree. " The vision is yet for an appointed time." 2. Here is the truth of the loord. " It shall speak and not lie." 3. Here is the truth of the deed. " It will surely come" [Marbury], HOMILETICS. The Great Contrast, or the Believer and the Unbeliever. — Verse 4. These words are generally applied to the Chaldeans, but we apply them to the Jews. Some believed the words of the prophet and others did not. " While those Jews who, elated by false views of security, refused to listen to the Divine message should have their security disturbed and their minds agitated by the calamities with which they would be visited, such as lived righteously before God and men should experience true happiness in the exercise of faith in that message and others which God might communicate to them by his prophets " [Henderson]. I. The unbeliever's character and conduct. God takes notice of man's be- haviour in times of trial, for it tends to promote peace or disturbance, to honour or dishonour God. "Behold." The unbeliever is first described. 1. He is proud in heart. "His sold which is lifted up." The source of all sin is pride. In the oppression of the Chaldeans, the exaltation of anti-christ, and the rejection of the gospel, pride is manifest. " From heaven the sinning angels fell." " Pride," says one " had her beginning among the angels that fell, her continuance on earth, her end' in hell." 2. He is perverted in wind. His soul " is not upright in him." He is not straight, but crooked in his thoughts and purpose. He does not please God, but denies his providence and ridicules his word. He is conceited in his own wisdom, and will not wait upon God. Uprightness of character results from peace with God and reliance upon his grace. We see the stature, the complexion, and the deeds of men : God here reads the heart and censures the wicked. " The in- tegrity of the upright shall guide them : but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them." 3. He is restless in his sold. Luther gives, " He who is still-necked will have no rest in his soul." Pride inflates and unsettles. Those who trust to themselves are disquieted within them, excited by fear, stirred to fresh adventures by hope, but disappointed in their pursuits. Unbelief can never give rest of mind. 500 IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HABAKKUK. [chap. it. He who toils, contrives, and wearies himself in pursuit of sin will find his labour in vain. Like the tn asure in the' miser's dream, all will vanish in a world of reality. ••If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established." II. The believer's character and conduct. I Ipposed to those who proudly reject the prophetic vision, i cordial reception. 1. The believer confides in theword. He has firm attachment to ) He shall live, naturally, :r_r.iin>t oppression ; spiritually, in Jesus < 'hri.-t ; eternally, in glory [Marbury], Notice the relation between righteous- . faith, and lif . Three wools con- taining the essence of creeds and the requirements of the gospel. " This sentence, the just shall Jive by faith, is universal, belonging at once to Jews and Christians, to sinners who are first being justified, as also to those who are already justified. For the spiritual life of each of these begins, is maintained, and grows through faith. When then it is said, the just shall live by his faith, this word his marks the cause, which both begins and preserves life. The just, believing and hoping in God, begins to live spiritually, to have a soul right within him, whereby he pleases God ; and again, advancing and making progress in this his faith and hope in God, therewith advances and makes progress in the spiritual life, in lightness and righteousness of soul, in the grace and friendship of God, so as more and more to please God " [Pwsey]. This is an answer to those that ask, What shall we do till the vision speak? how shall we hold out till it cornel till the 70 years of captivity be expired 1 " The just shall live by faith," saith he, and shall make a good living of it too ; he shall live and be safe by the same faith w hereby he is just. He shall feed upon his faith, as some read that (Ps. xxxvii. 3) [Trapp]. chap, ii.] UOMU.ETIC COMMENTARY: HJBAKKUK. 001 HOMILETICS. "Wine a Deceiver. — Verse 5. This verse not only developes the thought of the preceding, hut adds another feature. Tea also, i. e. add to this that wine is treacherous [cf. Kelt], The general rule is applied to all oppressors, and especially to the Chaldeans, who were addicted to the sins here described. I. Wine deceives in its nature. Its victims are mocked and grievously deceived. Wine promises pleasures which it cannot give. Strong drink is raging, not that " good creature " which some think it is. Intoxicating drinks abuse men, deceive, and lead them astray. They are overcome, beguiled, and befooled before they are aware. " Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging : and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." II. Wine deceives in its effects. "That it strengthens the system is a deception ; chemistry has shown that it contains no nourishment for the body. That it enriches the national revenue is a deception. It is true that the taxes on alcoholic drinks bring millions annually into the national exchequer, but how much of the wealth of the nation does it exhaust by the pauper- ism and crime which it creates ! Alcoholic drink is the great false prophet in England" [Dr. Thomas], Prince and people, priest and prophet, have "erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way." " Ah ! sly deceiver ! branded o'er and o'er, Yet still believed ! exulting o'er the wrecks Of sober vows" [Armstrong, L, M.D., 1744]. Wine and its Associates. — Verse 5. Drunkenness itself is sin, and is the cause of other sins. Those who are given to wine are sensual and voluptuous. Wine never stands alone. We have here its associated evils. I. Pride. " He is a proud man." The proud man thinks too much of himself, despises others, and is arrogant in his conduct, " dealeth in proud wrath." Pharaoh, Sennacherib, and Nebuchadnezzar are fearful examples of pride. Flushed with wine, Belshazzar and his princes desecrated the sacred vessels and insulted God. The drunkenness of the inhabitants enabled Cyrus to take Babylon, well provisioned and strongly fortified. Pride " is a vice," says Hooker, " which cleaveth so fast unto the hearts of men, that if we were to strip ourselves of all faults one by one we should undoubtedly find it the very last and hardest to put off." "A man's pride shall bring him low." II. Ambition. " Neither keepeth at home." liestless in spirit and in condition. Though home be a palace, to a discontented mind it is a prison. Drunk with ambition, as well as wine, the Chaldeans were not satisfied with their splendid kingdom, but sought to enlarge it. The world cannot iill the abyss of the soul without God. The man who treads others under his feet exalts his gate (Prov. xvii. 19) above his neighbour, affects a style beyond his rank, and seeks destruction. Think of Alexander, Ciesar, and Napoleon. When Philip was thrown down in the games he saw the marks of his body, and said, " How little a parcel of earth will hold us when we are dead, who are ambitiously seeking after the whole world while living." III. Covetousness. " Who enlargeth his desire as hell," &c. Covetousness and greed of wealth result from pride. Covetous nun invade the rights and seize the property of others. One nation will not satisfy without another. The ambitious " gathereth unto him all nations and heapeth unto him all people." This passion is never satisfied. 1. It is like Hades, which devours in its desire and act, and ever cries Give, give. " Hell and destruction are never full." 2. It is like death, which has slain its millions and ready to take as many more. Death spares none but is terrible to all. " Hell hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure." MS HOMILETIC COMMENTARY ': HABAKKUK. [chap. 11. The 'Sin of tiu: Avabicious. — Verses G — 8. The first woe is pronounced, and thesentence passed, upon avaricious men in these la, The fundamental thoughl is like that expressed concerning the Chaldaean, in Laa, \iv. 12 14. Ambition manifests itself in cruelty, and proud edifices built u]><>n the ruins of others. I. Avaricious men increase their guilt. The covetous and those who thrive unlawfully in the world are under woe. They multiply their sins and their judg- ments. They break God's commands, and add injustice to their apostasy (1 Tim. vi. in). "Great abundance of riches cannot of any man," says Erasmus, "be both gathered and kept without sin." " A faithful man shall abound with blessings ; but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent." II. Avaricious men increase their enemies. "Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee?" God will no1 long permit their conduct to prosper. Enemies will suddenly rise up to disturb their rest. When they are most secure and least prepared nations will retaliate ; "the remnant of the people," whom they have despised, or whom 1 has hid from their fury, will rise against them. Those whom they have op- d shall taunt them. Nut inns and "many nations "will destroy them. Covetous and ambitious men turn God and their fellow-creatures into their enemies. " For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also, and I will. pense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hand-." III. Avaricious men increase their dangers. Men haste to be rich and rush into danger. 1. They heap up hoof;/ for others. "Thoushalt be for junto them." Notwithstanding their labour and strength, the enemy will easily overcome them. Their wealth gotten by vanity will be diminished. Men collect and foster what they cannot keep. They brood over ill-gotten gains which :" .e and disappoint them. "As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not ; bo he thai getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his "lays, and at his end shall be a fool." 2. They insure fearful retribution. As they had spoiled others, they would be spoiled themselves. " liefrain from covet- Plato, "and thy estate shall prosper." Innocent blood which they had shed would be avenged npon the land, the city, and the people (ver. 8). " \\ hen thou shah cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled ; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee." HOMILETIG HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 6. 1. Ambitious men become pression, robbery, cruelty. 3. With iptible to others. They are igno- folly. What is that heaped up1? — only minious, a taunting proverb, a public "clay." What results from all toil and derision. "Shall nol these take up a vexation? — a burden for themselves; parable against him?" 2. Ambitious " ladeth himself." " A bag of gold from men hath no right to the possession of a Western steamer was found bound to that which they illegally acquire. Unjust the neck of the robber, his treasure eonqm a curse. "Woe to him having sunk him " [Van DorenX "A that increaseth that which is no1 his." great fortune is a great slavery " [SenecaX 9. Ambitious men will be stripped of all Ver. 8. People ahull spoil thee. a,,;,- unjust acquisitions. To whal end Avaricious men are spoiled : 1. In their does the conqueror sweep all nations friends; who fall away, taunt, and help her. Not for himself, but for to strip them. 2. In their dignities; " Riches do not exhilarate us which are tainted by sin and fall into ich with their po i rion as they dust, 3. In their reputations; their at as with theii loes" [Gregory]. names are a proverb in the land, and • :> I. Connected with hated by all men. 4. In their posterity ; 2. With violence, — op- -who are cursed by the sins of their chap, ii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY; HABAKKUK. 503 fathers, and cut off from the earth, and his Macedonians. So the Roman "God loves to retaliate, to spoil the empire was miserably rent and torn by spoilers by a remnant of the people, by the Goths, Vandals, Huns, Lombards, euch as were of no note, and much people not before heard of, and the unlikely to do such exploits. 'Jims he Greek empire by Turks, Tartars, Saracens, spoiled these Babylonians, by Cyrus and Scythians" [IVopj?]. his Medes ; the Persians, by Alexander IIOMILETICS. The Evil Covetousness. — Verses 9 — 11. The second woe is now pronounced against coveting still more, and aiming still higher. The desire to build stately palaces, to be exempt from common misfortunes, and to perpetuate human greatness, is condemned. It is an evil covetousness or gain. I. The design of this covetousness. " That he may set his nest on high," &c. 1. To enjoy the comforts of life. The covetous seek ease and comfort, make their nest in their acquisitions, and feather it for their offspring, as the eagle builds on high to save its young from destruction. They think their prosperity can never change, and believe they have enough to secure perpetual comfort. " Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years ; take thine ease," &c. 2. To escape the calamities of life. "That he may be delivered from the power of evil." He fears evil from those whom he has injured, and builds on high, and fortifies himself against dangers. But what avails the height, when sin is in the foundation? Babylon was built on high, encircled by walls which no invader could scale or shatter. But it was levelled to the dust, and its proud king ranked with the brutes. God can overthrow the strongest tower, and terror invade the proudest conscience. "Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down" (Ob. 4 : Jer. xlix. 1G). II. The proofs of this covetousness. The very buildings which they rear cry out against their conduct. God's works speak of his wisdom, power, and glory. So man's works declare his skill and his guilt. Works of mercy are memorials before God, and plead there ; Avorks of cruelty and wrong cry out for vengeance upon the oppressor. 1. The stones in the trail cry out. 2. The beam out of the timber responds to the cry. Here are strange witnesses, woeful antiphonies in sin. If everything else is silent, their houses built by oppression and blood shall testify against them. The whole creation groans beneath the bondage of their corruption. "Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work." III. The results of this covetousness. The covetous man takes a wrong course for his wealth, his family, and his posterity. With all his pains and schemes he cannot preserve himself from utter ignominy and ruin. 1. He inflicts personal injury. "And hast sinned against thy soul." Men neglect their souls in pursuit of the world, and find their gain in the end to be a poor bargain. " The covetous man heaps up riches not to enjoy them, but to have them ; and starves himself in the midst of plenty, and most unnaturally cheats and robs himself of that which is his own ; and makes a hard shift to be as poor and miserable with a great estate as any man can be without it" [Tillotson\. In the present world he disquiets himself, pierces himself through with many sorrows ; and in the world to come he will lose what the whole world cannot redeem — " Some, o'er-enamour'd of their bags, run mad, Groan under gold, yet weep for want of bread" [Young']. 2. He brings social disgrace. " Thou hast consulted shame to thy house." By cutting off many people, he gained disgrace not safety. Mighty conquerors who UOMILETIC COMMENTARY'. HABAKKUK. [chap. ii. v others do nol secure their own throne. Those who scandalise, undermine, or impoverish their neighbours to make room for themselves, turn their own glory and that of their posterity into shame (Prov. xv. 25—27; xiv. 11). "He that th in his riches Bhall fall ; but the righteous shall nourish as a branch. HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. V. r. 0. Kr',1 covetousness not a good fence against danger. Nests are builded "Covel earnestly the best close, and so they are warm, and they ire itself was evil in are built either on high, or out of the its nature. Its results were evil, from way in some secret place, and so they which he sought to deliver himself, are safe [Cari/J]. C,lN,- always evil when joined Ver. 10. Thou hast consulted. Holy with ambition, infidelity, and confidence Scripture overlooks the means, and in earthly wealth. On high. 1. The places us at the end of all. Whatever foundation of the building: pride, ambi- the wicked had in view, to satisfy ambi- ind earthly power. 2. The fate of tion, avarice, passion, loveof pleasure, building. Overthrown by Divine or the rest of man's immediate ends, all Be who builds his house with he was doing was leading on to a further pie's property, collt-cts stones end— shame and death. He was bring- foi his grave" [Cramer]. What the ing about not only these short-lived , calls protection, cannot protect ends, but the lasting ends beyond, and God's judgments ; death mounts these far more than the others, since all rocks [LHedrich]. A nest im- that is the real end of a thing which two tilings : first, warmth, or a abides, in whicb it at last ends \Pusey\. fence against cold : secondly, safety, or a HOMILETICS. The City of Blood. — Verses 12 — 14. The third stanza, naturally suggested by the preceding verse, describes the method by which they carried out their ambitious ends. They might pretend public good, and s^ek to establish popular government; but the wealth of the kingdom was gained by bloody wars, and the city enlarged by captive tribes from other nations. "They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity." I. The city was built with wrong materials. It was built with blood. God's le and heathen nations were oppressed, compelled to serve the king, and labour on the fortifications. All private fortunes gained by cruelt}', all empires and built and defended in contempt for God, and by the blood of men, aro established by iniquity. They may impose upon the outward eye, seem strong and majestic, but they are inwardly rotten; will decay and fall to ruins. "Woe to the bl ly city I it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not." II. The builders of the city laboured in vain. 1. God frustrated their aims. Human skill cannot Bucceed when God is opposed. In the Church and in the world, nothing can hinder his purposes. He is Lord of Hosts, whom the armies of leaven and the agencies of earth obey. As in building Label of old so now can he confound the design, and frustrate the efforts, of men. "Behold, is it not of the Lord of Host I" 2. God consumed their materials. They toiled and were disappointed. They built the city, and reared splendid palaces, only for the fire. They laboured, with intense energy and pride, to accomplish their own ends, but they •■ wearied themselves for very vanity." Men fatigue themselves in pursuit of 1th and honour, weary themselves in sin, and the result is consumed in the fire. "The people shall labour in vain (for vanity) and the folk in (for) the fire, and th.y shall be weary." III. The city shall eventually be destroyed. "For the chap. II.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : UABAKKUK. 50 J earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord." God will be known by the judgments which he executes upon wrong-doers. All violence and injustice, like that of Babylon and Antichrist, will he overturned. The name of God will be read in the punishment of the wicked, and the deliverance of his people. The glory of God, obscured by oppression and cruelty, in due time will shine forth from the clouds, and iill the earth with its splendour. " As truly as I live, all the eaith shall be filled with the glory of the Lord." A Glorious Day. — Verse 14. " For " indicates the reason for the sentence pronounced. God had determined to manifest his glory in the judgment and overthrow of all ungodly powers (cf. Isa. ii. 12—21 ; vi. 3 : Num. xiv. 21). I. The blessing predicted. "The knowledge of the glory of the Lord." God is glorious in character and procedure. And of this glory he is so jealous that he will not give it to another (Isa. xlii. 8). The glory here is the revelation of impartial justice and irresistible power; a manifestation condemning sin and honouring truth. Not only the glory, but the knowledge of it, shall fill the earth. Men shall recognize it, see mercy and judgment, and learn that, " verily, there is a reward for the righteous : verily, he is a God that judgeth in the earth." II. The method of revealing this blessing. In the connection of the words, we learn that God reveals and magnifies his glory, when sin is prevalent, and human glory is decayed. In the destruction of Babylon and all the powers that resemble it, and in the deliverance and restoration of the Jews, we see the glory of God. But this is only a type of the destruction of error and the spread of Gospel truth. Both judgment and mercy are requisite to fill the earth with the glory of the Lord. Everything hostile to him, and the interests of his people, must be destroyed. The kingdom of Christ set up, and the earth illuminated with his glory (Kev. xviii. 1). III. The measure in which this blessing is bestowed. " As the waters cover the sea." This indicates — 1. Depth. God's judgments are a mighty deep, and the knowledge of them shall not be superficial. The nations shall feel them, and be convicted by the revelation of the Divine glory. 2. Abundance. The waters cover the sea, and spread far and wide. This knowledge will.//// the earth. 3. Permanence. The waters of the sea abide, can never be exhausted nor diminished. Knowledge is increasing, the Gospel is spreading, and the bright day is predicted when " the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Ps. lxxii. 19 : Isa. xi. 9). HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Yer. 13. Labour in the very fire, that gave to them taketh away. They Labour which fatigues ; labour in vain ; had need to be made to see this ; there- labour opposed to God. Sin is labour — fore he saith, Is it not of the Lord 1 " the gain is vanity. Then why not . \Marbury\. observe who causes tins'? "It is the ' Ver. 14. The words of God in this Lord that bringeth all the labours of the text are full of marrow and fatness, for ungodly to loss and vanity, that when God is rich in mercy, so he dilateth his they come to thrash their crop of travail, favours. 1. In the latitude, all the earth they find nothing but straw and chaff, over. 2. In t/i" plenitude, the earth To express his power to do this he is shall be filled. 3. In the magnitude, the here called the God of Hosts, for all knowledge of God's glory. 4. In the things serve him, and he resisteth the profundity, as the waters cover the sea. proud. He layeth their honours in the I. The tiling to be 'Inn,. The earth to dust; he disperseth their riches; he be filled with the knowledge of the glory spoileth them of all their treasures: he of God. His moral excellences— holine-s, that exalted them made them low ; he righteousness, and grace : his natural HOMILSTIC COMMENTARY: HAHAKKUK. [chap. ii. -■ — power, wisdom, omniscience, dark the days of the prophet! How and omnipotence to be made known. II. improbable the present signs! Yet how '/// ,,/ doing if. God is seen much lias been done already ! Sufficient in tin- physical universe, and in the to guarantee future success. God himself ; the human mind; but sin, has pledged his word. "The glory of like a mist, hides the glory. No intel- the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh d effort, ii" human light whatever, shall see it together, for the mouth of cm do the work. God must shine in the L'jrd hath spoken it." Christ, shine into the world, and into t _, ..„ u , , .1 •• , £ ., " So, Jesus, let thv kingdom come ; ■ ;.l. "to give the hght i Of the Then sin and hell's terrific gloom knowledge "t the glory of God (2 Gor. gjian at [ts brightness flee away,— iv. 6). 111. H'/// it ever be done ! How The dawn of an eternal day." IIOMILETICS. The Three Cups. — Verses 15 — 17. Woe tin' fourth is pronounced upon beastly luxury, sensuality, and base treat- menl of subjugated nations. The bottle of wine turns out a cup of wrath, and the disposition in which it is given is that of voluptuousness and lust of power. I. The cup of wine. " Woe to him that giveth his neighbour drink." The Chaldseans, with insatiable desire, allured neighbouring States, intoxicated them with lusl of war, to obtain booty, and expose them to shame. 1. Drink given to a bow. Drinking oneself is bad enough, but to give to others is worse. To pat the bottle to others is a practice too common in the palace and the public- house. By the laws of the club or the fashion of the Court, men are constrained t i drink. '1. Drink given f<> make a neighbour intoxicated. To give drink to a traveller, a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, is commendable ; but fer the bottle with a design to intoxicate, to "make him drunken also," is abominable wickedness. 3. Drink given to expose an intoxicated uijiur to eltanu and contempt. " That thou mayest look on their nakedness." To look on such things with delight is most unnatural ; to abuse men in such a condition is awful Woe to them who entice others to drunkenness that they may take advanj ige < f them, and mock their infirmities. II. The cup of riot. The shame with which the enemy was satisfied, was equivalent to riot, or revelling in shame. izzar drank with his lords and ran to excess. In drink is a breach of propriety and g 1 temper; "envyings, and murders, revellings, and such-like." by day we learn the corruption of morals engendered and the crimes com- mitted in sensuality and drink. Every lust of the flesh finds in drunkenness and is appropriate fuel and fire, and its influence in seduction and ruin baffles all lation and conceptioa " Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying." where we may, through city or through town, ^ illage, or hamlet, of this merry land, Though lean and beggared, every twentieth pace ( iota the unguarded nose to such a whiff CM il ite di bauch, as makes temperance real." III. The cup of retribution. " The cup of the Lord's right hand shall be turned unto ,1""'"-" To deal out, in barrel or bottle, inflaming and polluting drinks is not ind blameless conduct Woe, heavy woe, is pronounced upon such acts. Bui when the motives are mercenary, and tin; intentions unkind, the punishment s heavy. 1. They are filled with shame instead of glory. They sought glory, th'ii-lit to be rich by oppressing others, but they lost their reputation °and were / with shame. Drunkards and ambitious men proclaim their own shame. Shameful spewing is on their glory. God rejects their services, and nature abhors CHAP. II.] JIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: UABAKKUK. 507 their customs. "Their glory is their shame." 2. They were treated as they treated others. "Drink thou also, and let thy foreskin he uncovered." God's judgments are equitahle. As they had drawn others to sensuality and cruelty, so they had to drink the very dregs, and become contemptible as a drunken man lying naked, or an uncircumcised heathen, polluting himself with lilthy vomit. Sensuality entails shame. Those who aid in the degradation of others adopt the most effectual means to expose themselves. " The cup also shall pass through unto thee : thou shalt be drunken and shalt make thyself naked." 3. They were overcome with tin- violence which they displayed to others. "For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee." Violence to nature, in the destruction of the forests ; to beasts, in hunting them for prey, or chasing them in fright ; to man, in shedding innocent blood. The city, the country, and the people all suffered. The end of this plunder was not to adorn, but overwhelm them. The destruction was complete ; " cover thee " (Isa. xiv. G — 8). Violence done to others will be sure to recoil upon the transgressors ; " to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse ; as it is this day " (Jer. xxv. 15—18). HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 16. Shame. The shame of the ungodly cometh forth from himself ; the shame he put others to is doubled upon himself; and the very means which he had used to fill himself with glory and greatness, cover the glory which by nature he had with the deeper disgrace, so that he should be a loathsome and revolting sight to all. Man veils foul deeds under fair words ; God in his word unveils the foulness [Pusey]. The Lord's right hand shall be turned. 1. Retribution among men : turned, Lit. turn itself from others to you. Every one's turn will come. 2. Retribution measured among men. " The cup of the Lord's right hand." Measure for measure all sin brings its own retri- bution ; but the violent will suiter " violence," and deeds of shame will be put to everlasting contempt. Glory. The Hebrew word for glory properly signifies weightiness ; as the word twice here used for shame signifies lightness ; an elegant opposition, showing that whatsoever the Babylonians gloried in, and held themselves honourable for, should be lightly accounted of, and lie buried in the sheet of shame, as in a dunghill of lilthy vomit [Trii/>/>]. Vers. 15, 1G. That is an extraordinary kind of argument which infers, from the mention or prohibition of an extreme sin, the rightfulness of the intervening and causative steps. Here, however, all the stages and agencies are denounced and condemned — the poisoned potion, the giving of it, and the final result [Temp. Commentary]. Ver. 17. Beasts. God avenges cruelty donetobrutes. Learn — 1. Theprovidence of God over cattle. 2. The treatment they should receive at the ham Is of man. " Hath God care for oxen ? " " We learn here that when God cometh to execute vengeance, he survey eth the Avhole catalogue of offences ; and as he saith in David, ' 1 wdl reprove tine, and set them in order before thee,' the wrong to the cities, to the men, to the /'fists, to persons, to places, all comes into account, and the olfenders shall smart for all" [Marbtiry]. IIOMILETICS. The Unprofitableness of Idolatry-. — Verses IS, 19. This fifth strophe does not utter woe at first, but makes prominent the cause that leads to it. Like the rest of heathen nations, the Chaldseans trusted to their gods, but all hope from this quarter is cut off. Idols profit nothing; it is folly therefore to carve and honour them. HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HABAKKUK. [chap. n. I. Idolatry is a system of lies. "A teacher of lies." 1. The idol itself is a [1 represents God as visible, finite, and dependent, whereas he is Infinite and Invisible. It contradicts the word uf God and the nature of man ; and represents carnal conceptions of truth and worship. 2. The teaching of the idol is a lie. _ In itself and by its priests it sustains delusions. Its oracle is the doctrine of vanities ; d and a work of errors (Jer. x. 8), leading men to trust in dumb the work of their own hands (1 Cor. xii. 2). " We have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves." " God's omnipresence seems not sensuous ; Unless he be in us, we are not in him " [Bailey]. II. Idolatry is a system of impotence. Idols may be adorned and beautified, 1 and honoured, but they are only dumb nothings. 1. Tliey are fashioned by man. Carved and encased with gold and silver, and yet neither th, feeling, nor understanding. They are inferior to their maker, how then can they impart life and help to those who trust them] "They that make a D image are all of them vanity" (Isa. xliv. 9, 10). 2. They respond not to the is of man. Men cry "to the wood," Awake, for our relief ; " to the dumb ." Arise, deliver me, for tnou art my God (Isa. xliv. 17): but there is no answer. A god that cannot speak is nothing. The cries of man must be heard, the wants of man must be satisfied. "Without a true response to the entreaties of man there is no religion. We cannot animate stocks and stones. Art and science may create and beautify gods ; but this is labour in vain — will deceive, and nourish superstition. "They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not ; they have ears, but they hear not ; neither is there any breath in their mouths." III. Idolatry is a system of vanity. When men have done all they can, displayed their skill and carved their image, God ridicules the result. Only wood and stone, base and inferior matter. That teach ! Yes, though dumb it \a of impotence, vanity, and folly. 1. What vanity to trust in a god of your ion/ If images are made by man, how can they have the being and authority of Cod? Why spend your energy in the service of that which will not profit I "'Tis mad idolatry," says Shakspeare, " to make the service greater than the God." "What profiteth the graven image1?" 2. What folly to rely upon that which brings a curse I " Woe unto him that said to the wood, Awake." Whatever is accounted a god, which is only a creature or a feigned thing, is a curse to man. It curses human nature by degrading it, and making men like brutes. It irld by bringing down the judgments of God. When men are rmined not to retain God in their thoughts, but to exalt that which is below themselves to 1"' in the place of God, they become brutish in their knowledge, vain in their imaginations, and alienated in then- hearts. "For this cause God them up unto vile ailections." The Divinh Court. — Verse 20. In subline' contrasl to idols, Jehovah is set forth in his dwelling-place and authority. None Bhould dispute with him, but b! ind in awe before him. In the court-hou e ot God " lei all the earth keep silence." I. God resides in this court. " The Lord is in his holy temple." The world is not empty space. A true and personal God exists; not like idols dwelling in templi a made with hands, but revealing himself in the visible universe. In heaven • ry and honour, in earth by grace and goodness. "The Being whose centre • a)" "'• but whose circumference is nowhere." In every state and condition t near. " The Lord is in his holy temple." II. God governs in this court. He dwells in his temple, and has not left the world to chance, inflexible law, or abstract powers. His throne is on high, and has neither been overturned d « vacated He judges the world in righteousness, delivers his people in distress, CHAP. II.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HJB.tKKUK. 5C9 and punishes the insolence of the wicked. He is not enshrined in gold and silver ; "but our God is in the heavens," reigning supreme over all the nations of the earth. He is the world's great King, discerning and rewarding the works and ways of men. "The Lord's throne is in heaven ; his eyes behold, hia eyelids try the children of men." III. God demands silence in bis court. "Let all the earth keep silence." If we are silent in courts of law, if all are reverent and solemn before an earthly judge, how should we stand before Almighty God ! 1. Let sinners tremble at his judgments. He will strike idolaters dumb, convince the wicked of folly, and cover them with shame. 2. Let saints trust in his ward. If perplexed, " hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God ; for the day of the Lord is at hand" (Zeph. i. 7). If afflicted, "be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. xlvi. 10). If weakened in faith, and disappointed in prayer, "Keep silence before me, 0 islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near: let them speak" (Isa. xli. 1). "In speaking of God our best eloquence is silence," says Hooker. " Be silent, 0 all flesh, before the Lord : for he is raised up out of his holy habitation." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Vers. 18, 19. The destruction of idols. Created by man — deaf and dumb, impotent and false. Dumb idols : Lit. dumb nothings. "And what else are man's idols of wealth, honour, fame, which he makes to himself, the creatures of his own hands or mind — their great- ness existing chiefly in his own imagina- tion— before which he bows down himself, who is the image of God]" [Pusey], The foil i/ of idol worshippers. Trusting their own creation — calling upon it as God, and exposing their own souls. " Here is a double woe : 1. Loss of labour ; 2. "Want of help. In the first they bewray their folly ; the god of this Avorld hath made fools of them for turning the glory of the invisible God into the image of creatures ; but in the second we find the misery, for we cannot subsist without help, and they trust to idols where there is no help " [Marbury]. Behold. Though the vanity of wor- shipping idols be palpably gross, so that seriously to consider it is sufficient to refute it, yet such is man's stupidity that he needs stirring up to notice the error of his way — to caution him of his danger, and to wean him from his sins [cf. Hutcheson]. Vers. 4, 14, 20. Three bright stars. As the prophet stood on his eminence and saw nothing but darkness, God revealed three great principles which infused light and life into the gloom — principles which stand out to this day to all perplexed, fearful, and sceptical souls, as stars in a dark sky. 1. The just shall live by faith. A truth so important that it is quoted thrice in the New Testament (Bom. i. 17 : Gal. iii. 11: Heb. x. 38). 2. The earth shall be filled," &c. 3. The Lord is in his holy temple. The first of these three lights reveals the secret of our religion. It is faith. Faith in God's word, and faith in God's work. The second opens up to the faith supposed to exist; a glorious promise that all sin, misery, and confusion which now disgrace and oppress the earth, shall disappear, and make room for the glory of the Lord to take their place. The third sets forth — the stay, the con- fidence, the breathless silence of the children of God, while the promise is fulfilling, and especially when the ways of God are dark and mysterious. Think of the circumstances and prospects of the prophet, and learn that God, in dis- pensing his blessings, takes seasons of despondency and thick gloom — that in selecting such times for predicting splendid futures he diaws from the opposition of men and the infidelity of the Church an illustration of his irre- sistible majesty and unchangeable truth [Anon.]. Vers. 5 — 20. Of shameful and hurtful avarice. 1. Avarice is contrary to tlio order prescribed by God ; therefore God must bring it back to order by chastise- ment (vers. 1, 6/;, 7). 2. It is contrary 510 1WMILETIC COMMENTARY: HABAKKUK. [chap. II. to love, therefore it produces a harvest of hatred (ver. 0«). 3. It confounds the id bt, therefore wrong must befall •!• ft makes the mind timid ; but where fear is there is tbility (ver. 9). 5. It accumulates (riches) with Bin, therefore for nothing 12, 11. 13, 17). 6. ft seeks ful.se ra it acquires shame (vers. L5f 16). 7. [t sets its heart upon gold and silver and lifeless things, therefore it must perish with its lifeless gods 18, 19). 8. I »n the whole it provokes the judgment of God (vers. 86,14, 20) [Lange], Ver. 20. Notice — 1. The privilege of the godly. " The Lord is in his holy temple," to guide them by his wisdom, defend them by his power, and save them by his grace. 2. The duty of the godly. " Let all the earth be silent ; " but they should acquiesce in his word and work. " Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments." " Wait, 0 my soul, thy Maker's will ; Tumultuous passions, all be still ! Nor let a murmuring thought arise ; His ways are just, his counsels wise." ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER II 1. M itch. We should follow providence, and not attempt bo force it, tor tint often proves best for us which was least our own doing [Henry]. _. 3. Tarry. Lor our actions let his word be our guide, and for the events of things and all that concern us, let his good pleasure and wise disposing : will. Let as give up the rudder : life into his hand to be steered by him [Abp. Leightori], Prayer is the rest of our care, and the calm of our temper [./. Taylor], Y. r. 1. Faith. The life of faith can only spring from faith; as trees and plants it" from their proper seeds. Faith - here with a weak apprehension of things not seen, and ends with the immediate vision of God in the world to Vers. 5, 6. Desire. Could you change olid earth into a single lump of gold, and drop it into the g aping mouth of avarice, it would only be a crumb of ienl Comfort, a cordial drop, cn- abling it to cry a little louder, " Give, [Royal PreacJu /•]. I it. House. How few houses yon that those thai are now in them can say, "My ancestor dwelt here, and these were his lands)" Go over the whole country, few can say so. Men when they build have conceits. Now I build for my child, and for my child's child. God crosses them. Either they rity, or by a thousand things that fall out in the world, it falls out otherwise [Rd. Sihbes], Consulted shame — '• Sin and shame are ever tied together With Gordian knots, of such a strong thread spun, They cannot without violence be undone." [Webster.] Vers. 12, 13. Vanity. To so small a purpose is it to have an erected face towards heaven, and a perpetual grovel- ling spirit upon earth, eating dust, as doth the serpent [Bacon], The empire of the world is but a crust to be thrown to a dog [Luther]. Ver. 14. Glory. It is one of the greatest praises of God's wisdom, that he can turn the evil of men to his own glory [Bp. Hall). Ver. 15. Drink. Seldom does any sensual indulgence come alone. One lust prepares the way for others; the first step is sure to lead onwards. The poor deluded victim cannot stop when he pleases [C. Bridges], Vers. 16 — 18. Shame. There is none of you that ever entered this house of pleasure but he left the skirts of his garment in the hands of shame, and had his name rolled in the chambers of death. "What fruit had ye then 1 This is the question [Bj>. Taylor]. The man wakes from his dream, and finds that he possesses not an atom of the rich possessions he had dreamed of [Lorin], Vers. IS, 19. Idolatry. Any opinion which tends to keep out of sight the " living and loving God, whether it be to chap. ii. j IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY! HABAKKUK. 5U substitute for him an idol, or any occult asked a Christian, "Where is God?" agency, or a formal creed, can be nothing The Christian answered, "Let me fast better than the portentous shadow pro- ask you, 'Where is lie not"?" [Arrow- jected from the slavish darkness of an smith.]. The Will of God is our pole- ignorant heart [Hattam]. While earthly star, and, with our eye constantly on it, objects are exhausted by familiarity, the we shall be carried safely through every thought of God becomes to the devout storm and tempest of this mortal life man continually brighter, richer, vaster; [Anon.]. What I do, thou knowest not derives fresh lustre from all that he now; but thou shatt know hereafter, observes of nature and providence; and is the unvaried language of God iii his attracts to itself all the glories of the providence. He will have credit every universe [Channing]. step. He will not assign reasons, because Ver. 20. A heathen philosopher once he will exercise faith [Wilson]. CHAPTER III. Critical Notes.] Prayer] joined with praise. Shigionoth] (cf. Ps. vii.) ; this verse posterior to the prophecy. 2. Speech] Report concerning God's judgments. Kevive] Preserve, revivify (I's. lxxx. 19) : within years of calamity in which we live. Known] Make thy work known. 3.] These descriptions rest upon earlier revelations of God. Teman, Edom ; Paran] (Dent, xxxiii. 2). God appeared from Sinai in splendour, which like the morning covered the heavens with light, and filled the earth with glory. 4. Horns] i. e. rays (Ex. xxxiv. 29) ; side (hand). There] In the light was power veiled (Ps. civ. 2). The splendour was the covering of Divine Majesty. 5.] He conies to judge. Feet] Behind him. Burning] Lit. burning heat of the pestilence (Deut. xxxii. 24). 6. Stood] as a warrior. Measured] As a judge (parcel out land, Mic. ii. 4), some ; he sets the earth reeling, springing up as one in fear. Scattered] Broken asunder. Perpetual] Which never moved, now trembled, bowed, and resolved into dust. Ways] As formerly, so now : ». e. He follows them (Job xxii. 15). 7.] Neighbouring nations tremble at his judgments. SawJ in vision. 8.] Now judgment is executed. The description rests upon two facts: dividing of Red Sea and of Jordan (Ex. xv. 18 : Ps. civ. 3, 5) ; and sets forth God the Judge who can smite in wrath the sea of the world and the rivers of the earth. Salvation] The object of riding; a warlike figure (Ps. xviii. 11 : lxviii. 17). 9-] Picture of a warrior continued. Naked] Ready to shoot. Oaths] Promises to their forefathers (Deut. xxxii. 40 — 42). Cleave] Split into rivers by judicial interposition. 10.] The form of earth's surface is changed. Mountains] writhe ; the abyss roars and raises its hands (waves) ; most powerful agitations accompany the theophany. 11. Arrows] Executing justice, turn light into darkness, or devouring fire (Isa. x. 17). 12.] Acts of judgment connected with the salvation of Israel. March] Solemn and majestic proceeding (Jud. v. 4: Ps. lxviii. 8). Thresh] Tread down the enemy (Mic. iv. 13). 13.] The end of Divine manifestation. Salvation] Rescue. Anointed] Not any particular king, "but the Davidic King absolutely, including the Messiah, in whom the sovereignty of David is raised to an eternal duration " [Kcil], Head] wounded. Neck] bared; the injury from above and from below; the very foundation destroyed. The necks of princes were trodden under the foot of Israel's leaders, and the first-born of Egypt cut off. 14.] Warlike nations meet the same fate as royal houses. Staves] The sword of the foe himself, the instrument of destruction to his armies and villages. Some, " that the hostile troops will day one another in confusion" (cf. 1 Sam. xiv. 20: 2 Chron. xx. 23, 24). Came] with swiftness and violence, like a storm to destroy me. Scatter] The figure of dispersing chaff Isa. xli. 10 : Jer. xiii. 24). Rejoicing] i.e. directed to swallow the poor in secret (Ps. x. 9). 15. Sea] To destroy these enemies like Pharaoh's hosts. No obstacle prevented God's progress. 16. Trembled] The prophet describes his own feelings at the coming of Jehovah : first, fear and trembling ; then, exulting joy (vers. 18, 19). "The alarm pervades his whole body, belly, and bones, »'. e. the softer and tinner component parts of the body, lips, and feet; i. e. the upper and lower organs of the body." 17.] The trouble of the day described. The fig and vine, the noblest fruits of earth, plantations and fields yield not; folds and stalls empty through the devastation. 18. Yet] God is tnv inexhaustible some.', and infinite sphere of joy. Strength] to gird me to overcome tribulation. FeetJ Swift as hinds' to escape the enemy, and reach high places of eminence and safety. Hence the formula at the end harmonises with that at the beginning. It is an ode of melody and joy (Isa. xxxviii. 20). E0M1LETIC COMMENTARY-. HABAKKVK. [chap. in. 1I0MILETICS. God's VoiOT and Human Fear. — Verse 2. The prophet had received an answer to his prayer (ch. ii. 1). Knew the mind of ( tod towards Jews and < Ihaldssans : lie now submits to God's will, but fears the 1 judgments, and praya for his aillicted people. I. God speaks to men. " 1 have heard thy speech." If we are willing to hear the word and know tin- mind of God, we shall not have long to wait. 1. The ■>ir..< are //,,• voice of God. They are given by inspiration of God — make known the doings, and Bet forth the requirements of God. The oracles of God k to men in wisdom and truth. " Upon whatsoever this title and inscription is — • The Word of Jehovah ' — there must we stoop," says Owen, " and bow down our Fouls before it, and captivate our understandings unto the obedience of faith." 2, / ' ' Christian ministry is the voice of God. God calls to men by his servants, but they refuse to hear. " Thus we learn the necessity of preaching, and what inconvenience follows when it is not used. Where preaching fails, saith Solomon, •the ] pie perish.' Therefore let every one keep himself in God's schoohhouse, and learn his lesson diligently" [Bp. Pilkington\. "We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us." 3. Providence is the voice of God. In times of judgment and revival, in national and personal providences, God speaks to as. Ponder the dealings of God, rest upon his will, and learn the instruction of his discipline. '* Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it1?" II. Men should hear the voice of God and fear him. " I have heard thy speech and was afraid." In ver. 16 we have the effect of this fear. The prophet stood in awe at the matter and the majesty of the speaker. It was not a slavish, but a filial fear, urging him to pray. The best men — Moses, Isaiah, and Daniel — have been afraid at the voice of God. When the prophet heard the judgments of God — 1. He feared for himself. Ministers should examine their own hearts. Have they been faithful in their work, pure in their motives, and holy in their lives'? :" aithfulness," says Bridges, " is to undo our own souls, as well as our peoples'." 2 //■ /■ vred for the Church. Israel were the people, the special work of God xlv. 11). He desired their preservation and prosperity. Ministers should be anxious for the glory of God, and the conversion of sinners among their people. •"• H for the world. When he thought of the threatenings upon the f, he was astonished at their guilt, and desired their wickedness to end. whole world lieth in wickedness ;" good men fear and warn others of the [Uence, "My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgment The Revival of God's Work. — Verse 2. The prophet saw the impending ruin, wept for his infatuated countrymen, and I'd with ( rod to remove or mitigate the punishment of their sins. I. The blessings desired. The revival of God's work, and the manifestation of mercy. 1. The revival of God's work. " 0 Lord, revive thy work." God's ■ were afflicted, and Cod's cause was low; new life was desired in the nation, and fresh favour to the Church. A revival implies deadness. Life may not be quite extinct, but feeble and decaying. What deadness, formality, and few con- versions in the Church ! The Btonee and the dust give evidence of decay in Zion. What worldlinesa and infidelity in the nation! Everywhere means of grace neglected, and masses living without God. As Edwards lamented before the New England revival, so we may confess : " we have been long in a strange stupor. The influences of the spirit of C„d upon the heart have been little felt, and the nature of them but little taught" A great necessity exists now for God to "give ■ tittle reviving in our bondage" (Ezra ix. 8). 2. The manifestation of God 's -In wrath remember mercy:" (a) Generally manifest the favour. chap, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : UABAKKUK. 513 " Make known." Make known thy power and providence in the world ; thy pity and grace in the Church. Let us not guess at thy purposes. Do not remain hidden and unknown. Glorify thyself in the accomplishment of thy work. (b) Specially show favour to thy people. Mercy regards our misery. Sin will bring wrath and prevent mercy to us. But with God there is mercy. The sinner may be forgiven that he may be feared. God will remember or show mercy to the penitent. "The depths of our misery can never fall below the depths of mercy," says Sibbes. " It must be great mercy, or no mercy ; for little mercy will never serve my turn," said Bunyan. " Mercy rejoiceth against judgment." II. The time in which the blessings are desired. " In the midst of the years " are emphatic words, and twice given. lie does not say at the end of the years. He thinks it long till then. He prays for something to be done now. Whatever may be the remote future, God suspends the punishment, and gives room for penitence and prayer now. In darkness stars may shine ; in distress, deliverance be wrought ; and in wickedness the enemy overthrown. God has a set time to favour Zion, but this is when his servants take pleasure in her welfare, and favour the dust thereof (Ps. cii. 13, 14). Trial days of the Church will not bo prolonged one moment beyond the time appointed ; but, meantime, comfort may be given, and we should renew our prayers for years which have to intervene and pass away. " Look then upon us, and be merciful unto us, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name." III. The means by which the blessings are to be secured. Man has many plans, trusts to various institutions and societies ; but God has one way to improve the world. We hit upon a scheme ; God implants a principle. " Revival preachers " and " revival meetings " may be necessary, but the work is of God. " Thy work." Instead of looking for new and unusual methods, let the Church earnestly use what she has. " Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them." 1. Private prayer. We are guilty of what has been termed " the selfishness of the closet." It is not my family and my work, but God's work, that we must remember. Personal interests must not overlook public good. 2. United prayer. The first revival began in the upper room when the apostles were met together. In America a united prayer-meeting brought the wonderful change. " By prayer," says one, " we lay our hand upon the springs of an agency which can diffuse blessings through the world." 3. Earnest preaching must not be overlooked. Preaching, like Peter's address on the day of Pentecost, adapted to awaken men from slumber, and convince them of sin. It was bold and earnest, direct in its aim, and full of compassion. " It must be serious preaching that makes men serious," said Baxter. Ministers and people must be revived first, that they may revive others. " Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee." HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 1. If the words be taken in con- Genuine religion is not theology, not nection with the prophecy, we learn that ceremony, but supreme love to God. prayer and praise may be intimately This is produced only by God. II. united together ; that the petitions of Tliis work of God in the soidis liable to one generation may become the music of decay. Many things tend to impair and another ; and that Christian experience destroy supreme love to God. Carnal varies as the dealings of God may vary, influences, impure associations, social Ver. 2. There are three things in influences, and engrossing worldly cares, this text— 1. an alarming voice; 2. an Hence the prayer, "revive" it. III. appropriate prayer; and 3. a potent This decay should be overcome by a argument [Spurgem]. revival. Ecvive, quicken, energize this We offer three thoughts. I. Genuine love, and give it mure force and influence religion is the work of God in the soid. in the soul. This is true revival. Not ,11 J TOM / LETIC COMMENTARY: 1IABAKKUK. [chap. hi. the revival of erode theological dogmas, continue presumptuous; in case he pietistic cant, and superstitious feara [Dr. brought it too late we should not learn to believe. To revive and to make known irs means just are nearly the same thing, only that to at the right time. He knows well how revive is to perform the miracle and to find the means to render help, neither bring relief; but to make known means Qor too lata I'm- in ease ho that we should be sensible of and delight brought help too soon we should not iii it [Lunge], ipair of ourselves, and should HOMILETICS. God's Glory in Days of Old.-1— Verses 3—6. : nner interpositions are remembered and celebrated to encourage hope. .re the ground and prediction of future deliverance. There is no a for despondency in our own case or that of the Church, if we think of the displays of God in days of old (Ps. lxxvii. 5). Mercy to Israel and severity to enemies ha-, b been resplendent as light. In the manifestations described we have — I. Glory in the wilderness. " God came from Teman," &c. Paran is the ion extending from the south of Judah to Sinai. Seir, Sinai, and Paran are uear each other, associated together in the giving of the law (Deut. xxxiii. 2). -'. ory of Sinai is a type of the law which shall go forth from Zion to distant nations of the earth (Isa. ii. 3: Mic. iv. 2). The moral desert shall shine with the majesty of another Lawgiver. Nations shall be enlightened and blessed. orii of the Red Sea and the river Jordan, in Canaan and the wilderness, shall be eclipsed by the triumph of the cross. Songs of victory shall be resounded from future triumphs. "The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the of my progenitors, unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills." II. Glory in holiness, lie who came was "the Holy One." God and the Holy One are parallel phrases indicating the absolute purity of the Divine Being (Job vi. 1<» : l.-a. xl. 25). In the giving of the law, and the injunctions to the people of old, we discover the purity of God. The outward splendours set forth the dlied perfections of God. Holiness in God is not a quality, but his essence. The moel glorious creatures in heaven and earth are only holy by participation. "There is none holy as the Lord." He is eminently, essentially, and constantly holy. " Soilness," says Hodge, "is God's infinite moral perfection crowning his infinite intelligence and power. There is a glory of each attribute viewed My, and a glory of the whole together. The intellectual nature is the of the moral : infinite moral perfection is tne crown of the Godhead. Holiness Lb the total glory thus crowned." " Who is like unto thee, glorious in holiness ( " III. Glory in light. " And his brightness was as the light." God dwells in light inaccessible, yel shone forth in rays more brilliant than tho sun. 1. lAght which illuminated heaven. " His glory covered the heavens." Not only the top of Sinai, but the broad expanse above. 2. Light which filled the earth. "The earth was full of his p raise." The wonders of his power and glory called forth universal praise. " I > Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the . who hast sel thy glory above the heavens." 3. Light Jinked with 'power. " He had horns coining out of his hand." Horns are emblems of strength. The of light v. of might, radiant as the face of Moses. The fiery law went from his right, hand (Deut. xxxiii. 2)j by its majesty and mission administered death (2 1 Cor. iii. 7); and yel was a ty] f the glory which remains in the gospel (2 Cor. iii. 11). The horn of salvation has been raised up. in Christ to destroy the wicked and save th i (Luke ii. 69). IV. Glory in judgment. "Before him went the pestilence, and burning eoals went forth at his feet." Death and chap, in.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIABAKKUK. 51 o destruction of all kinds are a great army, marshalled and directed by him in their mission. Pestilence and plague often go before him as heralds of his approach. Judgments attend Mm ready to obey his bid. Burning coals lie beneath his feet, to fling upon the foe. " If the law were thus given, how shall it be required % " says one. " If such were the proclamation of God's statutes, what shall the sessions be1?" If outward manifestations are so awful, what horrible tempests will be rained upon the wicked (Ps. xi. 0). "Sinai's gray top shall tremble " [Milton]. The Hidings of Divine Power. — Ver. 4. Great as this " splendour and retinue" was, it was only the veil or hiding of his power. The excessive brightness concealed the Divine glory. " And there was the hiding of his power." I. Divine power is hidden in the splendour of Divine revelation. As the rays i >f light hide the sun in their brilliance, so Divine manifestations ved the power of God. The garment of light covers his real essence and attributes. The works of God display his power, — the heavens his glory, and the earth his goodness ; but one half is not seen. The secrets of his wisdom and power are double to that which is (Job xi. 6). He is omnipresent, yet incomprehensible. In his person and procedure there are unfathomable " depths " of wisdom and knowledge. His ways are past finding out. Notwithstanding nature and Scripture, reason and religion, he will still remain an " unknown God." " Canst thou by searching find out God ] Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection1?" II. Divine power is hidden as a discipline to human souls. Darkness and light always meet in God. This invisibility of God — 1. Is essential to our free agency. If God were visible to the human eye, and constrained us by his Almighty power, we could not be free. Like a parent God sees our ways, but leaves us to act as responsible agents. Too much light might overpower us, and throw us, like Paul, prostrate on the ground. 2. Is essential to our moral discipline. God's light will be darkness to those who wish to gaze into it. It will veil his love and mercy. His darkness will be light to those who wish to trust and obey. The hiding of his power may be for shelter or for judgment. We know enough of God in his goodness, and can never comprehend him in his glory. " The phenomena of matter and force lie within our intellectual range. But behind, and above, and around all, the real mystery of the universo remains unsolved " [TyndaU\. Angels veil their faces. Let us adore and submit to his will. " Lo, these are parts of his ways : but how little a portion is heard of him 1 but the thunder of his power who can understand ] " HOMILETIO HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 3. God came. Ancient wonders the music probably continuing alone, pledges of future deliverance. Prayer while the mind rested on the thought will gather arguments for hope and duty which had just been presented to it ; our from the storehouse of experience con- 'interlude'" [PwseyJ. cerning the past. . . Selah indicates — 1. The weight of '(I S1"S the ™rior and hls "Wjjjj^i the matter, not a mere transient glory. 2. The solemnity with which we should Notice — 1. Who comes. God, Jehovah. consider it. We must pause and dwell The Holy One. 2. Bow he comes. 3. upon it until our hearts are duly affected. What he comes for. (a) To deliver his "There is no doubt as to the general people. (/>') To punish their enemies. purport of the word— that it isa musical Ver. 4. 1. There is much more to be direction, that there should be a pause, known of Cod in his works and ways HOMILETIC COMMENTARY; UABAKKUK. [chap. hi. q possibly know in our present knowledge far beyond what has been 2 K : , ; tions and opera- witnessed in the past. "0 God, we ere veiled, (a) to train the Church have heard with our ears, and our i„ faith, pi bumble dependence ; fathers have declared unto us, the noble permit the wicked to display their works that thou didst in their days, and ad finish their iniquity. 3. in the old time before them. O Lord, there will be greater displays of arise : help us, and deliver us, for thine ] )ivi : and a glorious increase of honour " [Litany of Church of England]. HOMILETICS. Tin: Measured Inheritance. — Verses 6, 7. These words describe the effects of God's approach. He stood like a mighty warrior in his conquering career. The earth trembled, and primeval mountains Ived into dust. We lake it in reference to Canaan. As Joshua conquered and divided the land, so God measured and portioned it out to his people. I. The inheritance measured. He " measured the earth." He measured the whole, and the portion for each tribe. It was no scramble, but appointment by lot and rule He "divided them an inheritance by line" (Ps. lxxviii. 55). God ires the earth by bounds and borders to the various nations that dwell upon it. "Thoa hast set all the borders of the earth" (Ps. lxxiv. 17). Lands and continents and islands, are mapped out by him. He defined the shape and weighed the elements of the world. In righteous judgment he observes the ways, and fixes the bounds of man's habitations (Acts xvii. 2G). He ordains our present ad will fix out final destiny. II. The inheritance gained. " He beheld, and drove asunder the nations." Notice — 1. The ease />;/ which it was gained. He I in tin- midst of his glory, without going forth, and simply looked. What tip' consequence 1 (1) All nations were scattered. Though strong and numerous, ami their possession ancient and stable as the everlasting hills. (2) All rition was subdued. At his presence, kings and princes, firm and immovable on their thrones, -were overcome. The mountains were thrashed, and the hills made small before him (Isa. xli. 15). (3) All enemies were terrified. "I saw the of ( 'ushan in affliction." The tidings of his wondrous acts threw neighbouring nations into despair (Ex. xv. 14 — 16). So now at the approach of God the sinner trembles in fear. Before his rebuke nations wither away. No shelters, no tents nor curtains can hide from him. "The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, ami the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein." 2. Tin deliberation by which it was gained. " His ways are everlasting." This was no sudden, precipitate work. It was by the eternal purpose and strict justice of * rod. The works and ways of God arc coherent, unchangeable, and true. They have steps and progress, but no change. His creative and providential acts are the same in all ages. " If God could change his purpose," says Charnock, " he would change his nature." " Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the World." The Chariots of Salvation. — Verses 8 — 11. "The ode, taking B new turn, now passes from the description of the coming of I rod, to an address to God himself. To the mental eye of the prophet, God presents himself as judge of the world, in the threatening attitude of a warlike hero equipped for conflict, bo that he asks him what is the object of his wrath" [A'eiY]. I. The design of the chariots. God was not angry with the rivers and seas. They were troubled on account of his. appearance to deliver. He comes not to troy, but tu save. The chariots of Pharaoh and of antichrist are chariots of chap, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HABAKKUK. 517 destruction. From theso God will ever preserve his people. "When he comes anything will bring them salvation. God has many chariots. Clouds and darkness are his pavilion, winds and waves are chariots of victory. " The war-chariots of Elohim are myriads, a thousand thousands" (Ps. lxviii. 17). II. The Driver of the chariots. "Was the Lord displeased]" " Thou didst cleave the earth," &c God himself is set forth in majesty and grace, clad like a warrior, and terrible as a judge. 1. The Driver is angry. "Anger" existed, though not against the rivers. God was " displeased " with the wicked, and his works revealed his mind. In- sensible creatures reprove the impenitence of men, and tremble at the power of God. " What ailed thee, 0 thou sea, that thou ileddest 1 thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back1? " 2. TJie Driver is mighty. " Thy bow was made quite naked." The sheath was laid aside and cast away. The arms were stretched, and judgments were about to be shot swift as an arrow (Isa. xxii. G : Ps. lxiv. 7). Quite naked was the bow, and not drawn back. Power was really displayed, and the enemy destroyed. God is a man of war, shoots arrows with certainty, and never misses the mark (Job xvi. 12). "The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name." 3. The Driver is resolved in -purpose. " According to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word." The promise was given to his servants, and confirmed with oaths. Judgments upon the wicked, and salvation for his people, are sworn matters; oaths, and interpositions for all ages (cf. Deut. xxxii. 40 — 42 : Ps. lxxvii. 8). " The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would grant us, that we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear." III. The effects of the chariots. The world of nature suffers under the judicial hand of God. 1. The earth was convulsed by his "power. Mountains trembled at his presence, and "skipped like rams." Rivers broke out of the deep, 'and rolled their floods into the splits of solid earth. The sea roared, the abyss lifted its waves, and uttered its voice to its Maker. What happened to the sea happened to the river. God repeats his miracles. "When great dangers are passed little ones should not terrify us. " Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood : thou driedst up mighty rivers" (Ps. lxxiv. 15; lxxviii. 15, 16). 2. The heavens were eclipsed with his splendour. "The sun and moon stood still (retired) in their habitation" at the prayer of Joshua, and in the tempest of "great stones from heaven" (Josh. x. 11 — 13). At the light, the directions of God's arrows, and the shining of his spear, Israel went forward. The darts of God smote their enemies. Their brilliant splendour brought salvation to one and destruction to the other. " The stars in their courses fought against Sisera." But all these displays were eclipsed by tho Divine perfections on the cross — when Christ suffered for sin amid the darkness and shaking of creation. How glorious the displays when the earth quaked and angels attended the resurrection — when the Holy Ghost came down on Pentecost to enlighten his people, erect his kingdom, and to avenge himself of his adversaries. HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 9. Thy how. The Divine archer, abundance, rivers to quench thirst, &c. "The how represents the threat of the "He smote the rock, that the waters vengeance of Almighty God, from which gushed out, and the streams overflowed " it is at length discharged, if not turned (Ps. lxxviii. 20 ; cxiv. 8). aside; the longer the string is drawn, Vers. 10, 11. He who fixed tho the sharper issueth the arrow. So then world's pillars can make them rock in the more the coming' of the day of their sockets, and upheave the corner- judgment is delayed, the stricter is the stones of creation. The huge mountains severity of the judgment then issuing" are torn up by the roots when tho Lord \Pusey\ bestirs himself in anger to smite the Cleave the earth. 1. Divine poAver. enemies of his people. How shall puny 2. Divine goodness, in its design and man be able to face it out with God 6 . g HOMILETIC COMMENT, tRY : IIABAKKUK. [cnkv. in. when the mountains quake with fearl the powers of earth and heaven, sun and 1 • not the boaster dream that his storms, earthquakes and floods, subser- t false confidence will support vient to God's purpose, and typical of bin in the dread dayof wrath [Spurgeon]. his judgments. Notice— The ease with Vl.r 11 The judgments of God are which they are collected, the order in ■ light to his people, while they are the which they are linked, and the destruc- iction of his enemies j in them tion they create. This, a hope to the learn righteousness [Pusey]. All righteous, and a warning to the wicked. HOMILETICS. 'I'm: Eoyal March. — Verses 12 — 15. y | ■•>,_ jg us,.,i 0f \\w Bolemn and majestic proceeding of Jehovah before the Judg. v. I : Ps. lxviii. 8 : cf. Henderson). The defeat and extermination of the Canaanites and the planting of Israel were the doings of Jehovah. I. A benevolent march. " Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people." We ipeak of " the wanderings of Israel," but they were an appointed, well-ordered ■', designed for victory. God, as Commander-in-chief, went with them. "With tnointed instruments — Moses, Joshua, and David, types of the Messiah — he delivered them from their enemies. Salvation is the design, and will be the result, ..f all the doings of God for his people. The Church will never lack leaders, but in each we have a pledge of eternal deliverance by Jesus Christ. "He that is our God La tie- ( rod of salvation ; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death." II. A terrible march. The march was not only in royal dignity, but in judicial power. 1. Terrible in its aspects. "Thou didst walk through the sea with thine -." In majesty, power, and splendour, the Exodus was the type of all riee present and future. Waters stand on heap, and the deep becomes a path for hi- people. "Dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name" (Isa. lxiii. 12, 13). 2. Terrible in its consequences. The foes, princes, and peoples, were overthrown, exterminated, and supplanted. He slew great kings and famous (Ps. exxxvi. 17, 18). Much more will God display his power to exalt Christ and overthrow his enemies. "The Lord is the saving strength of his anointed." III. A triumphant march. No obstacles impeded the march. Mountains shook, waters tied, and the lofty bowed before God's presence in his Church. 1. Royal houses were destroyed. "Thou woundedst the head out of the ..I' tie' wicked." Each head and prince which sprung from the family was cut oil", in cities and villages. The neck, an emblem of dignity and power (Cant. iv. 4) ; stubbornness ami pride (Deut. xxxi. 27 : Ps. lxxv. 5) was laid bare. The lead and foundation, high and low, were completely destroyed. "I will cut off from Babylon the name and remnant, and son, and nephew (grandson), saith the ' •_'. Warlike nations were defeated. "They came out (were tempestuous) whirlwind to scatter me." Violent, powerful, and insatiable were the enemies. Pharaoh and Sennacherib came out as a storm, to sweep everything before them, like chaff in tie' wilderness (.Icr. xiii. 24 ; xviii. 17 : Isa. xli. 16). "I will pursue, I will overtake, 1 will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them." (a) Defeated in their secret " Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly." The poor are not a match for tie' powerful. Hence their pride and confidence of success. But God frustrated their intentions. Their boasting made their fall more disgraceful, and G L's caro for his people more glorious. (b) Defeated with their own weapons. I I truck through " with his staves." The destruction was not only upon himself, but upon the multitude of his subjects, and through an act of Divine might by his own weapons. The mischief which he had prepared for others fell upon himself. This has always been the case. With the Midianites and Amalekites (Judg. vii. chap, iii.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIABAKKUK. 519 22) ; with the Philistines (1 Sam. xiv. 16—20) ; and the inhahitants of Seir (2 Chron. xx. 22, 23) ; in the case of Hainan and Daniel those who made the pit fell into it. Heathens declared that there was " no justcr law than that artificers of death by their own art should perish." Fearful will be the future illustrations of this principle (cf. Ezek. xxxviii. 21 : Isa. ix. 20 : Zech. xiv. 13). HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 12. 1. God's anger. 2. The report of God's anger. "Through the land." JSTot the mere land of Canaan, but the whole earth. 3. The fearful consequences of God's anger. "Thou didst thresh," a word indicating the ease and power with which this was done, and the com- plete subjugation of the enemy (Mic. iv. 13). Ver. 13. Head. "He shall destroy at once, from above and below ; over- throAving his kingdom from the found- ation. From above, his head was crushed in pieces ; from below, the house was razed from its very foundations " \Pusey\. The power, pride, and wisdom, the very life of evil to be conquered by God. " He smites his foes on the crown of their pride," says one. " The seed of the woman crushes the serpent's head. There is no defence against the Lord, he can in a moment smite Avith utter destruction the lofty crests of his haughty foes " (cf. Ps. lxviii. 21 ; ex. 6). Ver. 14. 1. The end in vieAv — " devour the poor." 2. The method of accomplishing the end — " secretly." 3. The feeling Avith which the end is pursued. " Their rejoicing." The rich boast in Avealth, the mighty in poAver ; but the cruel exult in mischief. The ferocity, craft, and activity of the op- pressor, and the danger, snares, and helplessness of the oppressed, arc de- scribed. " Do not insult calamity ; It is a barbarous grossness to lay on The weight of scorn, -where heavy misery Too much already weighs men's fortunes down " [Daniel], Ver. 15. A second glance. 1. In time of ease Ave are satisfied Avith a cursory glance, a time of trouble promotes a deeper vieAv of God's works. "We seek relief, and find that a\tc never dwell enough on them. Particularly, extraor- dinary Avorks Avould be oftener remem- bered, so much doth the prophet's practice of looking over again on this act teach us. 2. It is Avorthy of our second and serious thought — both to honour God and confirm our faith — to consider that God's people are so dear unto him that he will change the course of nature to save them ; that he can make them go safely, like conquerors, through affliction and danger [Hutche- son\ Take the verse as emblematic of God's ways. 1. Deep as the sea. 2. SAvift and orderly, as horses yoked in a chariot. 3. Safe, though threatened by the " heap of great waters " boiling up as in a storm. " The immediate connection, hoAA'-ever, shows that AAThat the prophet has in view is not the Red Sea, but the hostile army of the Canaanites, which presented a furious and impenetrable aspect to the HebreAVS. Through this army Jehovah is represented as walking Avith his warriors, as if a general were coolly to march his cavalry through the thickest of a proud and vaunting foe, Avhich he kneAv would prove utterly poAverless in the attack " [Hendersori\. IIOMILETICS. A Song of Triumph. — Verses 1G — 18. These verses form the second part of the ode, describe tho feelings of the prophet under threatened judgments, and his exulting joy and confidence in God. Beginning with a sorroAvful note, he closes AA'ith a burst of jubilant melody. The birds which thrill out the sweetest music, love retirement ; so this psalmist— one of the most Avonderful of human singers— sings out of obscurity. We learn that — 520 HOM1LETIC COMMENTARY: IIABAKKUK. [chap. ill. I God usually meets the varied wants of men by lavish provision. Fig-tree, Tine, and olive ; adds, docks, and herds indicate variety and plenty. We do not b world unprepared for us. Ample provisions were ready beforehand. Marvellous vegetation, fierce fires, volcanic agencies, and toiling waters were pioneers for human settlors. We have an attractive view of God's goodness and character when we think of him as the Provider. We evade the idea of a Father's bounty by Bpeaking vaguely of providence. What is providence but the wise action, the benevolent operation, of gigantic forces 1 Good comes to us through : but who controls the laws? Providence is the chosen way of a loving Father's dealing. The Bible takes us directly to God, who gives lavishly out of "the riches of his goodness" (cf. Ps. civ. : Jas. i. 16, 17). Ample provision is for our needs and pleasure — 1. sensational; 2. intellectual; 3. social; 4. moral ; 5. spiritual II. God must be recognized as the Absolute Proprietor in this provision. The prophet contemplates famine, failure, and desolating death. Though God usually provides abundance and variety, he can reverse this action and suspend the course of nature (Ps. cvii. 31 — 43). Health may fail, friends be removed, plans be frustrated, and privation be felt. Dependent are we from first to last. Resumption of his gifts establishes God's claim to ownership. (Illus. Abraham's offering of Isaac.) The fig-tree without blossom, the vine without fruit, the olive destitute of oil ; the barren fields, the smitten flocks, and the empty stalls ; impressively tell us that the Lord God Almighty is the Absolute Proprietor. III. In direct calamity it is our privilege to rejoice in God our Provider. Ver. 18. 1. A victorious faith, "Yet." Note the yets. " Yea, they may forget, yet will I not" (Isa. xlix. 15). " Yet will I look again" (Jon. ii. 4). "I am poor and needy, yet" (Ps. xl. 17). " Truth Lord, yet " (Matt. xv. 27). "Though he slay me, yet " (Job xiii. 15). Change may take place in the manner of God's treatment, but never in his character. " I am that I am." If business prosper not, what then I How shall I find bread 1 " Man doth not live by bread alone." God asks for entire trust. " Pest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him." " This is the ry — even our faith." This sublime confidence was nourished by — 2. A precious tx/i' /■/< ii<-.-. "The God of my salvation," are words that reveal manifold past deliver- " Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice." Then, in troubles, bodily, mental, and circumstantial ; in family trials, business losses, and painful hereavements ; expect the fulfilment of the promise. " I will never leave thee." 3. A noble resolve. "I will rejoice in the Lord." "Tho •• who have the Jehovah for their strength, should make him their song. Let the : ' barked, privation be felt, and the worst come; tho trust fid spirit may rejoice in I rod, and triumph over all. In suffering we may say, ' In the night his song shall he with me ' " {Matthew Braithwaite], God the Fountain op Perpetual Joy. I. Joy in anticipated trials. The prophet heard of a gloomy future, saw one support after another fail, yet his hope brightens, and joy increases as sorrows multiply. We cannot expect freedom from trouble. Nor is it often that we are permitted to see the future. No approach of foreign foes, no threatening of famine and failure of fruit-trees, Loom before us. Yet how disquieted when business fails, and family prospects darken ! We fear as we enter the cloud, faint unless we see ti'' g Lnees of God, and never rejoice in anticipation of trials. Not at "the bright," hut at "the dark, side" of things do we look. "All these things are against me." But through the darkness faith discerns the light, pictures unfailing joy, and exults in the friendship of God, when all things fail beside. II. Joy in present afflictions. The prophet not merely anticipates distress, but stands in the midst of it. Barrenness and failure, disappointment and grief, are actually seen and felt. Put the sufferings do not freeze him into a misanthrope, nor sour him chap, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: UABAKKUK. 521 into wretchedness. He is hopeful, and resolved to rejoice. It is said that Dr. Priestly was one of the happiest of men. The greater his trouble, the greater was his conviction that some special good was in store for him ; the darker the sorrow, the stronger grew the sentiment that joy was to succeed. " Such a way of looking at things," says one, " literally converted every cloud that darkened his horizon into a shadow of good things to come." In all our clouds wo may find sunshine and passing scenes coloured with future glory. " Now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds : but the wind passeth, and cleanseth them." III. Joy in eternal duration. If the soul be immortal its happiness must bo durable as its nature. The world and all in it will perish. The man of the world deeply regrets loss in trial, but the Christian rejoices in God. Those who enjoy God in all things, can enjoy all things in God. Amid the ruins of nature, they are rich in him. When all created streams are dried, God is an everlasting fountain of bliss. When the granary is empty, an assurance of joy will be better than a " harvest home " (Ps. iv. 7). Christ in the heart is better than grapes in the vintage. "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God ; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation," &c. (Isa. lxi. 10; xli. 1G). " Though vine nor fig-tree neither Their wonted fruit should bear ; Though all the field should wither, Nor flock nor herd be there ; Yet God the same abiding, His praise shall tune my voice : For while in him confiding, I cannot but rejoice " \Cowper\. God all-sufficient in Trouble. — Verso 19. The prophet now openly declares the source of his joy and strength, and predicts the safety and moral elevation of his people. In language borrowed from Scripture he expresses the all-sufficiency of God, the hope of support in trouble, complete deliverance from the enemy, and undisturbed possession of the land. I. God is strength in weakness. " The Lord God is my strength." Strength to bear trial, and to triumph in conflict. Neither spiritual nor military soldiers can do exploits in weakness. The Christian is only a hero, and the secret springs of his courage only in God. If he strengthens, nothing can weaken. " The Lord is the strength of my life." II. God is safety in danger. In this language we have — 1. Deliverance from the enemy. He is the God of salvation, rises up to judge the nations, and deliver his people. Assailed on every side, yet delivered from the strong enemy (Ps. xviii. 17). When rescued we must remember our weakness, and ascribe all to God. " Behold, God is my salvation ; I will trust, and not be afraid : for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song." 2. Pursuit of the enemy. " He will make my feet like hinds' feet." Celerity of motion was deemed a necessity in the hero of antiquity. He must suddenly attack and vigorously pursue the enemy. Achilles was swift-footed. The men who came to David had not only faces like lions, but were " swift as the roes upon the mountains," to pursue or escape the foes (1 Chron. xii. 8 : cf . 2 Sam. i. 19 ; ii. 18). 3. Security from the enemy. " He will make me to walk upon mine high places." As David climbed rocks and steep cliffs to be safe from pursuit, so God's people are sheltered in mountain fastnesses in spiritual war. They are swift to pursue and agile to climb. Ascending into impregnable heights we are preserved from falling, and made to stand where the wild goat can find no footing. " He niaketh my feet liko hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places." H0MILET1C COMMENTARY: IIABAKKUK. [chap. Ill EOMILETIO HINTS A XD OUTLINES. Ver. 16. Thai I may rest. 1. Rest in trouble. Peace of conscience, calm- of mind, because the mind is stayed upon God indistress. "Thouwiltkeep him in perfect peace, whose mind is 1 on thee, 1" cause he trusteth in l: ■■ through fear. "The true and only path to rest" says Calvin, "is through such fear. Whoever issecurely torpid and hardened towards God will be tumultuoualy agitated in the day of affliction, and so will bring on himself ■ worse destruction ; but he who in time God's wrath, and trembles at his threats, prepares the best rest for him- i the day of tribulation." peace nor case the heart can know*, Which, like the needle true, Turn-; at the touch of joy or woe, Bat taming, trembles too" [Mrs, Oreville], Vers. 17, 18. Fortitude in affliction. power of habit and character," Sir J. Macintosh, "to struggle t outward evils, has been proved cperience to be in some instances so prodigious, that no man can presume to fix tin; utmost limit of possible in- "." Vers. 18, 19. 1. God the source of 2. God the source of strength. 3. God the source of salvation. In both verses we have dangerous positions, wonderful achievements, and secure dwelling-places. Ver. 19. "Mine high places." The '• high places " are called " mine," to imply that Israel shall be restored to his own land, a land of hills, which are places of safety and of eminence (cf. Gen. xix. 17, " escape to the mountain ;" and Matt. xxiv. 16) [Fausset]. Morally, high places of knowledge, holiness, use- fulness, and progress heavenwards — "heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Chief singer. Servants of God do not despise music, but only give direc- tions how it should be properly used in the praise of God \Lange\ We too have our high places, of honour, service, temptation, and danger, but hitherto we have been kept from falling. Bring hither the harp, and let us emulate the psalmist's joyful thanks- giving; had Ave fallen, our wailings must have been terrible ; since we have stood, let our gratitude be fervent [Spurgeorij. "The Lord was ready to save me ; therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the ^house of the Lord " (Is. xxxviii. 20). "If music be the food of love, play on, Give me excess of it " [Shaksjwv]. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER III. Ver. 2. Mercy is wanted for England. The i i of this country belongs "He class only, but to all classes. Sin run-: down the streets. We have a binge of elegant morality, but behind it of rottenness. There is immor- ality in t ' :it night, and dis- honesty of business men in high places. Cheating and thieving upon the grandest are winked at. This city is wicked, and tin- land full of fornication ami idolatry. 1 may not utter a wailing; but having heard the Lord's speech, I may be afraid, exhort you to pray for this land, ami ask God to revive his work, that drunkenness and dishonesty may cease [ SpurgeonX Vera 1 — 7. Hiding. Man's know-- ledgo is confined to parts only of God's ways. The extremities or forthgoings of his a'l ministration are visible on earth only. The springs, principles, and anterior steps are above and out of man's sight [Dr. Chalmers]. Ver. 0. Measured the earth. " Then i „ay'd the fervid wheels, and in his hand He took the golden compasses, prepared In God's eternal store, to circumscribe This universe, and all created things. One foot he centred, and the other turn'd ltound through the vast profundity obscure ; A ml said, Thus far extend, thus far thy bounds, This bo thy just circumference, 0 world!" [Milton]. Ver. 9. Bow naked. The drawing of the bow was a mark of great skill and slaughter. CHAP. III.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: TIABAKKUK. .023 " So the great master drew the mighty how, And drew with ease. One hand aloft display'd The bending horns, and one the string essay'd." [Pope's llomer.] Yers. 10 — 15. The whole passage depicts God's descent to help his people, attended hy earthquake, splendour, and power. So tremendous was the shock of God's assault in arms that the order of nature was changed, and the hottoms of rivers and seas were laid hare. What will not Jehovah's rebuke do 1 Vain are the attempts of men to conceal anything from him whose word unbars the deep, and lifts the doors of earth from their hinges ! Vain are all hopes of resist- ance, for a whisper of his voice makes the whole earth quail in ahject terror [Spurgeon]. The volcanic phenomena of Palestine open a question of which the data arc, in a scientific point of view, too imper- fect to he discussed ; hut there is enough in the history and literature of the people to show that there was an agency of this kind at work. Their traces on the per- manent feeling of the nation must ho noticed. The writings of the psalmists and prophets ahound with indications which escape the eye of a superficial reader. Like the soil of their country, they actually heave and lahour with the fiery convulsions which glow heneath their surface [A. P. Stanley]. JIOMILETIC COMMENTARY ZEPHANIAH. INTRODUCTION. Tin: "Wkitku. In ull probability Zephaniah was a prince as well as a prophet; in virtue of his descent from Hezekiah, the pious king of Judah; who, aided and • by another royal prophet, Isaiah, wrought a notable reformation in the faith and morals of the chosen people. In the title prefixed to this prophecy his pedigree is traced, through four descents, to a Hezekiah, and there abruptly termi- . as though, the name being will-known to fame, there was no need to carry it further. < Ordinarily, only tin: name of a prophet's father is given. The fact that, contrary to custom, Zephaniah's pedigree is traced up to his great-great-grandfather, is an indication that this ancestor, Hezekiah, was a man whose name was held in :y and honour. We lind no Hezekiah known to fame in the Hebrew annals, save Hezekiah the king ; and therefore it is probable that the Hezekiah from whom proud to descend, was that devout king who for a time arrested the downward current of th ■ Hebrew story [Samuel Cox]. Tin: I»atk. In the reign of King Josiah (641 — G10 B.C.), who, aided by ..: all and others, reformed public morals. This date is corroborated by state- in the Book itself. The fall of Nineveh and the overthrow of Assyria are ted ; he must therefore have prophesied before these events (625 b. c.) i.e. in the former half of the reign of Josiah. Idolatry was extensively abolished, but onant was left (<:h. i. 4). "This exactly tallies with the state of things in Judah from the twelfth to the eighteenth year of Josiah; for though this monarch :. in the former of those years, to effect a reformation, it was not till the latter that i< scuted with more successful results " [Henderson], At this time the was corrupt a.s the religion. Princes and judges, priests and prophets, were alike in sin. Law was disregarded between man and man, and worship was profaned by Baal and Moloch. Prophets uttered not the word of God, but fine-spun deceits (iii. * i o£ Jer. v. 13). With the mass of the people religious feeling was extinct. Thousands lived in scepticism and perfect indifference, indulged in lust and love of money, and declared that God would neither reward men for virtue nor punish INTRODUCTION. 525 them for vice. " In short, the interior of the temple, which had been suffered to fall into a ruinous disrepair, was an apt symbol of the spiritual decay that was eating out the very heart of the national life, and unity, and strength." The Book. Scope. Zephaniah does for the two, what had been done by Hosea for the ten, tribes of Israel. Hosea is the first, Zephaniah is the last, of the minor prophets before the captivity. The contents of the Book correspond to the position of the author. They have a retrospective and a prospective character [cf. Words- worth]. In its general scope, it closely resembles the prophecy of Joel. It traverses the same large circle of thought. In both there is, first, a threatening of judgment; then, a call to repentance ; and last, the promise of a golden age of concord and peace. In both the history of the chosen race swells and grows into the history of the world at large. In both the prophet starts from the history of the past, and presses on into the future, until he is met by apocalyptic visions of a regenerated race dwelling amid the sweet bounty and peace of a restored universe [S. Cox]. Contents. I. The exordium (i. 1 — 6). Announcement of judgment upon the world and upon Israel, arising from the evil condition of the present. II. The description of the judgment (i. 7 — 18). (a) In reference to its objects (7 — 13) ; (b) In reference to its dreadfidness (14 — 18). III. An exhortation to seek God (ii. 1 — 3). IV. An announcement of the judgment upon the heathen nations (ii. 4 — 15). V. A repeated description of the remediless misery in Jerusalem (iii. 1 — 7). VI. The promise of salvation (iii. 8 — 20). (a) The salvation of the heathen following the judgment (1 — 10). (b) The purification of Israel (11 — 13). (c) The salvation of Israel (14 — 20) [Langc]. Style. The prophet borrows from the language and words of predecessors. This " arises," says Pusey, " not as people have been pleased to say — from any declension in the originality of the prophets at his date, but from his subject." It has been said, " If any one desire to see the utterances of the prophets in brief space, let him read through this brief Zephaniah." At times he is concise and poetic, yet full and vivid in his pictures. " Joel," says one, " is the most abstract of prophets, and touches the history of his time at points comparatively few ; while Zephaniah abounds in minute and elaborate allusions to the poetical facts and events of his age. And hence, while Joel may be read with edification by the simple and unlettered, Zephaniah is well-nigh a sealed Book to them until a scholar unlooses the seals and opens the Book." " The impressive, deeply impassioned severity of his style, well deserves that his Book should be designated as the dies irce of the Old Testament " [Lanye], H0MILBT1C COMMENTARY: ZEPIIANIA1L [chap. i. CHAPTER I. CkitI'U. NOTBB.] 2. Consume] From root; to destroy^ utterly to sweep away (cf. Jer. viii. 13) " The enumeration of particulars is designed to augment the fearful and Qojrei ' of tin- punishment " \E«nderaon\. Causes, idols, which made them offend or ■tumble (Ezek. xiv. 3, 1, 7). 4.] Judgment, especially upon Judah. Stretch] Not only threaten, .. ■ r to injurv. Remnant] Statues, images dedicated to Baal, domestic and tutelary god of tin' Phcanioians. 5. J The people now denounced for star-worship and incense-burning upon the flat :. Jer. XIX. 13: ll Kings xxiii. 12); for combining the worship of God with ry. Swear] Acknowledge in public, solemn manner; openly to pledge one's service (2 Chron. it. 14). 6.) Two further classes mentioned — those who entirely apostate, and those who are indifferent. 7 j j . . [j comes. Hold] A summons to silent submission (Hab. ii. 20); the reason given, the day near. Sacrifice] of victims of justice (Isa. xxxiv. 6 : Jer. xlvi. 10) ; "nations consecrated t i war, thai they may consume Jacob" (Jer. x. 25) [Keif], Guests] Lit. sanctified those invited riii. 8:1 Sam. ix. 13 — 22: xvi. 5). 8. Princes] should have set an example of virtue, but oppressors. Strange] Peculiar vestments belonging to the worship of each idol (•_• Kii 22) a violation of law (Deut. xxii. 5). 9. Leap] An idol rite practised in the temple of 5 im. v. 5). Fill] With goods obtained by violence. The servants of the princes were ■ ish out of the palace, seize the property of others to increase their master's wealth. ! Jerusalem. Gate] whi h stood near fish-market (2 Chron. xxxiii. 14 : Neh. iii. 3). Second] A pari of the city given (2 Kings xxii. 11:2 Chron. xxxiv. 22). Hills] within the walls, ind Bloriah. Crashing] Breaking to pieces of what now exists, not merely fall of buildings, .,- I- 1. v, . .;. A cry at the threat of utter destruction [Keil]. 11. Maktesh] A rock in form of a . where they hulled rice and corn. "The name probably chosen to express how their false inded on the presence of God's temple among them, while by their sins they profaned it, should be turned into true fears " [Puaey]. 12. Candles] Diligently and thoroughly (Luke xv. 8) ; • tn v would lei ii- ■ corner escape them. Lees] Quiet, retaining harshness, and growing turbid and thick, ltd rerance, confirmation in moral indifference (Jer. xlviii. 11). Say] : him level with idols, who did neither good nor ill (Isa. xli. 23: Jer. \. 6). 13] God proved to be ruler and judge, by giving up their wealth to plunder, and punishing them "i bis nine' (Deut. xxviu. 30: Amos v. 11). 14]. The hint of ver. 7 carried out further ; the nearness and terrible character of judgment described. Great] in effects (Joel ii. 11). Bitterly, I'or be cannot save himself from the toi ; the might of the heroes and the city utterly 15.] All the words supplied by the Language crowded together to describe the terrors of judg- ment [cf. I\ ■' II' first, as the day of wrath (Isa. xi\. 18). The effect of wrath, distress and pn -ure Job xv. 21) : then ar< duplication (cf. Nah. ii. 11) ; desolation, &c. (Job xxx. 3 ; xxxviii. ! ;. . 1G. j •' Indicating still more closely the nature of the judgment, as a day of the trumpet ■■ trumpet-blast, i. e. on whicb the clangour of the war trumpets will be heard over all the , and tie' enemy will attack, take, and destroy fortified places amidst the ]. 17.] No belp nor counsel in this distress. Blind] Groping insecurely, or in [Deut xxviii. 29: Nah. ii. .5). Dust] Of as little value and in riii. 16,: et 2 Bongsxiii. 7). Flesh] From a root to eat ; equivalent to food rob IX. . "Their flesh here called bread, because doomed to be the food of worms" t. •!<]. 18.] With silver and gold they cannot save themselves. No heed given to riches y th( I u mil 17 : -I- r. iv. 80 : Ezek. vii ID). Fire] will devastate ; cause speedy and tion. " A consumption, and that a sudden one " [Calvin']. HOMILETICS. 'I'm: Destructive Judgments. — Verses 2, 3. 'I'll'' ] pie had been formerly warned, but heeded not; now threatenings are I. Di traction, like another deluge, is to sweep the whole earth. I. The universality of the judgments. The judgment of Judah is preceded by "ii" upon all nations. The prophet was not of aselfish and bigoted spirit, lie erned himself with the tat.- of heathen countries, ami proved that the destiny of the world was linked with that of the chosen people. As the result of judg- ment, nations will be converted to God (eh. iii. 9), and the world renewed and glorified. II. The severity of the -judgments. Everything is specified aud chap, i.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : ZETUANIAH. . 7 paired, like the threat of old (Gen. vi. 7). The calamity will he as terrible as the flood. 1. Inferior creatures destroyed. " The fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea." 2. Human beings destroyed. " I will consume men." Man is the lord. not the helpless victim, of nature. All things are put under his feet, suffer for his guilt, and share his fate. "All sheep and oxen, yea, and the heasts of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea." Dumb hrutes cry out against human guilt. We should learn God's displeasure against sin when we see innocent crea- tures suffer for it. III. The design of the judgments. Joel (ii. 12 — 14) and Zephaniah were deeply convinced that all sorrows and calamities were disciplin- ary— that judgments were mixed with mercy, and designed to purify human life. God afflicts men to restore their souls. The wicked are swept away, and their offences with them. Sad when life itself must he taken away to cleanse it from corruption and guilt. But nations have thus heen purified from idolatry and oppression, and thus will it he at the last day, when the Son of Man " shall gather out of his kingdom all firings that ofl'end, and them that do iniquity." HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 1. The prophet's employment, ruption and destruction, or the indis- To declare God's wrord, reprove sin, and soluble link. reform society. 2. The prophet's au- Ver. 3. Wicked villi their offences. thority. The word came directly from Wickedness, corrupting the earth — en- God. His doctrine not devised by men, tailing suffering on the brute creation — hut received by inspiration. 3. The, necessitating Divine interference, and dis- prophet's age. " In the days of Josiah, playing Divine love. " I beheld, and lo, king of Judah." In times of general there was no man, and all the birds of defection, God's mercy is so great, that the heavens were fled " (Jer. iv. 25 : cf. means are multiplied to reclaim men xii. 4). "As God's acts of deliverance from sin. " Not many noble," but are connected in time with his acts of some are called to this work. Here judgment (since his judgments are ever we have a king, and the son of a king, separations of the godly from the un- engaged in the service of God. godly, and in this .sense, salvations and Ver. 2. / will utterly consume. A deliverances), so also are the revelationa tragical beginning of a terrible sermon, of judgment at the same time revelations Hard knots must have hard wedges; of deliverance, and the faith of the elect, hard hearts, heavy menaces. The doub- which corresponds to them, is, at the ling of the denunciation, collingendo same time, both a faith in judgment and colligam, importeth the certainty, verity, a faith in salvation " [Lang*-]. and vehemency thereof [Trapp]. (l , Vers. 2, 3. I he besom of destruc- And not to U8> but 'p t]iy ;u.m ^ tion" (Isa. xiv. 23) and the terrible Ascribe we all" [Shakspeare]. sweep it makes- ; man and beast. Cor- HOMILETICS. Judgment at tiie House of God. — Verses 4 — G. The prophet now declares upon whom the sore desolation must come. Even Judah, where God is known, and Jerusalem, the holy city, must suffer. Those most exalted are most responsible, and those who sin against greater privileges will be most signally punished. Judgment must begin at the house of God. Six classes are singled out for judgment. I. Idolatrous priests destroyed. Two kinds are specified. 1. Inferior priests. " The Chemarims," priests ordained by the lungs of Judah to minister at high places, or at the altar of Jehovah, with alien and impure rites (cf. 2 Kings xxiii. HOinLETIC COMMENTARY: ZEPHAKIAH. [chap. i. 5 I ; "In either case." says one, " they were renegades from the national f ul], 'y. who, to earn a loaf of bread or to win the favour of the court, were prepared to stand at any altar and administer anyritual." 2. Superior priests. "The Chemarims with the priests." Those of the family of Aaron, Levitical priests, who have apostatized to idolatry. Such ministers are not worthy of the name and office of priest. Corrupt in doctrine, flagrant in practice, their very shall be blotted but of existence. Ministers who pervert the national faith, and sell their birthright to gain the favour of the world, will suffer awful punish- ment "A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land, the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule at their hands." II. Idolatrous people destroyed. Corrupt priests influence the people. From the ministers the judg- ii,,. n: the people. Three classes are pointed out. 1. Open idolaters. blended the worship of Baal (sun) and Astarte (moon) with Sabseism or pure star-worship. The stars were thought to be originators of all growth and ■. in nature, and rulers of all sublunary events (2 Kings xxi. 3). The house- top was chosen for Becrecy, or to obtain fuller views of the heavenly bodies. This | prevalent, and (6) popular. Public idolatry was individualized and adopted, family by family. From house to house, from street to street, incense burned and homage rendered to the queen of heaven. " The children gather wood, and the lathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes to the qneen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods." 2. Time- ■■. "Them that swear by the Lord, and by Malcham." They swore allegi- to God, but lived to Moloch or Baal as their king. To the service of Jehovah they joined that of idols, and sought to be on good terms with both. One of our own poets stigmatizes them, "as willing to serve God, so that they did not offend the devil." They thought Jehovah the true God, but yielded to the fashion and adopted the religion of the day. Principle had no hold upon them, and reproach adured for present advantage. " Will ye steal, swear falsely, and burn in- B A, aid walk after other gods, and come and stand before me in this . which is railed by my name" (Jer. vii. 8 — 10; v. 7). 3. Religiously in- different. " Returning behind Jehovah, drawing back from him, turning the back Upon God, is just the same as not seeking Jehovah, or not inquiring after him. The ; 1 to are the religiously indifferent, those who do not trouble themselves about God, the despisers of God" [Keil]. Notice the steps of this departure. Tiny do not want God, and therefore do not seek him. They fear his | light embarrass them, and therefore forget him as much as they Then they cast him behind them, abstain from all worship, and renounce that would bring him to their minds. "Thou hast forsaken me, 1. rd, thou art gone hack ward : therefore will I stretch out my hand . y thee." 1 of Ungodly Men. — Verses 5, 6. I. The worshippers of nature. When men see beauty in creatures, and derive advantage from them, their hearts dote upon them, and arc drawn from God. Men ad J oi et nature's God. A. specious and. plausible idolatry abounds in our day. To honour a star is quite as offensive to God as to honour a stone. To wor hip the Bplendours of heaven or the wealth of earth; to love self, family, or business more than God is "to change the truth of God into a lie, and' worship and serve the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever." " 'I h.y trifle with the truth, until, at last, Delusions strong as hell shall hind them fast" [Cowper'\. II. The half-hearted in religion. By acts of solemn profession they worship and then try to serve the world. They pledge themselves first to one and CHAP. I.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARr: ZEPIL1NIAII. 529 then the other, and try to serve two masters. This is morally impossible. The affections cannot be divided. One only can be our master, call him Baal, Moloch, or Christ. All men are made to serve something. The choice lies between Christ and the world. Compromise and neutrality are impossible. " How long halt yo between two opinions'?" III. The backsliders from God. This class is too common. Many once started well, were firm in purpose, and kept their face Zion wards, but have ceased to follow after, and utterly forsaken the Lord. To go back from God is virtually to join the enemy. " He that is not with me is against me." Wandering is the natural tendency of man ; but to wander out of the way of understanding, amid light, conviction, and privileges, awfully aggravates the sin. "Watch the first step in feeling and practice, lest it fix you in a state of apostasy among " the mighty dead." Backsliding is the fountain of its own misery, and the most fearful of Divine judgments. " The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways." IV. The practical atheists. Those guilty of defection will soon live in total neglect of God and his ways. It is said that a sheep, having once wandered from the fold, never tries to return, but " wanders on still more and more astray;" so in many cases backslidings are multiplied until men are reduced to extremity and ruin. " Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters : they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward." HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 4. The remnant of Baal. 1. Good men may be hindered in their work, or leave it partially done. Heze- kiah's and Josiah's reformation did not clear away the idolatry of Baal. Moses and Luther did not entirely finish their work. "Good and evil have each a root, which remains in the ground when the trunk has been hewn down. There is a remnant of grace when the rest have been blinded (Rom. xi. 5 — 7) ; and this is a holy seed to carry on the line of God (Isa. vi. 13). Evil too has its remnant, which, unless diligently kept down, shoots up again, after the con- version of peoples or individuals " \Pusey\. 2. The presence and efforts of good men increase the guilt and the responsibility of any nations. 3. If these nations heed not their warnings or hinder their work, God may justly punish them for their sin. God will consume Judah for the remnant that remains. The reign of the pious Josiah preceded the doom of Judah, to deprive the people of all excuse. "I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem." Yer. 6. Positive and negative apos- tasy. Positive, in forsaking the Lord for idols; negative, in ceasing to "seek" after him in real prayer. The latter is the forerunner of the former : many who do not go so far as open apostasy, are virtually guilty of it, for they do not "inquire for" the Lord. This verse describes more comprehensively those guilty of defection from Jehovah in any way. " My people have committed two evils ; they have forsaken me, the foun- tain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water " [Fausset]. Seeking God. 1. God must be sought diligently to be found. 2. Men do not seek God diligently. 3. The natural consequences are, turning back, forget- f ulness, and carelessness. " Not sought. Diligently sought him (Heb. xi. G), zealously inquired after him, as after a lost jewel (Jer. xxix. 13) God will visit for unzealousness ; and curse those that do his work carelessly, cur- sorily, in a perfunctory, formal way " [Trapp]. 34 IIOMLETIC COMMENTARY: ZEPIIANLLIT. [chap. I. HoMILETICS. Prudent Silence. — Verse 7. I'a anger La not easily Been, nor his words laid to heart, by those who are most :: !. Eence warnings arc given time after time. Judgments are at hand, and though men will pursue their own folly, yet God has fixed a day of vengeance. Sinners therefore should tremble before the majesty of God, who can destroy the rebellious. I. Hold thy peace, and do not murmur. Sinners murmur at their lot in life ; at the threatening and punishment of God for their sins. They deny his right and his providence over men. The righteous feel condemned in God's presence (Job \i. 1 : Pa cxliii 2), how much more should the wicked! They are warned, devoid of every plea and excuse. The voice of Divine judgment finds an echo in e indeed justly" (Luke xxiii. 41). II. Hold thy peace, for God is present. He sees our ways, and hears our ingratitude. "Wherefore think ye evil in your hearta < " Hush ! for if you would not like a friend or a prince to hear your words, why should God he offended with them? If at anytime speech is :n and silence golden, it is in the presence of the Great Judge. III. Hold thy peace, for the day of decision is at hand. Things which perplex and astonish will Boon he cleared up. "The day of the Lord is at hand," and will speedily come (ei. Hah. ii. 20: Zech. ii. 13). "Thought has not colours half so fair, Thai she to paint that hour may dare, In >ik-ncc hest adored" [Keble]. IV. Hold thy peace, and submit. Submission is the most becoming attitude. of silence has its pre-eminent advocate in Carlyle, who writes : "Nay, in thy own mean perplexities, do thou thyself hut hold thy tongue for one day: on the morrow, how much clearer are thy purposes and duties j what- wreck and rubbish those mute workmen within thee swept away, when intrusive noises were shut "Thou, v.le — vet ha-t hern wont to speak against God, as if he had no care • iily affairs, cease thy murmurs and self-justifications: suhmit thyself to 1 .nd repent in time " [( -alvin \. Tin: Day op Jehovah's Sacrifice. — Verses 7 — 9. .1 Igment i I scribed rifi.ee. The Jewish people are prepared, and the nations whom a kind of awe aboul " the, scourges of God." They ; .in. -times in spite of themselves. The Chaldseans and the Romans, I . Ii . -I. ami Pilate, are con trained t" hear testimony to God. "I have [landed my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger." III. The sacrifices to be offered. Tin- judgments will fall with equal severity upon all ranks. 1. The royal families. "The princes and the king's children." a often abuse their power, influence the people by their examples, and chap. I.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY : ZEPU A.XIAIT. «3l become chief in provocation. Royalty is not exempt from responsibility, and will be reckoned with for its pride and wickedness. " A flatter'd prince soon turns the prince of fools " [Ben Jonson]. 2. The noble servants. " All such as are clothed with strange apparel." Apostate nobles and princes imitated royal families ; mimicked the maimers of the heathen, and adopted their costumes. " Their apparel indicated their treasonable leanings, their servility to alien monarch?, their addiction to heathen vices and superstitions." 3. The servile retainers. These were more licentious and cruel than the masters they served, lived by plunder and extortion, and leaped out of their own stronghold to invade that of others. Great men often think that their will should be law, and employ servants to support their prodigality by fraud and violence. But the obligations to God are greater than the claims of any master. The Lord's Sacrifice. — Verse 7. I. The sacrifice which the Lord hath prepared. The sacrifice of Christ a subject at all times interesting. It is the believer's feast and the sinner's hope. It demonstrates the love of God. Man has sinned, the curse was upon him. A victim demanded, and must suffer to expiate sin. This sacrifice could not be provided by the wealth of kingdoms and the wisdom of schools. Angels could not prepare it. Must then man suffer ] Silence all around, but the Eternal cries, " Deliver him from going down " (Job xxxiii. 24). Christ is the sacrifice offered to the world (Heb. ix. 26). II. The guests whom God has invited to partake of his sacrifice. We are not left to conjecture who these are. Our Lord's parable (Matt. xxii. 1 — 10) and Peter's vision inform us (Acts x. 11 — 15, 34). 1. The Jews. God's chosen people, favoured Avith his will. They had a variety of sacrifices, which set forth and typified Christ, pointed out their guilt and expiation of it by blood. They had messengers in succession to call them to repentance ; but when Christ came they rejected, persecuted, and crucified him. Yet after all this enmity they were invited to the sacrifice (Luke xxiv. 47). 2. The Gentiles. This sacrifice prepared for Jews and Gentiles, nations afar off, perishing for lack of knowledge. All mankind invited to the gospel feast (Isa. xxv. 6, 7 : Luke xiv. 21 — 23). Christ gave himself for all people (Luke ii. 10) ; was a propitiation for the sins of the whole icorld (1 John ii. 2). The gospel must be preached to the world, that all may be saved (Mark xv. 15). Application. 1. All have sinned, need a sacrifice, mediator, and Saviour. 2. Such a Saviour is provided, 3. Pardon, holiness, and happiness may be obtained by all who rightly seek. Are you partakers of this great sacrifice1? Come, sit with the guests, and take your place at the sacramental table. Do not waver nor doubt. If strangers, you are perishing. Feel your need, and apply now. Woe be unto you if you make light of it ! " If ho that despised Moses' law," &c. [Rev. Thos. Jackson]. HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 8. The strange apparel contrasted Seneca complained that many in his with the true garment, " the fine linen, time were more careful about attire than clean and white," granted unto the the welfare of the state. It is extreme Church, which is " the righteousness of folly to be too anxious about either the saints" in Christ (Eev. xix. 8). material ox fashion of dress, to sacrifice The dress may be taken as a witness comfort for appearance, and necessities to — 1. The care for externals. 2. The for luxuries, power of fashion. 3. The state of the iind. 4. The danger of luxury. "Care no more to clothe and eat [Shaktptare]. 532 IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZEPHANLJL [chap. i. Ver. 9. Those that leap. Those who schemed, plotted, robbed; they suc- theii earthly masters with— 1. cceded to their heart's wish j but « ill- eagemess; 2. insolence; and 3. violence, gotten, ill-spent.' They filled their Wealth thus gained is — 1. unlawful; masters' houses quite full; but where-; 2. uncertain ; and 3. Divinely cursed, with? — with violence and deceit, which "Here again all which remains is the witnessed against them, and brought sin. Thy enriched, as they thought, down the judgments of God upon them" their mart re, by art or by force: they \_Pu$cy~\. HOMILETICS. The Doomed City. — Verses 10 — 12. The vision of Divine judgment which swept the earth, and settled in dark clouds over the laud of Judah, is now depicted as falling on the city. Jerusalem, the metropolis, the centre of national vice and luxury, is besieged by Nebuchadnezzar. The advance of the enemy, the ruin of the buildings, and the miseries of the inli I forth in impressive figures. I. The anguish at the gate. " A sound of crying from the fish gate." Massive walls and iron gates cannot keep out Divine visitations in the city ; wealth and grandeur are no harrier to retribution in the family. God can disturb our towns and markets, our business and societies, and create want and anguish on every hand. II. The desolation at the centre. From the entrance the enemy goes on to the centre, or second part of the city. The second wall hinders not; the sacred temple and the school of the prophets are battered by rams and fall crash to the ground. When God assails, what can withstand ! Neglect of duty and indulgence in Bin will bring a fearful " cry of destruction" (Isa. xv. 5). III. The conquest of the city. When < tod begins, he will make an end. Judgments penetrate most ind destroy the highest citadel. The horrors of the siege increase. The storm sweeps everything before it. The inhabitants gather on the surrounding bills, and howl at the devastation before them. " A voice of noise from the city, a from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompense to his enemies" 1 1 - 1. 1 xvi. 6). IV. The destruction of the inhabitants. " Howl, ye inhabitants of hiaktesh," &0. Nb1 only the city in its grandeur, but the people in their wickedness are all destroyed. 1. Wealthy merchants were overtaken, " All the merchant ] pie are cut down." The Maktesh (lit. mortar), in which they dwell, type of the method in which they sutler. They will be pounded and crushed. The silver with which they lade themselves will weigh them down to death. Abused prosperity makes judgments severe. It is folly to dream of safety in any place from which God is banished. Mercantile gains and heaps of silver cannot deliver men " in the day of the Lord's wrath." "They shall cast their silver in the ad their gold shall be removed : their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord," &c. (Ezek. vii. 19 : Jas. v. 1 1. -. Men of business wen carried off. " AH they that bear silver are cut off." The traders of the city had become very Canaanites in greed and gain (cf. Hos. xii. 7 : Ezek. xvi. .'J). The invaders seized the wealthy first, and carried away their booty (cf. ver. 13). Traffic and trade are good things, but are not the real basis on which a kingdom stands. When carried on by injustice and violence they will on in business, failure in banks, and ruin in the country. God never allows any di honesty to go unpunished. " By the blessing of the upright the city 1 ; but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked." chap, i.] HOHILETIC COMMENTARY : ZET HANI AIT. 633 Divine Scrutiny and Eetribution. — Verses 12 — 18. God is not indifferent to human affairs. We may forget that God sees us, but the fact is not altered by our forgetfulness. I. Human conduct is under Divine inspection. This indicates — 1. A thorough scrutiny. " I will search Jerusalem with candles." When God comes forth— to make evil glare out by his fierce light — the secret sins and the secret sinners cannot be hidden. No hiding-place can keep out the light that makes manifest. 2. The detection of the guilty. " Men that are settled (curded or thickened). The imagery is taken from the process of preparing wine, and emphatically sets forth — (a) The evil of carnal self-satisfaction (Jer. xlviii. 11). Prosperity fostered pride; easo generated presumption ; absence of dislodging changes resulted in aggravated spirit of impunity. This self-security should be detected; and (b) Practical atheism should be exposed. " That say in their heart, the Lord will not do good," &c. Practical atheism was the outcome of debasing indulgence. God's watchfulness, justice, and government were flagrantly ignored. His patience was thought to bo unconcern. They talked in their hearts, held mental monologues, and charged God with being alike indifferent to do good or evil, to bestow blessing or visit with calamity. " Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, there- fore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." Note tho manifestation of a similar spirit in the days of the Apostle Peter (2 Pet. iii.). II. Punishment is threatened for wrong-doing. " I will punish, because they have sinned against the Lord" (cf. vers. 12 — 17). God's anger is not awakened by trifles, neither is it disproportionate to the offence. The same faithfulness and power are concerned in the fulfilment of great and terrible threatenings as of " exceeding great and precious promises." The space mercifully allotted for repentance was nearly over. The day of grace was ending, and stern justice was drawing near. 1. The punishment would not be delayed. " The great day of tho Lord is near, it is near and hasteth greatly." 2. The punishment would be most exacting. "The curse causeless shall not come." The penalty for sin may (1) make the sinner's labour profitless. " They shall build houses, but not inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof." Tho advent of justice may (2) render the offenders homeless. "Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation." Judgment may (3) terrify with manifold alarms (vers. 15 — 17). Retributions (4) make the whole land desolate. " The whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy." 3. The punishment would not be evaded. (1) There would be no exemption by purchase. " Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them." (2) The doom would be inclusive and complete. " For he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land " [Matt. Braithwaite]. The Diligent Search and the Certain Discovert. — Verses 12 — 14. God will now come in terrible judgment, go through tho city, trying house by house, and man by man. " As the vintner goes through his cellars, torch in hand ; or as the head of the household, taper in hand, searches every nook and corner of his house before the Passover, lest any morsel of leaven should be hidden in it, so Jehovah will ' search Jerusalem with caudles,' hunting the evil out of every dark nook in which they have concealed themselves, suffering none to escape." I. The nature of the search. "I will search with candles." 1. It is a determined search. An earnest and diligent search of persons and places ; a sifting one by one in every corner until the thing searched be discovered. The woman " lit a candle, and swept the house, and sought diligently till she found " the lost coin (Luke xv. 8: Ps. xliv. 21). 2. It is a universal search. None can escape. Josephus tells in the destruction of Jerusalem how princes and priests were dragged HOMII.r.TlC COMMENTJRT: ZEP1L1XIAPL \cn\v. i. out of tombs, pits, and cares, in which they had hidden themselves in fear of Uy men hate the light, would extinguish the candle, and hide them- Belves from punishment. Bui this is impossihle. "Though they hide themselves in the top of Carmelj I will search and take them out thence." (a) No bribe can avert if. (b) No strength can resist it. The might of the city and the courage of the warrior would fail 80 irri ustible would be the attack that "the mighty man" would abandon himself to Rhrieks of hopeless grief (ver. 14). There is onlj one cape for the guilty : to examine his own ways, to condemn his own offences, and abandon all pleas, to trust in Christ. II. The design of the search. », . bee the <-iry, and penetrates the inward parts of the soul to expel dark- guilt, and bring men to himself. 1. To rouse the spiritually [dleness and ease beget moral indifference. Men sit down upon their . draw themselves together, and get hardened in sin. They rest on the vilest, the Bediment and refuse of their nature; become defiled by lusts, and confirmed in habitual wickedness. 2. To reprove the practically indifferent. Men who deny Dot God'fl existence may reason themselves into atheism, may wish and believe in is, and by acts inure themselves into the belief that God is far away from them ; that he does m>t govern the world ; and ''will not punish men with eternal iction for the sins of this short life." God sits in heaven heedless of what men do or sutler, and will neither interfere in this world nor in the next. Why then fear him ! Why not give themselves to lusts and pleasures'? This spirit is rebuked by the prophet. If men do not see God in the merciful visitations, he will terrify them by judgments in life. 3. To punish the worldly-minded. Men their ordinary course of labour and of sin, eat and drink, build houses and plant vineyards, until the day overtakes them, and deprives them of all they have (Matt, xxiv. 38, 39). (1) They hoard up and cannot keep. "'Therefore their goods shall e a booty." God refutes men's notions by his providence, and makes them feel that he cares for what they do by taking what they possess, and leaving them and penniless. " And their houses a desolation." (2) They labour and 4 reap the benefit. They "build houses, but do not inhabit them; plant vineyards, hut do not drink the wine thereof." God proves the verity of the threatening by his execution, disappoints men of happiness and enjoyment by his justice. It' we forgel God in prosperity, get intoxicated with pleasure, and revolt in threatened punishment, we shall be convinced of our folly. God will visit our cities and mails and Bearch our shops and families. We shall be frustrated in our its, and robbed of all our possessions. " Thou shall build an house, and thou shall not dwell therein ; thou shall plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the I 'cut. x.wiii. 30 : Amos i. 2). EOMILETIO HINTS AND OUTLINES. 1 its of punishment. The and abuse of them have been a snare to db ujM.ii the princes who indulge them. Therefore (/. e. because these in the customs Of the heathen (vers. 8, things have had such an effect) "their The : ills upon the rich goods shall become a booty." "Religion 10, 11 ). The third falls upon the and morality are two spheres which can- :- 12, 13) [Lange]. not be separated. An upright heart can ' ' ! ''-'■ 1;- '• Ease, prosperity, and only have one God, and in cherishing ■t false security, dis- other gods besides God lies a falseness providence, and spiritual which hears its fruit in the held of indifference. 2. God refutes the Ian- morals. Whilst the heart, in its pro- . and makes practical atheists foundest depths, is actuated by two alarmed at his judgments. 3. When diametrically opposite opinions, it is God .tups any people of their posses- necessary that those influences should they will find that fchi irenjoyment finally neutralise one another. In this chap, i.] HCMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZEPTIJXTA1L 533 way arises indifference towards motives avarice, take the place of eternal Tn drawn from eternal things. The indif- the second place, the other result of this ference has a twofold result. First, fearless, practical atheism is: God does temporal motives, among which the no good and no evil" [Lange], most powerful are pride (fashion) and IIOMILETICS. The Great Day of the Lord. — Verses 14 — 18. To rouse the self-secure in their ease, Zephaniah carries out the hint of ver. 7, of the near approach and awful character of the judgment. The warning to Judah and Jerusalem should make sinners in Zion tremble. It is the day, the great day of the Lord, "a specimen of the day of judgment, a kind of doomsday, as the last destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans is represented to be in our Saviour's prediction in Matt. xxiv. 27." I. A day of profound darkness. Darkness and gloominess, clouds and thick darkness. Everything looks threatening, and nothing encourages. No hope, no light. " The day of a darkness so profound, that day itself is changed into its very opposite and becomes a night, and a night wrapped in clouds through which no star can shoot a ray of hope." II. A day of Divine wrath. " That day is a day of wrath;" wrath treasured up for awhile, but now overflowing and irresist- ible— manifest, and felt in distress of every kind and degree, in calamity without relief. If the wrath of a king is like a messenger of death, how much more the wrath of an offended God1? (Prov. xvi. 14: Mai. iii. 2). III. A day of material destruction. 1. The cities ivill be destroyed. "Against the fenced cities, and against the high towers" (ver. 1G). Whatever the strength and structure of fortifi- cations, they would afford no protection. 2. The land will be wasted. The blast of God will turn all fertility into waste. The dreary monotony of desolation appears everywhere. The earth is wasted with havoc, and broken into ruin. " A day of wasteness and desolation." IV. A day of human misery. " A day of trouble and distress" (vers. 15 and 17). 1. Great helplessness, (a) jSto escape by ransom ; (b) no escape by flight. Men sink into anguish beyond expression ; into misery beyond relief. 2. Great blindness. Hemmed in, they turn first to one place and then another; stagger like drunken men (Job xii. 25) ; and walk like blind men. Bereft of counsel, strength, and hope, " they meet with the dark- ness in the day-time, and grope in the noon-day as in the night." 3. Great slaughter. "Their blood shall be poured out as dust." Life was of no value, blood would be utterly disregarded, treated as contemptible, and spilt in abundance (Ps. lxxix. 3). Their Jlesh would decay, putrefy, and become offensive, and lie like dung upon the land. All this " because they have sinned." "The most offensive disgusting physical corruption," says Pusey, "is but a faint image of the defile- ment of sin." 4. Great despair. Amid darkness, distress, and murder, the war trumpet sounds louder and louder, strikes terror into every heart, and despair is read in every eye. The fire of jealousy devours tin' land, and '"a speedy riddance is made of all them that dwell" in it. " He shall make an utter, yea, altogether (nothing but) a terrific destruction of all the dwellers of the earth " (cf. Ps. civ. 29 : Isa. lxv. 23). V. A day of speedy approach. " It is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly." Each hour tells the knell of approaching doom. Conscience, Scripture, and providence, like the voice of God, proclaim that it is near. Near, adds the prophet, to impress us the more. It is at hand to each. It hasteth greatly, and may come before we are aware. Nothing will hasten it more than care- lessness in sin and security in judgment. Prepare now, before its voice is heard ; arise, ye dead, and come to judgment. " For the great day of his wrath is come ; and who shall be able to stand ] " CTG 1I0MIETIC COMMENTARY'. ZEPUAXIAH. [CHAP. I. «' I see tho Judge enthroned ! the flaming guard ! olnme opt aed I opened every lieart! A sunbeam pointing ont each secret thought ! No patron ! intercessor none! now past The sweet, the element mediatorial hour! Fur Km'' DO plea ! to pain, no pause ! no bound! Inexorable all! and all, extreme" [Young']. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER I. ±. 1 — 3. Consume. Tho wrath of Lb truly the terrihlest thing in this world — the sting of sin, which is the sting of death. Alas! to us, God's : doth aol appear in its foil horror; fox if it did, we should sooner die than offend him. Borne do but think of it; few think of it as they should; and they that are moat apprehensive look upon it as at a distance, as that which may be turned away; and so, not ten ing God's wrath, "treasure up wrath ■ day of wrath" \Farindon\. Vera. 1 — 6. Remnant. Baal was the Phoenician tutelary god. His name means lord ; and the feminine deity iponding, and generally associated, with him, was Ajshtoreth. As he was represented by the sun, bo she was the Qswering to the moon and the if the heavenly bodies. In fact, it te worship of nature ; a worship to which correspond the pantheism and scientific exaltation of nature and her laws in our days [Fatieset], They offered tpon the roofs, that they might be the better able to Bee the stars in heaven \Theodore£\. Swear. A neuter i m tei ; be bal G two tongues, t wo minds, tw<> Bonis : he hath a tongue Eor 1 a tongue for the world too : he looks up to God, and saith, certainly thou art mine : he Looks down upon the world, and saith, surely lam thine; he hath a mind to be religious, and a mind • ■ his own stake iii the world too ■4 Vers. 7 9. Sacrifice, The [mage was probably I by Isaiah's words (eh. xxxiv. 6). Jeremiah subsequently it i' solemn worship, ami one fold of God. 1. 77c impenitent must seek /!<<■ Lord. Judgment is threatened against "sinners and their offences." The proud must be humbled, the unrighteous he holy, and the Lider return. -. Tin meek must seek the Lord. The submissive and quiet mu>t lie more humble ; those who do right must know more perfectly, and act more constantly. Meekness, righteousness, and holiness must adorn their conduct. "He that is righteous, lei him he righteous still; ami he that is holy, let him he holy still." •">. The whole nation must seek iln- Lord. National repentance is the only ; nd againsl national overthrow. An elect nation may hecome proud, undaunted in sin, and unappalled in danger. "A nation not desired," which does ma blush in shame ; yet a nation whom God urges to turn to him and live. "Seek the Lord, and ye shall live, lesi he break out like fire in the house of Joseph and devour it." II. The method of repentance. "Gather yourselves together." 1. /;, . '/-examination. A man must know himself thoroughly, examine himself closely, and ascertain how he stands in the sight of God. " Prove your own selves." Aj vve colled Btubble from the fields, so must Ave search with diligence, and pick up '• the withered leavi life." The chair must be burned up, all the dead and worthless must be destroyed in hearl and conduct. It is better to judge ourselves than be judged of God " Lei us search and try our way, and turn again to the 2. By earnest reformation. We must begin with self-examination, and end with amendment of life. The first earnest search must he continued, until all sin is discovered, abandoned, and pardoned " Bring forth fruits meet for repent- ance." " Thai vice may be uneasy, and even monstrous unto thee," says Sir Thomas lie, "let iterated good acts and Long-confirmed habits make virtue almost natural, or a second nature in thee. Since virtuous superstructions have commonly generous foundations, dive into thy inclinations, and early discover what nature bids thee to be, or tells thee thou mayestbe. They who timely descend into themselves, and cultivate the g 1 seeds which nature hath set in them, prove not shrubs but I in their generation." (1) Sin must be forsaken in act and deed. (~2) II ility niu-t be cherished (3) Riglitro/isw.™ must be followed. In this radical chin/.- of disposition, attitude, and conduct, lies the soli; chance of escape. "Seek the Lord ami hi- strength; eek his face evermore." 3. By public confession. ther yourselves" to a religious assembly, and avert the judgment by united prayer and confession. The Jews forsook the worship of God for idolatry. Many negli imble themselves together now. If we sin together we should confess bi r. Religion renders social intercourse sacred, and hinds men in public acts of praise and prayer. "Call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the Land into the house of tie- Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord." III. The motives to repentance. 1. Danger threatens. " .Before the deer,-,, bring forth." Men Buppose that there is no approaching peril, no need for instant amendment. Bui the Am,,- is uttered, and Cod cannot change. "The error of one moment may bee the sorrow of a whole life." 2. Time is . There is now a possibility of escape. "It maybe ye shall be hid." Not much chance appeared to the Jews, but God discovered one. Judgment looms over the impeni- tent. The slightest advantage, the least hope of safety, stimulate to diligence in temporal matters. You may secure a hiding-place in that day. In Christ we have shelter. " A man shall be as an hiding-place from the wind and a covert from the tempest." 4. If the season jxiss, helpless will he the situation of those who meet tin: day. (1) Destruction will be total. "Before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you." (2) Destruction will be without remedy. The warning is twice given, to impress the certainty and speed of its coming. " Take heed lest that day come upon you unawares." " God stays long, but strikes at last." "The higher the tool, the greater the fall." " In every fault there is folly." ""What is not wisdom is danger " [Old English Proverbs], Seek the Lord. — Verse 3. Observe four purposes for which we are to seek God, and which enter essentially into genuine religion. First, we are to seek to know him. Here religion begins. " This is life eternal, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." " I will give them a heart that they may know me." Secondly, we must seek to enjoy him. In order to this we must be reconciled. He cannot comfort us till Ave are reconciled to him. We cannot rejoice in Christ till we have received the atonement. Then we can draw to him as our exceeding joy ; our souls can be satisfied as with marrow and fatness. In his favour we live, and his loving- kindness is better than life. Thirdly, we must seek to serve him. He is not only our portion to enjoy, but our master to obey and wait upon. " On thee do I wait all the day," not only as an expectant to receive supplies, but as a servant to receive and execute orders, and to incpiire, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ] " His service is perfect freedom, his work honourable and glorious, his yoke easy, and his burden light ; and in keeping his commandments there is great reward. Fourthly, we must seek to resemble him. It is the essence of religion to be like him whom we worship. We are to "show forth his praises (margin, virtues)." God's virtues are God's perfections, and the best way to show them forth is to follow and exemplify them. We cannot resemble his natural perfections, eternity, omnipotence, and omniscience ; but we may resemble his moral attributes — in our measure and degree be holy, do good, and forgive like him. "Be ye merciful, as your Father also is merciful." As we advance in this grace, we are " renewed after the image of him who created us in righteousness and true holiness." " AVe are changed from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord" [IF. Jay]. Tee Threefold Call. — Verse 3. Divine judgments should rouse all to reflection, and lead them to test thrir thoughts and actions. The wicked do not seek God, but fall under his just displeasure. But the meek are exhorted to bend under his chastening rod, to seek him in outward ordinances and in active exercises. There is a threefold call here, or three special blessings to be sought. I. Seek the Lord. This is most needful and important. We naturally Beek God in his works and word, in history, and in ourselves even. When we find him our hearts and intellects are satisfied. "Lord," says Augustine, "I have viewed the world over, in which thou hast set me; I have tried how this and that thin o- will fit my spirit and the design of my creation ; and can find nothing in which to rest, for nothing here doth itself rest. Lo, I come to thee, the eternal Being, the Spring of life, the Centre of rest, the Fulness of all things ! " " Lord, 640 IIOM1LETIC COMMENTARY : ZEPIIANIAII. [chap. ii. show us the Father, and it sufficeth us." II. Seek righteousness. The knowledge ,,[' (;,„1 must be evinced in holy life. "He lived his religion," was said of one. 1. Righteousness with men. If wrong with our fellow-creatures, we cannot be righl with God. We must do justice and love mercy — fulfil the royal law of loving oni neighbour as ourselves. "Charity is the scope of all God's command- iys Chrysostom. 2. Righteous with God. This is more than a good moral life"; paying your way, and being kind to all men. We must seek and is the righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ. "Except your righteousness 1 the tighti ousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of hea "Their religion titled them the sons of God" [Milton]. III. Seek meekness. The virtue of lowliness (hnmilitas), known to heathens, was dignified into humility by Christianity. It is the first of Christian graces in I and rank — the very root of religion. Men teach us to cherish "spirit and pluck" in opposition and insult. Meekness is weakness in their estimation. But Christ demands it from his disciples. To be meek is to be like him. "I am ami lowly in heart." "By pride have we fallen from the kingdom of God, and by humility must we again enter it" [Starke]. " From purity of thought all pleasure springs ; And troin a humble spirit all our peace" [Youiif/]. imMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 1. 1. We may read an inyit- atioD to repentance in the darkest times. •• A fruitful rainfalls on the soil through which the ploughshare has been driven. 'I'h" gracious intention of the ldvino 'doom' is disclosed." i'. All repentance ■ and continues in self-examination. "Gather yourselves, so as to rid your- of all chaff-like vanities and sins. Self-confidence ami corrupt desires are the dissipations from which they are exhort it" gather themselves " | Calvin]. ''nlf md be ye collected — ■i i- •-* your thoughts, and look into your state of mind [Qesenius]. The gathering i- opposed to scattering, dis- sipation, and distan . ukindii broken loose from moral bands" [Drydm]. The precept i- doubled, ■■> >itis likewise Num. iii. i" : 2 • lor. ni. •"'. to Bhow the necessity of our doing it, ■> - al o the utility if well done ; and fitly, our and aversi ae i 1 hereunto, to- c with God's exceeding great desire that it should be done thoroughly for our great* si good | Trapp], Ver. 2. Before. God's word is full \. > n ; of the event which it Eore- tellethj it contains its own fulfilment'in itself, and travaileth until it come to pass, giving signs of its coming, yet delaying until the full time. Time is said to bring forth what is wrought in it [Pusey]. Hero are three cautionary "be/ores" as there are four comfortable "yets" to be read (Zech. i. 17). God yet offers them mercy, as Alexander did those he warred against, whiles the lamp burned; and as Tamerlane, whiles the white flag was hung out (cf. Jer. xviii. 7, 8) [Trapp], Ver. 3. Seek. 1. The objects of search. God and holiness of life. 2. The method of search, (a) To work judgment, not merely zealous about out- ward forms, (b) To seek diligently, for the 1 lei new form is intensive. 3. The result of search ; mitigation, if not pre- vention, of calamity ; pardon of sin, and hid when others are exposed to punishment. Seek righteousness, seek meekness, i.e. further measures of holiness and degrees of grace. Let him that is holy be holy .still ; let him persevere, grow, and advance forward towards the prize pro- posed unto him, taking for his motto t hat of Charles V., " Plus ultra," further yet ; perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Cor. vii. 1) [Trapjp]. Ye meek. chap, ii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : ZEl'lUXLIIT. 1. In times of decline God hath a pecu- word, fear of judgments, and tend' liar eye towards the godly, and expects towards others. 'A. Then God puts their much from them. He leaves the wicked safety beyond all doubt. 4. Hence, in nations, and turns to them in exhortation dangers, uncertainties, and troubles, they and promise. 2. The truth and reality must seek him, trust his goodness and of their graces must he manifest in grace [llulc/tcsou]. humility of spirit, subjection to the HOMILETICS. The Judgment upon tiie Philistines. — Verses 4 — 7. Punishment to neighbouring states is noAV threatened. Under five nations all mankind are included. The Philistines, as a near malicious enemy, are mentioned first. " Out of the five cities, woe is pronounced upon the same four as Amos (i. 6 — 8) before, Jeremiah soon after (xxv. 20), and Zechariah (ix. 5, G) later. Gath, the fifth, had probably remained with Judah since Uzziah and Hezekiah (2 Chron. xxvi. 6 : 2 Kings xviii. 8). The name of the place itself is regarded in the sentence, that it may suggest the thought of the doom pronounced upon it. Tho names expressed boastfulness, and so, in the Divine judgment, carried their own sentence with them, and this sentence is pronounced by a slight change in the word " [Pusey]. The four capitals include the whole territory and people. I. The splendid cities will be destroyed. The chief cities are threatened with open and violent attack, with entire desolation and depopulation. 1. Gaza shall he forsaken (Azzah, strong, shall be, Azoobah, desolated). Though strong, and aide to resist the conqueror for four or five months, its defenders perished in the battle. Alexander sold its inhabitants, and repeopled it from the neighbourhood. 2. Ekron shall be uprooted {Ekron, deep rooting, shall be Te-aker, rooted out). Not a vestige of the place is now left. It is only known by name, say travellers. .Man builds, and God pulls down. Man plants, and God uproots. The most nourishing trade, the most deeply-rooted society, may be torn out of the soil and carried away. 3. Ashkelon shall become a desolation. The present city is a ghastly skeleton. The soil is good, but peasants who cultivate it live outside in mud-huts, under the impression that God has left the place and permitted evil spirits to dwell there. 4. Ashdod shall he suddenly overtaken. "They (the enemies) shall drive out Ashdod at the noon-day." The power of Dagon (1 Sam. v.) could not defend it. When its inhabitants were taking repose and sleep, and thought themselves most secure — when evil was least expected, it would prove most fatal. The judgments of God would suddenly overtake them. Neither antiquity nor valour, neither natural strength nor the power of their gods, would protect these cities. The word of God was against them, and their doom was inevitable. " I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof; and I will cut off the inhabit- ant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron : and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord God." II. The whole population will be taken away. " Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea-coast." Every epithet in ver. 5 is selected with a view of deepening the gloom of terrible denunciation. " The terrors are encompassed by hints drawn from the latent omen of the Kerethite name, and from the ancient Canaanite traditions." 1. The fertility of the land would be cursed. Shepherds will dig it up to build their huts, and shelter their flocks. 2. Seats of industry will be abandoned. 3. The country would be repeopled. "This once, fertile tract by the sea, thickly dotted with the crowded hives of human industry, with fair cities inhabited by free brave men, afterwards a desert, accursed by God, and abandoned by man, 'shall become pastures, with huts for shepherds, and fulds for sheep.' Through the mountain gorges the Hocks of the restored Hebrews wdl ' 2 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZEPIIAMAU. [CHAT. IT. od ..n the green Bowery plains, knowing no want, fearing no evil, because the shepherds go before them with stair and rod " [S. Cos]. "1 will even destroy thee that there shall be no inhabitant" "In that day there shall be no more tho mite in l1"' house of the Lord of hosts." HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. V. r. 4. The judgments threatened upon others an argument for the un- godly to repent, and for the godly to in well-doing, that they may oi ral calamity. /; . I. Che source of tl„. woe. "The word of the Lord." •_'. The '• ' tse of the woe. They were of the posterity . d the land, and inherited the sins of Canaan. 3. The • 9 of the woe. (1) Destruc- tion. (2) Universal destruction. " Woe to the people who have the wind of God againsl them. To them he speak- eth not in good, but in evil ; not in grace, but in anger ; not in meTcy, but in ince " 1 Pusey], \ . I-. 7. The fall of the enemy, the : ition of the elect "I' [srael. The remnant of Baal driven out, to make n om for the remnant of < rod. Notice — 1. The blessings bestowed. (I) Visited by God. "The Lord their God shall visit tin-in. " In mercy and loving- kindness (Ex. iv. 31). ' (2) Delivered. ••And turn away their captivity." (•">) /, 1 | / 088e88ion. " His visits are ( 1 ' . viii. 5)j his favours are not like the winter sun, that light- eth but heateth not" [Trapp]. 2. The source of the blessings. The covenant of "the Lord their God." Covenant rights will not fail, after long delay and many disappointments. 3. The method of securing the blessings. After captivity and calamity. Through much tribula- tion we enter heaven. But the word is sure. " Be thou faithful." In chap. i. vers. 8, 9, God had threatened to "visit" the men of Judah and Jerusalem ; now he promises to " visit " them : the same Heb. verb used in both places; but now by a slight change of construction (pdquad, construed with an accusative of tho person instead of with al), the verb itself shows that God is about to visit them in grace. And the grammatical hint is expanded in the words which follow : God is about to visit them, that he may " turn their captivity," as he turned that of Job, by giving them freedom for bondage, peace for war, wealth for want. The peace and abundance of this happier time are charmingly expressed in the opening clauses of ver. 7 [S. Cox\. HOMILETICS. Tin: Judgment upon tee Moabites. — Verses8 — 10. M m1> and Amman were of blood relation to Israel. Their country adjoined Canaan, and from the time of Balak they were always reviling Israel, and invading their territory, and plundering their cities. The pride and insolence of Amnion w< re proverbial. Tiny were now to be punished for their conduct. I. The nature of their doom. Their land was to be spoiled, and their cities rminated. 1. The tribes would be destroyed. They would incur a fate like m and Gomorrah, which are ingulfed in the Dead Sea. 2. The land would Nettles would infest it, salt-pits would tear it up, and desolation would be perpetual. Destruction, barrenness, and extinction beyond recovery :-.li\. 18). "Thewhole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning : it is ■wii, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein; like the overthrow of Sodom 1 romorrah, Admah and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger and in bis wrath." II. The certainty of their doom. " Therefore as I live, saith the Lord of ho i ." Jehovah pledges himself by solemn oath to inflict the destruction. When God threatens nun seem slow to believe that he is in earnest. When he chap, ii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZEPHANIAH. :,\:, appeals to his own existence in support of his truth they should fear. " Because he could swear by no greater ho swears by himself." III. The cause of their doom. 1. Their pride. "This shall they have fur their pride" Pride and arrogance are specially offensive to God. When men magnify themselves against the people of God and their possessions, they magnify themselves against God. God will bring them low, and give them shame and contempt. 2. Their cruelty. They reviled and reproached the people of God (ver. 8) ; took pleasure in their misfortunes ; cherished constant hatred towards them ; and violated their land age after age. Pride begets insolence and cruelty, and these expose to the judgment of God. " It is a dangerous indiscretion for a man not to know the bounds of his own calling" [Bp. Hall]. "A man's pride shall bring him him low. " " My pride fell with my fortunes " [As you like it]. The Living God. — Verses 8 — 11. " I live." God here declares his eternal self-existence. " In the beginning God." The living God is not indifferent to human affairs ; neither does he keep silence. He has entered into relationships and covenants indicated by the name, "the God of Israel," revealed his majestic power, and triumphed gloriously over the rebellious. " The Lord, strong and mighty." This God has spoken, linked his sayings with his character, and made them emphatic by an oath. I. The living God is cognisant of all that transpires on earth. " I have heard." Nothing escapes the eyes of God. " All things are naked and opened to tho eyes of him with whom Ave have to do." God is an ever-present listener (whispering gallery: telephone). 1. God hears the mockery of evil tongues. "I have heard the reproach of Moab," &c. How painful for us to hear all the slanders, curses, and blasphemies of one day ! Yet God hears all the evil-speaking of men through all time. The God of patience may bear long with personal and national provocations, but he feels, and expresses feeling in words. " As I live, saith the Lord of hosts." This brings out the idea — 2. That God is affected by tin' injury done t<> his people. This truth was unfolded to Moses when commanded to go to Egypt (Ex. iii. 7 — 10). Note how the exalted, living Christ identifies himself with his persecuted people. (Acts ix. 1 — 4). This truth should comfort and sustain, " when men shall revile you, and persecute you," &c. II. The living God administers timely justice. Nations only exist in time, and so in time punishment takes place. We are dealt with as individuals before the judgment-seat of Christ. Moab and Amnion, for repeated and persistent offences, are threatened with Divine judgments. God's words soon become God's works, notwithstanding seeming hindrances and impossi- bilities. The guilt was great and grievous. Observe — 1. The severity of the Divine judgment. "Moab shall be as Sodom, and tin; children of Amnion as Gomorrah." We have no encouragement from the history of nations to regard ( lod's mercy as amiable weakness, or his judgments as harsh and vindictive. " The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works." Under his righteous administration, and in the execution of judgment for the oppressed, light words may bring heavy blows, and defiant tones desolating retributions. Cause and effect, sin and suffering, are here connected. 2. Tlie Divine judgment was the penalty of pride and arrogance. " This shall they have for their pride," ere. " Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." Illustrations: — Goliath (1 Sam. xvii.) ; Benhadad(l Kings xx.) ; Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. iv.) ; Babylon (La. xlvii.). III. The living God is jealous of his name and worship. " The Lord will be terrible unto them ; for he will famish all the gods of the earth," &c. An eidolon is a thing that can be seen and put for a being who cannot be seen. God is a spirit, and no image can represent a spirit. He prohibits the attempt to make a "likeness" of himself (Ex. xx.). The maledictions upon this sin are numerous HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : ZEPIIANIAH. [chap. ii. and startling. It Lb specially offensive and insulting to the one living and true God. With thi lorrible, inhuman, and debasing rites, Moab and Amnion worshipped gods, and Lefl the infamous names of Chemosh, Molech, Milcom, and Poor l. Idolatry is << flagrant insult to the living God. 2. God declares his ,!,■. it « For he will famish all tbe gods of the earth." The triumphs ofDivine truth over idolatry have been signal and complete. Islandsand countries have abolished their idols. The process goes on and must continue, for he hath Bald, " I am God, and there is none like me." "The idols he shall utterly abolish." 3. <■'< •' predicts the universality of true and acceptable worship. Jealous for his character, God will tolerate no rival. The heathen gods shall be without offerings and devotees. The destructive work is to prepare for the constructive, or rather the true worship is to displace the false. "Men shall worship Him, every one from his place," &c. Eowever prevalent, mighty, and venerable idol worship be in some places, it is doomed. Whether slowly or rapidly men " turn from idols to serve the living God," the promise must be accomplished. "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the a shall worship before him." The predicted universality of acceptable ip Bhould (a) Incite the Church of God to pray earnestly, " thy kingdom come;" and (6) Inspire unceasing aggressive eiforts, until "the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ " [ML Braithwaite]. HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Vet. 8. 1. No relation will bind the earth." They will die from want and wicked to the I ihurch, and in sympathy starvation. There will be a gradual and with the godly. However near, they universal destruction of idols. This break Loose, persecute, and revile them. happened in the days of Sennacherib 2. But God takes notice of this conduct and Nebuchadnezzar, who chastised the towards his people, declares his love, and Jews and weaned them from heathen determines to punish their enemies. deities ; in the early age of Christianity, Chastisement does not hinder affection and in modern missions. 2. Divine for them. / have heard the reproach. worship to be established. Not only at •• The memory of ( lod is one of the most Jerusalem but universally. " Men shall tl things of which a man can think. worship him, every one from his own He i rticularly the dishonour place." His own Gentile home taught by done to his people, because they only .lews in the true religion. "All the no heed of dishonour, and are not isles of the heathen," — the maritimo allowed to defend themselves. But take regions of the West. This prediction is thai you are not reviled on account being fulfilled at present; and ere long, of your own sins. Such reviling God " From the rising of the sun even unto n, hut it is itself punish- the going down of the same, my name mint" [L'ni'jr\. shall be great among the Gentiles; and Ver. 11. The extermination of in everyplace incense shall be offered idolatry, and the establishment of God's unto my name, and a pure offering" nip. 1. Idolatry to be exterminated. (Mai i. 11 : Ps. ii. 8 : Num. xiv. 21). '■ For he will famish all the guds of the IIOMILETICS. Tin; Judgments -OF God a Scheme of Redemption. — Verse \\. "The immense value of this verse consists in the fact that it reveals a law, a constant invariable law, of the Divine government, it stands alone and is coni- plete. It is a place of vantage, a point of rest, to which the prophet has risen, and from which he contemplates not simply the doom of which ho has spoken, or CHAP, ii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZEPIUNIAJI. 545 the dooms of which lie is .about to speak, hut the whole course of the Divine providence. And as he looks before and after, as he recalls the past and projects himself into the future, he finds this to be a law of human history, that the judgments of God are a necessary part of the scheme of redemption : that God intends them to recover men from error to truth, from sin to holiness " [£>'. Cox]. Let us trace this thought — I. In human experience. God often visits in terror, smites our gods, and takes away what is dearest and most valuable. This terror brings torment and despair. The darkness hides the light, and the judgment the mercy. God is terrible indeed to us. But how else could we be weaned from sin, delivered from idolatry, and restored to God] Threatenings have been unheeded, mercies have been abused, and promises are of no avail. Severe measures must be adopted. " Fill their faces with shame ; that they may seek thy name, 0 Lord." II. In the history of the Christian Church. In the Jewish nation, in apostolic times and in modern history, this truth is abundantly confirmed. The Church has been purified by persecution, and nations have been saved by the famishing of their gods. "These judgments/' says one, "answer to the convulsions and storms of the natural world, and serve to disperse the fold infections which brood over the homes of men, to raise them to happier conditions, and to pour round them a more vital air." God thus starves idols to make known himself, clothes himself in terrors to redeem from error, and reveals mercy to win "the isles of the heathen." " For when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world 'will learn righteousness." The Doom op Ethiopia. — Verse 12. " Zephaniah has to complete his circuit. He has travelled East and West, and now completes his round by denouncing judgment on the nations of the North and South. At the South he merely aims a blow in passing ; but it is curious to note how far it reaches. He travels to the utmost limit of his knowledge, and hurls his curt ringing anathema at Cash or Ethiopia, the southernmost kingdom known to the Hebrews." Notice — I. That the enemies of the Church, though numerous and far distant, will he found out and punished. Philistia, Moab, and Amnion escape not. The sword passes Edom, a constant enemy, immediately south to Judah. Egypt, insolent and more southern still, is not mentioned. But far away the judgment SAveeps to remote Ethiopia. " Ye Ethiopians also." II. That in the punishment of these enemies the hand of God must be recognized. " Slain by my sword." All nations and individuals are God's instruments, and under his control. The most powerful and profane are under the rule and wielded by the hand of God. None can annoy and act without his permission. All things are as easily managed as a sword in the hand. Hence learn (a) to submit to God in the persecution by wicked men ; and (b) to discern his power and use of them. " Deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword." The Judgment upon Assyria. — Verses 13 — 15. The prophet dwells upon the kingdom of Assyria with its splendid capital, Nineveh. It was the imperial power then seeking to destroy Judah. But the sentence of Jonah and Nahum was to be executed. No opportunity of repentance now. The most populous and ambitious kingdom of Eastern races has to be entirely laid waste. I. Its capital would become a heap of ruins. God will stretch out his hand "and destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation." Nineveh, strongly built and splendidly adorned, secure in its streams and impregnable in its defences, Avould become an arid waste. "Dry like a wilderness." II. Its ruins would be complete. They would become— 1. A lair of wild beasts. 35 546 IIOMILETIC COMMENTJBF: ZEPIIANIALT. [chap. II. •• Eeids crouch were once tan broad streets, loud with the wheels of traffic or the trainj) of armies. Wild beasts wander and climb ahout the fallen stones, seeking a prey or Ending a coveri within its dismantled walls. Pelicans from the neigh- bouring marshes, ami hedgehogs from the adjacent fields, make their homes in the sculptured capitals of her fallen columns." 2. A home of unclean birds. Birds perch and Bing on the lintels of broken windows, joyous in existence amid exten- sive ruin-;. Tin" music of the palace, men-singers and women-singers, have ceased j of the bird startles the spectator in the lonely scene. 3. A lesolation. "Desolation shall he in the thresholds." On spots where porters watched and multitudes thronged, heaps of ruhbish stand. The thresholds of house and temple, mart and palace, are covered with dust. "The sands carried by winds from the desert, have buried the wreck of former grandeur, and hid every nificence." III. Its ruins would become a derision to travellers. rv nni' that passeth by her shall hiss and wag his hand." He shall hiss with scorn, and motion with the hand in detestation, not in joy (Nah. iii. 19). The desolation would astonish, and the ruin of the immense and stately city would ho a source of joy. "The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more." IIOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 13. Desolation. No desolation IS like that of decayed luxury. It preaches the nothingness of man, the fruitlessness of his toils, the fleetingness of his hopes and enjoyments. Grass in a court or on a beaten road, much more in a town, speaks of the passing away of what has been ; that man, wont to be there, Lb ik > t there now. It leaves the feeling of void and forsakenness [jPtwevl. Ver. 15. "I am," &c Pride will fall. The more selfish and secure in mii, the greater the human shamo and the Divine indignation. This was the language of — 1. Pride. Deification ot its own might. 2. Selfishness. I alone, and no other that I care for. 3. Defi- ance. I am, who dare touch me 1 No security in worldly strength and pros- perity. 4. Self-deception. Judgments from God humble the most haughty, and turn the most mirthful into mourn- ing. Thus Divine retribution " Falls most sure On wicked men, when they are most secure." ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER II. Vers. 1 — 3. Meekness. Is it not as the steps of degree in the Temple, whereby we descend to the knowledge of ourselves, and ascend to the know- ofGod.1 Would we attain mercy 1 humility will help \0. Button]. Vei . 1". 11. Pride. That which lii t overcame man, is the last thing he [Augustine], \ > i . 13 — 1."). This doom on Nineveh • trried out to the very letter. It was not -imply the Largest city of the ancient world. In the mouth of the II' hnw prophets it was the name of a Long, by 1"> broad, which included four large cities, besides villagt i and forts, within its protecting walks. About six centuries B.C., this vast populous district was conquered and destroyed by the Medes (under Cyaxares), and the Chaldeans (under Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnez- zar). So complete was the destruction, that with startling abruptness the great city vanished from the face of the earth, and rh very ruins were hidden from the eyes of men. In a. d. 17G6, Niebuhr, the great historian, stood on the eastern bank, which he took to be acclivities wrought by the hand of nature. It was not till a. D. 1842 that Layard, Kawlin- son, and Potta dug into these mounds, exhumed and interpreted the remains which tell the story of the city's great- ness, luxury, and culture with a power beyond that of words [S. Cox]. chap, in.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZEPIIANIAII. 547 "/ am." Indulged sin thrives and " When we in our viciousnoss strengthens in character. Germs of evil ?row bar(L ^ wi?° £ods &™} 0UF c>'es> a -, ,n ■, ... In our own slime drop our clear ludgnients. gather round the accursed root, until Make us adore our errors, and thus judgments from heaven cut it down. "We strut to our destruction." CHAPTER III. Critical Notes.] "Woe] to Jerusalem ; others, Nineveh. Filthy] From a word, to straighten one- self; hence, to rebel, to be refractory. 2. Voice] In law and prophets. Correction] Instruction with manifold chastisements. 3. Princes] aggravated the evil (cf. Mic. iii.). Lions] tearing the poor (Prov. xxviii. 15 : Ezek. xix. 2 : Nah. ii. 12). Wolves] (cf. Ilab. i. 8) : voracious and insatiable, who devour all in the night. 4. Prophets] Light and vainglorious ; from a word, to boil over ; frivolous in words ; brag (Jer. xxiii. 32). Priests] desecrate the temple and distort the law ; make everything common (Ezek. xxii. 26). S. ] The cause not with God. He is very near, declares his displeasure with sin, and daily brings all things to light. Morning] Lit. in the morning, in the morning. Shame] of penitence and conversion. 6. Cut off] Judgments appealed to as warnings (ch. ii.) ; to consider severity and goodness. 7.] Threatened danger would be averted if the people would turn from evil. But] Instead of repenting, they rose early, became more zealous in wicked- ness, prepared themselves for it, like parties starting early for a journey. Hence punishment. 8. Wait] The prophecy returns to its starting-point in vers. 2 and 3, to bring it to a close [Keil], Prey] (cf. Gen. xlix. 27 : Isa. xxxiii. 23). Determination] is fixed, or my right or justice to do this (ver. 5). " My justice, i. e. the justice which I shall bring to the light, consists in the fact that I pour my fury upon all nations, to exterminate the wicked by judgments, and to convert the penitent to myself, and prepare myself worshippers out of all nations " [Keil], Gather] To sift and convert them by judgments. 9. For] The reason for judgment, lip purity of language, " effusions of devo- tion," springing from renewed hearts. Consent] Shoulder ; a metaphor from burden-bearers with even shoulders (Jer. xxxii. 39) ; one accord, i e. unanimity. 10. From] most distant countries Jews will he presented to God by converted Gentiles as a meat-offering (cf. Isa. lxvi. 20). Rejected Israelite's will be benefited by Gentiles entering into the kingdom of God. 11. Ashamed] All cause for shame removed. They will be sanctified and restored to favour. Pride] Haughty princes and priests, who exult in sin, taken away. Mountain] The city or temple of which they boasted. 12.] Those spared in judgment and gathered together. Afflicted] Bowed down, oppressed with feeling of impotence for good, opposite of pride, and trusting in self — "a humble and lowly people" [Xewc.]. 13. This remnant] will be a holy nation (Ex. xix. 6) ; without injustice in life and deceit in word. Feed] in peace, undisturbed by foreign foes or unjust rulers. "This blessing is still further developed in what follows ; first of all, by reference to the removal of the judgments of God (vers. 14 — 17), and secondly, by the promise of God that all the obstacles which prevent the enjoyment of the blessing are to be cleared away " [Keil]. 14.] Fulness of joy indicated by repetition of words. 15.] The reasons given for exultation. Evil removed, enemies destroyed, full enjoyment of God's presence. 16.] Therefore no cause for fear, but reason for diligence. Slack] Faint not (Heb. xii. 12) through alarm and anxiety (Isa. xiii. 7). 17.] Jehovah within is mighty to help and save, and rejoices over his rescued people (Isa. Lxii. 5 ; lxv. 19). Rest] Be silent in his love ; love deeply felt and absorbed in its objects. "As a man caresses his dearest wife, so will God then quietly repose in thy love" [Calvin]. To be silent, not to speak, is here very appropriately employed to express the non- remembrance of iniquity [I fend.]. 18.] Those who pined in distance at the time of festivities, ahall be gathered together. Of thee] The people are of thy origin and descent (Isa. lviii. 12 : Ezra ii. 69 : Ps. lxviii. 27). Reproach] Presses upon them as a burden [cf. Lange]. 19. Undo] Lit. I will de d with all oppressors ; heal the limping. Her that halteth] Weakness no barrier to restoration; gather together the dispersed, and will get] Lit. make them a praise and fame in lands where they have been reproached. 20. Captivity] Lit. captivities of every age and kind shall end. God will lead them, finish the work begun, and, incredible as it may appear, their glorification shall be seen with their own eyes (Luke xxiv. 41). .* • 648 IW.Vir.ETIC COMMENTARY : ZEPHANIAII. [chap. in. HOMILETIGS. Tin: Guilty City. — Verses 1 — 4. After threatenings denounced against other nations, God speaks to the Church, denounces Jerusalem for the iniquities (lone by her. Former means were used in vain. Nov the last sentence is uttered. A sinful state will bring a woeful doom. I. Its inhabitants were ungodly. Its citizens were chosen of God to bo "a holy people, zealous of g 1 works;" but they were stained with corruption and i j //•■ re d( of to warning. " She obeyed not the voice" of God in his law and prophets. Remonstrance and appeal were in vain; wise counsel and wholi - ime p proof were set at nought. "They would none of my counsel : they i! my reproof. Therefore they shall eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices." 2. They refused correction. "She received trrection." She was neither disciplined by her own, nor the sufferings of Bumbled by force and not in spirit, men kick and rebel ; like an untract- able child under the rod, tiny increase their own chastisement. "Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way." 3. They hardened themselves in Obstinate in sin, they were given up to filthiness and infamy. (1) Tliey UN re n h Uious. " Woe to her that is refractory (filthy)." (2) They were. I. "Polluted" within, notwithstanding ceremonial purity without. (3) oppressive. "The oppressing city." Rebellion begets inward defilement before God, and cruelty to man. Hence — (-1) They provoked God to anger. "Woe to her!" The infinite patience of God may be exhausted, and he may become . in correcting for sin. " Why should ye be stricken any more?" (Isa. i. 5). II. Its rulers were unjust. The leaders, civil and religious, who should have been a protection and a praise, were cruel and ferocious. 1. The princes were cruel. •■ II i princes within her are roaring lions." Terrifying inferiors and devouring the 1 r who had no helper. 2. The judges were corrupt. " Her judges are evening wolves." Instead of defending the innocent and redressing the wrong, they wero ly and rapacious. They were no check to the insolence and rapacity of the ooblesj but like wild beasts driven by famine, they left not a bone of their even foi the hunger of the morning. "They gnaw not the bones till the ■ w." :?. The propheia were unfaithful. " Her prophets were light and treach- (1) In their word* they were light and frivolous, without truth lability in their teaching. Insolent speech and empty boasting characterized their ministry. (2) In their life they wen: treacherous and inconsistent. They evinced no! that gravity and humility which become the messengers of God; trifled with most Berious subjects ; declared their own thoughts to be the truth of God, and apostatized from him to whom they should have witnessed. 3. The were polluted. "Her priests have polluted the sanctuary." (1) They commiited sacrilege; polluted the temple and its services. They encouraged other-, iii a hold and carnal spirit, to profane that which was holy, and turn to their own use thai whirl, should be consecrated to God. (2) They violated law. They have done violence to the law." They openly strained or secretly wrested 11 "' '■ iolence. By craft and gloss they perverted its function, and became a type of all who transgress the commandment of God and make it of none effect by their traditions (Malt. xv. 6j xxiii. 23). Thus were all classes of society, high and low, accused of guilt and exposed to judgment. Mere power and outward :t.y will neve, . ave a people. They must be under the fear of God, accept his lion, 01 they will he denounced with woe. CHAP. III.] IIOiriLETIC COMMENTARY: ZEPIIANIAIL 5 If) Keeping from God. — Verse 3. God is the source of our happiness, the satisfaction of our hearts, and the end of our being. What, then, the condition of those who draw not near to God ? These words may he said concerning — I. The wicked generally. Sin separates from God, creates enmity against him. The wicked, through the pride of their countenance, will not seek God. God is not in their thoughts nor supreme in their life. They stand at a distance, will not approach God ; but say, Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. II. Some afflicted people. Jerusalem was heavily afflicted, but stubborn. The end of affliction is not answered in the case of many. Like Asa, they ask counsel of physicians and not God. They murmur, repine, and rebel against him. They draw not near to God in his providential dealings with them. "It lightens the stroke," said one, " to draw near to him who handles the rod." " I would ran into the arms of Christ, if he stood with a drawn sword in his hand," said Luther. " It is good for me to draw near to God." III. Some professing Christians. Instead of walking with God, they live afar off. The sanctuary and the prayer- meeting are forsaken, the Bible neglected, and the back is turned from God. In a letter to Matthew Henry, his mother says, " I write a line or two to remind you to keep in with God by solemn, secret daily prayer." " The soul in audience with its God is heaven." HOMILETIG HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Yers. 1,2. Corruption. 1. Its nature. " Towards God, in herself, towards man, she is wholly turned to evil, not in passing acts but in her abiding state. She is known only by what she has become, and what has been done for her in vain. She is rebellious, and so had had the law ; defiled, and so had been cleansed ; and therefore her state is the more hopeless " [Pusei/]. 2. Its source. Contempt of the word. Law and pun- ishment, invitation and promise, failed. " She obeyed nut the voice." 3. Its manifestation. Unbelief in threatenings and promises leads to settled hatred. " If a man despise the word of God, then the next thing is that he refuses all amendment, because he is well pleased with himself, and imagines everything which is in him good. And tins is the climax of perversion of the life from God" [Lauge]. 4. Its consequence. " She drew not near to her God." No change effected in life and heart. Dis- tance from God not merely as a natural fact, but as a penal consequence. Drew not nigh in repentance, faith, and love ; stood away until too late to come. " The way of destruction begins with obstinacy against God," says one; " then comes pollution by vice ; finally, the destruction of conscience, which be- comes manifest in open acts of violenco and crime." The four/old sin. Dis- obedience, obstinacy, atheism, and final impenitence. Take heed lest any of you " be hardened through the deceit- fulness of sin." Ver. 4. Pollution. 1. in the persons ; 2. in the things. The priests were pol- luted themselves, and " made the sacri- fices of the Lord to be abhorred." "Polluted her sanctuary, lit. holiness, and so holy rites, persons (Ezra viii. 28), things, places (as the sanctuary), sacri- fices. All these they polluted, being themselves polluted — first themselves, then the holy things which they handled, handling them as they ought not ; care- lessly and irreverently, not as ordained by God ; turning them to their own use and self indulgence" [Pl«ey]. " Bet priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: tiny have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean " (Ezek. xxii. 2G : MaL ii. 8). HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZEPUANIAII. [OHAP. m. EOMILETICS. God's Justice proved to a Guilty People. — Verses 5, 6. menl against the righteousness of God can be presented by those who have bi en warned, spared, and at last condemned. If iniquity be determined, and the sinner b cornea incorrigible, the course of justice is i clear. God could not rightly ted with injustice in punishing Jerusalem with greater suffering than the offence deserved. This is proved — I. By God's holy character. " The just Lord is in the midst thereof." He is •l.illv holy, eternally just ; the primal law of right to all. He is — 1. Just in 'i : and 2. Just to oth rs. " He will not do iniquity." He is in the midst of v.l,,, are polluted and oppressive ; reproving wrong, and giving an example of right Bi ace, if sinners heed not, God cannot connive at their wickedness, and ie as one of themselves (Ps. 1. 21). " The Lord is upright, and there is no in him." II. By God's righteous administration. God not dwelt in the temple, but gave clear intimations of duty, bright manifestations .it y, which they heeded not. God's condemnations of evil practices were — 1. tn the day, not in secret. 2. Clear. He brought " his judgment to light." All Becret things, all works of darkness, were exposed and reproved (2 Sam. xii. li'). 3. Continual. " Every morning ; " morning by morning, day by day, his was heard and his judgments conspicuous. "He faileth not" in judgment and mercy ; but they knew no shame, were conscious of no sin. "They were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush." III. By God's terrible judgments upon others. " I have cut off the nations," &c. (ver. 6). Judgments upon others had always been set before them as a warning. When about to enter the inheritance (Lev. xviii. 24 — 20; xx. 23), they were cautioned. When they got possession tho ruins of cities were sdent preachers of the results of sin (Isa. xvii. 9). They had been the instruments of inflicting judgments, and lived in the memories of God's • inns upon others. Fortified cities had been destroyed, mighty towers levelled to the dust, and nations completely ruined, to admonish them, but all in vain. i rod in seeking the sinner, but how terrible the punishment at last ! '• 1 -aid, Surely thou wilt fear rue, thou wilt receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them." Aggravations of Human Guilt. — Verses 5— 7. W! ited their guilt till it became intolerable, and put them beyond all men " mercy of judgment," was — 1. That God had given them a pure law of life, and himself administered it among them. In other cities, such as Gaza or Nineveh, the pi ad the law of God were but obscurely revealed. Men were left to grope after the Unknown, if haply they might find him; to infer a spiritual the operation of physical laws ; to deduce a Divine rule from the im- perfect and confused utterances of reason and conscience. In Jerusalem, God and his will were " sel in the light ;" the history of the chosen race, the services of the temple, the voices and scriptures of the prophets, the national habits of thought, and manner of life, Loudly proclaimed God to be their God. Who should know him if tiny did ool ( and who do his will if they disobeyed it1? But with so pure light of goodness in their midst, they wrapped themselves in darkness, and hated the light which reproved their deeds. "But the unjust know no shame." 2. That in the destruction inflicted upon neighbouring kingdoms, he had constantly warned them of the inevitable results of violating that law (ver. G). They had seen ;'•■ i race cut oil', their battlements laid waste, their cities battered down, and then ruinous desolation that no man dwelt in them, nor so much as passed through them. What were these judgments but the law of God CHAP. III.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZEPTIJXI.il/. 651 "writ large," and illustrated so impressively as to arrest the attention of the most heedless, and to rouse a saving fear in the stubhorn and impenitent'? Bui even these glaring and portentous illustrations of God's wrath against sin and all who cleave to it, had been wasted. They were unmoved, or moved only for a moment, under shocks and alarms. Only a judgment more severe than any they or known could constrain them to penitence, through penitence to righteousness, and through righteousness to peace. " The nation that did not turn pale " (ch. ii. 1). 3. That much as they suffered, they had not accepted correction, nor leant"/ that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord (ver. 7). Not only had they seen " a day of the Lord " darken other lands, and judgments desolate heathen cities. They themselves had been visited with judgment, smitten again and again till the whole head was sick, and the whole heart faint. The whole body politic was bruised, and wounded, and sore. Their whole past history was full of Divine chastenings. "What was their meaning ] what were they sent to say 1 " Only fear God, accept correction," let it produce its natural effect upon you, and all will be right. Cor- rections were sent to them that their land and city might be spared. But if they be rejected, they harden and deprave. Jerusalem had been content to give the day to disobedience and mutiny. Now as if it were not long enough for the sins they were eager to commit, " they rose up early " in the morning " to corrupt all their doings," so shameless were they, so incorrigible [Preacher's Lantern. Vol. II. Adapted]. HOMILETIO HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 5. Lt the midst. God's presence with an apostate people will not save from wrath, but will bring it nearer to them. "Is not the Lord among us 1 " was their boast (Mic. iii. 11). True, he is, but it is for another end from what ye think \Calvin~\. He faileth not. 1. In presence; 2. In promise ; 3. In help. He continually sets before us examples of judgment and mercy. " He wakeneth morning by morning " (Isa. v. 4 ; 1. 4). He does not fail to visit at the time looked for, though he may seem to forbear or linger behind (Hab. ii. 3). Shame. 1. Many in the Church and in the nation acknowledge God, yet sin against the clear light of the Word. 2. When such are mad in their sin and rush to ruin, it is a presage of their de- struction when the Word has nointiuence upon them ; a token that judgment must come, notwithstanding warnings, when " the unjust knoweth no shame " [Hutcheson], Vers. 6, 7. 1. The chastisement of others is designed to improve us. The design is benevolent; " so their dwelling should not be cut off." The method is suitable ; " howsoever I punished them." The results are reasonable; "surely thou wilt fear." 2. If the warning is unheeded we shall ourselves be punished. " No words could be more simple and direct than these ; none could state more plainly the merciful and Divine purpose of judgment ; the true function of the miseries men are called to endure. These judgments and miseries come to teach us the fear of the Lord ; that is, to save us from all fear. So soon as we accept them as corrections of our sins, their end is answered ; henceforth there is no anger in them, no injurious pain, but only a Divine love and goodwill. And if no statement of the meaning and function of suffering can be more plain than this, surely none can be more con- solatory. For, according to Zephaniah, it comes only for our good, for our highest good ; to teach us the true wis- dom, and to make us perfect. When once we 'accept' it, its end being reached, there is no reason why it sin itdd not either pass away or be changed into the stay and stimulus of our life." Long unaffected, undismayed, In pleasure's path secure 1 stray'd Thou mad'st me feel thy chast'ning rod, And straight I turn'd unto my God. Instruction. — Other men's woes should be our warnings ; others' Buffer- ings our sermons ; others' lashes our lessons ; God's house of correction, a IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZEPHANIAII. [chap. in. I of instruction where we should not in hearing, shall be crushed to hear and fear, and do no more bo pieces in feeling, said that martyr (Dent xvii. 13). He that trembleth [Trapp]. HOMILETICS. The Waiting Attitude of God's People in times of trouble. — Verse 8. The prophecy now returns to its starting-point. The faithful are called upon to wail upon * rod, as formerly they were exhorted to repentance (ch. ii. 3). Judgments 1, i I thundered forth in terror, the impenitent were to be swept away, and the fire of Divine wrath to consume the whole earth. But after the storm comes a calm. dation is given in calamity. The judgments upon the enemies will issue in of the B< ins of [srael, the purification of the earth, and the glory of the , not evil, will spring out of present trials. " Therefore wait" a little longer, the day will surely come. God's people must hope in him. I The basis of hope. " Wait ye upon me, saith the Lord." Salvation could ime from the people, even of favoured Israel, who had corrupted themselves. Prino a plundered, and judges bribed, to get wealth; prophets deceived, and priests 1 themselves to idols. There was no hope in the government nor in the •h L All were silent and all were guilty. Law makes nothing perfect, Christ alone brings in a better hope. II. The discouragements of hope. Sad must have been the heart of God's people under their oppression. Many things would tend to weaken their faith in God. 1. Imc, ml decay. Leaders became unfaithful. When those upon whom we depend for help, and who should be examples of virtue, become, faithless, we doubt all men and call them liars 1 1'-. cxvL 11). 2. Foreign invasion. The enemies came, like wave after wave, and Bwept the land. The innocent suffered with the guilty, and none escaped. :;. Long delay of help. How can God be holy, when vice unfolds itself and pollutes the whole nation ( Eow can God be kind, when the righteous are over- whelmed with the wicked ! Where is God's providence in punishing the evil and rewarding the good? Disappointment and dejection seize the mind, and we forget t i v. nt upon God. It is not the intenseness, but the length of trials, which test our patience. "The patience of hope," says one, " will end" in the full assurance of hope — " Our lives, discolour'd with our present woes, ■ill grow white, and Bmile with happier hours" [Addison]. III. The rewards of hope. Wait for me, the day is at hand ; I will seize my prey, and ace pli h my purpose (vers. 9 — 20). 1. The enemy would be subdued. Gathered together for cruel ends, God would snatch the prey out of their mouth, and crush their opposition. 2. They would besheltered in the day of wrath. God nol only overthrows hostility to his people in its powerful juncture of circumstances, implete destruction of heathenism and a full salvation to his chosen. .';. .1 purified earth would be created. The earth would be consumed with the fire of insulted love, and oul of it would springs new order of things. Christendom will yel become pure in life, united in effort, and all "with one mind and one mouth shall glorify God" (Bom. xv. G). EOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 8. Prey. Divine justice, like picture of the warrior leading to vic- eagles, ready to fall upon the prey, the tory. Hence — 1. Danger from sin and eruption (Matt. xxiv. 28). enemies. 2. Divine power in deliver- Taking prey as booty, we have the. ancc. "Through the judgment Jehovah chap, in.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZEP HANI AIL 553 obtains from among the nations thoso as purifying, struggling, and demolishing who will confess his name, so that the to the last. In the second place, there souls from among the nations which is a work of salvation, a new-creating desire salvation fall to Him as prey work, so that the same history is pre- (cf. Isa. liii. 12, with lii. 15, and sented as a progressive communication xlix. 7)" [Keil]. of the Divine life-germ, advancing to the Fierce anger, or God's judgments, a complete re-creation of that wluch lias fire. 1. To consume; or — 2. To cleanse. become corrupt by sin. These views The wicked are exterminated, the peni- cannot be separated; each receives its tent are converted, and worshippers are internal form by the irradiating lines of prepared out of all nations. " In the the other " [Lange] . first place, there is a work of judgment, HOMILETICS. The Gathering of the Christian Church — Verses 9, 10. In judgment God dispersed his ancient people, but they shall be restored with the Gentiles to God again. The heathens shall be converted, and be the means of turning the scattered nation to Jehovah. God will gather from all parts a people pure in life and united in service. I. The Gentiles shall he gathered together. " From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia ; " Abyssinia and neighbouring nations shall be converted. From the utmost bound of the known world shall people come The dispersed, the outcasts of spiritual Israel, shall be gathered from every region. With the restoration of the Jews shall " the fulness of the Gentiles " come. " That also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad." II. The Gentiles shall be holy in their life. 1. Pure in their language. "Then will I turn to the people a pure language." The confusion of tongues was the punishment of sin ; but lips once polluted with idolatry and blasphemy, shall be purified by the Spirit of God. A pure language indicates a pure life. The mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart. The lip was created by God, and should be used for his service and glory. A pure heart refines character and conversation, pours grace into the lips, and cleanses them from falsehood and profanity. " He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend." 2. Sin- cere in their worship. " My suppliants shall bring mine offering." Converted Gentiles will not only bring devout Jews as an offering to God (cf. Isa. lxvi. 20) ; but they will present themselves in humility and acceptance (Rom. xv. 16). No longer defiled by invocations and foul strains to idols, they will " all call upon tho name of the Lord." " For, from the rising of the sun to the going down of tho same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering." 3. United in their service. " Serve him with one consent." Saved by judgments, the nations shall be sanctified in speech, and one in effort. They shall bear the burden without strain or distress, walk step by step and work shoulder to shoulder in the cause of God. Christen- dom shall yet be purged from bigotry and sectarianism. There shall be a return to the simplicity and union in Christ. The Gospel shall dislodge idolatry and anti-Christian systems. Nations shall walk together — the Jew and the Greek, tho Barbarian and the Scythian — side by side, shoulder to shoulder, bearing the con- quests of the cross. Thus, on earth we may anticipate the joys, and hear the songs, of heaven (Rev. vii. 10 and 12; xi. 15), "I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them and of their children after them." IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZEPIIANIAH. [ctiap. hi. Bbabinq tiu: Burden with one consent. — Verse 9. Tlic law of God is a burden. Man can only l>ear it without strain and distress as each freely assumes it, and as all help to bear it, by walking in willing and happy consent of obedience. To induce a free and universal obedience, men are judged and corrected of the Lord. The metaphor, therefore, suggests three main thoughts— 1. That the Itw of God is a "burden lohich men are reluctant to assume. To our selfwill it is always hard to submit to the purest and tenderest will, even to the Divine Will, which moves in the light of eternal wisdom, and at the impulse of i li >ve» « Jurist admits i ibedience to bo a yoke to our unruly passions, a burden it stubborn necks (Matt. xi. 28 — 30). When we delight in bis law after the inward man, we find another law in our members warring against the law of our mind, and bringing as into the captivity of sin (Rom. vii. 21 — 23). We can only enter into rest as we get unity and freedom in our life, and we willingly submit to a higher will than our own. 2. That we can only attain this freedom as, with elf rf 'i I a a- 1 enforced accord, we assume the burden of the Divine law, and do the will uf Qod. Self-will makes us hateful to ourselves and to others; incapacitates for social and spiritual life. Follow your own will, you become a burden to your- self and all about you. Voluntarily curtail your own liberty, then you have true liherty. Set yourself against the world, you will find that the world has a stronger will than you have. We must take up some burden, and submit to some law. No law is so good, no burden so light, as the good will of God. This will rules in human affairs. It is Aviso to make it our law — not merely yield to it, but cheer- fully adopt and love it, and walk in liberty. Love makes all burdens light. When we lovo God, his will grows beautiful to us, and preferable to our own. Because we hear tho yoke wo find rest; because we keep the commandment we walk at (Ps. cxix. 45). We are free because we obey. But are we happy because we are free. 3. That the happiness of obedience depends on the unanimity and the universality of obedience. Only when all men serve God with one shoulder the of strain and distress will pass from us. To love God is to love man. Till they share our freedom, it cannot be a happy freedom. Till they love him and do his will, they will put many hindrances and temptations in our way which make obedience hard and painful. If they do not take their full share in bearing the burden, it will press unduly upon our shoulders. If some are morally taller and others morally shorter, men do not keep step. Only when the whole world stands under tie' Divine burden with one shoulder, and moves with one step, will our freedom be a happy freedom, and God's statutes become our songs. Seeing how men suffer from the sins of men, and nations from the sins of nations, we may well long and pray for the time when all men shall speak with a pure lip and serve with ■ single shoulder [Preacher's Lantern, vol. II.]. Tin: Restored Remnant. — Verses 11 — 13. In theso verses tho prophet pictures the happy characteristics and condition of i. These qualities are common to God's people in all ages and countries. Notice — ■ I. Their spiritual character. 1. They are few in number. "The remnant of I Small compared with the whole, yet precious in the sight of God — in- inland will increase. 2. They are humble in spirit. " An afflicted and poor I' 'I'1' ••" Poor in spirit, and conscious of no desert. Realizing life, growth, and igth only from God. 3. Thuy an; dipmdmt upon God. Feeling themselves unworthy, they naturally " trust in the name of the Lord." 4. They are upright vnduct. (1) They Jo no iniquity. (2) They speak no lies. They worship God in truth, and love man in sincerity. They are Israelites indeed, in whom chap, in.] I10MILETIC COMMENTARY : ZET HANI All. 555 is no guile. Born of God, they sin not (1 John iii. 9) in word or deed. Where true faith exists, holy life will follow. II. Their blessed condition. They aro completely restored to holiness, sit in the centre of a regenerated world, in the special presence and under the constant care of Jehovah. 1. They are cleansed from shame for sin. " In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for thy doings." The disgrace of rebellion shall bo wiped away. Remembrance of sin and failuro may cause penitence — long after sin is renounced and forgiven wo feel humble — but the guilt and reproach of sin shall not remain. 2. They are delivered from spiritual pride. The spirit of the Pharisee, the vain confidence which they had in the temple, and the pride of descent from Abraham, shall be taken away. 3. They are redeemed from proud opjwessors. " I will take away out of tho midst of thee, them that rejoice in thy pride." The meek and lowly will be left. The haughty judge and the proud sinners will bo exterminated. Priests or prophets who exult in sinful ways will bo cut off. 4. Tliey are specially pro- tected by God. (a) Delivered from fear. " None shall make them afraid." No foreign foe nor native prince — no "treacherous" prophet, nor "violent" and " polluting " priest, can touch them (ver. 4). They are beyond all harm and fear. (b) Blessed with peace. As God's sheep they " shall feed " in green pastures — "lie down" to rest in perpetual enjoyment (Mic. vii. 14), and dwell in God's presence Avithout fear (Lev. xxvi. 6). " I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God." The True Israelite. — Verse 13. Of the subjects of Divine grace here mentioned, notice: Their number; "a remnant." Strait is the gate, and narrow the way, that leadeth to life, and few there be that find it. Yet God has always had a people for his Name — never left himself without a witness, and this has been our case as a nation ; for, " except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom," &c. Though " a little flock " in a large field, " a garden " in a vast wil- derness, yet " he shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root : Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit." Their sanctity. " They shall not do iniquity." Take this with some restriction. " There is not on earth a just man that doeth good and sinneth not." But they aro not " workers of iniquity," and " evil-doers." Sin does not reign in them. They hate every false way, and esteem all his commandments concerning all things to be right. Ho that has "true holiness" cannot be satisfied without perfect holiness. He there- fore prays to be sanctified in body, soul, and spirit. Tiieir sincerity. " They shall not speak lies," &c. A part is put for the whole, and the quality of speech expresses the inward temper of their minds. Everything is a lie religiously that does not accord with the state of the heart. Only an upright spirit can maintain a deceitless tongue before God. Christians are not mere pretenders; a painted sepulchre, fair without, and rottenness within. Not mere actors on a stage, but are really what they appear to be. Their integrity is specially known by their fear of self-deception. They come to the light, examine themselves by the Word, and implore the inspection of God himself : " Search me, 0 God." Their privileges. Their blessedness is expressed pastorally, and includes three things. First, pasture : they shall " feed." As new creatures their food is intellectual and spiritual ; found in the ordinances of religion, and witli the Saviour himself. Secondly, repose : and shall " lie down." In an eastern climate, in a warm sun, how desirable would rest be ! Hence the Church says, Tell me, not only where thou feedest, but " whero thou makest thy flock to rest at noon." Thirdly, security : " and none shall make them afraid." Sheep are the most timid of all animals, every appearance and movement alarms them. But the rig'uteous should be bold as a lion ; their duty 556 IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZEP1IANIAH. [CHAP. in. requires it, and their principles justify it. God has amply provided for their con- fidence. When they believe it, they can be in quiet from the fear of evil, "dwell safely m the wilderness, and sleep in the woods" [W. Jay]. EOMILETIG HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Yrx. 11. Haughty because of holy are common to all; when this catholic mountain. Pride in outward privileges, charity is the animating, all-pervading 1. A >iu against God who gave them, spirit of the Church of God, will the 2, A. danger, because robbing of enjoy- millennium be far off] or Heaven nit-nt, and exposing to judgment. "That itself V [S. Cox]. haughtiness is mosl offensive to God, Ver. 12. It is painful to the human which is supported and fed by the heart, that it must first become corn- pretensions of holiness." If pride pletely poor and humble before it learns the last infirmity of noble minds," to trust entirely in the living God. This " is not spiritual pride the last infirmity is the reason that the hearts rich in the of religious minds? When the Jaw opinion of the world are richest in dead shall no longer boast himself in Jerusa- idols [Lange]. bin and the temple ; when there shall Vers. 12, 13. The glory of the single sectarian left to pride Christian Church. Not in outward himnfllf in his exclusive possession of splendour; for they are of ten few, poor, some spiritual gift, or on his singular and afflicted, but in holy life, exalted fidelity to some" neglected truth; when worship, and Divine protection. Feed: every man shall hold all he has in trust Shall have all that heart can wish or for his brethren, call nothing his own, need require* plenty, safety, security and value all gifts in proportion as they [ZVapj?]. HOMILETICS. The Joy of the Redeemed. — Verses 14 — 17. These words are a call to the converted Israelites, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to exult in their distinguished blessings. The prophet seems to be in a transport of joy himself, as he adds word to word, and epithet to epithet, in tender feelings. Three designations are given: "Daughter of Zion," "Israel," and iter of Jerusalem." The wonders of "that day" are great, and the source of exultant joy to all who see them. The causes of this joy are distinctly pointed out. I. Judgments are removed. " The Lord hath taken away thy judgments." I was chasti I in mercy, but God forgave her sins, and took away her judg- ments. Christians are freed from condemnation by the law, and rejoice in hope of salvation. When sin is pardoned, the consequences of sin are removed. When tie-' troyed the effects will cease ; happiness follows the way of holiness. II. Enemies are subdued. " Ee hath cast out (lit. cleared quite away) thine enemy." This is a type of the destruction of antichrist, the casting out of the prince of this world (Matt. xii. ;;i ), and the overthrow of all opposition. Delivered fn.m all enemies, God's people will serve him without fear, in holiness and right- .11 their days (I. uk,' i. 71, 7.')). III. God is enthroned in their midst. i the Lord i- in the midst of thee." God seemed to desert them for a time, butnowreturns to a purified temple. As Kingof [srael he sits enthroned in mercy the homage of a grateful nation, lie dwells in the Church, and will bo with his people to die end of time. 1. To deliver them from evil. "Thou shalt ! any more." 2. '/'•< strengttten their hearts. They will neither be weary nor fun! in i to L's Bervice. Savin- health will he imparted, timidity shall be over- 10 1 111 a will admire their courage. 3. To rejoice over (hem with sacred joy. CHAP. III.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZEPIIANTAII. 557 " He will rejoice over thee with joy." With a bridegroom's joy will God " rojoico in Jerusalem, and joy in his people " (Isa. lxv. 19 ; lxii. 5). But man's love is only a faint shadow of God's love. Love in twofold aspects — in its silence and exult- ation— represents God's satisfaction and joy in his people. Ho exults over and takes pleasure in those that fear him. Kejoicing now is only the first-fruits. Those who weep by the rivers of Babylon will sing in the new Jerusalem : " Sing, (0 daughter of Zion), shout, (0 Israel), be glad, and rejoice with all thy heart, U daughter of Jerusalem." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 14. Whether the Church or the faithful soul — she is summoned by all her names — called to the fullest joy in God, with every expression, and every feeling. Sing; it is the inarticulate, thrilKng, trembling burst of joy : shout; again the inarticulate, yet louder, swell of joy ; a trumpet-blast : and then, too, deep within ; be glad, the calm inward joy of the soul ; exidt, the triumph of the soul which cannot contain itself for joy; and this, with the whole heart, no corner of it not pervaded with joy. The ground of this is the complete removal of every evil, and the full presence of God [Pusey\. Vers. 15 — 17. Very remarkable is the use of the sacred number three in these verses. Threefold is the descrip- tion of their being freed from sins : ( 1 ) They shall not do iniquity ; (2) nor speak lies; (3) neither shall a deceitful tongue be in their mouth. Threefold their blessedness : They shall (I) feed ; (2) lie down; (3) none make them afraid. Threefold the exhortation to joy : sing, to God the Father ; shoict, to God the Son ; be glad and rejoice, in God the Holy Ghost. The promise is threefold : (1) Thou shalt not see evil any more ; (2) fear thou not ; (3) let not thine hands be shirk. The love of God is threefold : (1) He, will rejoice over thee with joy; (2) He will rest in his love; (3) He will joy over 1 //<'<■ with singing [Pusey], Ver. 17. God in the midst. 1. God near. In his works, but specially pre- sent with his saints. 2. God might g. flighty to comfort, sustain, and defend. 3. God will save. He is willing, bound by promise, oath, and blood. 4. But is he thy God ? Thine by promise, cove- nant, and actual possession. "How happy, then, arc they to whom The Lord our God is known ; Whom he, from all the world besides, Has chosen for his own ! " lie will rejoice over thee. The satisfac- tion here implied is the Saviour's own joy arising out of the salvation of his people. First, we may view this joy as the result of success. Secondly, as a manifestation of benevolence. Thirdly, as indicative of fin' delight and compla- e, ncy with which he regards his people. The Saviour's joy over, and in, his people is tin- sin ner's hope. Lastly, the Saviour's joy is the saint's example. He was infinitely more than an example, and nothing less. If we depend upon him, we must resemble him \_Jay]. HOMILETICS. Mourning for the Solemn Assembly. — -Ver. 18. The prophet concludes with the promise that all the dispersed — all who mourn because they do not share the joy of festal meetings in the temple— shall bo restored to ancient privileges, and gathered into one fold. We have not to sorrow because deprived of Christian ordinances. Our temples stand, our Sabbaths are not taken away, yet there is reason to mourn for the condition of Zion. I. Mourn when deprived of personal attendance. Domestic affliction, acci- dents, and trials may detain from its solemnities. Then the soul is cast down within us. God thus teaches us to value the means more highly, ) All dangers without shall be removed. The enemies will be repre ed and rooted up, judged by God, to prepare for the restoration of Israel (I i. l.wi. 15, 10). Dignity for disgrace, mercy for misery, and honour for insult. In every land where they have been reproached shall they be praised by the foe. They will then be "high above all nations which he hath made in praise, and in name, and in honour," &c. (Dent, x.wi. 1 9 j xxx. 3). 3. It will be visibly per- form -/. " Before your eyes, saith the Lord." However incredible, it shall be cprito obvious to the sense. The testimony of the senses shall convince you. Relievers will see the end of all their Bufferings, realize all their hopes, and soon partake of I aeir redemption. II. A restoration certain in its accomplishment. The promise i repeated to make the assurance greater. One act of God makes way fox another. When be begins In; will finish his work. 1. Unimpeded by outward enemies. "I will undo all that alllict thee." God maybe silent, but will not always sit still, lie will deal with all according to their deserts. 2. Unimpeded by internal weakness. .None can detain them in bondage. All difficulties will be easily surmounted, (a) The weak shall be strengthened. "1 will save her that CHAP. III.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZEPIIANIAII. 559 halteth. (b) The outcast shall be restored. " And gather her that was driven out." (c) The captives shall be recovered. " When I turn back your captivity." What a sublime prospect to God's people! They shall be redeemed from oppression, called together from the utmost ends of the earth — the maimed and the bait, the peasant and the priest — to be owned, guided, and fixed in their kingdom. Jew and Gentile, Barbarian and Scythian, shall become one fold, become the praise of the earth, and the glory of the universe. " At that time" the Christian Church will be a type of the Church of the first-born, which in the great day will bo admired and glorified in Christ, and he in them. Then his kingdom will be established and perfected in the new Jerusalem. And the " redeemed out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation " shall become kings and priests to God. HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 20. The period of restoration distinctly prominent by pointed refer- ence. The manner also remarkable. " / will bring you in." I will lead you like a shepherd going before his flock, and gather you in due season, like the shepherd putting his flock into the fold. " For even these weak and helpless ones, who limp, and are burdened, and have been dispersed, are of the flock of the Lord, and will experience the faithful tender care of the Great Shepherd and Bishop of souls." " That time is the whole time of the gospel; the one day of salvation, in which all who shall ever be gathered, shall be brought into the New Jerusalem. The words were ful- filled, when at our Lord's first coming the remnant of the true Israel, those ordained to eternal life, were brought in. It shall be fulfilled again, when the ful- ness of the Gentiles shall be com*1 in, and so all Israel shall be saved (Bom. xi. 25, 2G). It shall most perfectly bo fulfilled at the end, when there shall be no going out of those once brought in, and those who have gathered others into the Church shall be a name and a praise among all people of the earth " [Pusey], Your captivity, lit. captivities of dif- ferent ages and countries in Jewish and gospel history. " All personal and social captivities will be turned back like a stream. ' Turn our captivity, 0 Lord, as the rivers of the south ' (Ps. exxvi. 5) ; they will all How into the Church of Christ. (See Isa. ii. 2: Mic. iv. 1). ' All nations shall flow into it ' " [Wordsworth]. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER III. Ver. 1. Polluted. Sinful corruption is a poison so subtle, that it pierces into all the powers of the soul ; so con- tagious, that it infects all the actions ; so obstinate, that only omnipotent grace can heal it [Dr. Bates']. Ver. 2. Instruction. The end of learning is to know God, and out of that knowledge to love and imitate him. " That it may please thee to give to all thy people increase of grace to hear meekly thy word, to receive it with pure affection, and bring forth the fruits of the Spirit" [Litany]. Near to her God. The essence of all wickedness is for- saking God [Nichols]. Ver. 3. Avarice is insatiable, and is always pushing onfor more [L Estrange]. " Fancy, and pride, seek things at vast expense, Which relish not to reuson, nor to sense." [Pope.] Ver. 4. Treacherous. " There is no love among Christians," cries the man destitute of true charity. " Zeal has vanished," exclaims the idle talker. " 0 for more consistency ! " groans out the hypocrite. "We want more vital godliness," protests the false pretender. As in the old legend, the wolf prcaclu'd against sheep-stealing, so very many hunt down those sins in others which they gladly shelter in themselves [Bpurgeon]. Ver. 5. Just. If there be one truth that speaks throughout the Bible like the voice of God, and resounds with all the EOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZEPHJNIJH. [OIIAP. III. grandeur "f the Divine intonation, it is the truth thai God does not look with an equal eye upon the evil and the good, that Be i> a discriminator of character, a Lover of that which is right, and a hater of that which is wrong [//. H". • •]. Vera 6, 7. The desolation is com- plete, within as well as without ; ruin itself i- hardly bo desolate as the empty habitations and forsaken streets, once full of life, where *• The i choea and t li.< empty tread Would sound like voices from the dead." [Pusey.] Vet. 8. The terrors of the Lord are •. but they do not exercise supreme .•■way in a human heart, and lead all its affections whithersoever they will. His i~ uot a ruling, leading, drawing power. It is mighty, but not to save [If. Arnot]. Vers. 9 and 13. Language. Speech is the perfect expression of the senses. Words are but the representations of the disintegrated body of mau [Okett]. Christ became the one language of the whole, world [Jerome]. Deceitful tongue (ver. 13). They employ words but to disguise their thoughts [Voltaire], Vers. 14, 15. Sing. Thy words have darted hope into my soul, and comfort dawns upon me [Southern]. " Joy is our duty, glory, health, The sunshine of the soul ; Our hest encomium on the Power Who sweetly plans the whole " [Young]. Vers. 18 — 20. So with this scene of quiet pastoral felicity the poem closes ; and Zephaniah, whose earlier words seemed to bespeak a veritable " son of thunder," proves himself to be a true "son of consolation," even as the judg- ment he was sent to denounce proves to be an act of sovereign and Divine mercy. Harsh and severe in husk, in outward seeming, its heart is ' ' made of tenderness. " It is like one of those fairy nuts in which, when they could be broken, there were found lustrous gems of price [S. Cox]. I10MILETIC COMMENTARY H A G G A I. INTRODUCTION. The Prophet. The name Ilaggai means my feast; given, according to Cocccius, in anticipation of the joyous return from exile. He was prohably one of the Jewish exiles who returned under Zerubbabel, the civil head of the people, and Joshua the high priest, 536 B.C., when Cyrus (actuated by the striking prophecies as to him- self (Isa. xliv. 28 ; xlv. 1), granted them their liberty, and furnished them with the necessaries for restoring the temple (2 Chron. xxxvi. 23 : Ezra i. 1 ; ii. 2) \Faussct\. All we know of his personal history is gathered from his book (ch. i. 1 ; ii. 1, 10, 20 : cf. Ezra v. 1 ; vi. 14). The traditions of Jewish writers seem to have no evidence to support them. The Time. He is the tenth in order of the twelve minor prophets, and the first of the three who prophesied after the Captivity. He was preceded by Zechariah by about two months, and by Zephaniah 100 years. " His book itself vouches for the fact that he prophesied in the reign of Darius Hystaspis, who ascended tho Persian throne B.C. 521. Having been interrupted in building tho temple by an interdict, which the Samaritans obtained from Smerdis the usurper, the Jews became in some measure indifferent to the work ; and when Darius came to tho throne, an event which must have deprived tho prohibition of all authority, instead of vigorously recommencing their labours, the more influential persons among them pretended that, as the prophecy of the 70 years applied to the temple as well as to the captivity in Babylon, and they were only yet in the 68th year, the proper time for rebuilding it had not arrived, and gave their whole attention to the erection of splendid mansions for themselves " [Henderson]. The Book. Consists of five addresses, which were delivered at successive periods within the short space of three months. They are very brief, and supposed to bo only a summary or epitome of the original discourses. " The first discourse (chap, i. 1 — 11), is one of reproof, expostulation, and warning, being designed to arouse the people from their religious apathy, and, in especial, from their indifference to the condition of the temple, which was then lying desolate. Tho second discourso (i, 12 15), after a relation of tho beneficial residts of the first, holds out to them, in their returning obedience, the promise of God's returning favour and aid in their 36 562 INTRODUCTION. work. The third discourse (eh. ii. 1—9), evoked by the despondency that had begun to affect some of the people on account of the outward inferiority of the at temple, predicts for it a glory for transcending that of its predecessor, since the treasures of all nations were yet to adorn the Church of the Messiah, of which it was the representative. The fourth discourse (ch. ii. 10 — 19), teaches them, from the principles of the Ceremonial Law, that no amount of outward religious observ- ance can communicate holiness, or secure acceptance with God, and the restoration el his favour, the withdrawal of which had been so manifest in their late public and private distress. The fifth discourse assures the struggling community of their rvation in the midst of commotions which should destroy other nations, promising to its faithful rulers, represented by Zerubbabel, the special protection of their Covenant God " [Lomge\. Tin; Style. Lacks the poetical qualities of the earlier prophecies, but is marked with pas-ages of great vivacity and power, "to which, among other characteristics, the frequent use of the interrogation largely contributes (e. g. in chaps, i. 4, 9 ; ii. 3, 12, 13, 19). In addition to these more obvious characteristics, we can discern both rhetorical and grammatical peculiarities natural to the declining period of the Hebrew language and literature." The style of Haggai is consonant with his mes- : pathetic in exhortation, vehement in reproofs, elevated in contemplating the glorious future. The repetition of the same phrases (e. g. saith the Lord, or, the of hosts (ch. i. 2, 5, 7), and thrice in one verse (ch. ii. 4) ; so " the spirit" thrice in ch. i. 14) gives a simple earnestness to his style, calculated to awaken the Bolemn attention of the people, and to arouse them from apathy. Chaldaisms occur (ch. ii 3, 6, 16), as might have been expected in a writer who was so long in Chaldean Parts are purely prose history; the rest is somewhat rhythmical and observant of poetic parallelism [Futissct]. There are references to Haggai in Old and New Testament (Ezra v. 1 ; vi. 14 : and lleb. xii. 20: cf. Hag. ii. 7, 8, 22). Tin; PuSPOSB of the book is to exhort to the rebuilding of the temple, but the predictions relate to the Church of God in all ages, and should evoke and perpetuate the spirit of obedience and love to Divine ordinances. Torevivothe drooping spirits of all engaged in the work of God, a future transcendent glory is revealed which t-hall crown their labours and embrace all the kingdoms of the earth. chap, i.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY : IIAGGAI. 563 CHAPTER I. Critical Notes.] By] lit in the hand of Haggai, the prophet, merely a conscious medium ; God the real speaker (cf. Acts vii. 35 : Gal. iii. 19). Governor] l'ichah, akin to the Turkish Pasha, one who rules a less country than a Satrap. 2. This] Not my people, but reproachfully, this people, as in acts disowning him, and so deserving to be disowned by him [Pusei/]. Come] i. e. to build. Two out of seventy predicted years of captivity unexpired : this a plea for delay (cf. Henderson). 3.] A repetition, to give greater prominence to the antithesis. 4.] God meets them with a question, and appeals to the conscience. You] Yourselves ; the shameful contrast between them and Jehovah. Cieled] Heb. to cover, wainscot, or overlay with boards, " so that what is predicated of the houses is not to be confined to the ceiling, but must be extended to the walls which were thus covered, at once for comfort and ornament " [Henderson]. 5. Consider] Lit. set your heart upon ; i. e. consider your conduct and lay it to heart ; a frequent formula with Haggai (cf. ver. 7 ; ch. ii. 15, 18). 6.] The meaning of these clauses is, not that the small harvest was not sufficient to feed and clothe tho people, but that even in their use of the little that had been reaped, the blessing of God was wanting, as evident not only from the words themselves, but placed beyond doubt by ver. 9 [Keil]. Holes] A torn bag was proverbial foi money spent without profit (cf. Isa. lv. 2 : Jer. ii. 13 : Zech. viii. 10). Necessities were dear, and a day's wage to purchase them, as if put into a bag with holes. 8.] The summons repeated. They were not required to buy, but simply to give their labour, and bring timber from the mountainous country where trees grew. Cyrus granted cedars from Lebanon for the building of the temple (Ezra iii. 7 ; vi. 3, 4). Pleasure] God displeased when it was in ruins. Glorified] Be propitious to suppliants, and so receive the honour due to me (1 Kings viii. 30). 9. Looked] Lit. Ye turned towards much, inspecting frequently the growing crops (Exod. xvi. 10). Blow] I dissipated, blighted with my breath, the little gathered into barns. Because] Most emphatic. Run] Indicating the eagerness with which they pursued their own affairs and sought for self-indulgence. 10.] The curse further depicted, with an evident play upon the punishment with which transgressors are threatened in the law (Lev. xxvi. 19, 20 : Deut. xi. 17 ; xxviii. 23, 24) [Keil]. 11. I] The first cause : heaven and earth (ver. 10), the visible and second causes. Drought] Affecting man and beast, through vegetation. "The word is carefully chosen, to express the idea of the lex talionis. Because the Jews left the house of God charehh, they were punished with chorebh " [Kiel]. All] Comprehending the cultivation of the soil and labour for the necessi- ties of life. 12 — 15] The result of reproof. Obey] i. e. To lay to heart, so as to obey what was heard. Fear] The first-fruit of hearing; the second given ver. 14. 13] The penitence of the people with their rulers, met with the promise of Divine aid. Messenger] (cf. Mai. ii. 7 : Gal iv. 14). Message] i. e. invested with his authority and commission. 14. Stirred] To awaken the spirit of a man is to make him willing and glad to carry out his resolutions (cf. 1 Chron. v. 26 : 2 Chron. xxi. 16 : Ezra i. 1 — 5). God gave them energy and perseverance in the work. Did] Thus, filled with joyfulness, courage, and strength, they began the work on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius (ver. 15) ; that is to say, twenty-three days after Haggai had first addressed his challenge to them. The interval had been spent in deliberation and counsel, and in preparations for carrying out the work [Keil], HOMILETICS. The Call to Duty. — Verses 1, 2. The prophet addresses the people through their rulers, and seeks to rouse them to their work. The first day, the day of tho new moon and a time of festal Bacrifice, was an appropriate time. On such a day they must have been conscious of the ruins of the temple, and the work they had to do. In season ami out of season God calls to duty. I. A call through an inspired messenger. The prophet was invested with a Divine commission, and spoke with Divine authority. The voice was human, hut the "word" was from Jehovah. He entrusts ministers with His words and works, and they should dispense them, as faithful stewards, to his people. This is a motive, an encouragement, and a help to perform his will. II. A call to all people. The people were only few, a remnant, but none must excuse (vers. 1 2 and IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIAGGJI. [CHAP. i. ID. I. To the prince, " Unto Zcrubbabel the son of Shealtiel." The prince of royal blood, the governor of the land, was not to be exempt. 2. To the priest. •■ And to Joshua the sen of Josedech, the high priest." The heads in civil and religious authority, mien in Church and State, were jointly responsible for the negligence of the i pie. Greal and good men must be stirred up when they grow remiss. Men in high position have greater opportunities of knowing, and should Bel a better example in doing, Cod's will. No institution must beset aside, and no social elevation must excuse from duty. 3. To the people. The few are addressed through their officials. All have equal share and equal responsibility^ Duty is the civ t" all. Duty only is truth, and there is no true religion but in its accom- plishment This alone is the end of the highest life, and the truest happiness is derived from the consciousness of its fulfilment. Duty performed, says George Herbert, "gives us music at midnight." " The word di/fij seems to me," says one, '■ the biggest word in the world, and is the uppermost in all my serious doings." This call to duty is loud, continual, and urgent. " Whatsoever he saith to you, do it.'' The Guilty Excuses for Delay in Duty. — Verses 2 — 4. The people are charged with neglect in their work, bereft of every excuse to justify their negligence, and rcAited in their pretences by their own sinful conduct. They did not question the call, nor deny the obligation to duty, but Avere criminal in delaying it. I. They were actuated by selfishness. They dwelt in ceiled houses, adorned them with comforts and luxuries, while the temple was in ruins. They were more concerned for themselves than for the cause of God. They were not poor in means, but in spirit. Selfdove will hinder all effort to repair and build the' house of God. It is fatal to spiritual interests. "Woe to you who join to house, and Held to field, and regard not the work of the Lord." II. They were hindered through fear. They might urge that their relation with Persia avis not favourable, and that the edict to cease labour, were reasons for inaction. Hut this was a more pretext. They had made no effort to discover the mind of the legitimate king, Darius Hystaspis. Their neglect was not the opposition to zealous patriots ami indent worshippers, but the selfish indifference of an unfaithful people. '1 1., intrigues of the enemies, and cowardice, determined them from serious effort. grew fainthearted through difficulty (Ezra hi. 11 — 13; iv. 4). "Woe unto him that is faint-hearted," says the son of Sirach. No blessings equal a stout heart in thi of God. Cherish the spirit of Nehemiah, "The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we, his servants, will arise and build." III. They delayed in presumption. " This people say, The time is not come." Ingenious in excuses, they declared that interruptions proved that the proper time to build had ool arrived. "God hath interposed many difficulties to punish our rash haste" [ ( ktfviri], why then work till the full period is expired1? Many, like the Jews, do not say, Never, but not yet. Conscience will not let them say, We will never be ius and work for Godj but they procrastinate — put off till to-morrow what should be done to day (2 Cor. vi. 1, 2), and thus leave the great work of life un- done. The time is always come to him who wishes to do right. In his providence and by his prophets, God calls now. The present is the opportunity to respond, undertake, and finish the work which God has given us to do. Should worldlings i ci it themselves lor pleasure and selfdndulgence, and the servants of God stand back amid the ruins of the temple, and the loss of immortal souls] " Surely I will not com,, into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give all ep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob " (Ps. cxxxii. 3 — 5 : 2 Sam. vii. 2.) chap, i.] EOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HAG 0 AT. A Missionary Sermon. — Verse 4. The captivity of Babylon had passed away. The Jews were now called to re- build the second temple, and restore the worship of God. Adversaries watched them, and tried to cause then* work to cease for a time. The prophets Baggai and Zechariah were raised up to urge them to begin afresh. This state of things existed in other periods of the world. To excite you to zeal and greater diligence in the cause of God, look at the words in the following aspects — I. As representing a depression in the cause of God. " The house of God lieth waste." There is a painful imperfection in the work of God in the present day. What are the scenes in lands where Christianity is 'professed? In ourown land the cause of God is depressed. Much that is opposed to purity and happiness abounds. In other countries which bear the name of Christendom, in the continent of Europe, wo behold the strong-holds of the prince of the power of the air — mystic Babylon, having in her hand the cup full of abominations. Over the vast portions of the East reigns the vile impostor in barbarism and sensuality. Beyond these are the regions of heathenism. The light is only just gathering which is to dissipate the darkness, and change the world into brightness and beauty. Are we not compelled to say, " the temple of God lieth waste " 1 II. As describing a pursuit of temporal gratification on the part of those confessedly attached to the cause of God. All neglect exertions which God justly demands. Some think the cause is impolitic, others that it is unjust. Generally, it is often a lamentation that largo portions of wealth, talent, and influence hi the world are not devoted to God. More particularly, is there sufficient exercise of talent and opportunity 1 Do not the principles of selfishness prevent us from making sacrifices which ought to bo made? From the period of the Beformation, little has been done to purify the Church and advance its interests. The spirit of missions has to Christianize the Church, before the Church can Christianize the world. The time must come when wealth, splendour, talents, and influence must dedicate their most hallowed powers to God. Individual exertion is still very imperfect in the great cause. Let each consider how much of his time, natural gifts, and property have been given to pro- mote the interests of his fellow-men. It will be little indeed, while an immense portion of each has been given to the world. Contrast our state with the votaries of false religion, Mahommedanism, and heathenism. Think of almost incredible sums devoted to degrading superstitions. Think of Whitfield and others, whoso memory we cherish ; emulate their zeal and catch their spirit. III. As challenging the employment of our various talents, and urging the claims of God. 1. Con- sider the nature of those obligations under which God has placed you, and regard the services which you are called to render. 2. Consider the peculiar nature of the gospel which you have embraced. 3. Consider that while there is not energy in the cause of God, there is an awful amount of misery resting upon your fellow- men. 4. Consider the prospect of success. God has promised that every enemy shall be overcome — that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established upon the tops of the mountains — that he will cause peace and righteousness to prevail in all the earth, and that the world shall bo given to Christ, and filled with the glory and power of his grace [James Parsons'], HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 1. Joshua, the high priest, was Together they are types of him, the true a type of Christ. 1. In his name, which King and true Priest, Christ Jeans, who sh'nifieth a Saviour. 2. In his office by the Eesurrection raised again tho of high priesthood. 3. In his partner- true Temple, his body, after it had been ao-ency with Zerubbabel, in bringing the destroyed [Picsey], people home to their country [Trapp]. Yer. 2. "This people," instead of 5fiO IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: II AG GAL [chap. i. '• My people." The loss of God's con you have positive command, in anticipa- fidence, 1. to occaeions. 2. Its con- tion of plainer providence or better sequences. •*». Its retrieval [Lange]. days — "Thifl people SOy." Wordfl then have " The primal duties shine aloft, like stars." their weighl ; neither are men's tongues [Wordsivorth.] their own ; but there is a Lord over Vers. 2—4. There is a time for them (Pa xii. 4), that will call them to everything with men; but they should a strict account of all waste words consider— 1. Who it is that claims (Matt. xii. 36), and hard speeches their first and most devoted service. (Jnde 15). Be thai weighs his words 2. The means and methods of serving he utters them, shall prevent an him best [Lange]. Men are very in- teckoning for them [Trajpp]. genious when they wish to hide their time is not come, 1. An indica- delinquencies [Calvin]. Many have ti..u «»f the wrong spirit. 2. A misin- plenty of money when they build terpretation of 1 >ivine providence. 3. A houses for themselves, but great scarcity manifestation of disobedience. 4. An of it when it is wanted for churches, expectation of times without difficulty, schools, or anything to promote God's Never lay by present duty, for which glory [Cramer]. IIOMILETICS. Human Thoughtlessness. — Verse 5. Having reproved their sinful negligence, the prophet urges them to a serious con- sideration of their ways. Why should the earth be deprived of produce and their labour of profit through their ingratitude and folly? From the residts of their conduct they may discern the principles of moral government, and the proofs of their guilt. I. Men should seriously consider their ways. Solemnly and prayerfully lay them to heart. Are they reasonable ? Nature is governed by force, and brutes driven with the lash, but men should act under the influence of thought and reason, ingratitude to I rod,— and a feeling of responsibility. To be the slave of habit, or to be under the dominion of lust, is most unreasonable. Are they safe? If opposed t>. ( tod's word they are sinful and dangerous. "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man : but the end thereof are the ways of death." Will they end well? Every action tends to good or evil. Thoughts, words, and deeds are the germs of future harvest. " Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." II. Men do not seriously consider their ways. Thoughtlessness is common in spiritual affairs, — Borne occasionally, and others never, consider. Indifference, prejudice, and habit operate upon the mind. The greatest difficulty is to make men think. Thoughtlessness in spiritual affairs is inconsistent. Men think intensely and act v in business. When self-interests are at stake they are considerate enough ; but in most important concerns careL ss and guilty. " My people doth not consider." III. God urges men to consider their ways. God's a wants call continually upon them to reflect upon then- character, condition, and doom. God's providence warns them of their danger. They have been chastised time after time, to rouse them to consideration and repentance. Sorrows and griefs, disappointments and embittered cups, have brought no change. Once more God calls. Consider now before it be too late to consider. Neglect, want of thought, will be attended with consequences as fearful as open rebellion. ".Son, do nothing without counsel, and when thou hast done it thou wilt not repent" (Ecclus. xxxii. 19). " Evil is wrought by want of thought As well as want of heart" [Iluod]. chap. I.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HAGGAI. 507 Due Consideration of our Ways should Teach us the Will, and urge us to the Work, op God. — Verses G — 8. The admonition of ver. 5 is repeated (ver. 7), both as betokening greater urgency, and also for the purpose of reinforcing the argument of vers. 5, 6, by showing to what course a conscientious review of their conduct should determine them. Tliey should be impelled, as is next shown, to make immediate preparations for the complete restoration of the temple [Lange\. I. Consideration of our ways should teach us the will of God. Lack of con- sideration led to disobedience. When the Jews therefore did not hearken to the word of God, they lost his favour and providential care, which secure fruitful seasons and social enjoyment. They were under the visible curse of the law (Deut. xxviii.). God's will was read — 1. In fields without produce. " Ye have sown much, and bring in little." God disappoints our expectations from tho creature that we may fix them on him. 2. ///, daily necessities loithout enjoyment. " Ye eat, but have not enough," &c. If men would seek first the kingdom of God, they would secure the secondary things of life (Matt. vi. 33). 3. In labour without remuneration. Wages earned were spent without profit. They laid up treasures for themselves and lost them. Nothing will prosper if we neglect known duty. " The events of life are the hieroglyphics in which God records his feelings towards us," says Moore. He speaks in the failure of the crops, and the loss of the mer- chandise. He diminishes the customers of the tradesman, and scatters the wealth of the rich, to correct in sin and restore to duty. II. Consideration of our ways should urge us to the work of God. " Go up to the mountain," &c. (ver. 8). They were to rouse themselves, collect materials, and begin to build. When we seriously consider our life and are convinced of our sins, we shall amend our ways, engage with diligence in needfid and neglected duty. " Amendment of life is tho best repentance ; neither is there any wiser way to break off our sins than to prac- tise the contrary duties " [Luther]. In neglecting God's commands we dishonour him ; but earnest obedience will secure his blessing. " I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord." HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 5. Consider. The religion of tho sin lasted, so long tho punishment. Bible is a reasonable service. We are The visitation itself was twofold ; im- not forced like a machine into insensible poverished harvests, so as to supply less workings and results. We are here sustenance ; and various indisposition taught that while God is the author of of tho frame, so that what would, by all good, and our progress in goodness is God's appointment in nature, satisfy, from him, yet he does not carry us gladden, warm, failed of its effect" along in the way everlasting, but enables [Pusey]. us to walk. He works in us, but it is The bay with holes, contrasted with that he may will and do. We are not " bays that waxnotold" (Luke xii. 33). only impressed, but employed. Thus We provide for a large store in future, all true religion arises from consideration by a wise and generous use of what we [Jay]. have in the present. " Lord, thou Ver. 6. Withholdiny from God's cause knowest where I have laid up my tends to poverty. Willingly devote a treasure," cried Paulinua, when he heard portion of your possessions to his glory, that the Goths had sacked Nola and there will be sweetness in the remainder taken all he had. which the worldling can never enjoy Ver. 8. 1. The work to do. Go up, (Prov. xiii. 25). He will " bless us in bring wood, and build the house. A basket and in store." " As long as the division of labour useful and successful. 1I0MILET1C COMMENTARY: HAGGAI. [chap. I. God a spiritual temple to build. All service to him. (2) In the manifestations may help. 2. The motive to perform it. of his grace to man. "God will not " I will take pleasure in it." God would come to bless us as an uninvited guest. aocept them and their labours. 3. The His favour will be displayed towards ns '. "I will lie glorified, saith the only when we have prepared him a Lord." (1) God is gloritied in man's temple in our hearts " [Lange]. HOMILETICS. Haggai i. 8. Important events in the spiritual world have been symbolized by things in the natural. In this event — I. Observe an important operation directed. The nature of the operation is, "the building of a house," i. e. the house or temple of God upon Mount Zion. The spiritual import of it, with which we have to do, is the form- ation and gradual perfecting, through successive ages, of the Church of God, which is compared to a temple. Observe its attendant difficulties. Numerous adversaries around them. Obstacles from the Jews themselves, scanty in number, and feeble in resource. Some depressed and fearful, others indifferent and apathetic. These facts set forth the circumstances attendant on the erection of the temple of Divine under the gospel of Christ. That work progresses, amid difficulties and opposition, in numerous forms; heathen imposture, infidel impiety, antichristian superstition, worldly contempt, neglect and indolence of the Church. II. Observe the agency with which this operation is conducted. 1. An instrumental and .<■•;,/,,/,<,■>/ agency. The devoted labours of converted men, under the impulse of renovated nature, influencing others ; their success being as the bringing of i ils 1 iy which the temple is built. 2. Distinct mention is made of Divine agt /"•//. This agency is connected with the instrumentality of men ; directs them in their counsels, gives efficiency and success to their movements. III. Observe the result, in which this operation, so conducted, shall terminate. 1. The opt ration shall be triumphantly completed. The second temple was finished in a brief space of time. 2. J>> ing triumphantly completed, it ivill eminently redound to the glory of God. " I will be glorified in it, saith the Lord." This completion will be hailed with rapture by holy created beings. When the second temple was finished, they brought out the headstone " with shoutings, crying, grace," &c. Ezra thai they kept the dedication with songs, and that they were delighted in the achievement of their work. We may anticipate the same delight in the victories ol truth and the subjugation of the universe to Christ. Redeemed men will rejoice, and angola in heaven will partake in their pleasure. Application from the whole. 1. What encouragement here for those already labouring for God. 2. What rebuke 1";" {" tn" ■•■ who profess the religion of Jesus, yet are indolent and inactive. 3. What warning here to those avowedly hostile to God and his truth [Preacher's try]. Duty Vindicated by Divine Government.— Verses 5 — 11. I. The Divine government recognizes the selfish motives which actuate men. the necessity of moral reform in the world. Secondly, the necessity of attending more to the spiritual than the formal in the Church. Thirdly, the pos- Bibility of solemn disclosure al the lastday. II. The Divine government avenges selfish motives which actuate men. " Ye looked for much, and,lo, it came to little." 1. God neutralizes the fruits of their labour. "I will blow upon it." 2. God ' oders inefficient the materials of their labour. Learn— (1) That God directs the universe. " I called." (2) That God directs the universe to mind. "Why?" chap. I.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY ■ IIACn.il. 569 (3) That God directs the universe to meet the state of every heart. " Because " (ver. 9). "Therefore" (ver. 10). [Adapted from The Homilist.] The Double Curse. — Verses 9 — 11. To stir them up, the evidences of God's anger are again put before them. All sought their own things, and neglected the things of God. He therefore disap- pointed their hopes of harvest, and withheld his blessing from that which they gathered into the barn. " God punishes men in both ways, both by withdrawing his blessing, so that the earth is parched, and the heaven gives no rain ; and also, even when there is a good supply of the fruits of the earth, by preventing theil satisfying, so that there is no real enjoyment of them " [Calvin], I. Little was reaped when much was expected. " Ye looked for much;' &c. Their toil had been great. They sowed much (ver. 6), and kept much ground under tillage. They expected much, enough and plenty to spare. But the greater their hopes, the more bitter their disappointment. II. Little was reaped, and that little withered away. " When ye brought it home," &c. Stroke follows stroke, and men are punished in their homes and possessions. Portions, little or great, are easily scattered by the blast of the Almighty. III. The cause of this double curse. 1. The cause should be sought. "The curse causeless does not come." Aillietions do not spring from the ground, nor trouble rise from the dust. God appeals to tho awakened conscience. "Why1?" 2. The cause may be found. "Because of mine house that is waste," &c. (a) In duty neglected. Absorbed in material interests, they had no time for God's work. Men seek their own, more than the things of Jesus Christ (Phil. ii. 21). (b) In Divine retribution for duty neglected. " Therefore the heaven over you is stayed," &c. God rules the world in the interests of humanity. Heaven and earth are at his command, to bless or curse. Spiritual indifference results in temporal distress, and ruin falls upon an unfaithful people. " If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings : yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 9. Mine house waste, ye run Ver. 10. Ho " calls for " famine, &c, every man, &c. Apathy in spiritual as instruments of his wrath (2 Kings viii. matters, zeal in selfish (Prov. i. 1G: cf. 1 : Ps. cv. 16). The contrast is striking Ps. cxix. 132). Concern for the spiritual between the prompt obedience of these wants of men. 1. The situation of man- material agencies and the slothful dis- kincl, in a moral and religious view, is obedience of living man, his people such as ought to awaken the unaffected [Fausset]. concern of good men. 2. Men who House wasted, and drought. Heb. properly care for the spiritual state of chdreb and ehdrebh. Wasted temple their fellow-beings are rarely to be found, and wasted substance. Divine retrihu- This was the case in the time of tion in human conduct, the correspond- Haggai; Paul (Phil. ii. 21); and is so ence between the sin and its punishment. now. 3. Some of the principal causes " Tho very evils which men think to of this unconcern. 1. An inordinate escape by neglecting God's ordinances, and criminal self-love. 2. The preval- they actually bring on themselves by ence of unbelief. 3. Despondency such unbelieving conduct " [Fausset]. [Dr. Payson]. 570 IIOM1LETIC COMMENTARY: II AG GAL [chap. i. IIOMILETICS. The Performance of Neglected Duty. — Verses 12 — 15. The effect of the prophet's words upon the people was powerful and abiding, and upon the rery Brat indication of a change in their disposition, he is commissioned to tell them thai God's favour had already returned, and that he would assist them in their labours. The work is then Bpeedily recommenced under the influence of that new zeal with which Jehovah inspires both leaders and people [Lange], I. Duty performed in the right spirit. It is a critical time when individuals and societies are warned by the voiceof God in his word and works. Weal or woe depends upon submission or rejection. The Jews returned to duty. 1. Lna spirit •• They obeyed the voice of the Lord their God." (a) Universally. ''■ Zeruhhabel and Joshua, with all the remnant of the people." (b) Sincerely. "According to the words of Haggai the prophet." 2. In a spirit of humility. "The people did fear before the Lord." They dreaded Divine wrath, regarded J >ivine authority, and trembled at the word of God. When the word expounds the providence of God, men often discern their sins, and serve the Lord with fear. II. Duty performed by Divine help. When God saw the penitence of the people, even before they began to work, he passes from reproof to tenderness and encouragement. 1. By the teaching of the prophet. "Then spake Haggai, the Lord's messenger, in the Lord's message." Tho direction of the prophet was clear, constant, and authoritative. 2. By the stirring up of the people. " The Lord stirred up " the spirit uf prince, priest, and the remnant of the people. Though slothful in them- selves, God gave them strength, alacrity, and joy in their work. He strengthens the feeblest hind, warms the coldest heart, and imparts every necessary influence to revive his work. 3. By the manifestation of his presence. "I am with you, saith the Lord." This includes all other blessings, and is the sure guarantee of success. Nothing mure inspirits men, and rouses them from torpor, than promise of Divine aid and successful issue of work. But God's presence is conditioned to the Church by obedience only (Matt, xxviii. 20). "What shall we then say to these things] U G l be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. viii. 31 : 2 Cor. xii. 9). IIOMILETIO HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Vera. 12, 13. 1. For the word to bo decay before the captivity, they refused i ,1. God's authority must be seen to do — obey God's word [Pusey], Suc- and acknowledged in the message and ccssful preachers need not ascribe to oger. " Haggai, the Lord's messen- themselves the merit of the results of g.T, in the Lord's message." 2. When their labours. It is the voice of God God i- thus seen in his Divine authority which makes their hearers listen. Whom and covenant relation, men will submit God makes strong for his service, he first themselves, and encourage others to do subdues to his fear [Lange], the same. Zeruhhabel and Joshua first, Ver. 13. u I am with you." Hero all and then all the remnant of the people, former threatening is recalled, and all I. :i. When we consider that God former disobedience forgiven [Burck], can bless beyond all probability — for All the needs and longings of the crea- here, by one sermon, all the | pie set turo are summed up in those two words, about a long-neglected duty, in the I with you [Pusey]. 1. Consider who midst of many difficulties — it should speaks — a Divine Being. Noothercould encourage God's servants to go on with promise and fulfil This specially needed tln-ir work [cf. HutchesonX This was to give assurance, joy, and success. 2. the beginning of a conversion. In this Consider to whom God speaks. Jews, one thing they began to do what, all weak, harassed, and dispirited. Then to along in their history, and most in their- all represented by them. Preachers, CHAP. I.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIAOQAI. 571 teachers, and all Christian workers. How should this promise enspirit and strengthen 1 " God's promises are a defence against man's threatenings " [Mason]. Vers. 13, 14. The presence of God in oui labours : 1. The conditions on which it may he secured; 2. Its influence upon our souls ; 3. Its consequences in our achievements [Lange\. Ver. 15. The time is diligently noted, to teach us to take good note of the moments, wherein matters of moment have been, by God's help, begun, con- tinued, and perfected in the Church. This will be of singular use to increase our faith and affect our hearts [2Yaj?p]. Let those who have fallen into spiritual torpor, but are now awakened, endeavour as far as possible to make up for time past, by redoubled diligence for what- ever time may be left. The longer wo have loitered, the more let us henceforth redeem the time in self-devoting labours for the Lord [Fausset]. " 'Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hours, And ask them what report they bore to heaven, And how they might have home more welcome news " [ Yuu)Kj\ ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER I. Ver. 1. In its very first day, when the grief for the barren years was yet fresh, Haggai was stirred to exhort them to consider their ways ; a pattern for Christian preachers to bring home to people's souls the meaning of God's judgments. God directs the very day to be noted in which he called the people anew to build his temple, both to show the readiness of their obedience, and a precedent to us to keep in memory days and seasons in which he stirs our souls to build more diligently his spiritual temple in our souls [Pusey.] Vers. 2 — 4. The disingenuousness of their plea is self-evident, and is assumed in the following discourse, which is in- tended to awaken in them a sense of their ingratitude to God. It is repre- sented to them most impressively, with an allusion to the very language of their pretext, that while they held their own wants, and even their luxuries, to be matters of pressing moment, they thought any time suitable to attend to the claims of their God; that while their own houses had been regained, there was yet no habitation for the God of Israel ; that while their wealthy members were using their superfluous means to adorn and beautify their dwellings, God's dwelling- place still lay desolate, appealing in vain to their piety and patriotism, which had been overborne by selfishness and supine- ness. The allusion, moreover, could not fail to expose the insincerity of their excuses. If some of them had now the command of such resources as enabled them to live in princely splendour, they might surely have reserved a portion for the recpiirements of the temple, when the work of building it should be re- sumed, if that work had been giving them the least concern \Lange\. Ver. 6. Holes. Money is seen in the pierced bag when it is cast in, but when it is lost it is not seen. They then who look how much they give, but do not weigh how much they gain wrongly, cast their rewards into a pierced bag [St. Gregory]. Vers. 5 and 7. Consider. " Come, then, sad thought, and let as meditate, While meditate we may. We have now But a small portion of what men call time, To hold communion " [H. K. White]. Vers. 9 — 11. Looked. We are too apt to misjudge the dispensations of Providence when we wish them with our own wishes [Skelton]. The g I things of Providence may bo considered as having this inscription, "Accipe, redile, cave," that is, "accept us as from God, return us in gratitude to him, and take care not to abuse us" [TPi&on]. Vers. 8, 12 — 15. Obeyed. Tho longer the soul hath neglected duty, the more ado there is to get it taken up } partly through shame, the soul having played the truant, knows not how to look God in the face, and partly from the difficulty of the work, being double to what another finds that walks in the exercise of his grace. It requires more time for him to tune his instrument than HOMTLETIC COMMENTARY: TIAGGAL [ctiai\ ii. for another to play the lesson [An old « Never anytUng can be amiss, Divine], Those who give to God only When sinipleness and duty tender it'.' the Bhadow <>t' duty, can never expect [Shakespeare.] I him a real reward [Flavet]. CHAPTER II. Critical Notes.] This oracle, delivered nearly a month after building bad begun, designed to n move despondi acy, and to meet a new difliculty. 3.] The glory of the second did not answer to i the Conner temple. Some of the oldest who had returned, had seen tbe first building, and ■ the contrast (Ezra iii. 12). The Jews note five points of inferiority. The absence (1) of the sai | - the shekinah; (?>) the ark and cherubim ; (4) theUrimand Thummim ; (5) the spirit of prophecy. Nothing] God makes the contrast as great as possible, seems to share their feel- ing, and give evidence of his strong sympathy. 4. Yet] whatever your estimate, I give another. Strong ^ rear not, I am with you. WorL] David's words to Solomon (1 Chr. xxviii. 10 : 2 Chr. \i\. 1 1 ;. 5. Covenanted] God the same in promise to all generations and ages (Ex. xix. 5, 6 ; xxiv. 10, 11 ). Spirit] to strengthen (cf. i. 14 : Zech. xiv. 6), hence continual enjoyment of God's presence and aid. 6. Once] Yet only a little while; lit. one little, t. e. brief space; till a series of movements is in. Shake J by great moral and physical revolutions, preparatory to the establishment of - kingdom (Matt. xxiv. 29 : Ileb. xii. 26—28). 7.] Having figuratively set forth great political changes, the prediction is repeated, and the arrival of the blessings desired, announced. Desire] Some apply these words to the Church, but the majority to Christ. This is not tbe place for a discussion [cf. Henderson and Wordsworth]. Glory] Not outward furniture, but tbe presence I lmns. It (cf. Zech. ii. 6 : Ezek. xliii. 4, 5: Ex. xl. 34, 35 : 1 Kings viii. 11). 8. Mine] !!• nee they should be free from anxiety in poverty, and cease to mourn the absence from the temple things. 9. Greater] Not in architectural splendour, but in tbe presence of Jehovah the Messiah, and in peace between man and man, and God and man — temporal peace under Persian nil'-, and spiritual in Jesus Christ. 10.] This prophecy two months later than those preceding in this chapter. 11 — l3.]To convince them of their unworthiness, they must learn from their legal advisers two things — no holy objects could communicate holiness to things or persons who touched them (Lev. vi. 20) ; but whatever an unclean person touched was unclean (Num. xix. 22). 14. So] " The nation in its attitude toward the Lord resembles, on the one band, a man who carries holy . th lappet of his garment ; and, on the other, a man who has become unclean through touch- ing i i /]. Unclean] By their habits of sin, all their worship, character, and lives were . 15. Consider] Review of their condition from the present specitic time to the period before t< sumption of work — " to connect their distress, then suffered, with their unfaithfulness." They had (■ „ measures when they expected twenty; twenty vessels instead of fifty from the press-vat ; they mitten with two blights of corn which were predicted as chastisements for disobedience (Deut. xxviii. 27 : Amos iv. 9); yet none turned to God. 18.] Resumed from ver. 15, after vers. 16, 17, that the blessing in ver. 19 may stand in the more marked contrast with the curse in vers. 16, 17 •']. 19. J Alter an appeal to lay to heart past times, in which blessings had been withheld, >w fix their eyes upon the time now Beginning. " It is winter (ver. 10) ; the seed, only the earth, was not yet in the barn. No fresh leaves on the fruit-trees — vine, fi" mate, and olive—but ye have begun again to build; from this day forward I will hasten >orth], 20—23.] Renewal of promise to save in convulsions. 21. Shake] Points back I tnd 7. 22. ThroneJ Government which binds nations together (Dan. vii. 27). War-chariots, horn u, and riders, military power, and support of kingdoms, to be overthrown by one another's sword. " One hostile kingdom will destroy another, and in the last conflict tbe heathen • ill annihil I ter" (cf. Ezek, szzviii. 21 : Zech. xiv. 13) [Keil], 23.] At that time ih would take Zerubbabel, invest him with power and authority as head over all, as kings roys by giving them their Bignet (Esth. iii. 10 ; viii. 2). Some think, as seals and rings objects of great value and regard, so Zerubbabel would be dear, and held close, to God — an al care and delight (Jcr. xxii. 21 : Cant. viii. 6). In a theocratic sense be restored the reign of David. What was promised to him was equally promised to all faithful rulers of Judah. . irdians of the people, and should stand secure amid the fall of earthly kingdoms. ad triumph of old prefigured the Redeemer's reign, whom God would exalt on the t:i one of David ( Matt, L 12 : Luke iii. 2), crown. as king of tbe earth (Ps. lxxxix. 27), and endow w.th a kingdom which will never be destroyed (Dau. ii. 44 : Ileb. xii. 28 : 1 Cor. xv. 24). chap.il] IIOMILETW COMMENTARY : HAG GAL 573 HOMILETICS. Metoods in Divine Teaching. — Verses 1, 2. Rebukes, warnings, and encouragements had due influence upon the people. But new difficulties now threaten and a fresh message is required. Ilenee " c;inio the word of the Lord " again, in matter and method adapted to guide and comfort. I. God speaks to his people in different periods of time. " In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month." In vers. 1, 10, 18, and chap. i. 1, 15, how specific the mention of time ! no age is left without its prophet and Divine utterance. II. God speaks to his people in different circumstances of life. The Jews had passed through circumstances of indolence and zeal. Now they begin to despond on account of an inferior temple and failing harvests (vers. 9 — 11). But when God stirs up a people he will help and comfort them in their work. " Set the wheels a going and God will oil them," says an old writer. III. God speaks to his people in words adapted to their needs. We have warnings and comfort, " consider " and " fear not," " go up and build " (chap. i. 8). Revelations are given "in sundry times and in divers manners," in parts and methods according to our requirements. Germs for present use and future growth. " What- soever is Divine revelation ought to overrule all our opinions, prejudices, and interests, and hath a right to be received with fidl assent," says Locke. " What I do thou knowest not now ; but thou shalt know hereafter." Causes op Despondency in the Work of God. — Verse 3. The inferiority of the second temple to that of Solomon was a ground of dis- couragement in work. The old people affected the young, and though disappoint- ment was not openly expressed, yet it suspended their labours. I. Many disaffected discouraged others in the work. Some old men were still alive, who thought more of former performances and attainments than present duty and hopeful signs. They discouraged others, exaggerated the evils and reflected upon the work of God. Murmurers and complaint >rs belong to every age. " If the times are bad what are we doing to mend them I " asks one. " Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these] for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this." II. All esteemed the work too lightly. " Is it not in your eyes, in comparison of it, as nothing." They thought more of outward glory than spiritual blessings. We are too apt to judge by outward appearance, and forget God's estimate of labour. Though we are not building a material wo are a spiritual temple. If not honoured with the position of some, we havo responsibilities and duties. Never say that you do nothing, if not surrounded wit h outward pomp, and patronized by the rich and the noble. Let us " serve our own generation by the will of God." Remedies for Despondency in the Work op God. — Verses 4, 5. Notwithstanding alleged grounds of fainting, God exhorts them all to bo courageous, to go on with their work, and give-; reasons for the exhortation. I. God's covenant with them is unchangeable. " According to the word that I covenanted with you, when ye came out of Egypt." Mercies to God's people aro ensured by a pledge which is eternal and immutable. Dark may be the days and difficult the work of his people ; but they are as much the object of his care as when the covenant was first ratified. They may sin and be punished for their sin ; but his attitude towards them is not the result of caprice nor change. Unfaithfulness will banish God from us, but return to obedience will restore bis favour and help. " .My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips." 574 EOMTLETIC COMMENTARY: 1IAGGAI. [CHAP. II. II. God's presence with them is guaranteed. " For I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts." God continually declares that we have no ground for fear. We to have those assurances repeated. If hosts are against us, and the Lord of Lb with us this Bhould strengthen us. His presence will compensate for liatress, aid in present duty, and be all-sufficient for the untried future. " The pel are sealed to us by the word of the Father, the blood of the Son, and the witness of the Spirit" [Mason]. III. God's Spirit with them abides for ever. "So my Spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not." God's Spirit was with lb" A id* /•■-. Inspiring the prophets and sanctifying the priests; with tho, people foe the work of the sanctuary (Ex. xxxi. 1), and the confirmation of the weak. The Spirit to Btir up all to duty (Ezra v. 1 : Zech. iv. 6), and remove every hindrance to its performance. The Spirit still abides in the Church, helping to realize the I >ivine purpose in Christ. "Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them." This should furnish, 1. an antidote to fear, 2. a ground of confidence, and 3 a motive to renewed consecration. "Be strong and work: for I am with you" (ver. 4). IIOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. '2. The better to hearten them, the prophet is sent again, with a like ige as before. Learn — 1. That there are none so forward for God and his work but may stand in need of continual quickening. 2. That continual preach- ing makes men continue in well-doing | TrappV. 3. That all those who work for the Lord will be strengthened and encouraged in their diilieulties. Speak ■'■. ''The encouragements here are sent to the same persons to whom the reproofs in the foregoing chapter are ■■• 1 ; for those that are wounded by the convictions of the word shall be healed and bound up by its consolations." . 3. Important questions. What answers to be given 1 Some were left who had Been the first house in its glory, about sixty eight years since. The con- in the times and in the buildings no ground for despair. " Long life is a ing to the servant of God, if at its he La permitted to see the revival of God's kingdom and increasing signs of its coming glory" [Lange]. In your that is, in your, thoughts: for Gud taketh notice of the inward workings of the heart [Trapp]. Whatever they thought of the work, God's estimate was very different. Judge not by appear- . 4, 5. Lessons of life. Dwell much upon past history, and learn — 1. That what checks and distress may bo experienced are due to unfaithfulness. 2. That God never failed to fulfil his covenant, whether he chastened or blessed. 3. That in the adversities of the present true hope lies in the presence and power of the Spirit [cf. Lange]. Ver. 4. Be strong. Here he exhorteth all ranks, first to good affection, Be strong, or of a good courage ; secondly, to good action, Work, or be doing ; for affection without action is like Rachel, beautiful but barren. Here then, that we falter not, betray not the cause of God, nor come under his heavy dis- pleasure, who equally hateth the timorous and the treacherous, 1. Bo armed with true faith. Faith quelleth and killeth distrustful fear. 2. Get the heart fraught with the true fear of God; for as one fire, so one fear, drives out another (Matt. x. 28 : 1 Pet. iii. 13, 14). 3. Get and keep a clearing, cheering conscience ; for that feareth no colours, as we see in St. Paul, Athanasius, Luther, Latimer, and other holy martyrs and confessors. 4. Think on God's presence as here, Be strong and be doing, for 1 am with you. Lastly, look up, as St. Stephen did, to the recompense of reward; steal a look from glory, as Moses (I leh. xi. 26); help yourselves over the difficulty of suffering with Christ by considering the happiness of reigning together [Trapp]. Ver. 5. The word that I covenanted. Deliverance in Egypt should remind of Clod's power and presence with his cnAP. ii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : HAG GAT. Church. Encouragement is strengthened petition and renewed emphasis of the by reference to the covenant. Former word. appearances are types of future. 1. Providences may seem to contradict "Our God is still aS kind and all TTis ffift9 „ • o -n • i- j Like wondrous, like unlimited, like tur, promises. 2. Promises never contradict As ffhen tho wiail lirst Wot£ Man b t0 God providences. Hence the continual re- That he hath ever been" [Bailey]. HOMILETICS. The Establishment of God's Kingdom. — Verses 6 — 8. The Jews are encouraged to proceed with the work by the assurance that Jehovah would, as the governor among the nations, in a brief space, exert his almighty power in effecting a great revolution in the state of the kingdoms of this world, preparatory to the establishment of the kingdom of the Messiah. This mighty change is first described in the usual figurative language of prophecy, as a convulsion of the physical universe, and then literally as a convulsion of all nations. The passage has long been regarded as one of the principal prophecies of the Redeemer's advent [Henderson]. I. Revolutions prepare for its establishment. " I will shake the heavens and the earth," &c. 1. Physical preparations. The kingdoms of the world are but the scaffolding for the spiritual kingdom, and will be overturned when they have accomplished their end. All earthly mansions are moveable and transitory, sub- servient to "the kingdom that cannot be moved " (Heb. xii. 2G — 28). Recognize — (1) Divine agency in the world — "/will." (2) Divineordcr — " will shake." Dis- turbance before repose, war before peace, is a law in the operations of nature, the government of nations and the history of the Christian Church. In the wars of Alexander the Great and his four successors, in the conquests of Rome, the world was shaken and reduced to order. 2. Moral preparations. " I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all nations shall come." It was an ancient notion that the gods forsook the cities that were taken by the enemy. Hence the power of the gods decayed and national deities were destroyed by the conquests of Roman armies. The nations were thus prepared for the gospel (cf. Keil and Hengs. in loco). If men did not definitely desire Christ, they were not satisfied with painful rites and bloody sacrifices. They were unsettled, and longed for some one to satisfy their desires. Bewildered by superstitions, they craved for Divine light. And as the time of the Redeemer's advent drew near, there was a general expectation of a deliverer in Jewish and Gentile world. II. All nations contribute to its estab- lishment. " The silver is mine, and the gold is mine." According to Josephus, gifts adorned the temple, and dedicatory offeringa were presented in it. King Artaxerxes and his counsellors bestowed presents upon Ezra (vii. 15), and the help of Darius Hystaspes (Ezra vi. 6—10) maybe regarded as a pledge of the fulfil- ment of the promise. The riches of kingdoms flowed into the temple. Material wealth will yet bo given for the extension and inward growth of God's kingdom. All that is valuable in labour, all that is achieved by intellect, all that is pure and lofty in science, art, and religion, are offerings which the world has brought or will bring into the Church. " The glory and honour of the Gentiles " shall be presented in the courts of Zion (Rev. xxi. 26). The Desire of all Nations. — Verse 7. This refers unquestionably to the Messiah, yet the title seems to disagree with other parts of Scripture and with fact. Ho was in the world, and the world knew him not — despised and rejected of men. How then can he be called tho Desire of all nations 1 This character is justified five ways. First, by the general expectation 57G 1I0MILETIC COMMENTARY: 1IAGGAI. [CHAP. n. that prevailed in the world previously to his advent. It is well known that there was a Looking out for some great deliverer and benefactor nigh at hand. Testimonies from heathen authors have been collected, especially a little poem of Virgil's, written a few years only before the birth of Christ, which contains a prophecy and fore- shadows a personage who would restore the peace and plenty of the golden reign. The sentiment was handed down by tradition, but originally derived from a Divine Bource, the early and repeated promise of "him that should come." Secondly, by the need all mankind had of such a Saviour as he would be. Darkness covered the earth. Men knew not the supreme good — found only vanity and vexation of spirit in their pursuits and attainments — had no support in trouble, and their un- easiness arising from guilt, death, and futurity, led them to offer thousands of rams, rivers of oil, and to give their first-born for their transgressions. No remedy could be found to remove doubts and fears. Though they had no revelation of Jesus, who meets their condition, yet they ignorantly groped after what he alone can impart. He therefore deserves to be called the Desire of all nations, just as a physician, able and willing to cure all diseases, is the desire of all patients. Thirdly, by being so attractive in himself, that all would actually long after him if they knew him. He has every axcellency in person, every perfection in character. Nothing iii creation will afford a proper image. All the loveliness of man and angels cannot he compared to his charms. "He is altogether lovely." Do we esteem riches? His are unsearchable. Admire friendship? He sticketh closer than a brother. Applaud benevolence'? His love passeth knowledge. " II is worth if all the nations knew, Sure the whole earth would love him too." Fourthly, by his having had admirers in every country. "Wherever believers have been found, they have been distinguished by the same convictions and dispositions with regard to him. Abraham in Canaan rejoiced to see his day. Job in the land of I '■/. knew that his liedeemer lived. Wise men from Persia paid him homage, and devout men from every nation under heaven joined in the sacrifices and cere- monies of the temple. John heard his praise from an innumerable multitude out of all nations and tongues. Lastly, he is so named because in due time he will be prized and gloried in by all the ends of the earth. To him shall the gathering of the people be. He is the salvation prepared for all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles. All kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him and call lit in blessed. How does he appear to me1? Is he all my salvation, all my : ? Will it complete my happiness to he like him and see him as he is? [Jay]. God's Claims and Man's Stewardship. — Verse 8. Tn commanding the erection of a glorious house for the Lord to replace the one that had I D destroyed, and which then lay waste, a principle is asserted which is unaffeel d by time or circumstances. God's rights in man and man's possessions may be put a Dg the things which change not. I. God's claim. God himself makes the announcement. He is jealous for his honour and rights. What he orders to be done, he expects to be done, even if it be difficult to accomplish and involve many sacrifices. 1. The claim is just. When I ; 1 1 demands the silver and the gold to be devoted to his service, be is not usurp- ing authority that belongs to another. 2. The claim is absolute. " Mine " may be written hy the finger of < lod upon all the wealth of the globe (cf. Ps. 1. 10, 11, and I si., on Cod's absolute proprietorship). 3. The claim is universal. It was true concerning the exiles returned from long captivity, and it is "the present truth" concerning the possessions of all who are now in the land of the living. II. Man's stewardship. Possessions entrusted to our keeping or use involve us in responsi- bility. Silver and gold are a trust from God. They may mean so much intelligence, chai>. ir.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: HAGQAI, industry, and self-sacrifice on the part of their temporary owner — hut oven thoso mental and moral qualities, which win silver and gold, are enjoyed byGod'a bounty, and employed hy God's providence. "Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God : for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth." 1. Our stewardship ought to be recognized. We may ignore accountability, hut putting it out of mind will not put it out of existence. By considering, laying to heart, we shall escape the wrong and mischief of forgetfulness. 2. Our stewardship should be thankfully acknowledged. The inward realization ought to have a glad expression. If the blessing of the Lord makes us rich, he ought to be blessed for his munificent gifts. " What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me." 3. Oar stewardship should be faithfully discharged. " It is required in stewards that a man should be found faithful." Diligent employment of possessions, of which silver and gold may stand for symbols, is the condition of their continuance and increase. " For unto every one that hath (or uses what he hath) shall be given, and ho shall have abundance ; but from him that hath not (or uses not what he hath) shall be taken away that which he hath. " Because much silver and gold may not be ours wo do not escape the levy of divine law for God's service. " For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath," &c. Bemember that the eternal rewards are given, not to the conspicuous, famous, or successful servant. The divine com- mendation of " well done," and the divine dignity and blessedness are bestowed upon "good and faithful servants" [Mt. Braithwaite]. The Glory of the Latter House. — Verse 9. The glory of the second temple was not in its outward structure, but its inward furniture. Splendid buildings, painted windows, and stately forms arc surpassed by spiritual blessings. There is a " glory that excelleth." I. In the purity of its worship. In the first house was worldly splendour ; in the second, heavenly treasures. In one, dark shadows ; in the other, the real sub- stance. There was the ministration of the letter, here of the Spirit. One temple was often polluted with idolatry (2 Kings xxiii. 11, 12), the other is holy in its elements and institutions. Bites and ceremonies gradually retired into the back- ground ; prayer and praise took their place. Thus was kept alive a higher and purer type of religion than outward forms and gorgeous ritual. " That which was made glorious, had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth." II. In the residence of its owner. God who owned the temple promised to dwell in it. The first glory was covered in the cloud, the second veiled in humanity. The Messiah was " the glory of his people Israel." His presence would be more than a substitute for the distinguished articles wanting. Many eminent persons entered the temple, but he was "greater than the temple." It exists for him, and we must assemble to meet with him. Without him, however splendid, there is no glory; with him, however humble, it becomes " the palace of the great King." "The Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house." III. In the blessedness of its attendants. " In this place will I give peace." The Jews had great trouble, but God's presence secured peace and protection. Feace in Christ to the penitent sinner and the doubting Christian is " the glory " of God's house. Feace with men first, and eventually peace on earth. Convulsions in the natural and revolutions in the political world increase " the distress of nations with perplexity " (Lu. xxi. 25 — 27), and create a longing desire for the Prince of Feace. When he reigns there shall he perpetual peace. Feace from God and based upon his right can never he destroyed. It abounds in depth and duration. " In his days shall the righteous Hourish ; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endurcth." 37 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: 1IAGGAL [chap. ii. " IVacc is the end of all things— tearless peace; Who by the immovable basis of God's throne Takes her perpetual stand; and of herself Prophetic, lengthens aye by aye her sceptre " [Bailey],. HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 6. Tho Messiah's kingdom, with its possession [Lange]. 1. Introduced by general Bhaking. 2. Ver. 9. Peace. 1. The hlessing Ruling in "eneral satisfaction. As tho bestowed. 2. The source from whence first dispensed ion was introduced by the it comes — 7, saith the Lord of Hosts. shaking of tin' mount, so the second by 3. The certainty of its possession — "I {be revolutions of nations. These com- will give." 4. The place in which it is motions— the presage of God's help and given — In this house. Every house of the fulfilment of his promise. "The God is a place where God gives peace, re of all nations shall come." and every place of peace is also a house \ '• is. 7,8. Notice — 1. The absolute of God [Lange]. dominion over the world's wealth. 2. On the whole discourse : The glory of The so bserviency of this wealth to the God's kingdom. (1) Its conditions — the promotion of Christ's kingdom. 3. The faithfulness of his people to all their confidence this should beget in the covenant obligations and duties, their minds of God's people. "Every penny obedience, their faith and their courage bears God's superscription as well as securing his favour and help. (2) Its I ,i's" [Henry]. The comparative nature — the constant reception of in- poverty of the Church is not because creasing multitudes of " Gentiles " with God cannot bestow riches upon her, their "treasures" of devotion and ser- but because there are better blessings vice ; and the abiding presence of God's than wealth that are often incompatible Spirit diffusing peace and joy [Lunge], IIOMILETICS. Duty neolected contaminates Character and Conduct. — Verses 10 — 14. The people suffering from scarcity of food consequent upon the failure of their crops had, it seems, been continuing in some measure their regular sacrificial offer- thoogh they had been neglecting the building of the temple. These oblations had UOt been accepted, as they might have inferred from the withdrawal of the divine blessing, the true cause of which is now impressively illustrated. As he who was ceremonially unclean tainted everything with which he came in contact, •0 had they Buffering from God's displeasure, on account of their disregard of his claim-, < sommunicated the effects of that displeasure to all the labour of their bauds, which profited them nothing [Lange], Attendance upon outward ordinances will not sanctify the character and render those acceptable to God who neglect their duty. I. This truth is illustrated by divine teaching. " Ask now the priests con- Cerning the law," and it will prove two thing;:. 1. That sacred tilings cannot communicate holiness /<> what they touch. The flesh of the sacrifice might hallow " the skirt " in which it was carried (Lev. vi. 27), but did not transmit virtue to meat and drink. The altar does Dot sanctify the gift, nor the temple the land. Corn, wine, and oil are merely common produce. -No special blessing rests upon the fruits of the land, on account of its Bacredness. 2. That an unclean person contaminates whatt ver he touches (Num. xix. 22). "Legal sanctity is not so readily communicated as legal impurity. So the paths to sin are manifold j the path to holiness one, and that one of difficult access " [Qrotius], Thus prophet and priest act in accordance with their proper functions, and teach the same lessons. One chap, ii.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY : UAGGAI. 679 expounds the law, and the other applies it (Lev. x. 10, 11: cf. Isa. viii. 20). II. This truth is proved in human life. " So is this people, and bo is this nation "before me." Here the two cases are applied. By Qiefirst the nation i.s not made holy by its offerings; by the second, by their disobedience, they pollute whal offer. 1. It is proved in Divine worship. "And that which they offer there is un- clean." Like character, like worship. However splendid the gifts or beautiful the actions in themselves, they will not remove impurity of life through neglect of duty. The possession of sacred privileges will not counterbalance disobedience. 2. It is proved in daily life. " So is every work of their hands." Not oidy in their offering, but also in their works are they unclean. Impurity in heart will not sanctify in works. "Those whose devotions are plausible, but whose conversation is wicked, will find their devotions unable to sanctify their enjoyments, and their wickedness prevailing to pollute them." " Unto the pure all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure ; but even their mind and conscience is defiled." God's Kelation to Men determined by their Conduct. — Verses 15 — 19. The people are bidden to review their condition from the present time to the period preceding the resumption of the temple. The time when the work was resumed is specified here, because it was the turning-point of their fortunes. Their condition before that event is recalled for their contemplation, that it might connect their distress then suffered with their unfaithfulness ; and the brief period succeeding their return to obedience is included, because they coidd not so soon recover from their embarrassments, no harvest having yet intervened [hinge]. I. If duty be neglected men are punished. If we repudiate what is due to God, we expose ourselves to danger. Without the controlling influence of duty the wisest and strongest go astray. 1. They are fruitless in tic ir labour (ver. 17). " I smote you ... in all the labours of your hands." To the disease of the a >rn we have the hail, which smote the vines. The grape for the rich, and the fig for the poor, were smitten by the judgment of God (Ps. lxxviii. 47). 2. They are disappointed in their hopes (ver. 16). The heap of sheaves when threshed only yielded half of what they expected. The juice of the grapes gave not the usual measure. God's curses are upon men's labours, if they care not for his work and honour. " The Lord shall smite thee with . . . blasting and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish." II. If duty be performed men are blessed. As the consequence of repentance and obedience the Jews had a prospect of rich and speedy blessings. 1. Blessed from the day of amendment. " From thi ; day will I bless you" (ver. 19). God blesses more readily than we think. The day of return to him is the day of rejoicing for us. Temporal blessings shall bo followed by spiritual, and we shall prove that " Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to com.'." 2. Blessed beyond former abundance. The vine and olive, which had borne litde or nothing, would produce from that day more abundantly. The earth would yield its increase, and God would bless them beyond all probability and degree. Thus do we learn that rewards or chastisements come to man according to his conduct towards God. That natural laws serve for moral discipline, and that whoso is wise. will observe these things. " If ye bo willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land" (Isa. i. 19 : Zech. viii. 9—12). Consideration op Divine Chastisements. God's dealings may be seen and felt by all, without being understood. Hence men need constantly to bo stirred up to consider them. " Now, I pray you to consider from this day." EOMILETIC COMMENTARY: IIAGGAL [chap. it. I. Consider the cause of chastisement. G oil's anger rested upon them when they neglected their spiritual interests. We assign any cause for sufferings rather than our sins. "Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee." II. Consider the time of chastisement. 1. The past "From i stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord" (ver. 15). 2. The t, ••From this 'lay." Think of the evils which hefell you "before you set t,. work, and remember the blessings promised from the day of its commencement. A tin' understanding of the past is often the best preparation of the future. III. Consider the source of chastisement. "I smote you with blasting" (ver. 17). M, .,, ,i,, nol recognize Divine agency in the government of the world. The Jews were sensible of their calamities, but did not inquire seriously into the cause of them. Tully thought that God had nothing to do with rain and dew, and ordinary occurrences in life. Science dethrones God, and assigns nature to inflexible laws or infinite power. But all things are upheld by God's power (Heb. i. 3), and made subservient to his purpose. " Fire and hail, snow and vapour, stormy wind fulfil- ling His word. IV. Consider the aggravations of chastisement. "Yet ye turned not to me, saith the Lord" (ver. 17). Addiction will harden the heart if God's purpose be not discovered in it. Impenitence will he a ground of further contro- versy. The more men revolt, the more will they be smitten (Isa. i. 5). "The people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of Hosts." " Though woo'd and awed, Blesa'd and chastised, a flagrant rebel still ! " \_Br WardlawJ. IIOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. Lr). The retrospect. 1. Its be- the barn and no signs of a crop, much ginning. With the resumption of work, less of safe ingathering. "Yet from this ■_'. [ts direction. "From this day and day will I bless." 1. God's Messing im-. upward" (i.e. backward). Literally, mediate. " From this day " — as soon as "from the not yet of the laying . . . you return to me and my work. 2. God's onwards/' i.e. onwards from the time blessing certain. Ho visible sign in nature when Btone was laid upon stone at the — every appearance against it. But the temple; in other words, when the promise is sure — "infinitely to he pre- building of the temple was resumed, ferred even in prospect, to the world's best backwards into the past [A'<7/]. 3. Its things in possession" [Fausset]. God is n. To learn tin- evils of disobedience, so sovereign and absolute a Lord of all and the blessings of obedience. things, and hath times and seasons, bless- Ver. 17. Divine chastisements. 1. In ings and cursings, so in his hands, that he their intention to bring back to God. may undertake to do things whereof there 2. In their results, "yet ye turned not." is no visible probability or certainty in This result grievous to God, and sorrow the second causes, and can certainly to men. " Not being untutored in Buffer- perform them; therefore doth he under- ing, 1 learn to pity those in affliction" take to bless them, when second causes [ I irgii ). and the season could speak no such thing Ver. 19. It was winter. !No seed in [Ilutcheaoit]. IIOMILETICS. Tin: Preservation op God's People amid the Overthrow of Empires. — Verses 20—23. The same day in which God promised the bounties of nature, the prophet received sond message for ZerubbabeL, who was concerned for the interests of Zion in predicted revolutions. God would overturn the nations, but preserve his people and their rulers as elect and precious in his sight. chap, ii.] IIOMLETIC COMMENTARY : HAOOAT. 5*1 I. Earthly kingdoms will be overthrown. ' I will Bhake the heavens and the earth" (cf. vers. 6, 7). 1. Overthrown by Divine agency, "/will Bhake " — "/ will overthrow," and " / will destroy." God is enthroned over all kingdoms, puts down one, and exalts another in his pleasure (Dan. ii. 21 : Luke i. 52). 2. Overthrown by mutual strife. "Every one by the sword of his brother." Men opposed to God are often opposed to one another. If national truth and righteousness do not con- trol national life, then we may expect self-destruction, if not fratricid il war. Mutual destruction is a feature of Divine judgment upon wicked nations at the end of the world. " Every man's sword shall be against his brother" (Ezek. xxxviii. 8, 9, 21: Isa. ix. 19). 3. Overthrown hi military strength. "The strength of the king- doms," that which supports them — their chariots and horsemen, and all their military preparations. The kingdoms shall he shaken, thrones upset, and dynasties destroyed. Every people will be shorn of its strength, fall, and cease to be ; but the Church of God will be preserved, when unfaithful nations are blotted out of exist- ence. II. God's people will be protected. " In that day, saith the Lord of Hosts, will I take thee," to protect and promote thee and thy people to honour. 1. Certain protection. The words, " saith the Lord of Hosts," are given three times, for greater assurance and confirmation of faith. 2. A delightful protection. " 1 have chosen thee." God loves his people, and chooses them for himself. He will never cast them off, but make them subjects of his special care. They are a seal upon his heart, a seal upon his arm (Dan. vii. 13) ; and hidden in the shadow of his hand (Isa. xlix. 2). 3. An everlasting protection. As the ring is inseparable from its possessor, so God's people will be permanently connected with him, and become his special inheritance. As royal signets on the eternal hand shall they be safely guarded They are sealed in Christ, and safe for ever — heirs of that kingdom before which all earthly dominions shall fall. "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful" (Rev. xvii. 14). HOMILETIO HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 22. The overthrow prophesied babel was a devoted servant of God. God is universal. It is not one throne only, acknowledges his faithfulness. Only the as of Persia, but the throne, i.e., the beginning of all was with (hid. God sovereigns of kingdoms ; not a change of speaks of the nearness to himself which dynasty, but a destruction of their he had given him. But in two words strength ; not of a few powers only, but he cuts off all possible boastfulness of the kingdoms of the heathen ; and that his creature. Zeruhbabel was all this, in detail; that in which their chief not of himself, but became God. had strength lay, the chariots and horsemen chosen him" [Phs<>i/]. In his theocratic and their riders, and this man by man, relation he represented and preserved tie' every one by the sword of his brother kingdom of David. Hence he is regarded [Pusey\ by many as a type of Christ, the son of Ver. 23. As a signet. 1. A token David, and descendant of Zeruhbabel of value. 2. A token of love (Cant. viii. (cf. 1 Chr. iii. 19 : Matt. i. 12 : Luke iii. 6). 3. A token of remembrance. This 27), in whom the kingdom shall be promise is the reverse of Jeconiah's perpetuated. It will he assailed, but sentence: "though ho were the signet never destroyed. All nations that resist upon my right hand, yet would I pluck shall be broken to pieces, and scattered thee thence " (Jer. xxii. 24). " Zerub- like chaff before the wind. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER II. Vers. 1, 2. Word. What a beautiful bigger than a man's hand in Genesis, till sermon or essay might be written on the the column of cloud gathers Bize and growth of prophecy ! —from the germ no strengt 1>, and height and substance, and HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: 1IAGGAL [CHAP. II. ipeof a period man : just the smoke in the Arabian Night's kale, which oomea up and at last takes a a, 3 — 5. / ) I ncy. Too often a mischievous gloom enters the mind of God's i pie. Their hands Blacken, their ies are paralyzed for the work of . and they sink into desponding apathy and indolence. Did we realize our present privileges and future pro- spects, the gleam of sunshine would be to us the earnest of what it will be, when — as Rutherford beautifully observes — "we Bhall be on the sunny side of the [Bridge]. " There's not a scene on earth so full of lightness, That withering cure - not beneath the flowers, and turns their brightness To dark despair " [Hon. Mrs Nn-ton]. Vers. G— 9. Shake. The prophet upon the brevity of the time, for the purpose of comforting. And only what is short in the eyes of men is fitted foi this. Even there were forebodings that tin- tini'' of this empire (Persian) would soon be accomplished, and the rapid conquests of Alexander gave ful- filment to this foreboding. And even his power, which seemed destined to last for ever, very speedily succumbed to the lot of all temporal things. Tin'- two most i ful kingdoms that grew out of the monarchy of Alexander, viz. the Syrian and Egyptian, destroyed one another. The Romans now attained to the govern- ment of the worldj but at the very time when they appeared to be at the summit of their greatness, t heir shaking had very considerably advanced [Hengstenh rg\, V"er. 8. Gold is mine. Trust Tro- vidence for the supply of your wants in the ways of duty and righteousness [NichoUs], Vers. 12 — 14. Priests. Tin: cere- monial institutes of the ancient law were ned to illustrate man's relation to God, as being under his favour or under his displeasure. The conditions and u nt of oncleanness, while setting forth most, vividly the loathsomene defilement of sin, exhibited a- clearly the effects ot God's anger against it, which bown to , stend to all the sinner's exporionce, removing him beyond the reach of covenant mercies and blessings. While the Divine displeasure was mani- fested towards an individual or a nation, no amount of outward religious observ- ances could appease it, just as no fre- quency of contact with legally consecrated offerings could impart sacredness to any other object [Lange]. Vers. 15 — 19. From this day. Livo much in a short time. "Redeem the time," and repair thy omissions in some manner, by redoubling thy diligence. Let the book of thy life, the book that must be opened at the last day, be full of sense and worthy matter : let there be no void spaces and empty gaps (idle words and idle hours are such) in it ; let every page, of it, every day, be filled with what is significant, intelligible, rational, and worthy to be transcribed • and copied out by others [Dr Worth- ington]. Consider. • Things are not to be done ' by the effort of the moment, but by the preparation of past moments [Cecil]. Vers. 17 — 19. Mildew. Thorns and thistles were brought forth from the earth as a judgment for disobedience ; serpents and savage beasts became evil to man or to each other for the same cause. Every hour reminds us of our fallen condition ; but God has so tem- pered mercy with judgment, that even the natural world calls the sinner to repentance, but not to despair [Brewer\^ " These worlds had never been, hadst thou in. strength Been less, or less benevolent than strong. They are thy witnesses, who speak thy power And goodness infinite " [Coivper]. Vers. 21 — 23. Overthrow. In spite of man's short-sighted endeavours to dispose of events according to his own wishes and his own purposes, there is an Intelli- gence beyond his reason, which holds the scales of justice, and promotes his welhbeing in spite of his puny efforts [Morier], Take thee. The weakest believer is safe, because, by believing, he is within the strongest of all defences. None can pluck him out of the hands of Christ (Prov. xiv. 2G). "Let God be thy love and thy fear, and he will be also thy refuge" [NichoUs]. I10MILETIC COMMENTARY ZECHARIAH. INTRODUCTION. The Writer. Our prophet, like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, was of priestly descent, — a son of Berccliiah, and grandson of Iddo (ch. i. 1 — 7), the chief of one of the priestly families that returned from exile along with Zerubbabel and Jeshua (Neh. xii. 4). He followed his grandfather in that office under the high priest Joiakim (Neh. xii. 16), from which it has been justly concluded that he returned from Babylon while still a youth, and that his father died young. This also probably serves to explain the fact that Zechariah is called the son (grandson) of Iddo, in Ezra v. 1, and vi. 14, and that his father is passed over [Keil]. The Time. We learn from ch. ii. 4, that the prophet was quite a young man when he commenced his labours. In the second year of Darius Hystaspes (b. c. 520), together with Haggai, he sought to stimulate the Jews in rebuilding the temple, which had been suspended from the first year of Cyrus (b. c. 53G). Haggai is thought to have commenced two or three months before Zechariah, but Zechariah prophesied for a longer period than that of Haggai. His predictions are a sequel to those of his contemporary, and stretch out in a series of visions from his own days to the first and even the second advent of Christ. The Book opens with a very simple, touching call to those returned from tho captivity, linking himself on to tho former prophets, but contrasting tho transitori- ness of all human things, those who prophesied and those to whom they prophesied' with the abidingness of the word of God \Pu86y\. 1. Its Contents. There wo four parts, differing in outward character, yet with a remarkable unity of purpose. All begin with a foreground subsequent to the captivity; all reach on to a further end; the two first to tho coming of our Lord ; the third, from the deliverance of the house then built, during the invasion of Alexander, and from tho victories of the Maccabees, to tho rejection of the true shepherd and the curse upon the false. The lad, which is connected with tho third by its title, reaches from a future repentance for the death of Christ to the final conversion of the Jews and Gentiles [Pmey]. Besides the introduction (ch. i. 1_C), we have four longer prophetic announcements : viz. (1) A scries of seven 581 INTRODUCTION. visions which Zechariah .saw during the night on the twenty-fourth day of the nth month in the second year of Darius (ch. i. 7; vi. 8), together with a symbolic transaction, which brought the visions to a close (vi. 9 — 15); (2) the communication to the | pie of the answer of the Lord to a question addressed to the priests and prophets by certain Judteans as to their continuing any longer to • he 'lay appointed for commemorating the burning of the temple and Jerusalem by th'' < IhalcUeans as a f;ist-day, which took place in the fourth year of Darius (ch. vii. and viii.) ; (■">) a burden, i. e., a prophecy of threatening import, concerning the land of Eadrach, the seat of the ungodly world-power (ch. ix. — xi.) ; and (4) a bur- den concerning ferae! (ch. xii. — xiv.) [Kei/]. The Messianic predictions abound. It In- been remarked that Zechariah is distinguished for his insight into the moral and spiritual meaning of the Mosaic economy, and his illustration of the Apostle's tent that the law is a schoolmaster unto Christ, (cf. iii. 8 with vi. 12, 13 ; xii. 10 ; xiii. 7. _'. lis Sttlb. In point of style, our prophet varies according to the nature of injects and the manner in which they were presented to his mind. He now expresses himself in simple conversational prose, now in poetry. At one time he abounds in the language of symbols; at another, in that of direct prophetical announcement. His symbols are, for the most part, enigmatical, and require the explanal i' >ns which accompany them. His prose resembles most that of Ezekiel ; it is diffuse, uniform, and repetitious. His prophetic poetry possesses much of the eleva- tion and dignity to be found in the earlier prophets, with whose writings he appears to have been familiar; only his rhythm is sometimes harsh and unequal, while his parallelisms are destitute of that symmetry and finish which form some of the principal beauties of Hebrew poetry \_H<:n CHAPTER I. Critical Notes.] 2. Sore] Lit. displeased with displeasure, wrath not common, whose greatness is given as a ground for their return. 3. Therefore] Lit. and thou sayest, or must say. Return] (cf. Mai. iii. 7 : Jas. iv. 8) Amendment of life and return to work not enough ; conversion must be thorough. The threefold "thus saith the Lord," shows the importance of the admonition, and indicates the boundless power of God. 4. Fathers] Warning to shun the example of their predecessors, who were disobedient. Former prophets] before captivity. 5. Fathers] have perished; their fate should warn you. But you may object, the prophets also are dead, anil apparently their words died with them. 6.] No; the threatenings take hold ; overtake them as one Hying from the foe. The words and statutes (decrees) of God uttered by the prophets reached them like arrows shot forth, and fulfilled threatened punishment (cf. Deut. xxviii. 15 — 45). Thought] Decreed to do (Lam. ii. 17). 7.] The general plan of the nine following visions (ch. i. 8 to end of eh. vi.) is first to present the symbol ; then, on a question being put, to subjoin the interpretation. Though the visions are distinct, they form one grand whole, presented in one night to the prophet's mind, two or three months after the prophet's first commission \_Fausset\. 8—17.] Vision first. A man] i. e. an angel in the shape of a man (vers. 11, 12). Riding] Swift in execution and help ; leader of those who follow, and to whom they report. Red] Colour of blood; vengeance to be inflicted upon the foes of Israel (cf. C Kings iii. 22 : Isa. lxiii. 1, 2 : Rev. vi. 4). Myrtle trees] Symbol of Israel ; not a stately forest, but a low shrub, fragrant in smell and beautiful in leaf. 8. Behind] horses. Red, speckled (bay), and white] the symbol of victory. These are agencies employed by God, and the colour may indicate the nature of their mission [cf. Lange\ 9. My lord] The one who answers the prophet, the angeliu interpn », whose sole function was to enlighten the prophet, and cause him to understand the vision. 10.] The angel of Jehovah replies, and not the interpreting angel, 11.] The riders themselves then state the result of their mission. Walked] with unceasing activity (cf. Job i. 7) in God's errands. Still] Hindrances to restoration removed. Persian wars had ceased, and at that time (ver. 1) universal peace reigned over the earth ; tranquil (Jud. v. 26). This statement of peace contracts with the prostrate condition of Israel, and gives occasion for intercession. 12. How 1] Intercession. 70 years] docs not imply that the period predicted (Jer. xxv. 12) was just closing, for it had already expired in the first year of Cyrus (Ezra i. 1). But the people were in a sad state; though restored, the capital in ruins (Neh. i. 3) and the work hindered. 13.] Jehovah, the angel of ver, 12. Words] which promise good, i.e. salvation (cf. Josh, xxiii. 14: Jer. xxix. 10). " In vers. 14 — 17, the first two of which assert Jehovah's active affection for his people, and the latter two his purpose to manifest that Iota in the restoration and enlargement of Jerusalem" \_Lange\ Jealous] for Jerusalem, which is wantonly injured. Displeased] with nations careless and secure, confident in their own strength and prosperity. To Israel anger was only a tittle ; to the heathen it was fatal. 16. Returned] to Jerusalem, from whom God had withdrawn. Line] All obstacles removed, the temple completed, and the whole city shall he regular in shape, and exact in its survey. 17. Cities] Other cities of Judah belong to God, will prosper and spread] Lit. scattered not by an invading foe, but by growth and abundance (cf. ii. 1 ; viii. 4). 18 — 21.] Four horns] The second vision. The foes of the Jews will be destroyed. Scattered] The people of God surrounded by enemies on all sides. The number four referred to the fen- quarters of the earth in relation to Palestine [cf. Rend] ; by others, to four chief nations. 20. Carpenters] Artificers for each horn, indicating the agencies God employs for the destruction of those hostile to his people ; " skilful to destroy" (Ezek. xxi. 36). Lifted up] Depressed with suffering and fear (Job x. 15). Fray] Terrify and scatter them in their pride and tyranny (Ezek. xxx. 9 : Ps. l\w. 4,5. HOMILETICS. The Prophet's Commission'. — Verses 1 — 3. Zechariah was sent to console and encourage God's people in distress. But t no ground must be prepared Law before gospel, repentance before blessing. Hence in the first words we have the key-note to his message, and the introduction to his labours. In the prophet's commission we have — I. Its Divine origin. " The word of the Lord came to him " — his call was Divine not human, real not fancifid ; a token of God's great work among hia people, and a guarantee that it would be successfully carried on. II. Its sohmn nature. 586 IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECUARIAH. [chap. r. " Therefore, Bay onto them," that God was angry with their fathers, and will be with them if they repent not The first message is one of warning and judgment. He Ills t . . Bel forth the justice and assert the prerogative of God in the government of the world. Men consider Divine displeasure to be an unreasonable disturbance of their ease, and an impeachment upon the Divine character. But God's anger is real and terrible, li isvisible in providence and in nature. " Wrath and threatening arc invariably mingled with love ; and in the utmost solitudes of nature, the exist- ence ,,|' hell seems to me as legibly declared by a thousand spiritual utterances as of leaven " I Ruskin . Persistent attempts are made to deny and evade this fact. Sin blinds men, and nukes them transfer their own views to God. "Thou thoughtest that 1 was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee" (Ps. 1. 21). III. Its inward pressure. The words in ver. 2 were delivered to the prophet, and contain tie- reason for the summons to the people in ver. 3. "They disclose to us the internal pressure under which he entered upon his office. A due sense of the : of God's wrath lies at the basis of all true earnestness on the part of his prophets. It is the ' burning fire shut up in the bones ' (Jer. xx. 9), which imparts its nun vehemence to the message, and produces corresponding conviction in them that hear. We observe it in the Prophet of all prophets, the Saviour himself. His groaning in spirit at the grave of Lazarus, his tears over Jerusalem, show how deeply he felt tin' terribleness of God's anger" [Lange\. There is a great demand now for honest, enlightened, and seasonable speech in the Christian ministry. "We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard" (Acts iv. 20 : Job xxxii. 18—20 : Acts xviii. 5). The Call to Repentance. — Verses 3, 4. Like John the Baptist, Zechariah begins his preaching with a call to repentance, and warns the people, by the history of their fathers, that no spiritual privileges will profit them without holiness, but rather will aggravate their guilt and increase their condemnation if they disobey God. He declares to them that no outward profession of religion will avail; that all notions of self-righteousness are offensive to God ; and that what he looks for is personal holiness, and a practical discharge of the duties of piety and mercy [Wordsworth]. I. They had need to repent. " Therefore, say unto them, Turn ye." 1. Their return was defective. God had delivered them from captivity, and stirred them to work ; but /'al without real conversion will soon die out. We must give our whole I i God, Leave self-interest behind, and seek nearer access. " Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you." 2. Their delay would be dangerous. (1) Dis- would be imitation of their fathers. "Be ye not as your fathers." Lenta ha. ofluence. Men decry good, but follow evil customs. The m w:ls held sacred by his successors. But we should be warned by as, and deterred by the punishment, of our fathers. "They did not hear nor hearken unto me." (2) Disobedience would bring God's displeasure upon them. God was Bore displeased with their fathers, and would be with them if they refused to turn. Eeavier scourges were ready, and symptoms of displeasure already appeared in " sowing much " to " bring in Little " (Hag. i. 6). God's dealings with the past are designed to instruct the presenl generation. "JSTow all these things happened unto them for ensamples (types) : and they are written for our admonition (instruc- tion)" ( 1 Cor. x. 1 1 ). II. They had encouragement to repent. " And I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts." This promise was a motive and a help to them. 'I he duty would be difficult, if not impossible, but for this encouragement. God is always found of those who seek him. If we desire God to turn to us, we must return to him. The flower turned from the sun can never catch its genial rays. 1. The promise is necessary. We require something positive. " We are saved by hope." The beginning of religious life and duty is often a kind of venture. Hence chap. I.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECTIARUII. 587 failure and turning back. 2. The promise is certain. We have not more possibility or probability, but certainty ; assurance which cannot deceive. " I will." 3. The •promise is confirmed. Israel returned to God, and lie returned to them. Mam sought the Lord and found him. The prodigal went home and was received. "Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, saith the Lord" (Jcr. iii. 12 : Mai. iii. 7 : Ezek. xviii. 30). HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Yer. 4. 1. The advantages of their day of grace is short, and even the rn.es fathers. " The former prophets " en- sengers of grace are passing away. 2. If forced the law, and proclaimed the word once you are overtaken, your eyes will of God ; exhorted to repentance; and pre- open too late, and only with trembling dieted Divine judgments. 2. The guilt lips can you give honour to the Lord of their fathers. " But they did not hear, [Langs'], Evil ways. The ways and nor hearken unto me, saith the Lord." works of the earlier generations are called Their guilt aggravated by their privileges, evil; in the first instance, because they " Unto me." God was in the voice of were morally corrupt, and also because prophets, but was despised. " He that they were followed by sore consequences receiveth you, receiveth me." "We [Lange\ learn here that the examples set up as a Vers. 3, 4. 1. Sin creates distance a shield for wrong-doing are so far from from God. The sinner is alienated in becoming of any weight before God that heart, and turned hack from God in his they enhance our guilt. Yet this folly works and pursuits. 2. Repentance is a infatuates many, for the Papists claim full return to God. Not partial amend- their religion to be holy and irreprehen- ment, but entire renunciation of sin, and sible because it has been handed down coming close up to God in reconciliation by their fathers" [Calvin]. Ancient and fellowship. 3. God rails men t<> example and long usage will not justify this repentance. "'Say unto them." disobedience (2 Chr. xxvi. 15, 1G) His voice is heard in the ministry. [Fausset]. His judgments rightly studied declare ISTo mercy without return, and no re- his will, and are often suspended till we turn without mercy. Haste that you may return. But some return, and others do not be overtaken. 1. Haste, for your not. HOMILETICS. Lessons from the Lives op the Fathers. — Verses 5, G. The two questions in ver. 5 are meant as denials, and are intended to anticipate the objection which the people might have raised to the admonitions in ver. 4, to the effect, that not only the fathers, but also the earlier prophets, had died long a"-o ; and therefore aD allusion to things that had long since passed by could have no force at all for the present generation. Zechariah neutralizes this objection by saying : Your fathers have indeed been long dead, and even the prophets do not, or cannot, live for ever; but notwithstanding this, the words of the earlier prophets were fulfilled in the case of the fathers. The words and decrees of God uttered by the prophets reached them, and they were obliged to confess that God had really done to them what he threatened ( Keit\. We have — I. A motive to activity. Your fathers and the prophets who taught them are dead. No man lives for ever. Others have worked and lived where we dwell ; but ministers, teachers, and parents are gone, and their hearers after them. I >ur course will be finished soon. Hence this is our day of service. It becomes us to redeem the time, to be active and diligent in serving God ourselves, and urging others t.» 688 IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECJTARIAH. [chap. i. serve him. II. A testimony to the truth of God's word. Your fathers arc not here, bul we hare their testimony. My words took hold upon them, and theycon- 1 their powerin twofold experience. " According to our ways and according to our doings." If they rebelled they felt the threatening, and if they returned the promise was fulfilled. God's providence ensures the accomplishment of his word, and compels the acknowledgment of that accomplishment from those who feel it. God is faithful and unchangeable in his purpose. "The word of the Lord endureth for III. A warning against apostasy. The fate which overtook the fathers is pointed out as a warning to them." "Where are they?" They are dead ; but did they escape the punishment due to their sins? No; in mournful confessions we have acknowledgments of the fact. There may be delay, and the sinner may think that he will escape ; but sooner or later the word will catch him, stick in his heart like an arrow from the Almighty. The transgressor will be made to confess, "Mine iniquities have overtaken me." IIOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Yer. 0. T. The message of God pro- The desert of sin ; and 3. The certainty chimed by his servants. Unchangeable of retribution. Sin sweet in taste, but in its nature. " My words and statutes," bitter in fruits. Lessons: — 1. Consider /. e. decrees, Riven with Divine authority ; the warnings of God. 2. Eecognize the '• which I commanded." II. Men trying hand of God in the punishment of men. /,i escape from this message. The words " ' Likeas the Lord of hosts,' whose power took hold, i. >'■ overtook them, when flee- is irresistible, 'thought' (devised, deter- in^ from them in hatred and rebellion, mined with himself, and accordingly de- ll 1. The humble confession of men when nonuced by the prophets) 'to do unto caught by the word. " Like as the Lord of us,' who did not the words which he Imsts thought to do unto us," &c. They commanded us (Jer. xi. 8), ' according to have to confess the truth of God, and our ways,' which were always grievous expose their folly when it is too late. Men (Ps. x. 5), ' and according to our doings,' should be wise in time. "The Lord is that were not good (Ezek. xxxvi. 31), righteous, for we have rebelled against ' so hath he dealt with us ; ' for he loves his commandments." to retaliate, and to render to every trans- According to our wags. An acknow- gression and disobedience a just recom- ledgment — 1. Of the truth of God. 2. pence of reward (Heb. ii. 2)." [Trapp]. IIOMILETICS. The Max among the Myrtles, on the Divine Protection op the Church. Verses 8 — 13. The prophet received his visions not in a dream, but when spiritually conscious ; :ht, when most still and free from worldly cares, and most susceptible for Divine communications. In this first vision we have the protection of the Church of God in its weak and dangerous condition. I. Jesus Christ is in her midst. " Behold, a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood anion/ the myrtle trees that were in the bottom." The presence of a great pi i sonage should give confidence. " Fear not, thou earnest Caesar." But "God is in the midst, of" the Church ; f< she shall not be moved : God shall help her, and that right early." 1. Standing to defend her. "He stood "as in his own residence (Ps. fxx.xii. 14). 2. Riding in help her. Biding in speed, upon a red horse, to inflict vengeance upon hei Iocs (cf. 2 Kings iii. 22: Isa. lxiii. 1, 2 : Kev. vi. 4). S. Interceding on her behalf. "0 Lord of hosts," &c. (ver. 12). He was deeply touched with the report given, and with the contrast between the condition of the heathen at ease and that of the Church in desolation. Hence he prays (a.) for chap. I.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : ZECIIARIAIL 589 mercy. " Wilt thou not have mercy upon Jerusalem 1 " (b.) For a full display of mercy. The work, long delayed, had only just begun. Much more remained to bo done for the city, the country, and the people. As God had executed the threaten- ing, so a fulfilment of the promise is desired. II. Angels are employed on her behalf. " What are these] . . . These are they whom the Lord hath sent to and fro through the earth. We have a craving for the knowledge of creatures above ourselves. No system of religion separates the seen from the unseen world. Eence all the various doctrines and theories of angels. In Scripture alone is our natural longing satisfied. We learn that God is pleased to use the agency of supernatural beings ; that these heavenly watchmen continually walk about Zion, or visit distant, parts of the universe, to counteract the work of Satan (cf. ii. 11 : Job i. 7), to guard his people, and minister to the heirs of salvation (Heb. i. 14). Consider — 1. Their number; 2. Their work ; and 3. Their obedience. Why despair, like the servant of Elisha? Angels are sent to help when God is pleased with us. "Behold, the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of lire round about." " They fight for us, they watch and duly ward, And their bright squadrons round about us plant ; And all for love, and nothing for reward, Oh ! why should heavenly God to man have such regard " [Spenser]. III. God's providence defends her. Most commentators take the troop and the colour of these horses as symbolic of the dispensations of Divine providence. Observe — 1. The nature of Providence. " The peculiar nature of the dispensations is indicated by the colour of the horses, and the armour and appearance of the riders " \Hend.\ The red horse to-day in conflict and Buffering ; soon will the Divine Leader ride in triumph on the white horse. 2. The order of Providence. Bed horses " first," speckled and white follow. Without pressing the point too far, we see wars, famines, and pestilence end in victory. Most wonderfully did God prepare political events, in the restoration from Babylon and in the coming of Christ, for the special condition of his Church. Quietness may reign in all quarters except in the Church. Divine justice may seem to sleep ; but it is oidy the calm before the storm. Amid sufferings and perplexing providences, believers may cry, " How long1?" But the uncreated angel intercedes; "comfortable words" shall be heard, and the darkness of the night shall be forgotten in the glory of the day. " Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned ; for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 8. The myrtle trees in the still, Avhile the storm sweeps over the bottom, from their fragrance and low- mountain summits. In the metaphor ness, probably symbolize the Church, as we have perpetual growth. The myrtle at once yielding a sweet odour, and in a is always green, sheds not her leaves. low estate or lowly. The natural habits The Church has ever a verdure of grace, of the myrtle make it the fitter emblem sometimes most verdure when winter is [Pusey]. The Church of God is hidden, sharpest. Here Ave have the emblem of secreted as unobserved in a valley. There peace, and a significant token of victory is the idea of tranquil security; the (Spurgeon). myrtle grove in the valley is calm and HOMILETICS. Comfortable Words. — Verses 13 — 17. Jehovah replied to the intercession of the angel that he loved Jerusalem, and that this love would be displayed in securing its good. If we wait patiently, and commit 590 UOMILETIC COMMENT J RY : ZECIIJRIJIL [chap. I. our trouble to our Intercessor, we shall have "good words" for ourselves, and mfortable " words foi others. I. God's love in its objects. He was jealous for his people, and angry with theii enemies. 1. He loved Jerusalem. The city had been wronged by others. His honour was involved in its insults. He was zealous for her interests, zealous, "with a greal jealousy," for her good. He had been ill-requited for kindness — had chastised them for deserts— but his love changed not. In the past and in the present he was "a jealous God" (Ex. xxxiv. 14). 2. He was displeased with their " I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at He was u but a little displeased," when he gave them permission to chastise his people. Bui they afflicted them more than he desired, and sought their extinc- tion to gratify lust and revenge. " They helped forward the affliction." God's displeasure is temporary and for good; men's displeasure is lasting and cruel. II. God's love in its consequences. " Therefore, thus saith the Lord," &c. (ver. 16). Judgments were designed to restore them to God — that he might return in mercy t > tnem. God hides his face and we are troubled (Ps. xxx. 7); he returns and We have mercy instead of wrath — mercies repeated and manifold. ■ I i returned to Jerusalem with mercies." 1. The capital shall be built. All hindrances shall be removed, and instead of scattered houses, the whole city shall be measured in order and regularity. " A line shall be stretched forth over Jem." 2. The temple shall be restored. " My house shall be built in it." The worship of God should be the concern of men. Cities without churches are cities without ornaments. The palace of the prince must never take the place of the temple of God. 3. The country shall flourish. "Cry yet," in addition to ing promises, " my cities shall overilow with prosperity." Not only Jerusalem, but subordinate cities of Judah, shall have abundance of outward and spiritual ise. The produce of the vintage and the fruits of the earth ; an extension of trade and an increase of population, shall be given. Whatever be the immediate prospects of the Church, God has great consolation for her. He will yet prosper and comfort Zion. The completion of the temple, the restoration of the city, and the increase of the people, are a declaration of his love, a manifestation of his purpose, and a pledge of his lidelity. "The Lord shall comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wdderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord." Tue Four Horns and the Four Smiths, or the Danger and the Defence of the Church. — Verses 18 — 21. This second vision is a fulfilment of the foregoing promise. The horn is an' emblem of power. The four mentioned indicate hostile powers on every side, which seek to oppress and crush the people of God. The four smiths signify antagonistic i which God has raised up and comroisioned to destroy. Learn — I. The Church of Christ exists in the midst of conflict. " These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem." The Jews, in every age, were opposed by enemies. In Apostolic and succeeding times, the Christian Church had to contend with powers and principalities — persecutions strong and violent. In quarter of the earth the people of I rod have been in danger, have had to endure wrath, conflict, and death. Fiery trials await them everywhere. They are left to be tossed by the horns of the enemies, apparently defenceless, though loyal subjects of him who has all power in heaven and earth. It is God's will that they should struggle and conquer in conflict with evil. II. In this conflict God raises up men. Enemies and difficulties may surround the Church, but God provides help, and opens our eyes to discern it. " The Lord showed mo four (carpenters) smiths." 1. Men qualified in strength Workmen are needed. Men of iron hand and resolute will. .Smiths who can wield the hammer and smash the horns in pieces. chap, i.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : ZECUA1UAU. 691 Eight kind of men are often wanting. Jeremiah searched in vain (. Though invitations are given to man yet disobedience will endanger their souls. <;."! was about to destroy Babylon and punish the oppressors, to spoil the nations who had persecuted his ] pie. The alarm is given. "Ho, ho, come forth." 1. In the world is danger. "Flee "like Lot from Sodom. Speed your way and lose no time. '• Escape for thy life; look not behind thee." 2. In the world iscaptivity. '•I '.liver thyself." From Bin and sloth, from danger and eternal death. " My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the >; anger of the Lord " (Jer. Ii. 45 ; 1. 8 ; li. G). The Blessedness of Israel, and the Perils of her Persecutors. — Verse 8. That God will avenge his people is a doctrine of the New as of the Old Testament (2 Thess. i. G). For our comfort we shall describe those whom God chap, ii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : ZECUARIAH. 597 avenges ; in order to excite to adoration, show the intensity of Divine sympathy ; for the purpose of warning, refer to the perils of persecutors ; and for the fortifying of patience, point out the season of vengeance. I. The subjects of the Lord's concern. " He that toucheth you." 1. A sinful and perverse people. Not a nation of Enochs, Abrahams, nor Johns, but an erring, provoking nation. 2. An afflicted and chastened people. Eere is the secret of concern. A father pities his petulant and wayward child if he be wounded and troubled. 3. A chosen people. God could choose no other but a sinful people, for the whole earth was corrupt. He chose them, knowing their future sins — ordained that from them should come the Saviour of the world. 4. A penitent people. God comforts none of his servants until they mourn their sinfulness and perversity. He always loves them, but the beam of his consolation cannot reach them when they wilfully immure themselves in the strongholds of sin. II. The intensity of Divine sympathy. " He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye." 'fears flow at once if the eye be touched. In this figure Ave see the truth illustrated — 1. That the sufferings of the saints personalia affect the Lord. He is far more affected by the malice of our enemies than we are. Our sufferings compared with his are as the striking of the body to the wounding of the eye. When Jesus hung upon the cross they touched the apple of his eye. 2. We learn also that the Lard /-•> /.->■ our woes instantly. The idea seems to be that the moment the saints are touched the Lord is. However sudden the attack, he knows and feels. III. The peril of persecutors. The pronoun his, is understood by some as referring to the subjects of Divine vengeance. Whether it be so or not, this is certain — they stand under condemnation. To touch a king or a king's son is treason. God accounts indignities offered to Israel as indignities offered to himself. Pharaoh touched them and was destroyed ; the Amalekites and Canaanites fought against them and were defeated ; Assyrians strove to enslave them and were discomfited. Babylon was laid in the dust; Rome was spoiled, and ultimately ruined. IV. The season cf vengeance. " After the glory." After the return to their own land ; after their penitence and purification. It was in God's own time. When the saints have entered the New Jerusalem, their robes being made white, then the Lord will avenge his own elect in a special and final sense. — Stems and Twigs. HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Vers. 7, 8. Two classes addressed. We have here the twofold object of 1. The careless and indifferent. Those Christ's mission. 1. To glorify the in the world, living in ease and sin. Church. "After the glory "—in restor- 2. Those in Babylon who should be in ing and edifying the Church. Manifest- Zion. Christians are out of their place ing his glory to his people (John xvii. in the pleasures and pursuits of the 6). 2. To destroy the enemies. He hath world. "Come out from among them, "sent me to the nations which spoiled and be ye separate, and touch not the un- you." Mark— (1) The ease with which clean thing, and I will receive you," &c. this is done. " I will shake mine hand (2 Cor. vi.°17, 18 : Rev. xviii. 4). upon them." A mere wave of the hand Vers. 8, 9. The Messiah, not the pro- is sufficient to crush all opposition, phet nor the angel mentioned (ver. 4), is What must be the stroke of the band, if here intended. " Observe the evidence the mere shaking will prostrate the foe ! of the Divinity o(t\\e speaker here, in the (2) The power with which this is terms used by him: '/ will shake my The nations are Bpoiled of their Bttength hand at them.' This can be the language and honour— made slaves to those over of no other than Jehovah; and yet it whom they tyrannized. 3. To rem d is the language of one who speaks of God to mm. "And ye shall know that « Jehovah ° as° having ' sent him ' "— the Lord of hosts hath sent me." [Wardlaw]. Ver. 8. How admirably adapted to 593 HOMILETIC C02£MENTJBY : ZECILLRIJII. [chap. ii. popular instruction and impression is the paries of his people learn their danger. :' Scripture. Who does not Let this encourage us to do anything for understand and feel the the people of God. Let his people also allusion before as? " He that toucheth learn to do their duty. If God is so you" fl ,. i; reminds US of union: it concerned for them, how should they Bnowa i: it bespeaks attention : regard and be concerned for his glory it expresses sympathy. Let the adver- \J). II. In the extension of its dominion. "Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day." Proud exclusiveness shall cease ; the walls of partition shall be broken down ; and Jew and Gentile shall become subjects of one Kin,'. Hence extension. 1. By the restoration of the Jews. "The Lord shall inherit Judah." " It was to be on the principle, to the Jew first," says Wardlaw. " Among that people was he to appear and dwell while on earth. The chosen j pie were not to be utterly and finally cast off. He would again restore them in mercy ; gather from their so much wider and longer-continued dispersions ; restore them amw to the land of their fathers and the city of their God (ver 12)." 2. By Hi,- ttdoption of other nations. " Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that New converts shall inherit the blessings of the chosen people. An abundant increase is promised to the mere handful of Jews. This is the purpose for which Israel existed and was restored (Jer. xxiv. 7; xxx. 22: Ezek. xi. 20; xiv. 11). Gentiles slnll be grafted in with Jews (Rom. xi. 23); Jerusalem shall become glory, the throne of < Sod, and one law shall rule the stranger and the h pin •l'oin (Ex. xii. 19). " At that time tiny shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord ; and all nations shall be gathered unto it." III. In the grandeur of its achievements. Earthly kingdoms achieve greatness and create happiness by we ilth. )• >wer, and war. True glory springs from spiritual birth and God's presence. 1. Qreatjoy will result to this kingdom. "Sing and rejoice, 0 daughter of Zion." Those only cin rejoice who have 1 n restored to God and recovered their purity — with whom God dwells, ami whom lie bids rejoice and sing. (1) This joy is abundant. " It is a greal jubilee of joy, to which Zion is invited. Thrice besides ■ invited with the 3amo word (Isa. liv. 1 : Zeph. iii. 14, 15: Isa. xii. 6), and all for the d and renewed presence of God" [Pusey]. (2) This joy is \es unlikely. Rejoice in trouble and opposition ! Yes, it is ii it unseasonable then. I><> we not Beek medicine in sickness, music in mourning] out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion : for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee." 2. Universal submission icill result to this kingdom. "Be silent (huoh), U all flesh, before the Lord."- Unbelievers among the Jews are not to CHAP. II.] IIOMtLETIC COMMENTARY: ZECIIARTAII. 000 doubt God's promise, and enemies in all nations are to fear his power. All op tion will be subdued. Willingly or unwillingly men must submit in the day of God's power. How foolish to measure wisdom and compare strength with God, to "contend with him that is mightier than they!" Learn to reverence God's authority, to hear providential warnings, before he is roused for the last act of justice, to pronounce the doom, and fix the eternal condition of millions. "Thou even thou, art to be feared ; and who may stand in thy sight, when once thou art angry % " IIOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Vers. 10—12. The joy of the Church springs from three sources. 1. The presence of Christ. 2. The increase of numbers. 3. The gathering together and possession of God's people [cf. ffutchesori]. Ver. 11. (First clause.) The formation of national brotherhood by Christianity. 1. Christianity alone affords a ban's for it. Socialism, communism, &c, do not. Society built upon any other found- ation will fall, and great will be the fall. 2. Christianity alone can cement it together. Education, science, and philo- sophy useful, but not sufficient. 3. Christianity alone guarantees it. " Na- tions shall be joined." " I will mention Rahab and Babylon as knowing me. Lo, Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia. ( I'o each of which it shall be said), This nation was born there " (in Zion) (Ps. Ixxxvii. 4.) " Mark ye well Philistia's legions, Lo, to seek the Lord they come ; And within the snored regions Tyre and Cush have found a home.'' Thou shalt hiow, &c. The manifest- ation of the unity of the Church a proof of the Messiah's commission. When nations know God, the world will know saving truth (John xvii. 21 — 23). Ver. 12. 1. The inheritance. "Judah." The joining of nations did not destiny God's covenant with his ancient people. Hence this assurance that he would "again" be the portion of Israel (Jer. x. 16; li. 19: Deut. xxxii. 9). "Pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance." 2. The place. "In the holy land." The land is again made holy by God, and sanctified by his pre- sence. So he calls the place where he revealed liimself to Moses holy ground (Ex. iii. 5). "It is not one technical expression, as people now by a sort of effort speak of ' the holy land.' Every- thing which has reference to God is holy. The laud is holy, not for any merits of theirs, but because God was worshipped there, was specially present there. It was an anticipation and type of " thy holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee" [Pusi'y]. Ver. 13. Three reasons for silence implied. 1. They are but " flesh," weak and ignorant. 2. He is Jehovalh, all- wise and all-powerful. 3. He is already " raised up out of his place," and who can stand before him] [..-l. Ii. Fa/isset.] If God do but awake for us, all is presently well with us. Therefore, when the Church was in her return from Babylon the prophet concludes with an exultation of spirit. Be silent, &c. "All flesh, ye that are wicked of the world, ye that are enemies, be ye silent; leave your boasting, your reproaching, and blaspheming, for the Lord is awaked j now he begins to stir for his people, ho will stop your mouths shortly. All flesh takes in the Church and people of God too. 0 be ye silent, in regard of your fears and doubtings, murmurings and dis- tracted complainings : silence all these, why? The Lord, is awaked, he is raised up out of his holy habitation ; that is, ho that seemed before to confine himself to those higher regions, as atheists speak in Job, to walk in the circle of the heavens, not intermeddling with the earth : this (rod is now awaked, raised out of his holy habitation, and now ye shall know that he orders all things here below j therefore be silent, all flesh" [Caryl]. 600 IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECUARIAH. [chap. II. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER II. Vers. 1 — L. 8 ' Id, a man. All Zechariah's visions are remarkablysimple. They an' aot like Isaiah's, when lie saw ird Bitting apon a throne, high ami lifted up; nor like Ezekiel's, when he 1 living creatures with four faces, and wheels full of eyes. Zechariah had not imagination enough to be capable ofbeholdingwith due ippreciation visions so complicated and mysterious, lb1, was ; • propei instrument of God for the , ion of th"-'' more mysterious mat- Li »rd had a place for him, an I a vision for him too. How sweet to be a Bervant of God in any position \Sp irgeori\. Ver. 5. Wall. China is said to be ted by a wall of stone; oh1 Eng- land i- shielded by her wooden walls; but tin- I Ihurch of God has a better wall still, f ir Bhe has the Divine wall of fire ; her enemies cannot break through this to destroy the meanest of her citizens, and her false friends shall say to themselves, " Who among us can dwell with eternal burnings I" and so shall start back from a Church which is visibly sheltered and :ted by tie- presence of the Most High [Spurgeoii]. 7. Deliver thyself. " Bow run and poor, and little worth, Arc all these glittering toys of earth 'III it lure as here ! ! I i of el i, thai death mast break, Ahu ! before it bids us wake, V' '1:- ippear" [Manrique], Ver. 8. Apple. It is a charming /■■ is one of the most intricate and delicate structures in the human frame ; and tie' pupil of the eye — the opening by which the light of h tven enters tor the purpose of vision, — the most delicate ami easily injured, as well as important, part of that structure. Nothing can more finely convey the idea of the sensitively tender care of Jehovah for the objects of his love. There are many figures in the Bible expressive of the same sentiment : there is no one more exquisitely beautiful than this [Wardlaw]. Ver. 9. Shake. God is known by his power; that power is known by his works ; and how shall we approach to estimate him, unless we examine those works 1 [Macculloch]. Vers. 10 — 12. Rejoice. To be happy we must be blessed with the presence of the Holy Spirit. In adversity, in pro- sperity, in sickness and in health, our joys will be pure, our sorrows will be lightened, with this holy emanation of the Deity in our bosoms. Natural evil we must feel ; moral evil and its effects we shall often experience ; but there will still remain in our hearts, if regenerated, a cordial drop, a source of sweet enjoy- ment, of which no external circumstances can utterly deprive us [V. Knox]. Ver. 11. Nations. The Jews' un- belief was a step whereby the Gentiles arose to the knowledge of the gospel ; as the setting of the sun in one place is the rising of it in another [CharnocJc]. Ver. 13. Silent. The prophet, like a crier in a court, commands or proclaims silence. The Hebrew word means hush, inhibiting speech. Yield all reverence, respect and fear, stand in awe. Let the wicked silence their vain boasts and the godly their vain fears. Let neither the one nor the other utter a word before the Lord [Caryl]. How readily can Jehovah command an audience ! It may be that in the latter days he will, by some such miracles of power in the realms of grace, constrain all earth's inhabitants to attend to the gospel, and submit to the reign of his all-glorious Son [Spuryeon]. chap, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECIIARUH. 601 CHAPTER III. Critical Notes.] He] The interpreting angeL Standing] As before a judge (Num. xxxv. 12 : Dent. six. 17 : 1 Kings iii. 16). A judicial transaction represented, say some. But the high priest is described as having entered the new temple, taken his position before the altar, and was about to offer sacrifice for the people, when he was opposed by Satan [Henderson], Satan] No human adversary; lit. the adversary. Eight] The .side of the accuser (Pa. cix. 6 : Job xxx. 12). Resist] Impede or oppose, by dwelling upon the sins of high priest and people (cf. ver. 3). 2. Jehovah] i. e. the angel of, said. Rebuke] Twice repeated, "for the sake of emphasis, and with the repetition the motive which led Jehovah to reject the accuser is added" [Keit], God will nut only nonsuit, but reprove by act, and overcome the accuser (PS. ix. 5; cxix. 21). Plucked] Delivered from Babylon. God will not desert them; though defiled by sin, he will cleanse them. 3. Filthy] garmi nta Worn generally by those on trial among the Romans, but here represent the gnilt and punishment of the Jews, as removal, and investment of splendid attire, indicate restoration to enjoyment and privileges. 4. Stood] Ministering angels, honoured with standing continually before the great King (cf. 1 Kings x. 8 : Dan. i. 5). To pass] i.e. removed its guilt; remit, forgive, and justify ('- 8am. xii. 13; xxiv. 10). 5.] The nation not only to be forgiven but glorified. Let] The prophet asks help. Mitre] The priesthood restored ; and its fair colour symbolizes its official purity and order — so the wish complied with. 6 — 10.] llere the symbolic act of reclothing is made the occasion of a prophetic address through the high priest to the nation. Protested] Testified, made a solemn declaration as one on oath (Gen. xliii. 3 : Deut. viii. 19). Walk] God's promise was connected with their observance of his ordinances. Then] Certain privileges. Judge] Administer right, viz. " in relation to the duties devolving upon the high priest in the sanctuary as such : hence, right adminis- tration of the service in the holy place and Holy of Holies " [Kvil]. The priestly family of Joshua would take a part in the future government of the nation. Places] Guides, Stand by] Angels, "The import of the promise is, that he and his successors in office should enjoy the care, direction, and aid of celestial spirits in the management of the national affairs" [Henderson], 8. Fellows] Thy associates in the priesthood. Wondered] Men of wonder, of sign or portent ; typical men, foreshadowing future persons or events (cf. Isa. viii. 18 : Ezek. xii. (i). Branch] All expositors admit this to be the Messiah, the servant. (Isa. xlii. 1) : the sprout from the stem i\\' Jesse (Jer. xxiii. 5 ; Isa. ii. 1, 2; liii. 2). 9. Stone] Foundation by God, the chief builder, which should bo the object of his special care. Eyes] upon a thing denote vigilance and care (cf. Ps. xxxii. 8). Seven] denotes perfection ; these not carved upon the stone [Calvin], but directed towards ; fixed upon the covenant people (cf. Rev. v. 6). Engrave] Lit. "I will open the opening of it." What kind of ornaments it does not say, '' but that they were cut out or engraven in the foundation-stone, the exigency of the place requires, except we regard the stone as here used by synecdoche tor the wholo temple, in which case reference will be had to the finishing off of the structure, the foundation of which had been laid in the presence of Joshua " [Henderson]. Land] of Israel with its inhabitants representative of the Christian Church. Remove] the punishment to which Jews had been exposed. Day] The day of national atonement celebrated after completion id' the temple (Lev. xxiii. 27 ; typical of day of atonement by Christ (Ileb. x. 10 — 12; vii. 27). 10 Under] A proverbial description of a happy period (1 Kings iv. 25) ; an emblem of tranquil prosperity (Stic. iv. 1) ; of personal and social peace iu the gospel ; and of the blessed condition llowing from a purified Church. JIOMILETICS. Joshua Eesisted and Established ix his "Work. — Verses 1 — 5. This fourth vision is an encouragement to the people in their work. In the pen »TJ of the high priest they stand before Jehovah opposed by Satan, assisted by Christ, and restored to covenant blessings. I. Joshua resisted in his work. The condition -was critical, but God made it known to the prophet. "He showed me Joshua." 1. Jo^Itnn ri:--ist<''\v and weak, and not very earnest in their work. God's people are attacked, like Christ, when weakened by nature (Matt. iv. 2), when resistance seems impossible. "When a man is down, little will crush or overcome him. Occasions of trial are chosen that the fall may be more disgraceful (Isa. xxi. 4). " In the greatest calm provide for a stum," said Elizabeth. "A day may have a fair beginning and a luul ending." II. Joshua established in his work. He had a defender who confounded and rebuked the adversary in his evil design. "The Lord said unto Satan," && 1. His adversary is defeated, (a) Defeated by the Lord. "The Lord rebuke thee." Satan was checked by one who silenced him without arguments. Christ himself gave him into the hand of God, and effectually withered him with rebuke (Mark i. 25, 2G : Luke iv. 35). "We have an Advocate with the Father." (/-) Defeated by the Lord in love to his people. They had no merit in themselves. It was enough that he had chosen them. "The Lord hath chosen Jerusalem," and maintained his choice in all its integrity. The nation is acquitted, not because the charges of Satan were false, but out of God's free love to them. " Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect % It is God that justifieth. Who is he that eondemneth!" L'. His sins are forgiven. "I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee.'' The filthy garments were taken away, and sin completely and freely forgiven. In Christ Divine wrath is appeased, polluted nature cleansed, and guilty man justified before a holy God. " Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He tetaineth not his anger for ever, because hedelighteth in mercy." 3. His privileges are restored. God not only acquits but restores to all the honours and duties of office, justifies and sanctities. (1) The priesthood wees restored. He was clothed With change of raiment. The robes of the high priest were put upon him, and he ministered for the people. (2) Its official qualification was given. Priestly vest- ments (lid not complete the attire. The "mitre," the turban of pure white linen, with its holy crown, was wanting. "Set a fair mitre upon his head." Men are washed and decorated to be qualified for work. Ministers and teachers must he holy and adorned with the crown. Engraven on their breast-plate must he the title chap, in.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECIL1RIAII. 603 of their office, and tlie aim of their life, " Holiness to the Lord" (Ex. xxviii. 3G). " Thou shalt put the mitre upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre." "We may take Joshua as a type of all the people of God, as they stand in their sense of sin and natural faultiness, subject to the accusation of Satan, but delivered by their gracious Lord; and the change of raiment as setting forth the fo] jiveness of sin and the imputation of the Saviour's righteousness, which is the joy of all believers. Let us take each particular separately. I. To begin where tin; vision begins — with the believer himself, represented by Joshua. He is described as a priest, standing before the angel of the Lord. Mark this. He is a priest. Certain sons of Korah claim to be legitimate descendants of apostles, and pretend to bo priests in a special sense. But the apostles claimed no priority beyond others (1 Pet. ii. 5). Every humble man and woman that knows Christ's power in the soul — that has been cleansed from dead works — is appointed to serve as a priest unto God. But observe, the high priest is "standing before the angel of the Lord — " standing to minister. This should be the perpetual position of the believer ; not in a bed of sloth, or wandering about for private business. He is appointed priest. /or ever; should always be offering sacrifice, and attending to the duties of his high calling. He ministers before the angel of Jehovah. He can never stand to minister before Moses, the mediator under the law ; much less before Jehovah himself, for our God is a consuming fire. It is only through a Mediator that we poor defiled ones can ever become priests unto God. Bead the next word in the light of your own experience. " Clothed with filthy garments." Did you ever feel this in coming to God '\ Perhaps at evening prayer, unable as the head of the household to pray — in your business kept up late, and distracted in the house of God. How can we hope for a blessing on anything we do, with a heart of unbelief ! But do not let a sense of unfitness keep you from service — lead you to renounce your priesthood. Stand where you are, and remember it is the only place where sin can be washed and prayer accepted. II. Let us tarn to another individual. An adversary. Satan stood before the angel to resist Joshua. Observe the name, Satan, which signifies an adversary. An adversary by nature, who is so vile that he cannot help being the adversary of everything good. This adversary selected a most fitting place. 1 [e accused him before the angel — before God's own Son. He does not attack Joshua first, but seeks to prevent his acceptance. If once persuaded that you are not God's children and not accepted before him, he knows that serious injury is done us. Ho selected a fit opportunity — when Joshua had his filthy garments on. Expect, when you have lost your sense of justification, when conscious of sin, and you feel unlit to minister before God, that he will come to accuse you. III. Here is a very gloomy picture — the believer willing, but quite unable, to minister unto the Lord ; but the Angel speaks. He has been silent till now. This rebuke comes at the right season. When Satan aecuses, Christ pleads. He does not wait until the case has gone against vis — then express regret; but is always a present help. He knows the heart of 3 itan, bein"- omniscient; and long before he can accuse, puts in the plea on our behalf, ami stays the action till he gives the answer to silence every accusation. This rsbuke came from the very highest authority. . "Jehovah rebuke thee, U Satan." If God hath chosen his people, it is no use for Satan to attempt their overthrow. The rebuke is forcibly applicable to the case in hand. Satan says, "The man's garments are filthy." " Well," says Jesus, " how do you expect them to be otherwise ? When you pull a brand out of the fire, do you expect it milk-white or polished I " This plea did not require a single word to be added to it from Joshua. This so silence I the devil that he was speechless. He has often made out a case against m, but been nonplussed ! "I will sift him like wheat in my Bieve." His plans would succeed, but there is a "but" in the way (unfortunate for him, fortunate for us). <'But Iha^e prayed for thee, that thy faith fad not." , IV. A matchless deed of 004 IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECIIARIAII. [chap. hi. grace, is the soul of the text. Sin is removed. " Take away the filthy garments from him." The order is given to clothe him. "I will clothe thee with change of raiment." The righteousness of Christ is given to the believer. One thing more. The prophet was so astonished to see the change that he broke out and spake himself. "And 1 said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head." Some of Clod's people gel as far as imputed righteousness, believe themselves to be accepted in tlie Beloved, but tarry there. Put on your mitre, and praise the covenant angel, who in Jehovah's name has taken away your filthy garments. Notice the closing sentence. " The angel of the Lord stood by." We want him always to stand by, though clothed with new garments, and crowned with the mitre. We want his strength, comfort, and the light of his countenance. " Abide with us," must be our dady prayer [From Spurgeori\. IIOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 2. There are two grounds on which the rebuke of Satan proceeds. 1. Jehovah's choice of, or delight in, Jertuah m. " The Lord that hath chosen (or that delighteth in Jerusalem) rebuke thee." Satan knew full well that in his opposition to Joshua, to prevent his officiating as priest, he was opposing Jehovah, who had returned in loving- kindness to Jerusalem. He would have that loving-kindness kept back and turned away, and the punishment of their sins continued ; and would thus hive interdicted the blessing of Jehovah. Since it was the pleasure of Jehovah he was seeking to hinder, it was appropriate that the rebuke should come from him. 2. The vmlii-r — the furious and deadly spite of the a\ vil, stands here in contrast with the benevolence — the relenting for- inee and lone of Jehovah. "Is not this a brand plucked out of the lire]" The question must be understood, not of Joshua considered only /» rsonally, but reprt sentaUvi ly -as relating to the rescue of the people as well as himself from oppression and wrong, and, if their ene- mies had had their will, extinction; and the deliveranceand restoration of the very office of Joshua — the priestly office — whi< h, without Buch 1 livine interposition, might have been lost, Satan would have had the brand kept in the tire till it was fined. But Jehovah's power, and g Lnes8, and faithfulness, had plucked it out of the flames— rescued it from such unption. The rebuke is evidently that of indignant supremacy and offended benevolence, directed at once against malignity and presumption [Wardlatr]. Is not th is a brand ? &c. 1. If delivered once, is it reasonable to cast them into the furnace again1? Persecutors in the days of Queen Mary were cruel enough for this ; but we must have compassion upon men, " pulling them out of the fire " (Jude 22). How much more will God have pity ! 2. If God loves his people, shall he change? Never ! Though stained with dirt and scorched with lire, he will never cast them oil'. Like the three worthies (Dan. iii. 20), they will be delivered from fire and promoted to honour The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. Rebuke thee. 1. This a warning against the sarcastic, bitter, and virulent spirit which so often shows itself in speaking and writing against others \Wordswortli\. 2. A lesson not to argue with the tempter, but refer him to the Saviour, whose rebuke is powerful and successful (Ps. lxxx. 0 : Matt. iv. 10). Vers. 3 — 5. Two things are here said to belong to free acceptance with God. (1) The taking away of the guilt of our sin, our filthy robes ; this is done by the death of Christ, the proper fruit of which is the remission of sin. (2) Put more is required ; even a collation of righteousness, and thereby a right to eternal life. This is called a change of raiment, or, as in Isaiah lxi. 10, the garments of salvation, the robe of righteousness. This is made ours only by the obedience of Christ, as the other is by his death [Owen']. We may learn from the whole — 1. chap, in.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECIIAUl.iU. 60.5 That those whom God redeems he will ness, cleansing and love, should bo a cause to serve him. 2. That though sin reason for confidence in prayer, a rapport may pollute, God freely forgives them, in temptation, and a motive to activity in 3. That God's deliverance and forgive- service. HOMILETICS. Great Promises on Specified Conditions. — Verses 6, 7. We have here three things promised, or engaged for — and the promise made to depend on certain conditions. It matters not which of the two we notice iirst ; wo may take them as they stand. I. The specified conditions. The stipulations are these : " If thou wilt walk in my ways, and keep my charge " (marg., ordinance). These two conditions are closely connected. 1. Personal holiness. The former relates to personal character and conduct. He was to be found obedient to God's precepts; exemplifying in hi* own character the sanctity and moral rectitude which it was part of the duty of the priest to inculcate on the people : " for the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth : for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts." 2. Official faithfulness. He was to keep the charge of Jehovah, i. e. faithfully to perform all official duties, punctually to attend to every enjoined function of his commission ; keeping all the ordinances, as God had delivered them to Moses (Lev. viii. 35). II. The great promises. Three things depended upon these conditions. 1. Thou shalt "judge my house." The word house does not mean temple, but household. "The house of Jacob" is a designation of Israel, who were regarded and repeatedly spoken of as the family of Jehovah. " I am a father to Israel." To judge his house, then, is the same thing as to rule his people. This, you think, did not pertain to the priesthood ; but it is remarkable how it thus turned out, in regard to the priestly lineage in the family of Joshua. Not in the person of Joshua himself; but after Xehemiah's death, a large portion of the management of the civil affairs of Judea was committed by the Syrian prefects into the hands of the high priest; and it was more fully realized in the time of the Maccabean high priests, in whom the civil and the sacred were eminently united. "When these princely priests failed in the conditions here specified in the arrangements of providence, the glory departed, 2. Thou shalt "also keep my courts." lie was to continue to have the charge of God's house, to minister in the holy place, and superintend the entire system of the sacerdotal and Levitical services. His continuance in this high and honourable office, — that is, in the way of succession in his lineage, depended on the conditions mentioned, of personal obedience and official fidelity. It is the same style of conditionality with that on which Jehovah promised to Israel generally, and took them into covenant : " Now, therefore, if yo will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people : for all the earth is mine : and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." 3. I will give thee "places to walk among these that stand by." By "these that stand by" are meant, the attendant angels. The difficulty here is with the word rendered "places to walk" (marg., walks). The original in some degree is ambiguous. But irom the conjugation of the verb to which as a participle it belongs, we are disposed to acquiesce in tho judgment of Henderson, who makes it to signify, neither walks nor walkers, but those who guide or conduct in walking : — " I will give thee ministering guides among these that stand by." No sense can correspond better than this with all that we learn from the previous history of the Jewish people from the call of Abraham onwards, respecting the ministration of angels. It is a promise, then, of the aid and direction of those who surround the bivine throne, "the minis terings spirits sent GOG HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : ZECTIJEUH. [crrAr-. in. forth to minister to the heirs of salvation." Tf the rendering " toalks" or "places to mil/.;" be retained (though we feel doubtful), then the promise will be a higher (till— namely, that of an association with angelic spirits from heaven [Adapted from WarJlaic]. Men of Wonder. — Verse 8. The Jewish oonnomv was typical in its aim. Its sacerdotal institutions were "shadows of '_'""d things to coup'." Hence, "Joshua and his fellows that sat before him " — inferior priests, who officially ministered to the high priest — are termed men jna. They typified the Messiah here promised, and those whom the Messiah admits to share his priesthood (1 Pet. ii. 5 : Rev. v. 10). These words might be taken — First, as a pledge to the desponding Jews that the priesthood wfould be rved until Christ came. Secondly, as a reproof to the unbelieving multitude, who wonder at God's people with incredulity (Ps. lxxi. 7: Isa. viii. 18). Apply the words to < 'hristians. I. They are a wonder to themselves. They are astonished at God's love to them — amazed to think of his grace and goodness. Why are they called, while others refuse to come? They were chosen not because better than others, not on account <>i their foreseen repentance and faith. "I am a wonder to myself," said one. " I am a miracle of grace " said another. " By the grace of God, I am what I am." II. They are a wonder to their fellow-men. Believers are " to thousand a mark and gaze." They are not understood in their spirit, habits, and employments. To the wicked, they are a puzzle. They are often feared, despised, and persecuted. Their spiritual birth is a mystery of mercy, their life a constant reproof to the ungodly, and their death a triumph of grace. "I am as a wonder unto many." " Behold 1, and the children whom the Lord hath given me, are for signs and wonders in Israel, from the Lord of hosts." III. They are a wonder to angels. Angels take deep interest in redeemed men, and wonder at their characters and pursuits. As Jesus was "seen of angels," so are his people. " Last" in the judgment of the world, they are deemed by heavenly hosts worthy of intense regard. "For we are made a spectacle (theatrical exhibition) unto the world, and to angels (good and bad), and to men" (1 Cor. iv. 9). My Servant, the Branch. — Verse 9. Only one person is here typified by the Jewish high priests, and most comment- ators admit this person to be the Messiah, under the titles of the text. I. My Servant. 1. Under this title was Christ predicted. This was the characteristic Dame of the .Messiah. " Behold my servant, whom T uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth" (Isa. xlii. 1 ; xlix. 3; liii. 11 : Ezek. xxxiv. 23). -• Under this capacity he appeared on earth. "I am among you as one that !i." Thus honouring service, and dignifying the humblest calling. " Who made himself of do reputation, ami took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the Likeness of men." 3. In this capacity he rendered most eminent service. No one ever merited this title like him. He rendered a service most signal and gracious, which do one in the universe could perform beside. "Being formed in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the (hath of the cross." II. The Branch. He is "the branch of the Lord" (Isa. iv. 2) ; '■a righteous branch "(Jer. xxiii. 5); "the branch of righteousness " (Jer. xxiii. 1">). He is the tender branch from the almost extinct royal line of David. Not "a limb in the Bense of one among many on the same tree, but a shoot which springs up inm the root; and which, though small at first, becomes a tree of wonderful qualities" [Cuwle*\. This marks -(1) Hi« humble orijriu ; (2) gradual growth; aud (3) ultimate piuspeiity. In course of time the tender shoot would become the OHAP. nr.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : ZECTTAEIATL 607 monarch of the forest, and under its mighty branches and beautiful foliage the nations of the earth would take shelter. The Mission of toe Messiah and its Eesults. — Verses 8 — 10 These words point to the author of the blessings promised — to him by whom sin was to be expiated, and the kingdom of God flourish. They set forth the mission of the " servant, the Branch," and the results of that mission in the building of a more glorious temple than that of Solomon or Zerubabbel. I. The method of his coming1. He comes as ;i servant, and as the s]>r.>ut. 1. As a branch. " According to which the Messiah is to spring up as a rod out of the stem of Jesse that has been hewn down, or as a root-shoot out of a dry ground. Tsemacli, therefore, denotes the Messiah in his origin from the family of David, that has fallen into humiliation, as a sprout which will grow up from its original state of humiliation to exaltation and glory, and answers therefore to the train of thought in this passage, in which the deeply humiliated priesthood is exalted by the grace of the Lord into a type of the Messiah " [Keif]. 2. A branch Divinely caused to grow. " I will bring forth my servant, the Branch." God himself under- takes to bring him forth. He is God's servant, and will have to do God's work. He came from the bosom of the Father, and was upheld until he hail done the will of the Father. " Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is the Branch ; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord." II. The nature of his work. 1. To prepare the kingdom of God. " I will engrave the graving thereof " (ver. 9), i. e. engrave it so as to prepare it for a beautiful and costly stone. " The preparation of this stone, i. e. the preparation of the kingdom of God, established in Israel by the powers of the Spirit of the Lord, is one feature in which the bringing in of the tsemach will show itself" [Keif]. 2. To remove iniquity. "And I will remove the iniquity of that land." The removal of punishment from the Jews was typical of the remission of sins by the atonement of Jesus Christ. (1) From the Jews. From "that land" — multiform and aggravated as that was (Jer. 1. 20). (2) From all nations. To the Jew first, then the Gentile (Acts iii. 26). (3) " In one day." The wiping away will not be imperfect and continually repeated ; but once and for ever taken away. " By one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified " (Heb. x. 12 ; ix. 26 ; vii. 27). III. The results which flow from the completion of his work. When guilt is taken away, discontent and misery will be swept away ; peace and prosperity will be enjoyed by a purified Church. We have a figure (ver. 10) for a state of repose — peace, security, personal and social. The peaceful influence of the gospel was felt from the first — individually, in the soul of each subject of it ; socially, in the intercourse of all. Jew dwelt in peace with fellow-Jew ; and even Gentiles were numbered among neighbours and brethren, who before were aliens and outcasts, " hated with perfect hatred." The proclamation was to be, " Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is nigh " — and the corresponding effect of it was, " He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition " [ Wardlaw.] " They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree ; and none shall make them afraid : for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it." " No sound of war is heard — no thought of sin, But one sole word, ' Peace— Peace.' " HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 8. Sign men. 1. Wonderful in and restored to God and duty. 2. their experience. Delivered, pardoned, Wonderful in their manners. Despising ens IWMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECIIARIATL [ciiai\ in. pleasures which others esteem ; pursuing paths which others term folly. "They think it strange that ye run not with tin in into tin' same excess of riot; speaking evil of you." 3. Wonderful in their character. Redeemed and made holy — types of future converts, and of all priests unto ( }od. Ver. '.'. The stone. Taking it as the foundation-stone of the temple. 1. Its laying. By God, before Joshua. 2. Its 'inn. " Upon one stone, seven eyes." '• The eye," says Wardlaw, "is tl'i" natural hieroglyphic for knowledge ; and seven, as every reader of the Bible is aware, is the number used to denote completeness, perfection. 'Seven eyes1 denote the perfection of observant know- ledge : and as 'the eyes of Jehovah' mean Jehovah's observation and know- ledge, his 'seven eyes1 express the per- fection of both — omniscient observation" — (cf. chap. iv. 1U). Hence this is a proof of — (1) Providential care ; and (2) an encouragement to the Jews in work. Taking the stone with many as repre- senting Christ, notice — 1. God declares that he lavs (Heb.), that he gives a stone before Joshua, lit. before his face, to de- fend Inm, and in order that he may place it as the foundation and corner-stone of his building, which symbolized the Church, of which the corner-stone is Christ (Isa. xxviii. 10: Ephes. ii. 20: 1 Pet. ii. 6). 2. The stone is graven, like the precious stones in the breast- plate of the high priest, with the names of the tribes upon them (Ex. xxviii. 21 : ef. original in 2 Tim. ii. 19; and Rev. xxi. 1 1). 3. The figure here is of eyes, emblems of light (cf. Matt. vi. 22 :' K/ek. i. 18: Rev. iv. 4— G). The stone is not a dark, lifeless stone, like other stones, but a living, seeing stone. 4. Those eyes are seven, signifying com- pleteness, representing the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit with which the Messiah was anointed, animated, strengthened, and enlightened (Isa. xi. L') ; indicating the perfection of the spiritual illumination and perpetual watchfulness of Christ [lVbr(2».J. The language is future: "I will engrave the graving (or the sculp- ture) thereof." As the stone is a figure, so is the engraving that of hieroglyphic eyes, which may convey a twofold mean- ing. The first, certainly, that the eyes of Jehovah should be continually upon it, with intense and delighted interest ; and upon the glorious spiritual structure that was to rest upon it, marking its progressive advancement to its final completion. The idea is the same as that expressed respecting the land of Canaan : " The eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the be- ginning of the year to the end." The second, one which I express with hesita- tion, because not sure about the propriety of assigning two meanings to one hiero- glyphic. I cannot forget that the stone represents a person, and that person Divine. Jesus Christ himself is the " chief corner-stone." May not the en- graving of the seven eyes, then, convey the additional idea of the Deity of him whom the stone represented — as himself the possessor of Divine omniscience ; which could say — " All the churches shall know, that I am he that searcheth the reins and the hearts " [Wardlaw], Seven eyes upon one stone. Observe the notice that Christ was to excite and engage. The eye of God was upon him. He had complacency in contemplating him in the redemption of his people. The eyes of angels were upon him. They announced and sang his birth, and ministered to him in the wilderness. The eye of Satan was upon him. He watched him through life, hoping to make a prey of him, as he had done of the first Adam. But he was the Lord of heaven, and found nothing in him. The eyes of men were upon him. Simeon saw him, blind Bartimaeus followed him. Judas followed him closely for three years, and Pilate saw him judicially. The c mturion watched his death, and all the people gathered at the sight. The disciples saw the Lord after his resur- rection and were glad. Paul saw him at miil-day. How many millions and millions have seen him since, not with the eye of sense, but of faith ! In an- other world he is all in all — he draws every eye and employs every tongue. We shall see him as he is [Jay]. cnAP. in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECJTARIA1L 000 _ Ver. 10. The reign of the Messiah is distinguished by three things. (1) En- joyment. The very image of the vine and the fig-tree is delightful. (2) Liberty. Slaves and captives did not sit under their vines and fig-trees, nor did pro- prietors in time of war. (.",) /; n, ndencc. " Ye shall call every man," &c. There is no selfishness, no envy. All arc anxious that others should partake of their privileges [Jay]. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER III. Vers. 1 — 5. Satan, " the accuser of our brethren," (Eev. xii. 10). Accusation is the element of his being. He accuses God to men (cf. Gen. iii. 4, 5), and he accuses men to God (as in Job and in this passage). Hence his name in the 1ST. T., Diabolus, from diaballein = to set at variance, namely, by slander, — a de- scriptive title quite as strong as the Hebrew term, Satan = opposer, the in- herent and everlasting adversary of God and man, and of all that is good. In the end, tho kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ will be too much for the craft and malice of Satan. Still that malignant being opposes the truth, and leaves no stone unturned to turn away God's favour from his people, and thus overthrow the entire redemptive economy [Lange]. Resist. Against whom does Satan multiply his malicious assaults % Against those in whom God has multi- plied his graces. He is too crafty a pirate to attack an empty vessel ; he seeks to rob those vessels which are richly laden [Wilson]. Ver. 2. Brand. A poor Hindoo con- vert was once taunted by a European infidel, who asked him what Jesus had done for him. The Hindoo took a worm, put it inside a circle of dried leaves and grass, and set fire to them. When the fire approached the worm, he snatched it up and put it into his bosom, exclaim- ing, " That is what Jesus has done for me." I was once exposed to eternal fire. The flames had even touched me, and I was a scorched and blackened brand ; when God in his matchless grace plucked me forth ! [Sacred Garland], Ver. 5. Mitre. Some act with their mitres as our kings and queens do with their crowns ; they only put them on upon state occasions — do not wear them always, because they are too heavy 39 Christians, your state occasion should be always : you aro always dear to Christ, and always near the Father's In art [Spurgeon]. Ver. 7. Keep. Godliness is the high- way to happiness; the good old way that hath ever been beaten by all those saints that now find rest to their souls Trqpp]. Consult duty, not events Armesley]. Perish discretion when it interferes with duty [//. More], " Devotion when lukewarm is undevout " [Towiff], Ver. 8. Men of signs. So were tho primitive Christians. They were like so many pieces of immortality, dropped down from heaven, and tending thither- ward—all full of God, and full of Christ, and full of heaven, ami full of glory : and this world was nothing to them ; trampled upon as a despicable, con- temptible thing [Ilnirr]. Ver. 9. Stone. The excellence of the foundation is for the building that rests on it. And so, whatever gives Christ value, so to speak, in the sight of (bid and angels — as the union in him of the glories and virtues of the two natures, Divine and human; his filial zeal, and perfect obedience, and efficacious atone- ment, and priestly intercession, and royal might and majesty — all, all redounds to the honour and blessing of "them that aro Christ's" (1 Cor. xv. '23), through faith in his name [Dr. Lillie]. Iniquity. Christ, with his holy suf- fering, love, and perfect obedience, is the only one thing wherein God can havo infinite pleasure, and for the sake of which he can look graciously on the raco of men [Dr. Hen/nor]. Ver. 10. Sit. Mankind have always clunu to the hope of better times of GlO IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECHARLUI. [chap. iv. the text We rive a passage from the The base, degenerate, iron offspring ends, , t, , /• \ ,• \-- -i A srolden progeny from heaven descends. . . . famous Eclogue (iv.) of \ llgll ge* |abou&n| n.;tul.c calls thee to sustain The nodding frame of heaven and earth and " The last great US, foretold by sacred rhyme, main! Benewa its finished course ; Saturnian times see) to their base restored earth, seas, and air, Roll round again | and mighty years, begun And joyful ages from behind in crowding ranks Prom their first orb, in radiant circles run. appear. [Dry den* a Virgil.] CHAPTER IV. CbttZOAZi Notes.] The golden candlestick a symbol of the pure and prosperous state of the Jewish Church. Waked] Overpowered by what he had seen and heard, the prophet needed quick- into spiritual consciousness. 2. Candlestick] or chandelier. Like the seven-branched golden candlestick in the tabernacle (Ex. xxv. 37: Ezek. xxv. 31); but this visionary candlestick is a i d enlargement. Bowl] ». e. can or round vessel for the oil. Seven lamps] united in one stem (Ex. xxv. 32). Seven pipes] Lit. seven and seven. Some say, seven and seven, i. e. fourteen ; others, seven each for each lamp, i. e. forty-nine for the seven ; this not impossible. The greater the number of oil pipes, the more brilliant the light. 3. Trees] Supplying oil to the bowl. Explanation (vers. 12 — 14). 5. Knowest not] No reproof of ignorance, though the vision might easily be mistaken, but a stimulus to inquiry. No] How candid the confession ! 6. Might] Lit. army, power. >rk undertaken will be finished, not by human strength of any kind, but by the Spirit of God (cf. Hag. ii. 5). 7] The resources of the Jewish leader were few, and the hindrances formidable, but the great mountain] will be depressed into a level plain, every obstacle removed, and the work eompli ted. Headstone] Refers to the finishing of the structure. Shoutings] of acclamation. " The repetition of favour or grace is for the sake of intensity ; and the ascriptions of this favour to the . implies that it was possessed of this quality, and was to be the medium of its conveyance to others. The prediction was clearly fulfilled in our Redeemer. ' Grace at favour was poured through hi- lips' " [ Henderson]. 9. ] Additional information. Finish] So he did, in the sixth year of Darius (Ezra vi. 15). 10. Day of small things] " The short period which had elapsed since the Jews had b' .'mi to rebuild the temple, and the commencement which had been inconsiderable and inauspicious." Who '] with its negative answer, contains an admonition to the people and their rulers not to despise ill li'-L'ini.ings [A'ciV], Plummet] With the human is strikingly contrasted Jehovah's estimate work. His eyes, which run to and fro, rejoiced when they saw Zerubbabel with the plummet in hand ; a sign of work commenced, and superintending care. Zerubbabel is the type of a future Zerubbabel, the Messiah, who will build the temple of God. 11. What] A question put three times, v. r. 1), this, and ver. 12 ; varied at each time and at last minute. Two olive trees] Supposed to anointed priesthood and royalty by some (by others, the two Churches, the Jewish and Gentile), or "Christ's pri< stli I and monarchy — confirmed by vi. 13. Olives produce oil ; oil supplies light to the candlestick, and all the oil of the Holy Spirit flows, by the medium or his Messiahship in its twofold Functions of King and Priest, into the Candlestick of the Universal Church " [Words.]. 12. Branches] I. it. ears, from resemblance to ears of grain. "As ears are full of grain, so olivc- branohi I are full of olives." Golden oil] Gold-like liquor in brightness and purity. 13. Answered] The angel is anxious to awaken attention. 14. Two anointed] Lit. sows of oil, a symbol of Joshua and Zerubbabel, anointed and installed into office by oil ; and of the royal and priestly office of Christ, Stand] The posture of servants waiting to receive orders from their masters. " If, then, the candlestick had two olive-tre* a by its side, yielding oil in such copious abundance, that every one of ■. • n lamps n ceived it- supply through seven pipes, it could never fail to have sufficient oil for a full and brilliant liL'bt. This was what was new in the visionary candlestick ; and the meaning was thil bat the Lord in future would bestow upon his congregation the organs of his Spirit, and maintain them in such direct connection with it, that it would be able to let its light shine with Sevenfold brilliancy " [Ka/\. IIOMILET1CS. Thh Christian Church thh Goidbn Light-dearer. — Verses 1 — G. In the former vision there was a display of the means and grounds of the forgiveness of sin. In this we have communications of grace, to conquer obstacles chap, iv.] HOMILETIC COM.VEXTARY: ZECIIAMAir. 61] and establish the work of God. The Church is symbolized by the candlestick. Streams of golden liquid How into it from one centre, to feed and preserve tho light. Without the aid of man, the oil is supplied freely and copiously to bl sinful world. Notice — I. The design of the Christian Church. To give light. It is created and constituted to be the light of the world. The world La spiritually dark : for " darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people." But truth, light, and life are found in the Church of God. 1. Its light ia diffusive. All light is diffusive. The light in the Church must not be quenched nor "hid under a bushel." Individually and collectively, we must diffuse knowledge, holiness, and joy — shine forth for the benefit of men and the glory of God. 2. Its light is borrowed. It is only a light-bearer, not a creator of light. Like the moon, the Church shines with a borrowed light. She has no resources of her own, but depends upon Christ the Sun of Kighteousness for every kind and degree of influence. If she forgets her end, neglects her mission, and disowns her dependence, her light may be extinguished. " In him was life j and the life was the light of men." II. The unity of the Christian Church. The seven lamps may indicate its unity — one candlestick, but many branches ; one body, but many members. All sections of Christians are united together in Christ the Head. All have their light and place, and in proportion as they are supplied with oil and diffuse the sanctifying influence of truth to others, do they answer the end of their own illumination (cf. Job xxv. 3 : Phil. ii. 15). III. The vitality of the Christian Church. It was fed and sustained by virtues not its own. 1. It was Divinely fed. The lamps were not furnished with oil, nor kept by human agency. The two living olive- trees poured their oil into the central reservoir Avithout the skill and labour of man. The Church thrives, and the cause of God triumphs, " not by might, nor 1 >y power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." 2. It vox freely fed. The oil spontaneously flowed from the olive-trees. Christ has received gifts for men, and from his priestly and regal offices they are freely bestowed upon the Church. " And of his fidness have all we received." IV. The value of the Christian Church. The candlestick was gold. Though few in number, obscure and imperfect in character, God's people are precious in his sight. They are his jewels, pure and indestructible. If they lose purity of life and doctrine they will tarnish their character and dim their lustre. " How is the gold become dim ! how is the fino gold changed ! " The preciousness depends upon the purity, and the responsibility upon the honour, of the Christian Church. "The king's daughter is all-glorious within ; her clothing is of wrought gold." " The purest treasure mortal times afford, Is — spotless reputation : That away, Men are but gilded loam, or painted clay " [Shakspeare], Not by Might nor by Power — Verse G. " The vision was an embodied prophecy, intended in the first instance for the guidance and comfort of Zerubbabel." The prophet, and through him the people, are informed in their despondency of God's purpose and method concerning his work. They must not faint, but rely upon him, who is all-sufficient, and would preserve and furnish them with needful means to finish the work. "Not by might," &c. Take the words generally — I. Not by might nor power in Christian life. Spiritual life is the direct act of God; " born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." From beginning to end it is promoted by the Spirit of God. Carlyle speaks of "the almost omnipotent power of education," and others commend the refinements of life ; but these do not satisfy conscience nor touch the heart. Men (312 HOMILSTIC COMMENTARY: ZECIIARLIII. [OEAP. IV. are " saved by the renewing of the Hoi)- Ghost" This is the doctrine of Scripture, and the characteristic of spiritual life. II. Not by might nor by power in Christian work. The temple was rebuilt uot by the might of this world. God procured the edicl of Cyrus, and touched the hearts of Darius and Artaxerxes. In the day of Pentecost, and al the Reformation, in the revivals and movements of the Church, we recognize the same truth. In the work of the Spirit, the redeeming v of Christ and the agency of God are preserved through all generations. By tlie Holy Spirit the power of God is brought into the world. God has all hearts in his hand, and all agencies under his control. He inflames the zeal, inspires the prayers, and bestows the qualifications for the spread of his kingdom. We rely too much upon numbers, eloquence, and human agencies. The great want of the day is the Holy Spirit. If we depend upon him, then however few and feeble in effort, the progress of the work will never be impeded. Systems founded by power and spread by force will come to nought. "All they that take the sword, shall perish with the sword." God's presence must be sought, and his power trusted. Then, when human means are hidden, and the might of the Spirit enjoyed, all the gluiy will be given to him. IIOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Vers. 1, 2. The weary and sleepy prophet. 1. Indicative of Christ Ian weakness. Believers are mortal, cannot long bear up in spiritual duties, and often astonished by wonderful revelations in hard times (cf. Daniel's sleep, ch. x, 9 ; and Peter's at the Transfiguration, Luke ix. 32). 2. A type of all who stand un- ci>nsrr'i>ush/, and live carelessly, in the presence of God and great events. There is a lethargy of soul in the wholo sphere of Divine realities; and men try to live indifferent to, or entirely without, the light and friendly visitations of God. 3. A proof of God's goodness in rousing ii>< a to duty. Werequire stirring up in natural indolence and spiritual weakness, p the benefit of Divine instruction; and when the revelations arc given, we do not understand them. " The angel that talked with me came again." " lie. wakenetb morning by morning; hewak- cneth mine car to hear, as the learned." Vers. 2, 3. Observe the candlestick Men, and the oil is called golden. Tin- Church must be pure and holy; what Bhe teaches must be pure and holy also ; not adulterated with the admixture of any novel doctrines, such as those which have been added by some to the faith once delivered to the saints, and imposed as necessary to salvation [Words- worth], Vers. 4, 5. An apt pupil and a won- derful teacher. I. The pupil. The pro- phet— 1. Not ashamed to confess his ignorance. Ignorance may be wilful, but criminal ivhen it can be removed. " Knowest thou not," &c, as much as to say that he ought to know (cf. John iii. 10). Its removal difficult. We may search and attend, yet not properly understand. The prophet was warned, and took heed to the angel, but required further teaching. 2. Sought, to he in- structed by asking questions. " The prophet pretends to no knowledge which he does not possess. Let us imitate the twofold example ; both that of inguisir tiveness and that of ingenuousness. Let us be on the alert in our inquiries after knowledge ; and in order to our acquiring it, never foolishly, and to save our pride or vanity, ail'ect to have what we have not" [Wardlaw']. II. The Teacher, the angel. Notice — 1. His method, by asking counter-questions; to excite, quicken, and suggest. This is Socratic and Christ- like. The wisdom of ancient philoso- phers, and the teaching of Jesus, have come to us in dialogue forms. 2. His willingness. The pupil was eager and earnest, the teacher was able and willing. " There are many," says one, " whose ignorance clings to them because they are unwilling to confess it, and so to forsake it ; whilst, on the other hand, there are others who are as reluctant to chap, iv.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECIIARIAII. G13 drop a word of wisdom from their lips, given to him fur present duty, ami as a miser is to surrender a guinea from this must ho communicated to the his purse." If not taught by angels, be people. One revelation only prepares thankful for the. Bible and the Holy for another, and by giving what we Spirit. 3. But the degree of inform- know, wo increase our own stuck- of ation was not great. Explanations were learning. "He that watereth others reserved, and the pupil had to ask again shall himself be watered." (cf. vers. 12 and 13). Enough was HOMILETICS. Divine Grace the Source op all Strength. — Verses 7 — 10. The resources of the Jewish leader were few, and dangers formidable, hence the promise of help. The beginning maybe small and discouraging, but the co-operatioD of the Holy Spirit will ensure success. Joshua and Zerubbabel shall linish the work, and bring forth the copestone amid the loud shouts of the people — " Grace, grace unto it." I. The work was carried on under the Divine auspices. The leaders do their part, but it is "with those seven" eyes (ch. iii. 9), " the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth." God watched the foundation, and was ever present to superintend. Nothing took him by surprise or happened unknown. In all parts of the earth his people are defended and guided by his providence "The Divine eye is ever in union with the Divine arm," says a writer; "the knowledge of God with his power." Under his inspection the work must prosper. He takes cognizance of all creatures, inspires and directs all efforts. Those that have the plummet in hand can do nothing without him, should seek his presence, and depend upon his help. "Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it." II. The difficulties were overcome by Divine help. Difficulties there were, manifold and great, in the people themselves and outside them. 1. Some despised the work. Circumstances were disheartening, made them sigh and desist. They were few in number, and the work in proportion to their means very great. "Who hath despised the day of small things'?" 2. Powerful enemies opposed the work. They were artful, malignant, and often successful. Like great mountains, impassable and immovable, they stood in the way. But the mountains were levelled down, difficulties vanished away, and all became a plain. "Thou shall thresh the mountains," when engaged for God (fsa. xli. 15). To despond is faithless and guilty. Nothing can resist God. The victories of his word are sure. "Every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked he made straight, and the rough places plain." III. The work was finished amid joyful acclamations of Divine praise. " He shall bring forth the head-stone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it." The people wished well to the building, and prayed that it might stand for ever. The finishing of the temple was a type of the work of God in all ages. The Jewish builder represented Christ, the Divine architect of the spiritual temple. His work begun by grace should end by grace. Amid opposition it is carried on and will be finished. Soon the plaudits of men and angels shall shout in acclamation and acknowledgment of the multiplied favour of God. Grace, free grace, shall be the theme of their song ! " Grace, grace unto it." Despising the Day of Small Things — Verse 10. The Jews are reproved for their heartlessness and unbelief. They should not estimate God's work by present appearances. Their progress though small is an earnest of great and glorious success. To despair when God has promised help, is to doubt his faithfulness, power, and omniscience. These words declare — I. A fact in history. 1. " The day of small things." This, notwithstanding G14 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : ZECIIARIAIL [chap. iv. toil ami much time spent in the work of God. In Jewish history and in the at time — in the Sunday School and in the Christian Church — in philanthropic and missionary enterprise, it i> the day of small things. Though success may he realized, yet it is small in itself; small in comparison with what might be, and with what will be. 2. J.'f us l< ing others — empty themselves (ver. 12). answer (ver. II). The angel returned The unction of tho Holy One must abide no answer (only asked a question) to in us before -we can furnish grace to the question of the prophet, to invite others (cf. John iii. 20 — 27). "Joshuaand closer attention, and prompt a more Zerubbabel shadowed forth what was d( finite qui tion [cf. Pusey]. united in Christ, and so in their several Ver. 14. Two anointed ones. Blessed - oilices they might be included in tho CHAP. IV.] IWMII.ETIC COMMENTARY: Z EC II ARIA II. G17 symbol of the olive-tree. They could not exhaust it ; for men who, having served God in their generation, were to pass away, could not be alone intended in a vision, which describes the abiding existence of the Church. Christ is both High Priest and Eternal King. In both ways ho supplies to us the light which he brought. From him flow unceasingly piety and righteousness to the Church, and it never lacks the heavenly light. The oil is expressed into tubes; thenco passed through tubes, into the vessel which contains the lamps : to designate tho various suppliers of light, which, tho nearer they are to the effluenco of the oil, tho more they resemble him by whom they are appointed to so Divine an office. Tho seven lamps are tho manifest Churches, distinct in place, bat most closely bound together by tho consent of one faith, and by the bond of charity. For although the Church is one, yet it is distinct according to tho manifold variety of nations. But tho lamps are set in a circle, that tho oil of one may flow more readily into others and it, in turn, may receive from others their superabundance, to set forth tho communion of love and tho indissoluble community of faith " [Pusey], ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER IV. Vers. 1 — 4. Candlestick. All human souls, never so bedarkened, love light ; light once kindled spreads till all is luminous [Carlyle]. We are all naturally ambitious to shine in the world. It is tho foible of our race ; but the fault lies not in the passion itself, but in mistaking tho sphere and choosing improper objects. Many are proud to shine in the lustre of pomp, the elegance of dress, or the splendour of equipage ; others again are ambitious of the voice of fame, or the acquisition of power. To such as act by the opinion of the world alone, fashion is above all other laws. They study nothing but appearance. This object absorbs other appetites, passions, princi- ples, and duties. But religion alone will teach from what principle, in what manner, and by what means to shine [Baseley], Vers. 4, 5. WJiat? Conviction of ignorance is the door-step to the temple of wisdom [Spurgeon], Compare thy- self with those that are mure learned or wise than thyself, and then thou wdt see matter to keep thee humble [Sir ML Hale]. Ask the reason "Why?" [Arhwrighi], " Ignorance is the curse of God ; Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven " [Shakespeare]. Vers. 6, 7. Poiocr. Dependence gives God his proper glory. It is the peculiar honour and prerogative of Deity to have a world of creatures hanging upon it — staying themselves upon it ; to be tho fulcrum, the centre of a lapsing creation [Howe]. Ver. 10. Despised. To a decidedly irreligious contemner, wo might say, " Beware what you do ; " for " if the thing be of God," you are daring him by your contempt. If there be something of his spirit and power contained and acting in things, it is not safe to make free with them in the way of Bcom, however inconsiderable in magnitude they may seem. It may one day (not "a day of small things" that) be a question, not of rebuke, but of judgment. On that day will not be forgotten a contempt of the introductory littleness (say, rather, undisclosed dignity) of what God had determined to advance to greatness and glory [John Foster], Ver. 11. Olive. No tree is more fre- quently mentioned by ancient authors, nor more highly honoured by ancient nations. By the Greeks it was dedicated to Minerva, and even employed in crowning Jove, Apollo, and Berculea, as well as emperors, philosophers, and orators, and all whom the people de- lighted to honour. By the Romans also it was highly honoured. Columella de- scribes it as " the chief of trees." It is not wonderful that almost all the ancient authors, from the time of Homer, so frequently mention it, and that, u.-j 613 IWMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECHARIAH. [chap. v. Horace Bays, bo win it Beamed the sole appeared in pairs; as Moses and Aaron, aim men bad in life [Cam. i. 7]. See the inspired civil and religious authori- Tristam, Nat. HUtt.of the Bible ; Thorn- ties; Caleb and Joshua; Ezekiel the ton, Ld. and Ek. priest and Daniel the prophet ; Zerubba- V. r. It. Two, Christ's witnesses, in bel and Joshua (cf. Rev. xi. 3, 4) [D. remarkable times of the Church, have Brown, D.D.], CHAPTER V. Critical Notes.] Flying roil] Vision sixth. 2.] Ten yards long and five yards broad. The itended to indicate the number of curses contained ; and Flying] The velocity of judgments upon the wicked. 3. Earth] Land of Judah first ; ultimately, to all the earth. Stealeth] Sinners against the second commandment, false swearers against the first. Cut off] Lit. cleared, swept away as offensive (1 Kings xiv. 10 : Ezek. xxiv. 11). Two sins put for the whole. This side — that side] The scmll was written on both sides, as in Ex. xxxii. 15. Henderson gives: " From that place, whether f visions now take another turn. In the two preceding chapters we have the elements of the gospel, in the destruction of Zion's foes, the forgiveness of the people, the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and the finishing of the temple. Now we learn that and sealed, but fully expanded to view, that nothing it contained might be concealed," says one. Sins are written Legibly on our moral constitution, in the sight of God and man, and are "known and read of all men." Sin is self-revealing. It is impossible to hide wrongdoing. Jupiter was supposed to write down the sins of men in a book. God keeps a record of human guilt, which will be unfolded ou earth and in eternity. "Some men's sins are open (manifest, clear.) beforehand, going (like heralds) before to judgment ; and some men they follow after." II. The Gl>0 IWMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECIIARIAIL [CHAP. v. punishment. " This La the curse that goeth forth." The curse of the Divine law mtisl be denounced against all transgressors. Its sanction must be set forth and not erased. The theology which denies Divine justice, and deludes the conscience, finds no place in the teaching of the prophet. "The anathemas of Scripture are no! a taste brutum fulmen, but a solid and terrible reality." 1. The curse icas universal. "Every one shall be cut oil'." It hangs over "the face of the whole earth," ready to fall upon its objects. 2. The curse was inevitable. "I will bring it forth, saith the Lord." Who can turn aside that which Almighty power sends forth / < >n " this side, and on that," the ungodly are " cut off." 3. The curse was lis speed was not slow: " I see a flying roll." Judgments sleep not, but suddenly break forth, and overtake the disobedient. The lightning from heaven is not more swift and irresistible. "He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth : his word runneth very swiftly." 4. The curse was destructive. It penetrated the house, and consumed everything inside, like the plague of old. "It shall enter into the house." (a) It destroys families. The homes of the thief and the false- swearer were attacked. The curse of God comes to the sinner where he thinks himself most protected and most secure, (b) It destroys possessions. Vengeance enters and remains in the house until it answers the end for which it is sent. It " remains in the midst of it;" abides like leprosy, infecting, wasting, and consuming all. Ahab multiplied his house, and defied the curse pronounced against it; but the stroke swept all away (1 Kings xxi. 20 — 22). " The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked ; but he blesseth the habitation of the just." IIOMILETIG HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 1. Prophecies partly appertain to those in whoso times the sacred w liters prophesied, partly to the mys- teries of Christ. And therefore it is wonl of the prophets, at one time to chas- tise vices and set forth punishments; at another, to predict the mysteries of 1 I and the < Ihurch [Aug. de Civ. Dei]. It was :i wide, unfolded roll, as is in- volved in its flying; but its flight sig- nified the very swift coming of punish- ment; its living from heaven, that the sentence came from the judgment-seat above [Pusey], Ver. 2. Its Large size might denote two things : — the large number and amount of the Divine denunciations it contained; and at the same time, there being room for writing them large, that thi y might be seen. It was at the same time "flying." By which, also, two things might be denoted — that it was not meant for any particular city or locality, but to make a progress through the length and breadth of the land; and also, that the denunciations of Jehovah written in it would come speedily and surely on those against whom they were pointed ( Ward* Ver. 3. Gut off: lit. cleansed away. The moral meaning of the Hebrew word suggests, the defiling and offensive nature of sin, and the several measures necessary to take it away. " None who enter the porch of the visible Church may flatter themselves that they can escape God's wrath and malediction, if they commit any of the sins condemned by the comprehensive commination of this flying roll, which may be compared to a net, co-extensive with the world, and drawn throughout the whole from side to ide" [WordswortK\. Ver. 4. A man's house is termed his castle, but is unable to hold out against Divine judgments, which maybe noticed — 1. for terribleness; 2. suddenness; and 3. retributive end. Property and estates often cut olf, families dried up root and branch, and doomed to perpetual curse (cf. Job xviii. 14, 15). "It is a curse that embitters every sweet, and gives more than twofold intensity to every bitter. From this world it must accompany and follow a man to another, and settle with him there for ever. The special reference made to their houses, with the Btones thereof and the timber thereof, chap, v.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECHARIAH. 621 forcibly points to the care which they Jehovah's home was I" I Ward- had been taking of their own accommo- law]. dation, in comfort and elegance, while HOMILETICS. The "Woman in the Ephah, or the Wickedness and Punishment of THH Nation. — Verses 5 — 11. The scope of this vision is not much indicated by the angel, and is differently interpreted by commentators. In the former vision, God pursues personal sins with private calamities; in this, the nation fills up the measure of its iniquity, and is cast out of its land. Taking the woman as representing the Jewish nation — the Church of God, and the ephah — the wickedness, the corruption in which the nation had fallen ; we have a prophetic warning or denunciation for the future. The two visions, distinct in form, are allied in meaning and purpose. I. The wickedness of the nation. " This is an ephah that goeth forth." Dr. Henderson regards the wickedness as meaning "idolatry with all its accom- panying atrocities." Wardlaw and others take the ephah as an emblem of worldly traffic or merchandise. This traffic was mixed up with fraud and treachery, and the ground of complaint and expostulation. 1. The wickedness was universal. "This is their resemblance through all the land." "Ye are cursed with a curse; for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation" (cf. Mai. iii. 9). 2. This wick dness was deeply rooted. The woman is represented as sitting in the ephah. World- liness dwells in the Church. "The love of this present world" Lads many astray. 3. This ivichedness was measured. The ephah was gradually filled, and every one contributed to the full measure. All helped to make the heap, and ripen tho nation for judgment. Sin was a common store, Divinely permitted and exactly measured (cf. Gen. xv. 1G). " Fill ye up the measure of your fathers " (Matt, xxiii. 32). II. The punishment of the nation. The nation was shut up with its sins in the measure; enclosed so that they could not escape; and carried where the retri- bution begins, but does not seem to end. 1. The nation was carried away. They might be permitted to build and work for God, but if they heeded not the warning, they would be lifted up out of their land, and dispersed to other countries. 2. The nation icas openly carried away. " They lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven." The punishment was before the eyes of all, a public example of God's vengeance to the world. 3. The nation ivas carried a/cay by suitable agencies. Whatever the two women represent, they are set forth as agents, swift and sufficient, to execute the Divine purpose, without let or hindrance. " Kapidly, inexorably, irresistibly, they flew and bore the ephah between heaven and earth. No earthly power could reach or rescue it" [Pusey]. 4. The nation was carried away I appointed place. "In the land of Shinar." Babylon was an emblem of restored and repeated captivity. A place which symbolizes the anti-christian or ungodly powers, who by violence, art, and falsehood war against the truth. 5. Tlis punish- ment of the nation in this appointed place would be of long duration. "The building of a house" for the ephah, and "tho setting of it on its own base," repre- sent the long duration of the second dispersion. For two thousand years the .Tews have remained a distinct people in a scattered state, a proof of God's faithfuln and a warning to all nations. Unjust measures, whatever they be, will bring righteous retribution upon their possessors. Tho instrument of defrauding God and man will become the agent of punishment. Sinners will be driven away in their own wickedness, and sent to their " own place." Let us Beek our portion with the true Israel, and avoid the curse of Babylon's doom. " Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth " (cf. Rev. xvii. 3—5). C22 110M1LET1C COMMENTARY : ZECHARIAH. [CHAP. V. " Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast, How shall ye flee away and be at rest? The wild dove hath her nest, the fox his cave, Mankind their country— Israel but the grave " \Lange\ IIOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Vet. 0. This is equivalent to see, there is a woman, &c The strokes of punitive wrath do not fall at random Oi i apricioubly. There is ample reason in every case, so that one may always say, this (the cphah) is their object in all the land. Men go ceaselessly adding sin tn sin, and, because judgment is not suddenly executed, think that there is impunity ; whereas they are only filling the measure. God waits. There is an appointed time with him, and he will nut anticipate [Lange], "We too are taught by this, that the Lord of all administers all things in weight and ire. So foretelling to Abraham that his seed should be a sojourner, ami the cause thereof — " f or the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full," i. e. they have not yet committed sins enough (I ten. xv. 1G) to merit entire destruction, wherefore I cannot yet endure to give them over to the slaughter, but will wait fur the measure of their iniquity [Pusey]. I '■'■•'■ rplnih may therefore represent — 1. Tin- sins <>/ the people. Every one contributing to lill up the measure. 2. Th' ir ripeness for Divine judgment. The measure, filled up. 3. The just rctriloL- tinn nf tlirir piiiiisliuii'iit. "The unjust measure was one of Judah's leading .-in--, and thus, in just retribution, their punishment" Vet. G. They who had dealt treacher- ously witli otheTB, wen; dealt treacher- ously with themselves. What measure men mete to others, God metes to them- selves (Isa. xxi. 2; xxxiii. 1) [Faussef]. Vet 8. Lead on the mouth of it. The ephah was covered, and the heavy lid of lead carefully put down upon the mouth of it. This is a significant emblem id tie- impossibility nf escape from the merited judgments of God. So the Jewish people, considered conditionally, L lining their character, would be carried away in their worldliness, as the woman was borne in the ephah. The very ephah, the instrument of their merchandise and wealth, is represented as the means of confinement; so does the worldly-mindedness, the ambition, and covetousness of the Jewish people stmt them up to retributive vengeance \Wardlaio\. Vers. 9 — 11. 1. A people abusing afflictions and marvellous deliverances from it, by sinning yet more, may ex- pect their afflictions to be returned upon them with harder measure ; for a new and sorer captivity, and longer dwelling under it, is here threatened upon renewed provocations. 2. The Lord hath suffi- cient instruments at command to execute his judgments, who, being employed against his sinful people, shall find all things concurring with them in their work; two women enough to carry the ephah ; wings, enabling them to flee and do their work violently and swiftly; high in heaven and earth, above the opposition of men; and ivind in their wings, to indicate providence helping them forward. 3. Captivity and exile in profane nations, from the face of God, and the society of one another in his ordinances, is one of the sorest judgments by which the Lord plagues his Church ; wickedness is carried to the land of Shinar. 4. As the Church is no place for sin to reign and get a biding habitation ; so enemies to the Church are accounted by God as the common sink of wickedness, whom he will punish ; for wickedness is carried from the holy land to Shinar, its own place, where all wickedness dwelt, from which the Jews might gather that, as he punished them so he would not spare their enemies [ Hutchesori], The prophet intimates to the Jews of his own age, that if they sin against God by the sins here men- tioned, their restoration to Jerusalem is CHAP. V.] IWMTLETIC COMMENTARY: ZEClIARI.tll. C23 frustrate and abortive ; they are not, in city and temple at Jerusalem, yet their heart, in Zion, the city of peace, hut in own proper place, where their own Babel, the city of confusion ; and though house is built, is the land of Shinar they may pride themselves in building a [Wordsworth]. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER V. Ver. 3. Curse. The good make a better bargain, and the bad a worse, than is usually supposed, for the rewards of the one, and the punishments of the other, not unfrequently begin on this side of the grave [Colton's Laconics]. The wages that sin bargains with the sinner are — life, pleasure, and profit ; but the wages it pays them with are — death, torment, and destruction. He that would understand the falsehood and death of sin, must compare its promises and payments together [South], " Our pleasant vices make instruments to scourge us" [Shakespeare]. Ver. 7. Behold. The angel bids him behold the sins of the people Israel; heaped together in a perfect measure, and the transgression of all fulfilled — that the sins which escaped notice, one by one, might, when collected together, be laid open to the eyes of all, and Israel might go forth from its place, and it might be shown to all what she was in her own land [Pusey]. Ver. 8. Lead. Iniquity, as with a talent of lead, weighs down the con- science [St. Ambrose]. Escape is con- trary to the laws of God and God's universe. It is as impossible as that fire should not burn, or water run up- hill. Your sins are killing you by inches ; all day long they are sowing in you the seeds of disease and death [Canon Kinr/sJcy]. Vers. 9 — 11. This vision, like the other visions of Zechariah, extends to Christian times. In the Christian Church universal corruptions have arisen which may find a solemn warning here. The Church of Rome boasts herself to be Sion : but she is the mystical Babylon of the Apocalypse. Her sovereign pon- tiff is "the lawless one" of St. Paul (2 Thess. ii. 3—12). This prophecy may be applied, and ought to be applied, as a warning to those who are tempted to communicate with her in her errors and corruptions. Her doom will be, to be removed from her place, and to be swept away by the whirlwind of God's wrath, because she rebels against his will and word [Wordsworth], CHAPTER VI. Critical Note?.] Chariots] Symbolic of four great empires described (Dan. ii. 31—43 ; vn. 3_7) • or of the four winds of heaven (ver. 5). Two mountains] Between Mortal) and Zion, some : others emblems of Medes and Persians, corresponding to the two horns (Dan. vin. 34). Brass] Strength and solidity (cf. Jer. i. 18). 2. Bed] The colours indicate the character of the dispensations Tied °a symbol of cruelty, war, and bloodshed. Black] of calamity and sorrow. White] of prosperity and gladness. Grisled and bay] or piebald, of a mixed dispensation, light and darkness, Srosperity and adversity. 5. Angel] explains Spirits] (<**, marg.), , emblem of the deetrnotrre powers and agencies of Divine judgments (cf. Ps. cxlym. 8 : Jer xhx 36 Rev. mu 2 3) Henderson "ives, "angels or celestial spirits, represented as employed by God to carry into effect nishi-h behests which they receive in his immediate presence (Job i. G; ... 1) and .then proceed to the different quarters of the globe in which the special operations of Divine Providence are to be carried forward " 6. North] To conquer Babylonians. After them] Alexander and his successors 624 IIOMTLETIC COMMENTARY: ZECHARIAII. [chap. vi. go forth to conquer the Persians. South] Egypt and Arabia. 7. Bay] Lit. strong or fleet. Sought) Eagerly seeking for permission to do what had to be done. Walk] in the land, unmolested by invasion, yet noi free from annoyance ; a mixed state of affairs in Israel for a considerable period. Get] Permission given by him who commands the chariots. 8. Quieted my spirit] i. e. have appeased mine anger, or caused it to rest (Judges viii. 3 : Eccl. x. 4 : Ezek. v. 13). iiabylon alone in the days of thr prophet was punished ; God's anger was satisfied in that direction ; other monarchies had to expiate their sins. 9.] The ninth vision. Crowns on Joshua. 10, 11.] The persons named appear to have formed a deputation from the captives still remaining in Babylon, who had sent them with contributions in gold and silver, to help forward the building of the temple at Jerusalem. These deputies had deposited their gifts in the house of Josiah, to which the prophet is commanded to repair, and take what was necessary for making the two crowns, which were to be placed on the head of the high priest [//, ndi rson\. Crowns] A symbol of the priesthood and kingdom of Messiah (Rev. xix. 12). 12. The man] shadowed forth in Joshua, viz. the Messiah. Branch] As if it were a proper name, as appears not only by the lack of the article, but by the established usage of the earlier prophets [Langc]. (Cf. iii. 8 : Isa. iv, 2 : Jer. xxiii. 5). Grow] Shall sprout out from his place, i. e. from his land or nation ; not an exotic, but a root-shoot of the real stock. "Not merely from Bethlehem or Nazareth, but by his own power, without man's aid, in miraculous conception" rson}. Build] the future spiritual temple ; an encouragement to Jews that the material temple will be finished in spite of opposition. 13. Glory] A reference to the insignia of majesty put on the head of Joshua ; the honour and authority of sovereign. Sit and rule] The former denotes the possession of the honour and dignity of a king ; the latter, the actual exercise of royal authority \llengs.]. Priest] Priestly and kingly ofhees united in him on one throne. Peace] Civil and religious authorities working together, typify the harmony of his kingdom and priesthood ; no clashing of jurisdiction between the two offices. " By the counsel or purpose of peace, is understood tho glorious scheme of reconciliation between God and man, elfeeted by the joint exercise of the sacerdotal and regal offices of the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Isa. ix. 6 : Mic. v. 5 : Ephes. ii. 14 — 17 : Col. i. 20, 21 : Heb. xiii. 20 " [Henderson]. 14. Helem] The same as Heldai and Hen] Another name of Josiah (ver. 10). Not unusual among Jews for one man to be known by two names. Memorial] The crowns not for these persons to wear, but a symbol of the act just taken place ; hence to be desposited in the temple as pledges of the Messiah, to animate their anticipations of his appearance. 15. Far off] Gentiles shall be called, and shall actively participate in setting up the kingdom of God. Know] When events correspond to predictions. Come] Unbelief would not hinder the accomplishment of the promise ; but if they obeyed, the temple would be finished, and in the latter days this would be realized. The benefits of the Messiah's coming and work were conditional to them. The large portion of the Jews were disobedient, and perverted the prophets. //, ntU rsnn and others consider the words an ajjosiopesis ; a figure of speech by which emphatic silence conveys an intimation more impressively than words. If ye will hearken, then — " The words simply declare that Israel will not come to the knowledge of the Messiah, or to his salvation, unless it hearkens to the voice of the Lord. Whoever intentionally closes his eyes, will be unable to see the salvation of God" \Kcil\ IIOMILETICS. God's Providence guards the Interests op the Christian Church. — Verses 1 — 8. Under the typo of four chariots tho providence of God is represented in this vision us guiding the agencies of the world, in reference to the destinies of God's people. I. The powers of the world are subservient to the interests of the Christian Church. The history of tho world is arranged with a view to promote tho welfare of < rod'fl people and to establish the kingdom of the Messiah. Hence all things are designed and adjusted to work in mutual action and united tendency for the good of 1 1n' ( 'In ist [an ( Rom. viii. 28). 1. In their origin. " There came four chariots out from between two mountains." Calvin explains the mountains as the hiding-place of the Divine purpose, which is kept hack until the time for its revelation and execution. All events and agencies emanate from the decrees of God, which are firm and immovable as mountains of brass. 2. In their nature. The messengers of God are sent to accomplish various designs. Some go on errands of bloodshed and mourning; some as heralds of joy and triumph; and others have missions mixed with joy and grief, prosperity and adversity, 3. In their direction. Some go to the north, and others to the south (ver. C). They all start from a common centre, CHAP, vi.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECIIARIAH. G25 the purpose of the Eternal, but are sent in different directions. In all quarters of the globe God is supreme, and sees the end from the beginning of events. Nothing is contingent or happens unknown to him. " Political changes," says Moore, " are only the moving of the shadow on the earthly dial-plate that marks the mightiest revolutions going forward in the heavens." II. The powers of the world are employed according to the design of God concerning the Christian Church. God's swift messengers are sent forth to accomplish the counsels of his will. 1. To punish some. War, pestilence, famine, and destructive agencies bring mourning and distress. God can turn nations one against another, and white horses may follow black. 2. To caution others. To many, providences are a cup mixed with bitter and sweet ; life to them is now prosperous and then adverse. 3. To help God's people. Whatever be the dispensations of God to others, they portend good only to his people. Swiftly and triumphantly are the chariots driven along, agitating the earth like rushing winds ; but the Church of God is secure. " God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved : God shall help her, and that right early." The Administration of Divine Providence. — Verses 2 — 8. In this vision we have an insight of the providence of God in its relation to men. I. It is various in its aspects. There were red and white horses, grisled and bay. Events have different aspects, and the times change like the face of the sky. One thing is set over against the other, and the cup of God's hand is full of mixture (Ps. lxxv. S). II. It is supreme in its operations. All events " go forth " from God. He commands and he restrains. He is supreme, 1. Over all agencies. The chariots are driven by his skill, and the winds gathered in his fists (Prov. xxx. 4). 2. Over all times. In all ages of the world, and in every period of national and personal history, God rules. All the laws and forces of the universe were created and are preserved and directed by him. There is no chance nor caprice ; there are no inferior deities, like the store-keepers of Jupiter, in the providence of God. III. It is wonderful in its method. In John's vision angels are represented as holding the winds (Rev. vii. 1). "Why not the angels," asks Wardlaw, " in the vision of Zechariah, be considered as directing the winds ] " Angels stand before God, " excel in strength," and are " ministers of his that do his pleasure." How strange that God should employ the mightiest and most intelligent creatures in the universe on our behalf. Well may Shakespeare exclaim, " Angels and ministers of grace, defend us ! " IV. It is rapid in its movements. Swift as chariots and sudden as the winds are changes often wrought. Now sunshine beams upon nations and they bask in prosperity ; then clouds and storms gather over them and joy is driven away. " The chariot of God's providence runneth not upon broken wheels," says Rutherford. V. It is satisfactory to God in its results. " They have quieted my spirit." This may refer to the satisfaction of Divine justice in executing vengeance upon the enemies of his people (cf. ch. i. 15, and Isa. i. 24). Wrath and mercy may be deferred, but will eventually be revealed: God's people should hope on and work earnestly. God's enemies should beware lest they be overtaken in their sins. " The work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever." The Ministry op Angels. — Verse 7. In these words the charioteers are represented as asking permission to do what they could for the holy land. They have to wait, but the command is given and they are swift in obedience. Take them as describing the ministry of angels. I. It is extensive in range. " To and fro through the earth." North or south, as God commissions them (ver. 6). II. It is antagonistic in its character. Satan and his angels walk to and fro in the earth to do mischief. They roam in 40 626 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECHARIAH. [citap. vi. restless activity, and no place is secure from their attacks (Job i. 7). But the messengers of Jehovah are more numerous and powerful than all against us. The ultimate triumph is certain, we may therefore have confidence. III. It is retributive in its design. To punish the enemies of God's people and satisfy the demands of his justice. They not only minister mercy but execute vengeance. IV. It is eager in its spirit. Ihey "sought to go that they might walk," they were eager and ready to be employed. " They stand with wings outspread Listening1 to catch the Master's least command, And 11 y through Nature ere the moment ends" [Carrington], HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 1. Brass. Mountains of brass it. But first, that they can do nothing denote the immovable decrees of God, without commission from him. Secondly, his steady execution of his counsels, that they are ever ready to offer their and the insuperable restraints that are service and yield obedience upon the upon all empires and counsels, which least intimation of the Divine pleasure God keeps within the barriers of such [Trapp]. From the whole section we impregnable mountains that not one can learn — that the earth may seem to be start till he opens the way [Cruden's quiet and at peace while the people of Concordance]. God are in a weak and suffering con- Ver. 4. What ? Difficulty doth but dition ; that the outward peace of the whet desire in heroic spirits ; the harder earth will be disturbed in due time, and the vision, the more earnest was the God's people wonderfully delivered ; that prophet's inquisition; he was restless till whatever sad dispensations God sends better resolved, and therefore applieth upon the nations, the Church will he his himself again to his angel tutor, rather special care ; that his purpose will be than tutelar, whom for honour's sake he fully accomplished and all things done called my lord [Trapp]. according to his mind, therefore his Ver. 7. Sought. This doth not teach people may trust his wisdom, power, and that the angels are more carefid of this love. world than God is, of whom they desired HOMILETICS. The Messiah's Person and "Work. — Verses 9 — 13. In predictions concerning the Messiah we find word combined with action, prophecy coalescing with history. An example of symbolic prediction based upon present history is found in the text. In presence of a deputation of Jews from i;:ibylon, the prophet was charged to place a crown on the head of Joshua, the high priest, and then deliver the prophecy. Its form and spirit, the union of the pi ii fitly and regal office, forbid us to confine it to Jewish restoration. It is founded upon visible representations, yet in mystic vision soars into the future. I. The person of the Messiah is described. Behold the man, the man marked and well known, the true man and most eminent of all men (Hosea ii. 16). Not man wretched and miserable, mortal and dying (Job xxv. 6 : cf. Ps. viii. 4) ; but man with the characteristics of a man — strength, courage, and pre-eminence. Joshua ami his companions were men of signs (ch. in. 8), but in none of them were the priestly and regal Bplendours united. Then the word branch designates a future person, a sproul of Jehovah (Isa. iv. 2), a descendant of David. The Messiah is the priest and king. Zechariah revives the prophecy of Jeremiah (xxxiii. 15). One chap, vi.] IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECHARIAH. 627 belongs to the last predictions at the beginning of the captivity, and the other is one of the first after it is past. God does not forget his promise, and will never forsake his people. In every age it may be said, " Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings." II. The work of the Messiah is specified. 1. He shall groio up out of his -place. He shall sprout up from his place, i. e. from the place peculiar to him ; not merely from Bethlehem or Nazareth, but by his own power, without man's help, in his miraculous concep- tion. Some refer this to his springing up from a low family ; others, to the growth of the Church under him. It is better to apply it as above. He shall grow by virtue of his own power, with rapid and vigorous increase. He springs from God in his human and Divine nature, shot forth through man, blossoming in the royal line of David, yet neither sown, nor planted, nor propagated by human hands. He shall continue to grow, extend his power and dominion, and his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom. 2. He shall build the temple, the Church of God, which is the house and temple of God (1 Cor. iii. 16:1 Tim. iii. 15 : 1 Pet. ii. 5). Of this temple he is the author and foundation (Ephes. ii. 20 — 22). It is growing in beauty and numbers, filled with his light and glory, and is the school of instruc- tion, the monument of wisdom to the universe (Ephes. iii. 10). The repetition may indicate the certainty of the work being commenced and finished, or give emphasis to the truth, to encourage faith in his person and confidence in his work. III. The honour of the Messiah is set forth. 1. He (himself) shall bear the glory. The crowns of royalty, the robes and insignia of office, shall hang upon him and adorn his person. He shall lift up the glory (as the word means) which had been depressed and despised. It shall be exalted in him, not divided any longer between kings and priests, but the government shall be upon his shoulders alone, and he shall have the glory (Isa. ix. 6 : Phil. ii. 9 — 11). 2. He shall sit and rule. Por a king to sit was nothing strange, but contrary to the custom of priests, who stood daily (Heb. x. 11). But Christ has offered one sacrifice and obtained eternal redemption ; he has finished his work, will never rise to perform it a second time, but now sits for ever at the right hand of God : a priest upon his throne, whom the people cannot approach without priestly intercession. Here the majesty of a prince is blended with the sympathy of a priest (Heb. ii. 18 ; iv. 15; v. 2). IV. The special arrangement with the Messiah is mentioned. " The counsel of peace shall be between them both." The words allude, first of all, to Joshua and Zerubbabel, then to the priestly and kingly office of Christ. Formerly kings and priests had counselled together for the peace and prosperity of the Church and the State. Now these offices may be centred in one person, and no longer kept distinct; yet each must have its dignity. The majesty of the king is not to be displayed without the intercession of the priest. There is no depression of one to exalt the other, no confounding together, but harmony and co-operation. The priest is a king, and the king is a priest. There may be reference also to the plan of redemption, a plan of infinite wisdom, and Christ is called " Counsellor" (Isa. ix. 6). As in the creation of man, so was there consultation in his redemption. Peace is the grand result; harmony in the moral government of God, peace between God and man, and man and man. " On earth peace, goodwill toward men " [By the Author, from The Study, 1873]. Christ the Builder of the Temple. — Verse 13. The temple is not that of which Zerubbabel was the builder ; but the spiritual temple, the house, the Church of God. I. He drew the plan. The Divine Architect who made and beautified the world planned the structure of his house. Everything is specified and pre-ordained. Sects may scheme and build, but Christ alone can rear " the Church of the living G2S IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECIIARIAII. [ciiap. vi. God, the pillar and ground of truth." II. He collect the materials. For a material temple the stones are not naturally prepared. Solomon had to fell the timber and cut out the stones. Christ collects the living stones of this wonderful building. 1. He bought them. He shed his precious blood and " gave his life a ransom for many/' 2. He /'rrjuires them. He renews by his grace, forms and polishes them for- their place in the building. "In whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth into an holy temple in the Lord." III. He unites the materials when collected. He assigns them their suitable position, and puts them together more firmly than any human being or human theory could. "In win uu ye also arc builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." IV. He employs others to help in this work. Christ is the sole builder, others are under-builders. Paul was " as a wise master-builder," and "laid the founda- 1 i. m," but h'' declared "another buildcth thereon." Ministers are only assistant instruments, and cannot add a single stone without his aid. " Ho shall build," and under his superintending care and by his Divine agency "the temple" shall bo finished. In due time the head-stone shall be brought forth with shoutings of " Grace, grace unto it." Curist Glorified as the Builder of His Church. — Verse 13. 1 . The first point is the temple. The temple is the Church of God, not in any narrow, sectarianism sense. Any company of Christian men gathered together in holy bonds of communion, for the purpose of receiving God's ordinances and preaching God's word, is a Church. All believers scattered throughout the world, all Churches gathered together from the one Universal Apostolic Church. Why is the Church called the temple of God 1 The temple was the special residence of God, the place of the clearest manifestation, and a place of worship. For these reasons the Church is said to be the temple of God. 2. The next is the builder of the temple. Make a parallel between Solomon, the builder of the first temple, and Christ, the builder of the Church. Solomon was wise, but needed instructions1 and a pattern. Christ is no Solomon in this respect. A mountain, Moriah, was ready made for the first temple ; for the second, the foundation was laid in oaths, promises, and blood. Again, Christ excels Solomon in providing all the materials. lie hews tliem himself, rough-casts them first, then during life polishes them till ready for the hill of God whereon the temple is built. In Solomon's temple tho stones were made ready in the quarries, and no sound of the hammer was heard ; so we must be made meet for heaven. There will be no sanctifying there if not ready beforehand. 3. Pause and admire the glory of tho builder. " He shall bear the glory." Half his glory can never be told. Note first that the glory shall be a weighty glory. "They shall hang upon him all the glory of his Father's house." I [e shall have all the glory, all that can be conceived, desired, and imagined. This glory is continual glory. When shall his dominion become effete1? He shall bear all the glory. 4. Now for the practical application. Are we built upon Christ1! (Jan we say that we are a^ part of his temple, that his handiwork has been exhibited in us, and that we are built together with Christ ] If so, honour God, for he has highly honoured you. Think that you might have been disgraced, abandoned, and away, hut now made temples of the Holy Ghost I If no portion in Israel, if not stones in the spiritual temple, how sad never to be used in the building up of I rod's Jerusalem ! It may seem a slight thing to be left out of the muster-roll of the Church to-day, but will it seem a slight thing to be left out when Christ shall call for his people 1 When the list is read before the great white throne, and your name left out, then there will be no change, no deliverance. Submit now, and believe in Jesus Christ to-day [From Stpurgeori], chap, vi.] TTOMILETTC COMMENTARY : ZECIIARIATL G29 HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Vers. 9 — 12. First, the offerings of these people. We know little or nothing concerning the persons who brought the gold and silver, but God can touch the hearts of strangers and dispose all to contribute to his work. Second, the use of these offerings. They were accepted, though sent by some who perhaps pre- ferred to remain severed from the temple and the people of God. They were used as a memorial in the crowns placed on the head of Joshua. "Every con- tribution toward the building up of the Church coming from a true heart was its memorial before God, and is a testi- mony before the world of the Divinity of the gospel" [Lange]. They were gladly received. " Come thou, the same day." The people required speedy and great comfort, and no sooner Avere they prepared than the favours were ready (2 Chron. xxix. 36). God delays no blessing when wo are earnest in his work. Vers. 12, 13. TJw temple of the Lord. "Even he," &c, constantly and confi- dently affirm and aver it, that notwith- standing all unlikelihood and unbelief on the people's part, Almighty God will surely bring it to pass. This heap of words importeth so much, for " do ye think the Scripture speaketh in vain 1 " saith St. James, not without some holy indignation (iv. 5) [Trapp]. The Church of God is often set forth under the image of a temple. The allusion was peculiarly natural in a Jewish writer, considering the importance attached to the house of God in Jerusalem. The name is founded on three reasons. Eirst, consecration. A temple is appro- priated to sacred uses. The people of God are separated from the world and dedicated to his service. " The Lord hath set apart Mm that is godly for himself." Beware of profane mixtures, maintain your sacredness, and keep your- selves pure from all filthiness of flesh and spirit. Secondly, residence. A mansion is a dwelling for a nobleman, a palace for a king, a temple for God. " Ye are the temple of the living God ; " " I dwell in them, and walk in them." He is everywhere, but in the Church by a special presence, in a way of grace, influence, and operation. This secures and dignifies it. " This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell; for I have desired it." What are numbers, fino buildings, or imposing ceremonies to communion with the living God % Third- ly, devotion. He is served and wor- shipped in them as a temple ; he receives homage and adoration nowhere else ac- cording to his own requisition. " God is a Spirit, and they that worship him," &c. His worship, therefore, is a reason- able service ; not gross, but spiritual sacrifices. Though prayers, praise, and alms are imperfect and defiled ; yet they result from principle, aim at the glory of God, and being offered through the Mediator, and with his incense, they are accepted, and the worshipper has this testimony, that he pleases God [Jay]. HOMILETIGS. Jesus upon His Throne. — Verse 13. A throne is, literally, the seat of a king, and therefore the emblem of royalty. Solomon's throne was made of ivory and gold, so that " there was none like it in any kingdom." But a greater than Solomon is here. A greater than angels, for unto " the Son he saith, Thy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever," &c. Yet how sublime and unrivalled ! it is his throne ; he has dearly earned it, and sees in it the travail of his soul. God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name. It is his by Divine ordination, and by the suffrage of his people. They are made willing in the day of his power, and avow his name only. But many who ascend a throne can hardly be said to sit and rule there. They are 630 IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECIURUIT. [chap. vt. hurled by violence, or drop by weakness, from it. If they continue on it for awhile they have little pleasure or repose ; they are filled with fear and cares, and cannot do what they wish. In spite of the sovereign of a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, Daniel was thrown into the lions' den. What a wretch is Ahab, king of Isr.irl, who is Bick, and can neither eat nor drink, because he cannot get a few feet of garden ground from a faithful subject. But Jesns "shall sit and rule upon his throne." He will never be deposed, never die. Nothing can impede, nothing perplex him. He rules in the midst of enemies who shall be made his footstool. He will display wisdom and power in correcting their designs and making their efforts Bubserve his own purpose. Though his spiritual empire at present be limited, yet remember two things. First, his real dominion is universal. He is not only King of s tints, hut King uf kings, and the King of nations; all creatures serve him. The treasures of grace, the elements of nature, and the dispensations of providence are his. He is the head over all things to the Church. Secondly, though his kingdom be limited, and subjects who obey him from the heart be few at present, it will not always be so, nor be so long. "He shall have the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost pai*ts of the earth for his possession." Yea, all kings shall fall down before him, all nations shall serve him [Jay]. JIOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 15. Afar off. Distant nations, its fulfilment. If men despise know- symbol i/ed by those from captivity (ver. ledge, stifle convictions, and reject the 9), shall be called. This was partially truth, Christ's work will not profit them, fulfilled in Cyrus, Darius, Artaxerxes, By this means they bring " swift de- and Herod, who greatly assisted in the struction" upon themselves, and not the temple work. But the conversion of the blessings of the Messiah's reign. Gentiles is here set forth. They shall From the whole chapter, learn — be united to Israel in faith and privilege, 1. God 's cause shall be avenged even by and the truth of prophecy shall be Ms enemies. The messengers of earth realized. 1. This event is certain. "This and heaven shall alike fulfil his pleasure, shall come to pass." 2. The truth uf the 2. God's cause shall be supported by his word will.jbe proved when it does come to friends. "The silver and the gold are pass. " You shall know that the Lord the Lord's," and these they will not fail of Hosts lias sent me unto you." 3. But to bestow where it is in their power it shall be fulfilled only to those who to give; while God "will graciously obey tin' word preached unfa them. For remember their works of faith and '• tins shall come to pass if ye will dili- labours of love. 3. God's cause shall gently obey the voice of the Lord your be honoured by the Mediator. All the God." To secure the favour of God we purposes of eternal love are accomplished must obey, and diligently obey, him. in him. To him belong dominion and This knowledge and experience depend glory, and on his head are many crowns. upon individual faithfulness and effort. When the great events of his kingdom 4. Hence, though the performance of the are consummated, then shall he become promise be uol suspended upon men's all in all " [Cobbiri\. conduct, yet urghxt if duty may hinder ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER VI. Vers. 1—8. Providence. Everything or what mark it is aimed at ; but the that acts for an end must know that archer that puts it in and darts it out of end or be directed by another to attain the bow knows [Char nock]. Providence that end. The arrow doth not know certainly does not attend merely to the who shoots it, or to what end it is shot, interests of individuals, but the profound CHAP. VII.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECHARIAH. 031 wisdom of its counsels extends to the right ordering and betterment of all \Humbolt]. Ver. 5. Angels stand. A king is there where his court is, where his train and retinue are ; so God, the Lord of Hosts, is there specially present where the heavenly guard, the blessed angels, keep their sacred station and rendezvous [Mede]. Ver. 8. Justice satisfied. Justice is the key-note of the world, and all else is ever out of tune [Theodore Parke)-]. Justice always whirls in equal measure [Shakespeare]. Vers. 10 — 15. Prophets introduce gospel subjects. Zechariah, especially, in mystic vision and by typical repre- sentation, which yet are sufficiently clear, as expressive of the kingdom and priest- hood of Christ, the establishment of the Christian Church, and the concourse of nations resorting to that future Temple. For here we have a second application of the same systematic form of prophecy which was employed in the establish- ment of the temporal kingdom. The nearer subject in each instance supplies the prophetic ground and the prophetic images for the future Christian subject. In the first instance, the kingdom of Christ is delineated in connection with, and by analogy to, the actual kingdom which was seen before men's eyes rising to view ; in the second instance, his personal priesthood and his Church are delineated in connection with, and by an equal analogy to, the priesthood and temple of the Hebrew Church, at the time when that priesthood was reinstated in its functions and that temple was rebuilt. This is an example of symbolic prediction founded upon the present scene of things [Davison on Prophecy]. Vers. 12, 13. The man. A man's a man ; but when you see a king you see the work of many thousand men [G. Eliot]. Throne. He was a king blessed of the King of kings [Shakespeare]. Kings ought to be kings in all things [Adrian]. Ver. 15. Diligently. The expecta- tions of life depend upon diligence, and the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools [Confucius]. What we hope ever to do with ease we may learn first to do with diligence [Johnson]. Toil, feel, think, hope. A man is sure to dream enough before he dies without making arrange- ments for the purpose [Sterling], CHAPTEE VII. Critical Notes.] The Didactic part. Replies to questions relative to fasts observed by the Jews, but which they supposed no longer binding after restoration to prosperity. Fourth] Two years, nearly, after the foundation of the temple was laid (Hag. ii. 10—18), and nearly two years before it was finished. Chisleu] Corresponding with part of November and part of December. " The end of b. c. 518 " [1'usei/1. 2. House of God] here a rendering for Bethel. Unto] A word for which there is no corresponding Hebrew. Bethel is construed by most as nominative to the verb, and the translation given, "When Bethel (t. e. the inhabitants of that city) sent Sherezer and Regem- melech, and their men" as an embassy to Jerusalem. Pray] Lit. to entreat the face of, i. e. to seek and conciliate the favour of Jehovah, to obtain a Divine answer to their inquiry. 3. Weep] They fasted and mourned in captivity, on account of the ruins of the temple. Why fust now when the city and temple are being restored ? Separating] by vow of consecration, sanctifying oneself by separating from defilement and food, as in solemn fast (cf. Joel ii. 16). 4. Word] of reproof for the method and spirit in which they fasted. 5. All] The answer given not only to those who put the question, but to the people at large. Fasted] in fifth mouth in remembrance of the burning of the temple ; in seventh to commemorate the murder of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. To me] Fasting alien from God and for selfish ends. 6. Did] ye not eat and drink in self-indulgence ? 632 IIOMILETW COMMENTARY: ZECHARIATL [ciiap. vii. Neither in feasting nor tasting had they any regard for Jehovah ; all was done for self-interest. 7. Words] of former prophets threatened a curse upon hypocrisy and disobedience, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous. The lessons of former teachers had been verified in the nation's history ; they should heed the warning. 8 -14.] God requires obedience, not formal fastings. The disobedi- ence of the fathers bronghl judgment upon the nation. 9. Execute] Admonitions which have special referenoe to evils of which they were guilty. Judgment] Righteous impartiality in public and private matters, "Judgment of truth (cf. Ezek. xviii. 8) is such an administration of justice as simply fixes the eye upon the real circumstances of any dispute, without any personal considerations whatever, and decides them in accordance with truth " [Kcil], Mercy] Tender love to all. Compassion] to the unhappy, sympathy for human suffering. 10.] This verse specifies some of the chief ways of violating the preceding requisition, and shows that it covers the thoughts of the heart as well as the acts of the members [Lange], Imagine] i.e. devise evil (Ps. xxxvi. 4 : Mic. ii. 1). Meditate no revenge, but act up to the royal law of love. 11.] The attitude of the people towards these precepts described. Their fathers and some of them refused], paid no serious attention ; then pulled away1, like a refractory beast refusing the yoke (Neh. ix. 29 : Hosea iv. 16). "It seems rather to refer to one on whose shoulder we lay our hand, when he is reluctant to listen to us, in order to arrest, and beseech him to hear, but he fretfully and violently ' draws the shoulder ' from our kind and earnest grasp" [Wardlato]. Stopped] Made heavy (Isa. vi. 10 : Jer. vii. 26 : Acts vii. 57). 12. Adamant] Hard and impenetrable as stone (Ezek. iii. 9 ; xi. 19). Wrath] The consequence of disobedience and obduracy (2 Chr. xxxvi. 16). 13. He] by his prophets. They] cried in calamities, retribution in kind. They would not hear God, and he would not hear them (Prov. i. 24 — 26 : Isa. i. 15). 14.] The great wrath described in its execution. Scattered] for 70 years among foreign and barbarous nations ; like a tempest driven among those who pitied them not. After] their exile and expulsion no occupants possessed the land. Passed through] Lit. goes away and returns again (Ex. xxxii. 27), pass to and fro. They] The Jews themselves to blame ; they desolated the pleasant land] lit. the land of desire; made the choice land a desert by their sins (Jlt. iii. 19 : Ps. cvi. 24). HOMILETICS. Past Warnings and Present Judgments. — Verse 7. The former prophets taught the worthlessncss of fasting, when God was forgotten and the weightier matters of the law disregarded. If the Jews had listened to tho messages, the evils which they were suffering woidd not have come upon them. Edict that fasting could obtain the favour of God overthrew the nation, llenco take warning — I. Israel had been warned in the past. " Tho Lord hath cried by the former prophets." God declares his will loudly and sufficiently in his word, but men disregard the trumpet-call. 1. Warned by various messengers. Zechariah was not the first prophet; they had been warned by every prophet whom Jehovah had sent. 2. Warned in different periods. Warnings were not only addressed to them in adversity, when men should " consider," but in prosperity, when they Bhould humble themselves before God to save themselves from the punishment of pride and rebellion; when Jerusalem was inhabited in prosperity. God tells us beforehand, arranges "one over against another," that we may rightly chose and have no excuse for our sin (Ecc. vii. 14). II. If past warnings had been regarded present punishment might have been avoided. " .Should ye not hear tho words?" Should men disregard the Scriptures and have no concern for their own salvation and the interests of the nation? Too often the admonitions of ministers are disregarded by those flushed with prosperity. The Jews before and after tho captivity failed to learn from their fathers, and had to niourn for their country. " Study the past, if you would divine the future " [Confucius]. Divine Kequirements and Human Disregard. — Verses 8 — 14. Tho prophet exposes the hollowness of mero outward forms, and reminds the people that their ruin was not caused by neglect of ritual, but by disregard of tho plainest duties of justice and humanity. They had refused to hear the reiterated and explicit injunctions of the prophets, and they are reproved for their folly. ^Notice — chap, m] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZE CHART AIL 633 I. The Divine requirements specified. They had practised injunctions of their own imposing and neglected the commands of God. The prophet repeats the substance of former teaching and urges the claims of Jehovah. 1. Sincerity in life. Obedience is better than sacrifice. (1) Execute judgment. Practise justice officially and privately, before God and man. Judgment must be true, without personal considerations or partiality. " He that hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment between man and man." (2) Compassionate the miserable. " Show mercy " to the unfortunate, be kind and have " compassions every man to his brother." " Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together," says Goethe. (3) Oppress not the helpless. Special regard must be paid to tho widow and the fatherless, the stranger and the poor. " Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child " (Ex. xxii. 21). " Thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor oppress him : for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." 2. Purity in heart. We must not only do no wrong, but not even wish it. No evil must be devised in the heart. " Let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart." Cherish no ill-feeling, no wish to retaliate. All evil inclinations and spiteful intentions must be subdued. We can never act rightly if we do not feel and think rightly. Hence the law of God restrains the heart. " Beware that there be not a thought (word) in thy wicked (Belial) heart" (Deut. xv. 9). II. The Divine requirements disregarded. Except men execute judgment, whatever be their fastings and pretensions, they reject the word of God. Ceremonial observances without love to God and man are a solemn mockery. 1. They refused to hearken to God's word. They hated the claims and rebelled against the authority of God's commands. (1) They were ivilfully deaf. " Stopped their ears." (2) They were wilfully prejudiced. " That they should not hear." They had no desire to know, much less to practise. God pursued them in earnest, constant warning, but they shook their shoulders, refused to submit or bear the yoke, and were determined in their obstinate purpose (cf. Acts vii. 51). ''They hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward." 2. They hardened their hearts in sin. " They made their hearts as an adamant stone." They were resolved that nothing should make an impression upon them : they became proud, presumptuous, and inflexible. Divine power even could neither soften their hearts nor shape their lives. " They dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments (which, if a man do, he shall live in them), and withdreAV the shoulder, and hardened their neck and would not hear." III. The fatal consequences of disre- garding the Divine requirements. Most terrible are the penalties here set forth. " Therefore," since they have rejected God, punishment will be in proportion to the violation of his law. " Terrible penalties, withal, if thou still need penalties," says Carlyle, " are there for disobeying." 1. God was angry. " Therefore came " wrath, a great wrath, from the Lord of hosts. This anger is evinced — (1) By disregarding their prayers. " They cried, and I would not hear." There is "great reason," says Bp. Keynolds, " that God shall refuse to hear him who refuseth to hear God." " He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." (2) By scattering them among other nations. "I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations." The common bond of humanity and social intercourse was broken (Deut. xxviii. 49, 50) ; they were cast out of their own into a land of perfect strangers, from whom they received no kindness nor mitigation of sorrows. 2. The land was desolated. " For they laid the pleasant land desolate." It was not the enemy, but their own sins that had cursed their country. God's presence is the beauty of a nation, but sin will turn it into a barren waste. Human guilt desolates everything that is " pleasant." Let us take warning. If we despise God's word ho will not hear our cry in the day of wrath. The harder men grow in heart, the. 634 IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECIIARIAII. [ckap. vii. heavier the stroke at the judgment day. Those who are lost will have to hlame their own folly. No delusion will ml) them of this conviction, and no remedy can be devised for tin' misery which they despised and cannot endure. "They would none of my counsel ; they despised all my reproof : therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and he filled with their own devices." Righteous Eetribdtion. — Verse 13. This is the first part of punishment, retribution in kind. They would not hea* God when he called to them ; now he Avill not hear them when they cry to him. This is Cod's met hod of dealing with nations and individuals. I. It is often physically true. The drunkard pays when at last he feels him- self the slave of habits which he knows will ruin soul and body, and yet unable to throw them off. The licentious who survive the power of gratification may be tortured by appetites for which exhausted nature has no provision [cf. Langej. II. It is always spiritually true. He that digs a pit for another shall fall into it himself. The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own devices (Prov. xiv. 1-i). Those who contemn the word of God shall be unheard in the day of distress. Alarmed at their situation, they will call, but God will not answer them. Thus men become the cause of their own misery, and constantly remind us of the wise man's words : " Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way " (Prov. i. 30, 31 ; xxviii. 9 : Gal. vi. 7, 8). " I do as truly suffer As e'er I did commit " [Shakespeare]. HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 9. Love, the royal law of life, tion, is found in the provision made and the essence of religion. Not religious maintained for those who so often are profession, but the practice of social the victims either of cruel neglect or, duty. Keep from evd in thought and alas, of wilful oppression" [Lunge], act. Meditate no revenge, brood over Compare the teaching of Scripture with no wrongs, but in all things act up to the customs of heathenism. the requirements of God's law. "Love Ver. 11. Palled away the shoulder. worketh no ill." " Love will not permit What is implied in these words'? 1. A us to injure, oppress, or offend our benevolent purpose. 2. Eemarkable brother ; it will not give us leave to human power to resist it. 3. Mysterious neglect our betters, or despise our providence to permit resistance. 4. As- inferiors. It will restrain every inor- founding effrontery in the conduct dinate passion, and not suffer us to indicated. " Pride not only withdraws gratify our envy at the expense of our the heart from God, but lifts it up neighbour's credit and reputation ; but against God " [Manto?i\. it will preserve us harmless and inno- ., .„ ., . .,,. ., ,)rc,, , -, ,,f£ c„ , n "All pride is willing pride '[Shakespeare I . cent [Jip. oherlocki. Moral duties, Required in every Ver. 12. Hearts as adamant. The age. Superior to external ordinances. stone, whatever it be, was hard enough to Ver. 10. Widow and fatherless, cut ineffaceable characters (Jer. xvii. 1); 1. A sad condition in life. Weak and it was harder than Hint (Ezek. iii. 9). It helpless. 2. A proof of God's care, would cut rocks ; it could not be engraven " Widows and orphans are God's clients itself, or receive the characters of God. taken into his special protection" This is the last sin, obduracy, persever- [Trapp]. 3. An evidence of true religion, ing impenitence, which resisted the Holy "One of the surest tests of an intelligent Ghost, and did despite to the Spirit of Christianity, as well as of a high civiliza- grace. Not through infirmity, but of set CHAP. VII.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY; ZECHAEIAH. 635 purpose, they .hardened themselves, lest they should be converted and be healed (Isa. vi. 10). Observe the gradations. 1. The words of God are not heard. 2. The restive shoulder is shown. Men turn away, when God by the inner motions of his Spirit, or by lesser chas- tisements, would bring them to the yoke of obedience. They would not bear the burden of the law, whereas they willingly bore that most heavy weight of their sins. 3. Obduracy. Their adamantine heart could be softened neither by promises nor threats ; there- fore nothing remained but the great wrath which they had treasured to themselves against the day of wrath [Pusey]. Hardness is the state of a person insensible alike to entreaties, expostu- lations, warnings, admonitions, and chas- tisements (Jer. v. 3). Men become obdurate — 1. By separating themselves from God, the source of all life, just as a branch dries up when detached from the tree, or as a limb withers when the connection between it and the heart ceases. 2. By a life of pleasure and sin, the effects of which may be compared to those of the river north of Quito, petrifying, according to Kirwin's acc< mnt, the wood and leaves cast into its waters ; or to those of the busy feet of passers- by, causing the crowded thoroughfare to grow hard [Rev. C. Neil]. Vers. 11, 12. Causes of spiritual ruin. 1. Heedless indifference. 2. Stubborn rebellion — (1) in refusing the yoke, and (2) in stopping the ears. 3. Resistance to the Holy Spirit. Vers. 13, 14. Self-inflicted calamities. 1. Rejection of God in trouble. 2. Dis- persion in strange lands. 3. Devastation of country. Mark the contrast : the land of desire and the land of desolation. Obey the word of God and seek to reach that heavenly "land of desire," where desolation is unknown, and whither the spoiler can never come [cf. Faussef]. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER VII. Vers. 1—6. God or self— Which? A certain king had a minstrel, and he bade him play before him. It was a day of high feasting ; the cups were flowing, and many great guests were as- sembled. The minstrel laid his fingers among the strings of his harp, and woke them all to the sweetest melody, but the hymn was to the glory of himself. It was a celebration of the exploits of song which the bard had himself performed. He had excelled high Howell's harp, and emulated great Llewellyn's lay. In high-sounding strains he sang of himself and all his glories. When the feast was over, the harper said to the monarch, u Oh king, give me my guerdon ; let the minstrel's mede be paid." And the king said, " Thou hast sung unto thyself ; pay thyself : thine own praises were thy theme ; be thyself the paymaster." He cried, " Did I not sing sweetly ] 0 king, give me the gold ! " But the king re- plied, " So much the worse for thy pride that thou shouldst lavish such sweetness upon thyself." If a man should grow grey-headed in the performance of good works, yet when at last it is known that he has done it all to himself, his Lord will say, " Thou hast done well enough in the eyes of man, but so much the worse, because thou didst it only to thy- self, that thine own praises might be sung, and that thine own name might be extolled [Spurgeon], Ver. 7. Not hear. There is a story which tells of a bell which was sus- pended upon a rock of the ocean dan- gerous to navigation. The waves of the ocean beating upon it caused it to give a noise of warning to keep off the ap- proaching mariner. It is said that at one time some pirates destroyed the bell to prevent the warning. Not long after these very pirates struck upon this rock and were lost. How many hush or remove the voice of warning from the point of danger, who as soon as the warning ceases founder upon the rock of temptation and are lost for ever [Mr Cosh']. Vers. 8 — 10. Duties. Your daily 036 I10MILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECIIAMAU. [chap. viii. duties are a part of your religious life most ignorant by necessity ; and beasts just as much as your devotions are [H. by nature [CJfeerol. W. Beecher]. Formality in religion is the name Of being alive [Jenh/n]. "The ear is the road to the heart" [Voltaire]. "The path of duty is the way to glory " Vers. 13, 14. Come to pass. [Tennyson}. Vera 11, 12. Stopped cars. Wiso . .. "The past lives oVr again .'.,/' c In its effects, and to the guilty spirit men are instructed by reason; men of The ever-frowning present is its image" less understanding by experience; the [S. t. Coleridge.] CHATTER VIII. : Critical Notes.] The fate of their fathers urged them to obedience, now the promise of futuro prosperity. 2. Jealous] Implying warmth of love and zeal. Fury] Indignation to enemies. 3.] Proofs of love. Returned] Jerusalem forsaken when given up to foes ; now God resumes abode. Truth] or fidelity, t. e. in which truth and fidelity towards Jehovah have their abode (Isa. i. 21 : Jer. xvii. 17), fully realized under the Messiah. 4, 5.] No sweeping disease among them; long life y and the spread of the gospel. The dences. first has, again, a sevenfold, the second a Vers. 4, 5. A delightful scene. 1. Boys threefold, subordinate division, marked and girls playing in the streets. 2. Aged by the beginning, Thus saith the Lord of men and women watching them. "The hosts [Pusey], sports of childhood — innocent sports in Ver. 2 Divine jealousy. 1. Its na- their own nature, of course — are the very ture. " Great jealousy " to love men instincts of that period of life ; and they and hate their sins. 2. Its object, have here the sanction of a benevolent chap, viii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : ZECHARIAH. 639 God, being a part of his promised blessing community in what regarded the public to his favoured city. Who would like interests, met with a similar rebuke " to be the man or the woman the sight [Wardla/v]. of whom frightened such a group?" Vers. 7, 8. Israel's restoration. 1. \_Wardlaic\. Great blessings. 1. Lon- They shall be gathered .together into the gevity. 2. Peace and security. 3. Keal kingdom of God. " Not to the earthly enjoyments. " Thou shalt see thy chil- Jerusalem, that not large enough for dren's children, and peace upon Israel." Jews scattered throughout all the world, Yer. 6. Marvellous. 1. A great sal- but to the open and enlarged Jerusalem vation. 2. Accomplished with (a) ease in ch. ii. 8, i. e. the Messianic kingdom and (b) certainty, yet — 3. Doubted by an of God" [Keil]. 2. They shall become incredulous people. " Strange that, God's people, and God will again become among a people who had amongst them their God. 3. This new relation shall the records of all the ' mighty deeds ' not be as the past ; a new feature is done for them by the finger of Jehovah given by which the future will be dis- in the days of their fathers, there should tinguished " in truth and righteousness." have existed the slightest surmise of A father may chastise a son for disobedi- impossibility, or even of difficulty, in ence, put him into temporary seclusion regard to any assurance of good coining and disgrace, and then restore him. God from him. On many occasions was will never disown his relation to Israel, the incredulity, both of individuals in but eventually bless them more than what regarded themselves, and of the ever in Christ. HOMILETICS. Courage in Duty. — Verses 9 — 15. The prophet now urges the people to be courageous in their work. Adversity formerly attended them for neglect of duty, but God will henceforth bestow blessings, which are but the earnest of greater ones which await those who return to God. The grounds for courage are distinctly given. I. The words of the prophets. " Ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets." Ever since they had commenced to build God had. exhorted them in their work and assured them that it would be finished. Special messengers sent to stir us up and predict success ought to encourage. It is a privilege to hear the prophets, and a sure way to prosperity to believe them (2 Chron. xx. 20). II. The prospect of better days. Before, they were hindered in their work ; man and beast laboured in vain. But bright is the future if they will be strong. 1. Great rewards for labour. "There was no hire for man, nor hire for beast." Produce was expected, waited for, but came not (Hag. i. 10). " Man must be disappointed with the lesser things of life before he can comprehend the full value of the greater " [Bulwer Lytton]. 2. Abundant temporal prosperity. The seed will be healthy and the harvests fruitful. The earth will give its increase and the heaven its dew. No failure nor famine, no poverty nor distress. There will be seed to the sower and bread to the eater. 3. Entire security from foes. Neither discord within nor invasion without will disturb their peace and security. They will dwell together in unity and labour without fear. Their disposition will be peaceful and their country secure. " Peace is rarely denied to the peaceful " [Schiller]. 4. Complete reversal of fortunes. " I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days." If we return to duty God will visit us in favour. The curse shall be turned into a blessing, and we shall be saved from dispersion and dishonour. God will dwell with us without fear and reproach. " I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord; thoughts of peace, and not of evil." III. The pledge of God's help. " Again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem." God had determined, purposed to help. 1. God's word G10 IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECIIARIAII. [CHAP. vm. is > xplidt. " Fear not," " let your hands bo strong." Fear makes the heart faint, and when the heart is feeble the hands can never be strong. When the spirit is timid and irresolute we have neither energy in body nor mind to work. Confidence will brace up the energies, and the joy of the Lord will be our strength. 2. God's faith- fulness is unchangeable. His word was true to the fathers. He "repented not." If faithful to his threatenings, will he not bo to his promises? Punishment long suspended came at length. Those who would not hear were made to feel that God's denunciations were not empty words. So "all that God is, and all that ( tod has, are alike pledged in the promises of his covenant," says Wardlaw, " to do good to his confiding and obedient people." " Hath he said, and shall ho not do it 1 or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good % " Past and Present, or Once a Curse and Now a Blessing. — Verse 13. These words apply to all the tribes of Israel — have been partially fulfilled. For generations dews have been cursed by all people, but a more glorious accomplish- ment will be in the future. They might be taken literally, but apply them in another sense. I. God's people have once been a curse. 1. When unconverted, many were a curse in their influence and example. Their lives, if not openly wicked, were a hindrance to everything goo J. " One sinner destroyeth much good." 2. When chastised by God they were in a sense cursed. From the first a curse and a blessing were set before Israel, and the result was according to their choice (Deut. xi. 2G ; xxx. 1). But God's people disobey, and are corrected by sufferings. 3. When persecuted they are cursed. They are ridiculed for their profession, and often I ii ic ime a by-word and a proverb (Jer. xxiv. 9). They are thought to be " stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." " Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us " (Ps. xliv. 13, 14). II. God's people are now a blessing. " Ye shall be a blessing." 1. They are blessed in their turn rxji,'rii'm-i\ They are renewed and forgiven. They enjoy the presence and the favour of God. " And such were some of you ; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the ►Spirit of our God." 2. They are the means of blessing others. In their influence and example, prayers and efforts, good men are a blessing. As the Jew was a source of blessing to the Gentile, so is the Christian to the world. " I will bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing." HOMILETIG HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 0. 1. The privilege. Hearing should be specially recognized, "/set the words of the prophets. 2. The duty, all men," &c. God's holy hand hatha "Let your hands be strong." "Those special stroke in the Church's ail fictions, only who are employed for God may whosoever be the instrument. Herein is expect to be encouraged by him j those all-disposing Providence not only per- who lay their hands to the plough of missive, but active. "I make peaco duty shall have them strengthened with and create evil," that is, war and conten- the promises of mercy." tion (Isa. xlv. 7), which is called evil \ >r. 10. 1. Those who neglect God's by a speciality, as including all evils, work will not always succeed in their Tins God doth — 1. By letting loose Satan own. "There was no hire for man." upon them (that great kindle-coal and Neither can they always expect peace make-bate of the world) to raise jeal- and prosperity. "There was no peace ousies, heart-burnings, and discontents be- to him that went out." 2. Outward tween them. 2. By giving them up to troubles and civil discord may bejudg- the lusts and corruptions of their own ments from God, in which his hand wicked hearts. 3. By giving occasions CHAP, viii.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : ZECHARTAH. 641 of enraging them more and more one and not for these transitory trappings against another \Trapp~\. [Trapp]. Ver. 11. / ivill cause. Whereas Vers. 14, 15. Past sorrows pledges of people are apt to attribute too much to future good. How] 1. Because past means and second causes of plenty and sorrows inflicted to prevent future evil, prosperity, God assumes the honour of 2. Because past sorrows prove God's all to himself. Rain and fruitful seasons unchangeable purpose and love. " So are his gift (Acts xiv. 17). He resolveth have I turned and purposed," &c. " The the genealogy of corn and wine unto illustrations of God's severity will be himself (Hos. ii. 22) ; and both here surpassed by those of his goodness " and elsewhere he giveth us to know [Lange]. His chastisements were the that the reward of religion is abundance earnest of his mercies, for they too were of outward blessings, which yet are an austere form of his love [Pusey], not always entailed to godliness, to the Fear not. 1. Grounds of apprehen- end that it may be admired for itself, sion. 2. Grounds of confidence. HOMILETIOS. Moral Conditions of Prosperity. — Verses 16, 17. These verses contain a virtual and instructive reply to the question relative to the celebration of the fast (chap. vii. 3). It was not in such merely external, ritual, or ceremonial observances, that Jehovah delighted ; but in the love and practice of moral rectitude \_Hend.~\. In verses 14 and 15 we have the grounds upon which God's promise rests ; here, the conditions upon which it will be fulfilled. There are two aspects of duty as essential to prosperity. I. Sympathy with our fellow-creatures. We are forbidden — 1. To ad evil. " Execute the judgfnent of truth and peace in your gates." Nothing must be done in partiality, violence, and passion. In public administration and private inter- course we must allay feuds and seek peace. 2. To speak evil. "Speak ye every man the truth." (a) In social intercourse. " To his neighbour." (6) In public courts. "Love no false oath." "Truth is the band of union, and the basis of human happiness. Without this virtue there is no reliance upon language, no confidence in friendship, no security in promises and oaths" [Jeremy Collier}. 3. To think evil. " Let none of you imagine evil in your hearts." All evil springs from the thoughts. The most secret sins and the most grievous acts begin there. "To think well," says Paley, "is the way to act well." "The thoughts of the righteous are right " (Prov. xii. 5). II. Moral conformity to God. " All these things " forbidden, are evils which God hates, and will punish. Therefore we should hate and avoid them also; shun them, not for the sake of policy, nor propriety, but as offensive to God. Men are seeking to substitute philanthropy for piety; "the claims of humanity" for the worship of God. But Scripture and experience prove that there can be no true and permanent love to man, which is not the offspring of love to God. The test of our character and the degree of our prosperity will be according to our conformity to God. If we love what he loves, and hate what he hates, we shall bear his image and become his children. " For love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God." Fasts Turned into Festive Jot. — Verses 18, 19. These words are fresh grounds for encouragement. I. Their mourning will be turned into gladness. Their seasons of sorrow and penitential confession should end in feasting and praise. They would be delivered from foreign yoke, and brought back to their own land; restored from spiritual 41 642 IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY : ZECHARIAH. [chap. viii. desolation to the privileges of the temple. Personally and socially, joy and gladness would be great. Troublous times often end in joyous songs to the Church. After the night of weeping, the morning dawns in light and cheerfulness. " They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." II. This gladness will lead to sincerity of life. " Therefore, love the truth and peace." God blesses his people, that they may love him. The greater his promises, the greater should be our obedience. Fasts and feasts are empty forms. God requires truth in our life, and peace in our hearts. " What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God1?" "Truth is always straightforward" [Sophocles]. HOMILETIG HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 19. Mark the practical improve- possession of your now restored land ment. " Therefore, love the truth and and liberty, and. temporal and spiritual pence." The words may be taken in blessings — ' love the truth and peace.' two senses : First, as an appeal to grati- Love them in heart : show love to them twle, as if Jehovah had said, " You owe in practice. It is thus only that you your deliverance to me." You deserved can retain my favour and blessing; thus it not. You never could have wrought only that your days can be prolonged it for yourselves. It is all my doing, upon the land which the Lord your If, therefore, you feel as you ought ; God has again given you " [ Wardlaw]. thankful to your covenant God for my Truth and peace, twin virtues. Ob- interposing on your behalf, think of my serve — 1. Their connection. Truth will, and henceforward attend to what should be sought, maintained, and you know will be pleasing in my sight : diffused in a peaceful spirit. 2. Their " love the truth and peace." Secondly, order. Truth first, and then peace. as an appeal to self-love — an appeal Trust must not be compromised for the grounded on a regard to their own in- sake of peace. It is not peace on any terests: as if he had said, "You have terms. "If it be possible (it may not been suffering for your own and your be so always), as much as lieth in you, fathers' sins. You have been delivered, live peaceably with all men." If you would shun a repetition of the „ _„, , sufferings-if you would continue in " Truth hath a quiet breast ' [^/^m,r]. HOMILETICS. The Future Prosperity op the Christian Church. — Verses 20 — 23. The ordinary reference of these words is to Gospel times, and, in part, to the Gospel dispensation of the future. They express the obligations to be felt and owned by the whole world — by " men of every kindred, and people, and nation^ and tongue" — to the Jews, for the knowledge, the worship, and the practice of true religion [cf. Wardlaw]. The text contains a wonderful description of future prosperity to the Church of God. I. Multitudes will be converted to God. " Many people and strong nations shall come." The few and feeble Jews shall increase into a mighty nation. "Many shall come from the east and the west, from the north and the south." Bigotry says few. Modern Scribes and Pharisees say/ew; but God says many. Every fresh conversion shall win others, until "all nations flow" into God's kingdom. II. Multitudes will be converted to God by the instrumentality of the Jews. " Ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations of the skirt of him that is a Jew." 1. Nat inns shall feel indebted to the Jews. Their outward polity has decayed, and they have been scattered and despised for centuries; but the chap, viii.] HOMTLETIC COMMENTARY: ZECHJRIATI. 643 world will yet own its obligation to them. Other nations have given science and art, government and laws; but to the Jews are we indebted for a knowledge of God, and the preservation of his Word. " What advantage then hath the Jew ] Much every way; chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God" (cf. Rom. hi. 2; ix. 4, 5). 2. Nations shall discern that God is with the Jews. "For we have heard that God is with you." God has not cast off his ancient people, but still watches over them. The report of his deeds among them shall spread. They shall be gathered and honoured, and other nations will be anxious to participate in their blessings. All people shall yet testify in their favour. " Their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people; all they that see them shall acknowledge them that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed." A Call to God's House. — Verses 21, 22. Take Jerusalem here literally or spiritually, the words may be regarded as a call to Christian worship. God has put his name in his house. It shall be attractive to all sincere believers, and in whatever place they reside they shall come to the great festivals of the future. I. The purpose for which they come. Not to play nor pass away the time ; not for any secular, but a spiritual end. 1. They go to pray before the Lord. Prayer is the language of dependence and entreaty. Men feel that nothing can satisfy but God — are led to give up every kind of idolatry and come to him, believing that he will hear prayer. Prayer is most important, and most necessary, yet meetings for united prayer are neglected. If the spirit of prayer be not with a people, there can be no life and unity. 2. They go to seek the Lord. God pre- eminently displays grace and glory in his house. True worshippers covet his favour, and long for his fellowship. They regard God in everything. They earnestly seek to behold his power and glory in his sanctuary (Ps. lxiii. 2). Through the veil of ceremonies they look to the Invisible One. " This is the generation of those that seek him." II. The method in which they come. " Many people and strong nations," &c. 1. In great numbers. At present the ways of Zion mourn. Few attend the house of God, and like sparrows are alone upon the house-top. As in ancient times, Jews went from village to village, gathering numbers and singing hymns as they journeyed on, until all appeared in Zion before God : so shall multitudes say, " Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob " (Isa. ii. 3). 2. In great variety. " The inhabitants of many cities." Country and townspeople, merchants and mechanics, masters and servants, shall come. " Men out of all languages of the nations " — the Mahomedan and the Turk, the Hindoo and the Hottentot, Greek and Jew, shall yet meet together in the house of God. III. The spirit in which they come. 1. A spirit of mutual excitement. The inhabitants of one city go to another. They do not invite those whom they accidentally meet on the way, nor do they wait for the minister and the missionary to do their work. They go to the negligent — perhaps at some sacrifice and inconvenience — and stir one another up. This is needful now. Frivolous are the excuses, and unjustifiable the causes, which keep men from the house of God. 2. A spirit of personal resolve. " I will go also," was the response of each when invited. Many excuse ; they have no time, no clothes, and you must call again. But others are only waiting for an invitation. Let us all resolve with Nehemiah and his friends : " We will not forsake the house of our God." 3. A spirit of earnestness. " Let us go speedily." (a) Go with heartiness. Put heart and feeling into your work. Angels are like flaming fire in their service. We are dull and half-asleep, (b) Go icithout delay. Many delay and never go. They never begin to pray, till God has ceased to hear. 644 IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECEARIAII. [CHAP. VIII. Let all attend and take others to the house of God — pray that God would revive his work, and hless our souls. " I was glad when they said unto rue, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, 0 Jerusalem." HoMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Vers. 20, 21. Characteristics of a genuine revival. 1. A general interest in the house of God. 2. A mutual concern for each other's welfare. 3. An earnest resolve for individual duty; and 4. A great accession to the Christian Church. The inhabitants, §c. They shall not be satisfied with their own salvation, careless about the salvation of others; they shall employ all labour and in- dustry, with wondrous love, to provide for the salvation of others as if it were their own, It is a marvellous stirring of minds \Pusey\ Learn also — 1. That those who know God will seek to bring others to know him. 2. That mutual stirring up to duty is a means of increase to the Church. 3. That in this work we should not be discouraged. (1) Sad times should not blot out remembrance of the Church's charter and future privileges. (2) Personal sacrifices should not tire nor dishearten us. Indifference and lukewarmness are out of place. We must be active and constant in the work. " Let us go speedily." / will go also. I. The object of the awakened sinner. To seek God. II. The means of accomplishing this object. (1) Attendance in sanctuary. (2) Prayer. III. The influence of example in pursu- ing this object. Inciting others. Indi- vidual example connected with general exhortation. Ver. 23. A revived people. 1. Blessed with God's presence. 2. Instrumental in the conversion of others. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER VIII. Vers. 1, 2. Jealous. Love often re-illumines his extinguished flame at the torch of jealousy [Lady Blessing- ton\. Jealousy is always born with love, but does not always die with it [Rochefoucauld^. Ver. 3. City of truth. Justice is the idea of God, the ideal of man, the rule of conduct writ in the nature of mankind [Theodore Parker]. Great is truth and niighty above all things (Esd. iv. 51). Vers. 4, 5. Here is a fine picture. The scene is the streets of Jerusalem. For it is clear that in this connexion, the word rendered "dirdl" is decidedly to be understood as meaning "sit." Lon- gevity, when in any country it is found on a more than ordinary average, is a proof of a healthful and prosperous condition of society; and although I am satisfied that some passages of Scripture which have been interpreted of personal longevity have reference rather to the Long-continued national possession of the land of promise; yet that longevity is included amongst the promises of temporal blessing and well-being, there can be little doubt. " Thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel," is one of not a few similar assurances. The state described is one of peace and tranquil security [ WardlawV, Ver. 6. Marvellous. The man who cannot wonder, who does not habitually wonder and worship, were he president of innumerable royal societies, is but a pair of spectacles behind which there is no eye [Carlylej. "Wonder is involuntary praise " [Young], Ver. 8. In truth. God's relation sustained from the time of having chosen them had been always thus characterized. Not so theirs. They called God their God, and themselves his people; while too often it was neither " in truth " nor '* in righteousness ; " but when their hearts and lives gave the lie to their lips; when they flagrantly played the hypocrite, and defrauded him of his due, both in inward devotion and in CHAP. VIII.] HOMILETTC COMMENTARY: ZECHARTAE. 645 outward service. Let us see that our professions are sincere — that our hearts are steadfast [Wardlaw]. Ver. 9. Strong. "Fear is the virtue of slaves: but the heart that loveth is willing " [Longfellow], Vers. 10 — 12. Fruit. Interesting and lovely as the green fields in their luxuriant riches must ever be, to the eye of faith and devotion they are even more so. Did we accustom Ourselves to associate with their beauty the super- intending providence of God, as well as the subordinate art and labour of man, they would possess an interest and a loveliness which the mere lover of nature never knew. The sweetest landscape is improved by the presence of animated objects, which impart a liveliness, an interest, as it were, an existence, to the whole. What increased force and inter- est are added to it by the presence, so to speak, of the living God [Palin]. Ver. 13. Curse. " A curse is like a cloud, — it passes " [Bailey]. Vers. 14, 15. Do well. God is goodness itself; and whatsoever is good is of him [Sir P. Sidney], God has been pleased to prescribe limits to his own power, and to work his ends within these limits [Paley]. Vers. 16, 17. I hale. Men resemble the gods in nothing so much as in doing good to their fellow-creatures [Cicero]. Every day should be distinguished by at least one particular act of love [Lavater], Ver. 19. Joy. What is joy? A sunbeam between two clouds [Madame Dduzy]. Joy never feasts so high, as when the first course is of misery [Suckling]. Vers. 20 — 22. Pray. The gracious God is pleased to esteem it his glory to have many beggars thronging at the beautiful gate of his temple, for spiritual and corporal alms. What an honour it is to our Great Landlord that multitudes of tenants flock together to his house to pay their rent of thanks and worship for all which they hold of him ! How loud and lovely is the noise of many golden trumpets ! Good Lord, what an echo do they make in heaven's ears ! When many skilful musicians play in concert with well-tuned and prepared instru- ments, the music cannot but be ravish- ing to God himself [George Swinnoclc]. Ver. 23. Skirt. This is a simple and striking expression. We have seen a dear little infant, when he wished to engage the attention of his mother, pulling her by the clothes. When a child has been walking along with his father, and afraid that he would leave him, he not only cries but lays hold of his coat. When the cripple had been healed at the beautiful gate of the temple, he held Peter and John, and was afraid to let them go (probably dreading a return of his former misery), as much as to say, u You shall not go, and if you do I will go with you, and you shall draw me after you." Just so is it here. It shows conviction, attach- ment, eager attention, a wishing to be among them and of them [Jay]. CHAPTEE IX. Critical Notes.] Hadrach] Part of Syria, near Damascus. Rest] On which God's wrath shall rest, and permanently abide. Eyes] of Israel, and of other people, would mark the providence of God; or, "Jehovah has an eye upon men, and upon all the tribes of Israel" (cf. Jer. xxxii. 20). 2. Hamath] as adjoiuing Damascus partook in "the burden." Tyre and Sidon lay directly in Alexander's march along the Syrian coast towards Egypt (see Isa. xxiii.). Wise] in building strong holds, and heaping up silver (Ezek. xxviii. 3 — 17). 3.] A description of new Tyre, an island 700 paces from the shore. 4. Cast] Ileb. dispossess, drive out her inhabitants. Alexander captured Tyre after seveu months' siege; some tew escaped; others put to death, or enslaved, and the city was 646 HOMLETIC COMMENTARY : ZECIIARIAH. [chap. ix. burned. 5.] Principal cities of the Philistines given. Gath only left out, probably owing to its situation inland, lying out of the route of the army. The fall of Tyre terrified these capitals of different districts. If Tyre could not stand how could they? Expect.] Ekron, furthest north, expected Alexander would be checked at Tyre. Gaza] captured after a siege of two months. Betis, its governor, was bound to a chariot, and dragged round the city. 6. Ashdod] A bastard (foreigner or stranger) of the conqueror's nominated ruler. 7. Blood] of sacrifices, which heathens often drank. Abominations] Idolatrous offerings. " A prediction of future conversion of the Philistines to the knowledge and service of the true God. Their abandonment of idolatry, and their embracing the true religion, is represented by no longer drinking blood, and eating things sacrificed to idols, both of which were common among pagans, but prohibited by the Mosaic law, and by the apostles " (Numb. xxv. 2 : Lev. vii. 6 : Acts xv. 29) [Henderson]. He] The Philistines regarded as one. Left] Many Philistines became proselytes to Judaism, says Josephus. Governor] Philistine princes shall be like tribe-princes {chiliarchs) in Judah. There will be no distinction between proselytes and native Jews — all will enjoy equal honours and privileges. Jebusites] Original inhabitants of Jerusalem, subjugated by David, incorporated among Jews, and enjoyed their privileges (2 Sam. xxiv. 16). 8. House] Jews, not to be injured by the army of Alexander on its march to or from Egypt. Fulfilled to the letter. Samaritans punished, but Jews escaped [cf. Henderson]. Seen] Lit. Now do I look with mine eyes. They were indebted to God's providence only. 9.] A royal personage to appear without armies, and to reign without destructive judgments. Daughter] Theocratic nation to rejoice at the appearance of her king (Ps. ii. 11). Thine] i.e. the one promised and long expected. Just] in his official and personal character. An attribute of the Messiah in connection with salvation (isa. xlv. 21; liii. 11: Jer. xxiii. 5,6). Lowly] Expressing his general character, not merely his humiliation in first advent. Colt] A rough unbroken colt. An ass was not a mean and despised animal, but in triumphant processions horses were chosen, and arrayed in costly caparisons. 10.] The nature and extent of Messiah's reign. Cut off] Remove instruments of war, and reign by peaceful means. Ends of the earth] Not a mere Jewish, but a universal, kingdom. 11. Blood] The covenant sealed with sprinkled blood, the pledge. Prisoners] Jewish exiles in Egypt and Greece. Pit] An allusion to Gen. xxxvii. 24. Their distress great, like dungeons without water (Jer. xxxviii. 6). 12. Strong hold] Fortress, forcibly contrasting with pit (Ps. xl. 2). To-day] No need to despair; their condition miserable, yet not hopeless. Double] Not strictly of twice the quantity, but simply of great abundance. A large amount of blessing far outweighing the misery of bondage [cf. Wardlaw]. 13.] The method of victory represented figuratively. Judah, the extended bow; Ephraim, the arrow by which Jehovah would overcome the Grecians. 14 — 16.] God's presence with his people. Seen] Conspicuously displaying power, like the pillar of old: seen like lightning, the arrows of God in a thunderstorm. South] (cf. Isa. xxi. 1: Hos. xiii. 5). Southern storms always most violent. 15. Eat] the flesh and drink the blood of the enemy, like a lion devouring its victim (Numb, xxiii. 24). Subdue] Lit. "tread underfoot the sling-stones," hurled by the foe. Missiles will not hinder their progress, but fall at their feet, and be trampled to the dust. Bowls] of sacrifices. Corners] Horns of the altar, sprinkled with blood from the bowls (Ex. xxix. 12 : Lev. iv. 18) ; priestly figures intimating holy war and victory. 16. Stones] Gems in the crown of the conqueror; not the sling-stones trodden by the foot. 17. How great] (exulting exclamation) in bestowing victory and fruitful seasons. Corn and winel indicate peace and plenty to those pressed by the foe and pinched in circumstances (beut. xxxiii. 28: Ps. iv. 8). HOMILETICS. Judgments upon Syria and Phoenicia. — Verses 1 — 4. Judgments are now threatened upon the lands of Syria, Phoenicia, and Philistia. Nations from which Israel greatly suffered, typical of worldly powers exulting in their strength, and broken to pieces by the might of Jehovah. I. Judgments upon the land of Syria. " In the land of Hadrach." 1. Their vain re. "The burden of the word." The punishment of the land is burdensome; no light trifling matter. It is bitter and crushing. 2. Their centre. "Damascus," the capital, " shall be the rest thereof." On this city the burden was permanently to settle. Eminent places generally share in the guilt, and procure the punishment, of the land. After Alexander's victory over Darius in the battle of Issus, one of his generals was sent to the city, who took its immense wealth, treasured up by the Persian monarch, and carried away its satraps and princely families (cf. Jer. xlix. 23 : Amos i. 3 — 5). 3. Their extent. " Hamath also, which borders thereon," did not escape. Near in situation, it shared in the burden of wrath testing upon Damascus. Contiguous in territory, they were alike in doom. The proverb of the Jews was realized, " Woe to the wicked man, and woe to his ohap. IX.] HOMTLETIC COMMENTARY : ZECHARIAH. 647 neighbour." II. Judgments upon the land of Phoenicia. Tyre and Sidon, the two capitals of Phoenicia, are next mentioned. Tyre was originally a colony of Sidon, but soon outgrew the mother city, and became the capital of all Phoenicia. Hence Tyre is only spoken of here. But the fate of both places is interwoven (cf. Isa. xxiii. 4 — 12: Ezek. xxviii. 21). 1. Tyre could not be saved by its worldly wisdom. " Though it be very wise." Volney says, that it was " a nursery of arts and science." Its wisdom consisted in building fortifications, multiplying riches, and trusting to them. It was worldly wisdom, the source of her pride and the means of her destruction. 2. Tyre could not be saved by its worldly wealth. " Though silver was heaped up as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets," yet this availed not. 3. Tyre could not be saved by its mighty strongholds. "Tyrus did build herself a stronghold." She had "the greatest confidence" in herself, says a historian, "owing to her insular position and fortifications, and the abundant stores she had prepared." She was " the crowning city," rivalling the world in strength, beauty, and riches. Her fleet was sunk in the sea, her fortifications overturned, and she was " devoured with the fire." The waves girt her round, buried her ruins, and now roll over her site. " I will make her like the top of a rock ; it shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea ; for I have spoken it." Three Aspects op Divine Providence. — Verse 1. When the eyes of man. Taking these words as they stand, they may mean that the events of God's providence would be such as to constrain men to acknowledge God's hand in them, or that the dangers would be so great to Israel that other nations would watch whether Jehovah, in whom they trusted, would be their protector. They are generally taken as indicating God's providence over all man- kind, to punish the ungodly, and defend his people. In this sense — I. Divine providence is universal. " The Lord hath an eye to man," i. e. to all mankind, as well as to the tribes of Israel. He controls and disposes the conquests of armies, and the destinies of nations, for the advancement of his glory. The providence is the eye of God. His look is not careless and transient ; but scrutinizing and constant. " His eyes behold," without slumber or fatigue, the actions, words, and thoughts; "his eyelids try the children of men," as one intently examining some objects to the exclusion of all others (Ps. xi. 4). " All things are naked," stripped of all covering and concealment, ' ' and opened before him" — laid prostrate, and exposed before his eye (Heb. iv. 13). II. Divine providence is protective. " As of all the tribes of Israel." He may chastise, but he will ever protect, his own. The victorious progress of Alexander terrified Israel, but Jerusalem escaped unhurt amid the storm. " This ' captain of the Lord's host' (Jos. v. 15) kept at bay the otherwise irresistible foe" \Lange\ III. Divine providence is retributive. It is a defence to Israel, and a punishment to others. Damascus was the rest ; the region on which God's anger settled. He who chastises his people will not fail to visit other men's sins. Love seems hidden at times, and it may be difficult to see on which side favour lies; but the disproportion will not continue long. A distinction, an eternal separation, will be made at length. " Every eye shall see him " then, and all reap then- reward. A difference will be made " between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serve th God and him that serveth him not." HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 1. The eyes of man, fyc. 1. Times versal, those only can escape who trust of trouble sent to direct men's eyes to him. 3;_Th& punishment upon those God. 2. As God's providence is uni- who tTo~~not trust him will be heavy. 643 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECHARIAH. [chap. IX. Divine wrath is sure to hit its mark, and midst of the seas" (Ezek. xxviii. 2); sink those on whom it rests. but she was devoured with fire. " How Vers. 2 — 4. Vain confidences. 1. Be- art thou destroyed, which wast strong in puted wisdom, which is not "counsel the sea " (Ezek. xxvi. 17). against the Lord" (Prov. xxi. 30). Ver. 4. Mark the language. Who 2. Immense wealth, which "profits not was to "smite her power in the sea, in the day of wrath " (Prov. xi. 4). burn her with fire, and cast her out ? " " Misery assails riches, as lightning does Alexander the Great, says history ; the highest towers " \Burtoii\. 3. Out- Jehovah, says Divine revelation. Both ward fortifications. High walls and are true. Only revelation keeps us in deep seas, instruments of power, may mind that "men are God's hand" — a be elements of destruction. God can truth which profane history is too prone destroy the wisest, the wealthiest, and to overlook and forget; as indeed we the strongest nation. Tyre said in her ourselves — all of us — naturally are pride, "I sit in the seat of God, in the [Wardlaw~\. HOMILETICS. Judgments upon Philistia. — Verses 5 — 7. The prophet now turns to the inveterate enemies of Israel, and mentions four capitals of the Philistines. Their country lay between Tyre (or Phoenicia) and Egypt, the south-east of the Mediterranean Sea. What is said of one may be said of all, and the fate of the different cities corresponds with the prediction. I. The cities lost their rulers. "The king shall perish from Gaza." The Persians set up petty kings as vassals to their superior control. Notwithstanding two months' siege, Gaza was taken, its inhabitants sold, and put to death. Betis, its brave king, was most cruelly fastened to the chariot of the conqueror, and dragged through the streets. II. The cities were depopulated. "A foreigner shall sit as ruler in Ashdod." They lost their native people, and were filled with a mongrel breed. At first a stranger was nominated to govern in Ashdod ; but eventually " the inhabitant shall be cut off from Ashdod." Ashkelon, once noted for its figs and fertility, though dismantled and re-fortified several times, is now surrounded with desolate ruins of former grandeur. III. The cities were bereft of their religion. They shall no longer glut themselves with bloodsheddings. The prey of their gods was taken from their mouths. " I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth." There was not mere suspension but total abolition of their idolatry. They lost their religion and their nationality, and were incorporated with the Jews. IV. The cities were desolated. " I will cut off the pride of the Philistines." Their hopes were " cut oil';" for Tyre did not check Alexander's triumphant march. Their fortifications were "cut off," and levelled to the ground. Everything in which they prided themselves, strength, situation, wealth, and nationality, were " cut off." The day of wrath came, and all was swept like chaff before the whirlwind. The desolate ruins now declare that God is a consuming fire. "For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation; they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon-day, and Ekron shall be rooted up " (Zeph. ii. 4). A Converted Eemnant of Philistia. — Verse 7. Just as God left a remnant for himself in Israel when judgment fell upon them, so a remnant shall be left for God in Philistia. " But he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God." I. The remnant was preserved from destruction. Some remained after judg- chap, ix.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECHARTAH. 649 ments had swept the land, and were converted to God. Monuments of grace and mercy set apart for him. From all nations God will gather his people. Nothing shall be a harrier to acceptance with him. " The son of the stranger that hath joined himself to the Lord " (Isa. lvi. 3). II. The remnant was incorporated with Israel. There would he no distinction between the Israelite and the Philistine. 1. Dignity would be conferred upon them. Their honour and eleva- tion before God and the people " shall be as a governor in Judah." 2. Equal privileges would be conferred npon them. " And Ekron as a Jebusite." Jebusites were incorporated with Jews, and enjoyed equal honours and rights (2 Sam. xxiv. 16). In Christ Jesus there is no distinction of race nor sect. All are one in him, and alike welcome to him. The proselytes under the Maccabean dynasty, were only a partial fulfilment of the text. Heathens shall yet be converted, and be joined to God's people. " The strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob " (cf . Isa. xiv. 1 ; lvi. 8). The Divine Encampment. — Verses 8, 9. While neighbouring nations are destroyed, a promise of Divine protection is made to the Jews. Their nationality would be preserved, and all their sufferings would turn out for good. For this they were indebted to God, who encamped about them, and watched over them. I. The Christian Church is surrounded by enemies. She is in the battle- field, and at war with all ungodliness. Enemies seek to oppress and subdue her — ■ pass by and return. There is marching and counter-marching, with a design to attack. Powers of darkness invade our spheres of action, and encamp within us. In this moral campaign the fight is indispensable, holy, and severe. " The good fight of faith." II. The Christian Church is defended by God. " I will encamp about mine house." It is not a mere visit, but an encampment, a dwelling or settlement. 1. God watches over Iter. " Now have I seen with mine eyes." Some think that he does not see at all, or only looks when he interferes. But he ever beholds the insolence of the enemy, and the sufferings of his people — will judge the one and avenge the other. "Awake to help me, and behold." 2. God delivers her. " No oppressor shall pass through them any more." Alexander punished the Samaritans, but favoured the Jews. No foreigners invaded the land before the advent of Messiah, as Assyrians and Chaldeans had done of old. God guarded them, like " the chariots of fire and horses of fire round about Elisha." The power and goodness of God are pledged for the triumph and salvation of his Church. On every side the watch is kept with sleepless eyes. None can resist the Captain of the Lord of Hosts. "The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." III. The Christian Church should rejoice in this defence. To show the magnitude and the consetpiences of this salvation, Zionis called upon to "rejoice" and "shout" for joy in the prospect before her (ver. 9). If the presence of Alexander, Caesar, or Wellington, created joy in the camp; what confidence should the presence of God inspire ! Napoleon's oversight was remarkable, Cromwell's interest in his men was great ; but God says, "Rejoice greatly." Cowardice in God's presence is doubly criminal. "Cowards falter," said Queen Elizabeth, " but danger is often overcome by those who nobly dare." "Fear not, daughter of Sion" (John xii. 15). HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 7. He that remaineth. The longer an enemy, or a stranger and elect remnant. 1. From whom chosen, foreigner, but a fellow-citizen with the 2. To what promoted. Ekron as a saints, and of the household of God. Jebusite, as a denizen of Jerusalem; no Two things in this promise. 1. It is a 650 HOMILETTC COMMENTARY: ZECHARIAH. [chap. ix. great thing to be a Jebusite. One of desperate his own case — nor despond the highest of all privileges to " come to with regard to any of our fellow- Mount Zion, the city of the living God." creatures. God is able of these stones to What a governor have these citizens! raise up children unto Abraham [Jay]. What a charter have they! "What can Ver. 8. The house of Jehovah. The equal their safety, liberty, and defence1? workmanship, the residence, and the — their commerce, wealth, happiness, property of God. The camp of God, and peace? Their joy is unspeakable, the deliverance of the good. "Seen and full of glory. 2. Jebusites may be with mine eyes." With God, compassion derived from Ekronites. The thing has is so intrinsic an attribute, that he is been done ; and most unlikely charac- pictured as looking away when he does ters have furnished pious converts — not put it forth. With God, to behold Manasseh, the dying thief, and the is to help \Pusey~\. Hence God sees murderers of Jesus, prove this. What with approval and tender consideration surpassed the guilt and depravity of the — with a design to help his people, and Corinthians? What says Paul of his punish their foes. He is an observant own conversion? What triumphs of God — eyes and ears are set upon men — the riches, freeness, and power of Divine " in every place beholding the evil and grace ! Let none despair, however the good." HOMILETICS. The Peaceful King and his Glorious Eeign. — Verses 9, 10. From the Grecian conqueror, and the temporal protection which Jehovah would accord to his people, the prophet abruptly (by the prophetic law of suggestion, Fausset), and in the, most sublime and animated strain, calls the attention of the Jews to a Royal Personage of a very different character, the Messiah, meek and righteous, the Prince and pattern of peace, and the author of spiritual salvation to all his subjects. His advent was to be accompanied by such glorious results that it was to be hailed with the most joyful anticipation \Hend\ I. The character of the King. The features refer to his personal and official character. 1. He is a righteous ruler. "He is just." Just himself, and the means of justifying others before God. In character, principle, and practice, he is a righteous King. His administrations in providence and grace are conducted by laws of pure and unbending righteousness. Truth and uprightness are fixed on his throne. "Just and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints." 2. He is a benevolent ruler. " Having salvation." Take these words actively or passively, he had power over death and the grave. He finished his work, rose to the right hand of God, and bestows gifts upon men. The design of his death was to honour God, and render salvation consistent with the claims of righteousness, that he might be "a just God and a Saviour" (cf. Pom. iii. 26). He bestows salvation in its beginning here, and in its results hereafter. " The Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." 3. He is a lowly rider. "Lowly, and riding upon an ass." He had no war-horse richly caparisoned, and tossing his arched neck — no imperial chariot, like Alexander. He was not cruel like Nero, nor proud like Herod, in disposition. He was lowly in his intercourse and triumphs. He linked greatness with humility, performed menial service to his disciples, and set himself as an example to all men. " Learn of me; for I am meek, and lowly in heart." "Gentleness ! more powerful than Hercules" [Catherine II.]. II. The nature of his kingdom. It is not that of a worldly conqueror, nor is it confined to Jewish lands. It is peaceful, universal, and perpetual. 1. It is a peaceful kingdom. The symbol would remind the Jews of the prediction concern- chap, ix.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : ZECHARIAH. 651 ing "The Prince of Peace" (Isa. ix. 6). No wars nor bloodshed were to disturb his reign. " Peace hath its victories no less renowned than war." Notice — That he was not to teach peace, nor command it ; but to accomplish by a word, what earthly kings cannot do by force. "He shall speak peace." He announces reconciliation to Jew and Gentile, and in his Word proclaims, '• Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near." 2. It is a universal kingdom. It is more extensive than the kingdom of M acedon, greater than that of " the Emperor of All the Eussias." As Solomon ruled the land of promise, and left no unconquered spot ; so shall the Son of David reign " from sea to sea — from the Atlantic to the Pacific" — from the river "unto the ends of the earth." His subjects gathered from " all nations, and kindreds, and people," no man can number. " Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him." 3. It is a perpetual kingdom. Solomon's reign came to an end, and Alexander's empire was divided by his successors ; but the throne of Christ shall endure for ever. " Son culte se rajeunira sans cesse," wrote Penan. Suns may set, and moons may fade, but " His name shall endure for ever : his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him : all nations shall call him blessed." III. The blessings of his reign. "Rejoice greatly." 1. Great joy. The prophet, under the impulse of inspiration, invites the people to hail the coming of Messiah, in terms of exulting joy. " Shout, 0 daughter of Jerusalem ! " It is not " a reign of terror," but of happiness and joy. " I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people : and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying." 2. Perfect security. Freedom from the power and corruption of sin to the believer, protection and prosperity to all nations, are offered by his Word. He is King both of righteousness and peace. Many usurp the throne, league with craft, and rule in tyranny and oppression. Hence kings are dethroned, kingdoms short-lived, and subjects insecure. Happy and safe are his people. " He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor." Deliverance from the Pit. — Verse 11. These words may be an invitation to Jewish exiles to return from the bondage of Egypt and Greece. But they relate to the spiritual conquests of the Messiah, and are the pledge of Jehovah to him, that his people (thy priso?iers) shall be delivered from distress, exult in freedom, and through the blood of the covenant anticipate the blessings of the future. I. The moral condition. Prisoners were confined in dungeons or pits dug for the purpose. Jeremiah was left to sink in the mire, and perish from thirst in the pit (xxxviii. 6). The pit indicates — 1. Deep distress. "Wherein is no water." Men are restless and dissatisfied — distressed by sin and the world, a broken law, and an accusing conscience. Estrangement from God brings anguish of soul. " What exile from himself can flee 1 " asks Byron. " 0 wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me 1 " 2. Great darkness. Prisoners sit in darkness as well as in distress. The spiritual light of this world is darkness. The wisest only grope in uncertainty. Sinners walk in darkness, and live under the powers of darkness. Heaven above is shrouded in gloom, round about and within them dwells no light, and before them hangs the shadow of death (cf. Ps. cvii. 10). The Sun of Righteousness never penetrates their hearts. Their condition is like an Eastern sepulchre — "a land of darkness, as darkness itself, without any order" (Job x. 22). 3. Utter helplessness. Neither Joseph nor Jeremiah could get out of the pit. Captives in a dungeon cannot escape. Cursed by the law, and condemned before God, immured in darkness and degradation, men are ready to perish. " God hath concluded (shut up as in a prison) them all (all mankind) in unbelief, the consequence 652 ITOMIIF.TIC COmi-ENTART: ZECHARIAH. [CIIAP. IX. of disobe lience, thai he blight have mercy upon all" (Rom. ii. 32). II. The price of deliverance from the pit. " By the blood of the covenant." 1. A covenant of blood. Tin' .lews were delivered through the covenant made at Sinai, and sealed with blood. In redemption there is no remission of sins without shedding of blood. But "the blood of bulls and of goats" could not take away sin. Ancient sacrifices were mere shadows, had to be repeated, and were inefficient. The blood of man is not required, and will not avail. " None of them by any means can redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him." Christ alone can deliver us. "In win mi we have redemption through his blood." 2. A covenant without change. The price paid will not be required again. It avails for this and every age. Father and Son have taken solemn oaths, and sealed it by sacrifice. Nature's covenant abides linn as heaven and earth. The Jewish covenant was not disan- nulled by the sins of the people. God's purpose in Christ shall be realized. "For thee also" thy prisoners shall be delivered. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. They are incapable of being regretted, revoked, or changed (cf. Vaughan, Acts xi. 29). " Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you, concerning all these words." III. The method of deliverance from the pit. " I have sent forth." A beautiful expression, indicating — 1. Mighty power. Nothing but God's power can lift us up out of the horrible pit and miry clay, set our feet upon a rock, and establish our goings. 2. Wonderful grace. " 1 have sent forth." God might have left us in the pit; but he is gracious, and " saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom." 3. Perfect liberty. Not only lifted out, but " sent forth" without fear or foe, like Peter from prison. " That we being delivered out of. the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear." IIOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 9. Here we have — 1. The Divine in the form of ■ the human. 2. Thr majestic in the form of the mean. The dignity is royal. "Thy king cometh." Koyalty surpassing all others. 3. The victorious by means of the moral. A king, but not the kind the Jews expected. His sceptre from heaven, and his glory gained through suffering. He had to borrow the colt, and who were his guards and attendants in his entrance in Jerusalem? (cf. Matt. xxi. 5 : John xii. 15). In the whole history of Jesus Ave have a wonderful combina- tion of humiliation and grandeur. Vers. 9, 10. Messiah is King of Zion. Happy the subjects who dwell under his shadow. He rules them, not with a rod of iron by which he bruises and breaks the power of his enemies, but with his golden sceptre of love. He reigns by his own right, and by their lull and free consent in their hearts. He reigns upon a throne of grace, to which they at all times have access, and from whence they receive the pardon of all their sins, grace to help in time of need, and a renewed supply answerable to all their wants, cares, services, and conflicts [John Newton\ Notice— 1. The Great King. 2. The wonderful kingdom. 3. The strange way in which he comes to possess it. "Riding upon an ass," &c. Majesty veiled in meekness, j ustice blended with mercy, drawing the attention, and re- ceiving the homage, of multitudes.' 4. The method by which he spreads it. " I will cut off the chariot," &c. Ver. 11. The sinner's condition by nature, and his rescue by grace. The pit dark, dismal, and deep. " The pit of corruption," or putrefaction and filth (Isa. xxxviii. 17). The release, conde- scending, reaching to the depth; and free, " sent forth." " They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. I called upon thy name, 0 Lord; out of the low dungeon thou hast heard my voice." Covenant. The covenant love of God, and his faithful promise, sealed with blood, are the hope of the Church in time of trouble [Lange]. The word suggests chap. IX] EOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECHARIAH. 653 thoughts of grace, privilege, and security, present in the form of a compact, with not attained in any other way. Our stipulations (and sometimes when the trust for this world and the next, not stipulations were all on one side, Gen. upon the voices of nature or conclusions ix. 9), and not only so, but to confirm of reason, but upon the promise of God it by sacrifice [Lange]. — a promise which he hath chosen to HOMILETICS. Prisoners of Hope. — Verses 11, 12. "With the promise of release is connected the duty of the captives to embrace the opportunity of returning to their own land, where they would enjoy the protection and favour of Jehovah. I. There is no imprisonment without hope. "Prisoners of hope." 1. To saints in trouble. In trials and straits they must maintain hope. 2. To sinners in wickedness. A stronghold is provided for all ; secure from the stroke of offended justice, and from the attack of the foe. " No case is desperate. None should despair or say, " Our hope is lost." " I would not despair unless I knew the irrevocable decree was passed, saw my misfortune in the book of fate, and signed and sealed by necessity" [/. Collier]. II. There are grounds for hope in the provisions of Divine mercy. 1. In the atonement of Christ. In the covenant blood we have every hindrance removed, and every means provided for the salva- tion of man. 2. In the promise of Scripture. " I will render double unto thee." Grace to convert and strengthen, the Holy Spirit to teach and direct, are offered. Blessings double in themselves, and as pledges of others. 3. In the stronghold provided. The height (Ps. xviii. 30) is prepared, the rock contrasting with the pit. The Eock of our Salvation immovable and inaccessible. Low defences are soon scaled, and weak ones soon destroyed. But this refuge is eternally secure. Its sanctity none can invade, its power none destroy. III. Men are urged to avail themselves of these provisions. Hope should inspire our hearts in danger, and prompt us to get out of it. 1. They are commanded to escape. " Turn ye to the stronghold." Divine authority and affection are set forth in the prediction. 2. Escape should be made immediately. " Even to-day." The Jews were not to wait for future opportunity, when all might return together. While there was hope, individually they must hasten, and make no delay. To-morrow may be too late. To see the light of day fade away is sad, but much worse to lose hope for •eternity. Flee " for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before you." Ye prisoners of hope. This title is not a fanciful one. To the Jew it had a triple significance. 1. He was under the yoke of a foreign despot, and longed to regain his freedom. 2. He was under the yoke of an unfulfilled promise, and yearned for the " day star to arise." 3. He was under the the yoke of the unrealized prophecies concerning the glory of the Messiah's kingdom, and the eternal felicity of his followers. The words of the text are the true designation of every Christian. I. We are prisoners to an unredeemed body (cf. Rom. viii. 23). Observe— 1. There is a sense in which the body is already redeemed. 2. TJiere is another sense in tohich our bodies are not redeemed, (a) They are not yet free from manifold infirmities, (b) Not yet redeemed from sensuous appetites, (c) Not yet redeemed from the dominion of death. 3. Hope anticipates the possession of an immortal body, (a) From which every element of weakness and infirmity is excluded, (b) In which carnal appetites shall have no place, (c) Which shall be no more subject to death. II. We are prisoners to a limited and superficial knowledge. " Now I know in part " — there is bondage. " Then shall I know even as I am known " — there is freedom. 1. Our knowledge touches not the essence, but only the phenomena. 2. Reaches men not as they are, only as they appear. 6J4 HOMILETfC COMMENTARY: ZECUAIUAU. [oiiap. ix. 3. Is limited by the brevity of life, and the conditions of its existence. 4. Hop© anticipates the solution of the dark enigma of human life. III. We are prisoners to a circumscribed Christian fellowship. The great family of God is sadly dismembered. 1. Doctrinal divergence. 2. Suspicion, the offspring of imperfect knowledge. 3. Social ttahix is a harrier to fellowship. 4. Distance and death contribute to limit the measure of fellowship. 5. Hope anticipates the universal and perfect fellowship of saints, (a) Tins will include all ages; (b) all climes ; (c) all classes and creeds. IV. We are prisoners to an imperfect vision of Christ. " We see through a glass darkly," and through " a mirror in an enigma " [Lange]. Yet note — 1. Christ is really apprehended by faith even here. 2. This vision is a test, a dim one. 3. Human nature in its present state is not capable of a more open vision. 4. Hope anticipates not only an immediate vision of Christ, but a nature capable of beholding it. Lessons. 1. This hope inspires the heavenward pilgrim — (a) with patience "to endure as seeing him," &c. (I>) With courage "to war a good warfare." 2. This hope was a sanctifying virtue. 3. This hope amounts to an assurance [The Homiletic Quarterly]. The Double Kecompense to God's People. — Verses 13 — 15. The abundance of the blessings promised after release is expressed by the word double, which conveys the idea of compensation, a measure of glory outweighing all foimer sufferings. " For your shame ye shall have double." I. Victory over the world will be granted. "The sons of Javan are the Greeks, as the world-power, the Grseco-Macedonian monarchy (cf. Dan. viii. 28), against which the Lord will make his people into a hero's sword " [iTe^]. This was fulfilled in some measure in the wars of the Maccabees and Seleucidaa, but must not be confined to that period. The Gospel is destined to overthrow the wisdom of the Greeks, and subdue the world to Christ. 1. Victory by human agency. Ephraim and Judah have to fight. Apostles and ministers have to preach. u Heaven made us agents, free to good or ill " [Dry den]. 2. Victory by God's blessing upon human agency. " I have been raised up," &c. These words found an echo in Judas Maccabeus, when the company with him asked, " How shall we be able, being so few, to fight against so great a multitude and so strong, seeing that we are ready to faint with fasting 1 " " It is no hard matter," answered Judas, " for many to be shut up in the hands of a few ; and with the God of heaven it is all one, to deliver with a great multitude, or a small company " (1 Mace. iii. 16 — 19 : cf. 2 Chron. xiv. 8 — 11). II. The special presence of God. will be displayed. " The Lord shall be seen over them," conspicuously displaying his power for them. 1. As a shield to defend them. "The Lord of Hosts shall defend them," in the midst of enemies numerous, powerful, and bitter. He delivered " by providential arrangements, by earthquakes, by angelic messengers, by direct punitive and deadly judgments. He released them, to the amazement and confusion of their enemies, from the closest and most vigilant confinement" [Wardlaw]. 2. As a conqueror to help them. Taking the sling-stones as a figure of the enemy [Keif], they were trampled beneath the feet of the Jews. " The souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling" (1 Sam. xxv. 29). A phrase denoting security from the assaults of the enemy under the special protection of God. 3. As a shepherd to provide for them. " The Lord their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people" (ver. 16). Not only victory, but lasting peace. Constant care and tenderness will be exercised over his people (Ps. xxiii.). III. Great honours will be conferred upon them. Job's latter end was better than the beginning. The dignity of God's people shall be double their shame. 1. Moral beauty. " How great his beauty !" The beauty Christ bestows upon his people in character and conduct is more than human; it is Christ's own beauty. " Thou art fairer than the children of men." chap, ix.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECHARIAII. 655 " Old friends shall lovelier be, As more of heaven in each we see " [Christian Year], 2. Umvonted prosperity. Young men shall be made cheerful, and no longer suffer scarcity. Maidens, ready to faint from hunger and thirst, shall have plenty of new wine. This abundance of the fruits of earth typifies the recompense to God's people. They will be strengthened, and made glad ; be led to admire God's free love and favours, and to commend all past dealings as excellent and good. " For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty ! " " Beauty armed with virtue bows the soul, With a commanding, but a sweet, control " [Percival]. The Mighty Struggle and The Glorious Victory. — Verses 13 — 17. I. The army is collected. "The Lord God shall blow the trumpet." The terms are martial. The trumpet blowing naturally represents the proclamation of the Gospel by Divine authority, and with accompanying Divine power ; the design being thus the gathering of outcast sinners to Christ's standard ; and thus the enlargement of his spiritual host, and the increased rapidity of his conquests [Wardlaiv]. 1. The foes. "Against thy sons, 0 Greece." 2. The friends. Judah the bow, and Ephraim the arrow. 3. The commander. Jehovah "seen over them," like the pillar of cloud and fire. II. The conflict is described. The description is poetical. 1. Terrible as a storm. "His arroxo shall go forth as the lightning" — suddenly and irresistibly (cf. Ps. xviii. 14). ''The whirlwind of the south " sweeps everything before it. No power in earth or in hell can resist the might of Divine grace. Thousands will yet be subdued. 2. Furious as wild beasts. " They shall devour," a metaphor from beasts. Like devouring lions, they would eat the flesh and drink the blood of the enemy. " Behold a people like the lioness ; it rises up, and like the lion does it lift itself up : it lies not down till it devour the prey, and drink the blood of the slain" (Num. xxiii. 24). III. The victory is gained. The result is not uncertain. u Conquering and to conquer." 1. Victory given as a shepherd to his flock. " God shall save them in that clay as the flock of his sheep." 2. Victory recorded in the crown of the conqueror. Precious stones or gems were set in crowns, and the elevation of the crown indicated victory. " A victory is twice itself, when the achiever brings home full numbers" [Shaks.]. 3. Victory celebrated in the joy of the conqueror. The general idea is that of sacred joy, the songs and shouts of victory, inward delight and exultation of spirit. " They shall drink, and make a noise as through wine." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Yers. 11, 12. Duty, and encourage- was fitted, carried conviction to the con- ments to perform it ; or, the stronghold science, and quickening power to the — how to get it, and the blessings of its heart. By killing it made alive. We security ; or, salvation may be had. This are reminded of the language of Ps. salvation only gained by effort. "Turn xlv. 3 — 5 [Wardlau-]. ye," &c. Ver. 16. God's people glorified, xfere Ver. 12. 1. Available refuge. "The we see the dignity of the Lord's people, stronghold," impregnable, secure, and They are "stones," precious stones, set lasting. 2. Access to it free, and should in the " crown " of the King of kings, be immediate. Here is also their exhibition: these stones Ver. 14. Arrows. Strongly express of a crown are "lifted up." They are the speed and the resistless power of his not to be concealed. Here is also their converting grace. The arrow of Divine utility : these stones are to be lifted up truth, with which the Apostolic bow "as an ensign upon the land" — an 65G HOMILETTC COMMENTARY: ZECIURUTT. [CHAP. IX. oriflamme suspended over the royal tent; designed to attract followers to the cause in which he is engaged [«/<'//]. Ver. 17. How great his goodness! God's free love (benevolence) the foun- tain of all mercies. 1. Great in the gift of Christ. 2. Great in the conversion of sinners. 3. Great in the support of his people. How great were the sacrifices which Christ's goodness made ! How great are tlf \ leading. "Diviners have seen a lie. HOMILETICS. The Deliverance and Establishment op God's People. — Verses 3 — 7. God confirms his mercies to Judah and Israel, enlarges the former predictions, and assures the triumph, restitution, and defence of his people. I. God will deliver them from their enemies. Foreign or native oppressors — the sinful leaders of the flock, or the inveterate foe of the nation, would be visited witli punishment. Often at the worst, things turn for the better. Whatever troubles, his people — they are his flock — will not be cast off; but delivered, "For the Lord of Hosts hath visited his flock." II. God will equip them for self- defence. Though exposed to danger, yet God -will furnish them with everything necessary to defend themselves, and prevail over their enemies. Governors of their own shall be raised up to unite and help them. No foreign aid will be required. The corner-stone, the nail, and the battle-bow, all strength would be inherent, though given by God. " Their nobles shall be from themselves, and their governor shall go forth from the midst of them." III. God will give tnem victory over their enemies. The timid sheep became strong as the battle-horse. From a peaceful people sprung heroes, mighty men, to deliver from oppressors. The victory of the Maccabees typifies the triumph of Christ over anti-Christian powers. 1. This victory icill be complete. "Their enemies" will be trampled down as mire in the streets, foul and worthless. As Jehovah's war-horse they will overcome and confound the cavalry of the foe. " The riders on horses shall be confounded." 2. This victory will be through Divine aid. "They shall light because the Lord is with them." Courage is not our own. All might comes from God, and against his power nothing can prevail. Mere human strength is perfect weakness, but God strengthens in Christ (Phil. iv. 13). Feeble humanity rises into prowess and majesty when made mighty in all (kinds of) might (Col. i. 11). IV. God will restore them to ancient privileges. Most commentators take vers. 6 and 7 as alluding to the ten tribes. Judah and Israel are distinctly mentioned. A more complete restoration than a few from Babylon. A greater deliverance than the Maccabean is promised. 1. The tribes of Israel will be united together. The chap, x.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY ': ZECHARIAH. 661 honse of Joseph will shave the salvation, and all Judah together will be strength- ened. The children of God, scattered abroad, shall be incorporated ; Jew and Gentile shall become one fold. 2. The laud will be restored to them. " I will bring them again to place them." Privileges lost through sin will be restored when God turns to his people. 3. Security ivill be given them. God will place them ; make them dwell securely as in olden time. They shall be treated as if they had never been cast off. " I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings" (Ezek. xxxvi. 11 : cf. Job xlii. 12). V. God will cause others to participate in their privileges. Ephraim and their sons would not be forgotten, though hitherto not partaking largely of the blessings of restoration. 1. In the strength of conflict. "They of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man." 2. In the joy of victory. "And their heart shall rejoice." God's presence will be their strength and song. From generation to generation, mercy will be enjoyed in renewed performance of the promise. " Yea, their children shall see it, and be glad." God the Author of Political Blessings. — Verse 4. God is the King of kings, and Lord of lords. He only can give magistrates and legislators who are " for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well." They are not created by the institutions nor the politics of the state. " The powers that be are ordained of God." I. Men who are the corner-stones, the ground of support to the state. Princes are often called "the chief (corners, marg.) of the people" (1 Sam. xiv. 38 : cf. Isa. xix. 13 ; xxviii. 16). II. Men who are the nails, the strength of the state. They unite discordant parties, as nails fasten different timbers. On them rest the responsibilities of government, and the security of the whole fabric. Rulers and officers in the Church should strengthen and hold it together. On them hang all the implements of evangelical warfare, which should be ready for use. " I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place ; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house" (Isa. xxii. 23, 24). III. Men who are the battle-bow, the defence of the state. Armour in general, for personal and national conflict — men to wield it with skill and success come from him. IV. Men who govern, the rulers of the state. " And from him every oppressor together," i. e. in a good sense, every ruler who exacts tribute from nations subject to Judah. Thus the state is built up and defended by God. Legislation without him is insecure. He must be trusted for every politician that founds and fastens the empire together — thanked for every ruler that crushes oppression. All valour and success, all ornaments and defence, are from him. " The Lord is Governor among the nations.'' The Eeligion of Joy. — Verse 7. Through communicated and accompanying might of Jehovah, Ephraim would be a man'of valour and strength against every foe. The exulting joy with which they would be filled would impart energy of heart and hand. In proportion to the amount, the variety, and long-continuance of their outcast condition, of depression and humiliation, of.scorn and reproach, of personal and social oppression; and of all, as the effect and indication of what was worse than them all — Divine desertion — the hidings of God's countenance, his frown, his wrath — should be the joy of Jehovah's return and blessing [Wardlaw]. I. Joyful religion in its source. Its source is secret and hidden from the world. 1. It is in God. They shall "rejoice in the Lord" — not in his gifts, health, abundance, and honour — but in God himself. In his favour and friendship, in his Word and service. 2. It springs from the heart. " Their heart shall 662 Iff) Mll.FTh ' i 'OMMENTJRF: ZEi UARIAIL [CHAP. X. rejoice." Not from outward circumstances, but from pardoned sin and peace with God. This fountain of living waters is within a man. "A good man shall be satisfied from himself." II. Joyful religion in its degree. " Their heart shall rejoice as through wino." Wine is called by Hato, "the mitigator of human sorrows." The figure denotes exuberant joy, joy beyond a natural degree (cf. Ps. lxxviii. 65; civ. l.r>). By a bold figure wine is said to "cheer God" himself (Jndg. ix. 13 . Hence as cordials are seasonable in the hour of need; so joy buries sorrow, and makes us forget past evils. " Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more." III. Joyful religion in its influ- ence. This fountain is never sealed. 1. It conduces to health. Diseases of the mind produce diseases of the body ; a fretful repining spirit will waste away the vigour and beauty of the constitution. " Let thy mind's sweetness," says Geo. Herbert, ''have its operation upon thy body, clothes, and habitation." "A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance ; but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken." 2. It ■promotes activity. Happy Christians are strong and active Christians. Ancient nations drank wine before battle. Those who drink of this joy will be heroes in life. " Neither bo ye sorry ; for the joy of the Lord is your strength." 3. It influences others. Children see and neighbours feel it. " I am sure my father's religion is true," said one, "because it makes him happy." "The beams of joy," says Fuller, " are made better by reflection." Yet some are strangers to this joy. Their religion is morbid and melancholy — " the religion of the sorrowful," misrepresenting the bright religion of Jesus. Seek to rejoice in God, and to rejoice always. "Delight thyself in the Lord." HO MI LET IC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 5. Mighty men or warriors of the Gospel. 1. Their valour. The figure is general, indicating triumphant progress against all enemies, and thorough and shameful discomfiture. It was in looking forward to the success of his Apostles — so rapid, so signal — that our Lord said, "I beheld Satan fall, as lightning from heaven." The comparison is simple. " As mighty men." They shall triumph over the enemies of their cause as completely as the most victori- ous general over his enemies. The causes and the weapons are widely different; so is the spirit in which the war is conducted, and the results to those taken captive by the conquerors [Ward- law]. 2. The source of their valour. "They shall fight because the Lord is with them." He is the source of all success. Through him they do valiantly ; for he it is that treads down their enemies. Not a victory, not a trophy, not a song, without him (Jos. xxiii. 10 : Neh. iv. 20). If Mithridatea never wanted courage nor counsel, how much more shall the Messiah and his mighty men succeed in their warfare! "The Lord God, he it is that fighteth for you." Ver. 6. I have mercy upon them. Here is a double cause alleged, of these great and gracious promises ; and both excluding works. .. First, God's mere mercy ; secondly, his election of grace ; " for I am the Lord, their God." This latter is the cause of the former ; for God chose his people for love, and then loveth them for his choice. The effects of which love are here set down — 1. That he heareth their prayers, "I will hear them." 2. That he re-accepteth and restoreth them in Christ, as if they had never offended against him. " They shall be as though I had not cast them off." That was a cutting speech, and far worse than their captivity, when God not only threatened to cast them out of their country into a strange land, but that there, " h^ would show them no favour" (Jer. xvi. 13). Here he promiseth to pity them, and then they must think deliverance was at next door [Trapp]. 1. The blessinr/s. Strength, " I will strengthen them ; " salvation, " I will save ; " .and restoration, " I will bring chap, x.} HO.VILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECIIARIAIL 663 them again." 2. The cause of the bless- to be gracious.' His ear is open to ing. God's mercy. "I have mercy their very first penitential cry; and upon them." God's unchanging purpose ; while his ear will be open {that alone " they shall be as though I had not cast were little) hi.s power wdl be ready to them olf." 3. The consequence of the aid " [Wardlavi]. blessings. " I will hear them." He True conversion. 1. Men turn to God heard the voice of their distress, as he only through Divine mercy. 2. When did in Egypt. But understand their men repent, and turn to God, they are calling upon Jehovah in a state of treated as if they had not been cast off. penitential abasement, confession, and 3. Humble penitent prayer to God is an return of heart (cf. Wardlaw). "I evidence of converted men. "Prayer will hear,'" is the fulfilment of a promise is to religion what thinking is to philo- repeatedly made to them in former days, sophy. To pray is to make religion " and an encouragement in their present [Ndvalis]. dispersed state. " Jehovah yet ' waits H0MILETIC8. The Restoration, Settlement, and Increase of God's People. — Verses 8 — 12. To remove all doubt concerning the promises just given the restoration is more minutely described. I. The restoration of God's people. " I will gather them." 1. From different places. From " the land of Egypt" a type of all lands of bondage. " Out of Assyria," a type of all lands of exile. They shall be sought and found in all quarters of the world. 2. By Divine call. " I will hiss for them and gather them." As bee-keepers whistle back the bees to the hive, or as sheep flock together at the well-known call of the shepherd, so God will bring them back to himself and their inheritance. " He will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth; and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly" (Isa. v. 26). 3. Without hindrance, (a) Distance shall not keep them back. Out of lands far and near, (b) Distress shall not hinder them. At the Eed Sea Israel thought they were lost. The sea of affliction shall be opened up. Its smitten waves shall overwhelm the foe, " for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians" (Ex. xiv. 24, 25); or sink into silence at the command of its Maker and Ruler. " All the deeps of the river shall dry up." (c) Enemies shall not impede them. " The pride of Assyria shall be brought down." The rod of Egypt shall be broken. The wonders of old shall be repeated, and the first deliverance shall be eclipsed by the last. II. The settlement of God's people. " I will bring them into the land of Gilead " beyond Jordan, the eastern, "and Lebanon," the northern, boundary. 1. Settled them in Divine strength. "I will strengthen them in the Lord." Strengthen them to resist temptation, discharge duty, and endure trial. " Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." 2. Settled them in delightful freedom. " I have redeemed them " (ver. 8) : spiritually and temporally, the type of the true Israel. " I gave Egypt for their ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee." III. The increase of God's people. " And they shall increase as they have increased." 1. Increase by sou: Ing them in other nations. As seed sown in the ground they were scattered, not merely to spread the knowledge of God, but to be quickened in themselves, and to quicken others. "The word is used of sowing to multiply," says Pusey, "never of mere scattering. A rich harvest was to spring from them." " I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with tire seed of man, and with the seed of beast." 2. Increase with unparalleled degree. " Place shall not be found for them." "A promise of such increase is a promise that includes much more than it. 664 HOMILETIC COMMENT ART: ZECHARIAH. [chap. X. expresses. Tt implies in it all that contributes to such rapid multiplication." "The children of thy bereaved estate shall yet say in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place, that I may dwell." 3. Increase in permanent duration. "They shall live with their children and turn again." The gift would be a continual gift. "They and their children, and their children's children for ever" (Ezek. xxxvii. 14). The blessing would not be transient, but abiding; the chartered privileges would be as before the dispersion. "The promise is unto you and to your children." HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 9. Here we seem to have their dispersions, their penitent recognition of God, and their consequent pre- servation and return [Wardlaw], Sow (hem, partly to keep them as winter seed in the ground till the spring-time of their conversion and restitution ; and partly making them seed to bring in an increase of the fulness of the Gentiles at their con- version. Further, the Lord promiseth that scattering should not hinder their conversion, for the veil shall be taken away, and they shall remember the Lord, and they and their children being preserved shall return to God \Hutcheson\. They shall remember me — 1. May be applied to the Jews ; and 2. to the conversion of sinners. It indicates — ■ 1. That men have forgotten God, wandered into distance from him. 2. That true conversion is a " turning again " to God in humility and duty. A state of unregeneration is one of forgetful ness. Sinners have lost all sense of God's glory, authority, and mercy. The first religious exercise of the mind is reflection, fitly represented in the prodigal when he came to himself. Then a return to God the Father. " All the ends of the world shall remember ami turn unto the Lord." Ver. 12. Security and happiness under Divine protection. 1. Christian knowledge; a knowledge of God's name revealed to direct and encourage in duty. ••The name of Jehovah is a compre- hensive expression denoting his glory as manifested in history" (Hengs.). 2. Christian profession. To walk in his name, or maintain a course of life in harmony with God's will and word. 3. Christian freedom. " They shall walk up and down." " The expression seems further to imply a state of felt peace, and freedom, and confidence of safety, and happy social intercommunion, aris- ing from faith in God — from unshaken reliance on his power and wisdom, faithfulness and love" [Wardlawl. I will strengthen them in the Lord. The very assurance we want in the duties and trials of life. Confidently rely upon it, for it comes from the lips of Faithfulness and Truth. But we may err as to manner of fulfilment ; our expectation therefore to be regulated accordingly. Observe, that the fulfilment of the promise will not exempt us from all ground of complaint, it will keep us in work, but not cause us to cease- secures help in conflict, but war lasts for ever. // will also he seasonable. " As thy days, so shall thy strength be." Look for grace, not for imaginary but real purposes, not for future but present difficulties, to "help in time of need." These supplies of strength to he sought in God's own way. In the use of appointed means. Foolish to avoid religious exercises, even when not in a proper, spiritual, and lively frame. Then the means most necessary, as fire when we are cold, and excitement when dull [Jatj]. Vers. 10 — 12. Messianic mercies. Survey the whole promise from ch. ix. 1 1 onwards ; there are two leading thoughts developed in it. (a) That those members of the covenant nation who were still scattered among the heathen should be redeemed out of their misery, and gathered together in the kingdom of Messiah. (6) That the Lord would endow all his people with CHAP. X.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : ZECHARIAH. GCj power for the conquest of the heathen. They were both fulfilled in weak com- mencements only in the times immedi- ately following, and down to the coming of Christ, by the return of many Jews out of captivity and into the land of their fathers, particularly when Galilee was strongly peopled \>y Israelites : and also by the protection and care which God bestowed upon the people in the contests between the powers of the world for supremacy in Palestine. The principal fulfilment is of a spiritual kind, and was effected through the gathering of Jews into the kingdom of Christ, which commenced in the times of the apostles, and will continue till the remnant of Israel is converted to Christ its Saviour [iTe/Z]. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER X. Vers. 1, 2. Ask rain. Men seem practically to have but little remembrance that the mainspring of all mechanism of second causes is in the hands of an invisible Creator ; that it is not from what goes on in the hidden laboratories of what they call nature that season succeeds season, and shower and sun- shine alternate with so much of beautiful and beneficent order, but that the whole arrangement is momentarily dependent upon the will and energy of that Supreme Being who "sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers " [Melville] . Ver. 3. Shepherds. As hired servants will tend men's sheep no longer than it is profitable to them, so is it with promotion-seeking ministers \Cawdry\. Ver. 4. The administration of govern- ment, like a guardianship, ought to be directed to the good of those who confer, and not of those who receive, the trust [Cicero]. Vers. 5, 6. Mighty men. Power is according to quality and not quantity. How much more are men than nations ! [Emerson]. Where power is absent we may find the robe of genius, but we miss the throne [Landor]. Vers. 7, 8. "The house of Judah, and the house of Joseph," spoken of in the first of these verses, signify respect- ively, the two tribes and the fen tribes — unitedly, the whole house of Israel — the posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The declaration, "I will save them, and bring them again and place them," cannot refer to the return from Babylon ; seeing, in that respect, they had been already "saved," and "brought again," and " placed." And the language is much too strong to have reference to any such remaining partial deliverances and returnings — additions only to that from Babylon — which might take place under the Maccabean princes, or at any period of their history between the prophet's days and the coming of Christ. And if it refers to a period subsequent to the coming of Christ, to what else can the reference be but to their recovery from their present long-continued outcast and scattered condition'? [Wardlaiv]. Vers. 9 — 12. The victory described is followed by a large increase of popu- lation, not confined to Judah, but also including Israel. Nor is there reason to doubt that the independence achieved by the Maccabees attracted very many of the exiles from the northern kingdom, who forgot the old causes of dissension, and united earnestly in maintaining the re-established national centre in Jerusa- lem. This fusion at home led to a similar fusion abroad, and "wherever Jews were found, who preserved their hereditary faith at all, they still remem- bered Jehovah as one who had chosen Zion, and considered themselves as con- stituent parts of one covenant people. So far the predictions of the chapter were fulfilled historically in the period extending from the establishment of Jewish independence to the time of the advent. In the last three verses the prophet describes a far greater, because spiritual, blessing in terms borrowed from the old experience of the people. The drying up of the sea, the humiliation 666 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECHARIAH. [chap, xi of Assyria, the overthrow of Egypt, reclaim and bless them by procedures as simply set forth the removal of all marvellous as any that ever occurred in possible obstacles in the way of a their former history [Lange]. spiritual return to God. The Lord will CHAPTEE XI. Critical Notes.] In this chapter we have a contrast to the former. It was necessary to promise blessings to encourage, and to warn, lest many should presume by vain confidence in the promises. We have the destruction of the second temple and of the Jewish polity for the rejection of Christ. Lebanon] t. e. the temple, lofty and magnificent as the mountain. " The picture is a dramatic one. Instead of the devastation of Lebanon being announced, it is summoned to open its gates that the fire may be able to enter in and devour its cedars. The cypresses, which hold the second place amono- the celebrated woods of Lebanon, are then called upon to howl over the fall of the cedars, not so much from sympathy as because the same fate awaits them " [Keil]. 2. Forest] Lit. the fortified or inaccessible forest, JerusaLm, with houses numerous, and built close together, and round which was a wall (cf. Mic. iii. 12). 3. Shepherds] In reference to office, and young lions] in disposition. Jordan] with its thickets and decorated banks, which furnished lairs for lions. Jewish leaders are represented as despairing at the destruction of their polity. 4.] The cause of the ruin. Feed] The prophet to act the part of a good shepherd. Flock] Jewish nation. 5. Possessors] Lit buyers, who think they can sell or slay for their own advantage. 6. I] Divine pity would not be shown to them ; they would be left to civil discord and foreign rule. King] Roman emperor (John xix. 15). 7. I] The prophet executed the task committed to him by shepherding a sad (poor) flock. Two staves] " to set forth the kind of double salvation bestowed upon the nation through the care of the Good Shepherd" [Keil]. Beauty] Loveliness or favour (Ps. xxvii. 4 ; xc. 17) ; which Jehovah will give them in protecting them from foes. Bands] Internal union and friendship. Easterns tied a cord or band as a symbol of confederacy (cf. Ps. cxix. 61, marg.). 8.] First act of shepherd. Cut off] Lit. cause to disappear, destroy, or annihilate (Ex. xxiii. 23). Three] orders— civil authorities, priests, and prophets (cf. Jer. ii. 8, 18) ; others, three rulers of Asmonean line — who died by violent death in a short space of time — Hircanus, Alexander, and Antigonus. Loathed] Was straitened for- th eru : "the Divine grief at the misery of his people" [Pitsey]. Abhorred] "Nauseated me." 9. Let it] Perish those who are doomed to perish. All kindly control is withdrawn, and the flock is left to the consequences of its fatal rejection of deliverance. The fulfilment in the history of Jerusalem. 10. Break] Symbolic action of taking away the good received by the flock in form of covenant. " That is to say, the covenant which God has made with all nations is to be repealed or destroyed" [Keil]. 11. Broken] The covenant annulled as the staff was broken. This not observed by the flock at huge, only by the poor] who recognized the fulfilment of a Divine word (Jer. xxxii. 8). 12. Good] " He served them, not lor wages, but in obedience to the Divine will." Wages, however, were due; the price of a slave offered. 13.] It was contemptuously rejected. Jehovah regards the wages offered to himself. Goodly] Noble price, ironical. Potter] As worthless. 14.] Worse evil threatened than the former. Second, utter breaking up of the nation, and loss of fraternal unity. 15.] Since the Good Shepherd was rejected a very different class would shepherd them. Take] again. Instruments] A crook, bag, pipe, and knife, &c. Foolish] Bad shepherd (Ps. xiv. 1). 16.] Conduct of tlit— ruler described; not mere neglect, but destroys (cf. Ezek. xxxiv. 3, 4). Enumera- tion of particulars complete. Claws] Tearing oil' hoofs, disabling them from seeking pasture, expressive of ferocious greed. Even extremities rent rather than lose a shred of flesh. 17. Woe] These merciless rul< ra meet with retribution. Leaveth] Instead of guarding the flock. Arm] Instrument of tyranny. Right eye] The organ of vigilance (John x. 12, 13). The former withered, and the latter l>li>ni<) As benefactors, they are the salt of the earth, the light of the world. ('•) As intercessors, they pray for others as well as themselves, (d) As the of the earth, they are better than navies and armies. Ten righteous men would have saved Sodom. 4. Unlawful sorrow. We sorrow, not as those without hope. (") Your mourning would not be proper if accompanied with murmuring; lb) if ungrateful; (c) if it called you away from present things. Every day has its duties [The Preacher's Treasury]. The Flock of Slaughter. — Verses 4 — 6. The prophet here performs in vision the acts enjoined, and becomes a represent- ative of the Messiah, who feeds those willing to be fed, and punishes those who reject him. But by obstinate wickedness, instead of becoming " the sheep of his pasture," they become " the flock of slaughter," doomed to destruction. I. The shepherds of the flock were worthless. Not merely negligent, but very wicked. 1. They had no compassion. "Their own shepherds pity them not." Sad when ministers have no benevolent feeling for their flocks — when rulers in every department under their control are devoid of conscience. 2. They were avaricious. They bought and sold, to make gain of the flock. They sought only to gratify self and covetous desires. "All other love is extinguished by self love; beneficence, humanity, justice, philosophy sink under it" [Epicurus]. 3. They were cruel. " Whose possessors slay them." In ruthless cruelty " they ate the fat, and clothed themselves with the wool, and killed them that were fed." " Yea, they are greedy dogs, which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand : they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter." 4. They are hypocritical. They say, "Blessed be the Lord." They are cruel and oppressive, yet profess to be religious ! They succeed in ways which God abhors and reprobates, and then thank God for their riches ! Sin is most daring when committed and defended under the pretence of piety, and claiming the approval of God in success. Sanctimonious hypocrisy is often displayed in covetousness and self-aggrandizement. " Hypocrites do the devil's drudgery in Christ's livery," says one. II. The flock itself is given up to destruction. 1. Divine pity teas withdrawn. God had often displayed compassionate forbearance towards them, but now he "will no more pity the inhabitants of the land." 2. Evil discord rent them asunder. The zealots and factious Jews expelled and slew one another in the siege of Jerusalem. " I will deliver the men, every one into his neighbour's hand." 3. The land- was smitten by the foe. " They shall smite the land." The people generally and individually were delivered into the hands of the Boman emperor. With indignant voice they rejected their own lawful ruler, and cried, " We have no king but Ccesar!" They were dispossessed of their trust, and their precious inheritance was given to others. Those who should have been protectors became oppressors. Without friends or helpers, they were destroyed as a nation, "and live only to perpetuate the memory of their past history, and teach more vividly its great Lessons of sin and retribution." "Out of their hand I will not deliver them." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 4. 1. The wretched flock. For- 2. The tender compassion of Jehovah. saken and flayed by the shepherds, " Feed them," foster and preserve them counted all day for the slaughter, with affectionate care. " 0 the goodness CHAP. XI.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECIIARIAIT. 669 of God to a nation so shamelessly, so lawlessly wicked. He himself, the Shepherd of Israel, neglected no good office in seeking and feeding them ; was careful to raise up shepherds for them (Mic. v. 5), till at length he sent the Man, Christ Jesus, the Chief Shepherd, who came to look up the lost sheep of the house of Israel, whom (to move compassion and affection) he here calleth the sheep of slaughter, until the time prefixed for their total dispersion, by reason of ingratitude" [Trapp\. Ver. 5. 1. Wickedness declared to be innocent. "They slay them, and hold themselves not guilty." They thought there was no wrong in it, and would not be called to account for it. "All that found them have devoured them : and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the Lord " (Jer. 1. 6, 7). 2. Wick- edness claiming God as its associate. " Blessed be the Lord." Can anything be more offensive to God than to thank him for the gains of oppression and fraud ! " To what point does not art reach 1 Some learn even to weep with grace" [Ovid]. 3. Wickedness justified by success. " I am rich." I have succeeded in business, prospered in family and estate, therefore I must be right. God has blessed me, I may thank him ! " Success consecrates the foulest crimes " \Seneca\ Thus while "through covet- ousness they with feigned words made merchandise of men," they at the same time sought to impose upon the omnis- cient God, and to put him off with words and forms, in which there was no heart and no moral or spiritual obedience. There could not be a juster description of the leading features in the character of the Pharisees. These were avarice and hypocrisy : their hypocrisy being, as is the wont of religious dissemblers, accompanied with a large amount of ostentation and parade. Mark the manner in which our Lord speaks of them (Matt, xxiii. 14, 23—25). Ver. 6. No more pity. 1. God's pity is very great. Had been displayed in wonderful ways to his people, and is to us. 2. But this pity is limited. ' ' No more." Forbearance will reach its limit, and heavy woes will fall upon those who despise it. Observe the evils threatened — (a) Deadly feuds ; (b) Foreign yoke ; (c) Dispossession of land ; and (d) Help- less misery. " They shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them." " Mercy to him that shows it is the rule " [Cowper]. HOMILETICS. The Two Staves ; or Beauty and Bands. — Verse 7. The two staves are differently explained, indicating, according to some, the dmble care of Christ for his flock. Henderson takes them as symbols of " the two modes of treatment " which the Jews had experienced " under the guidance and protection of God." Beauty has been rendered grace or favour. Taken in its connection (ver. 10), it means the covenant of God, with all its blessings and special favours. Bands signify unity or brotherhood, which binds men together (ver. 14). I. The staff Beauty. " The one I called Beauty." This symbolizes — 1. God's gifts to men. The gifts of pastors, the wisdom of senators, and the power of princes come from God. 2. God's presence with men. Purity of worship and principle in the nation — holiness in character and usefulness in the Church — are beauties which attract and adorn. The image of God, the beauties of holiness, are most desirable. " Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us." 3. God's defence of men. God's covenant was a pledge of defence to them as long as they kept it. Thus God's favour is better than armies and fleets, wealth and valour, in the protection of a people. This alone beautifies and strengthens. " For God is my defence, and the God of my mercy." II. The staff Bands. " The other I called Bands." Binders sjinlxdize the unity or brotherhood among men. 1. This 670 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY ': ZECHARIAH. [chap. xi. alone is the gift of God. In the gospel we have a basis of brotherhood, and motiv( it. The bands of friendship and marriage, the contracts of business, and the treaties of nations may be broken. But in Christ we have a living, universal, and everlasting brotherhood of humanity. 2. How strong an m n when thus bound togeth r. Foes without cannot destroy unity within. " Union gives strength and lirnmess to the humblest aids." 3. How weak are men when not thus bound together. Factions and civil discords in the nation, divisions in i]m ( 'hmvli. and discords in the family, will bring ruin. Nothing can beautify or defend a broken people. "Men's hearts," says Carlyle, "ought not to be set againsl one another, but set with one another, and all against the evil thing only." If you wish to retain strength and beauty, co-operate together, in obedience to the Great Shepherd, and under the rule of Beauty and Bands. "Every kingdom divided pgainst itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand." The Shepherd Prophet. — Verses 7. 8. I. The charge. The command was given, "Feed the sheep" (ver. 4). Eagerly does the prophet undertake the duty, and become a type of Christ. " Lo, I come to do thy will, O my God." But notice the condition of the flock. 1. A helpless Hock. In the hands of cruel shepherds; bought and sold by strangers, oppressed by native rulers. 2. A miserable flock. "Poor of the flock," lit. truly miserable sheep. Men may be poor without being miserable. But the Jewish people Avere reduced to a most unhappy condition. As in the days of Christ, they were harassed and worried (Matt. ix. 36) ; lost sheep (x. 36). The poor are not despised, the lost are sought out, and the wounded are healed by the gospel. " I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick." II. The method of executing the charge. " And I fed the flock " (ver. 7). He performed, like Christ, the work of a good shepherd to the Jewish nation. 1. He furnished himself with staves. " I took unto me two staves." He did all he could to bind them together in unity and obedience, and direct them to the grace and favour of God. 2. He destroyed the oppressors of the flock. "I cut off three shepherds." "These," says a critic, "were the persons of influence by whom the affairs of the nation were conducted, and to whose wickedness, which reached its culminating point when they crucified the Lord of glory, the destruction of the is to be ascribed." 3. He was grieved in soid at the condition of the flock. "My soul loathed them." He witnessed the fearful wickedness of rulers and teachers. He was deeply pained, "vexed from day to day with their unlawful deeds." This was the feeling of Christ, and will be the feeling of all true shepherds. Sad the wickedness which creates tears of the Saviour! If "every human feeling is greater and larger than the exciting cause," as Coleridge says, what must be the loathing of him who sees the hearts of all men ! " He knew what was in man." HOMILETIQ HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 7. I fed the flock. Christ the xiv. 6: lleb. xiii. 20: 1 Pet. ii. 25)" King of men. The poor in .spirit are [Wordsworth]. chosen to be rich in faith, and hens of Ver. 8. My soul loathed them. his kingdom. "Jehovah in Christ did 1. Divine compassion. "Loathed," lit. the work of a Good Shepherd to the was straitened ; the opposite of enlarged Jewish nation during the whole of his towards them, in love and tender com- earthly mini-try (cf. John x. 11 — 14 j passion (2 Cor. vi. 11, 12). "His soul chap, xi.] II0M1LETIC COMMENTARY: ZECHARUH. 671 -was grieved (shortened) for the misery men. " I will not feed them " (ver. 9). of Israel" (Judges x. 16). 2. Human 3. The impenitent flock and the grieved abhorrence. "Their soul also abhorred Shepherd. God is infinitely happy and me." " My soul did not loathe them incapable of grief, yet acts as if he felt first, but their soul first despised me, the sins and miseries of men. "The therefore my soul abhorred them." The Good Shepherd lost patience with their soul which drives away God's good perverse impenitence, and they, on the Spirit comes at last to loathe him and other hand, loathed him for his spiritu- the thought and mention of him [Pusey]. ality and holiness" [Lange]. Christ No room was left by them for the grace cannot be rejected with impunity. Even of God, and his favours were rejected the Jews, who "did it ignorantly in [Calvin]. Learn that unbelief creates unbelief," paid a terrible penalty for a mutual distaste between God and the their crime ; how much more terrible sinner. " Their soul nauseated me " is will be the punishment of those who the real meaning — that alienation from have all their unbelief without any of God will lead to God's withdrawal from their ignorance [Id.]. HOMILETICS. GOD WITHDRAWN', AND MAN GIVEN UP TO HIS OWN DESTRUCTION. VerSCS 9 11. The treatment which the Shepherd received leads him to give up feeding the flock, and leave it to its fate. Israel rejected Jehovah, and was in turn rejected. The staves were broken, and the miserable flock have experienced the weight of the words, " Woe unto them when I depart from them ! " Learn — I. That God may withdraw himself from men on account of their sins. "Then said I, I will not feed you." God woos and awes men; instructs and chastises them ; loads them with benefits and corrects them in evil ; uses all possible means to keep them in his ways : but they despise his long-suffering, and provoke his wrath. The greatest favours of God often draw forth the worst mani- festation of conduct. Men persist in rebellion, refuse when God calls, and are ultimately left to their folly. " My .Spirit shall not always strive with man." II. That when God withdraws himself from men fearful punishment falls upon them for their sins. How awful the picture given here. 1. Destruction most effectual. " It was broken in that day." If not suddenly, the Jewish nation suffered eventually. God has power to execute judgments, and nothing escapes his notice. 2. Destruction in manifold toays. (1) By pestilence. "That that dieth, let it die." (2) By the sivord. " And that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off." (3) By famine. " Let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.'" (4) By intestine feuds. God withdrew, and ceased to be "a wall of fire round about them." The staff Beauty, the covenant, was broken, and fearful was the fulfilment. When the Bomans forced admission into their city, famine and pestilence, feuds and mutual hatred, had done their work. Josephus tells us that every law of nature and humanity was broken ; that even the very letter was fulfilled : " The left over shall eat every one of the flesh of his neighbour." The Observant Few. — Verse 11. When the staff was broken, and calamities were threatened, this was not observed by all. Only a small number gave heed to Jehovah, and recognized the fulfilment of the Divine word. Their character, attitude, and experience are described. I. Their character is described. " The poor of the flock." Poor in condition and poor in spirit. The nation was gone astray, but God had "a seed to serve GT-2 HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: ZECHARIAH. [CHAP. xi. him." The people were doomed, but Jesus had a "little flock." However low the condition of the world, Cod lias always a " remnant according to the election of grace." II. Their attitude is described. They " waited upon me." They prayed to God for mercy; observed God in the warnings and actions of the prophet. They discerned the hand of God in the signs of the times, just as the disciples saw coming judgments in the siege of Jerusalem, and fled to Pella. "Whoso readeth, let him understand (mark, consider, 2 Tim. ii. 7) it" (Matt. xxiv. 15). III. Their experience is described. They knew that it was " the word of the Lord." They understood the word of God, however perplexing it was to others; were sensible of God's displeasure, and cherished a humble spirit. Events Avhich are common occurrences, chances of war to some, are warnings of God to others. Let faithful pastors be encouraged from these words. Prophets before them have shared their lot — ministered to a flock, despised by the world, but distinguished by the mark that they know the Lord. Jesus himself thought it not beneath him to shepherd " a little flock," whom he will own at the great day. The Shepherd's Price. — Verses 12 — 14. The prophet, representing Jehovah, demands the price for his services. The Jews were God's peculiar people, blessed above all others, and should have made grateful return. But they offered forms for sincerity, added injury to insult, and sold the Messiah for thirty pieces of silver. I. A price of their own rating. " If ye think good, give me my price ; and if not, forbear." As their servant, he sought their love and obedience. He will not force, but leave it to free-will. If men withhold what is due, God will not con- strain them to give. His goodness should bind us to love him. " Love sought is good, but given unsought is better " [Shakespeare], II. A price most contempt- ible. "They weighed, for my price, thirty pieces of silver." They gave him the price of a bond-servant, half the value of a free-man — the compensation for a slave that had been killed (Ex. xxi. 32: Matt. xxvi. 15). "A goodly price" — a splendid value that has been set upon me ! Good men are not half valued in the world. What wonder when Christ, the Son of God, was sold so cheaply ! III. A price rejected by the Shepherd. " Cast it unto the potter." The most suitable person to whom to cast the despicable sum, who plies his trade in the valley of polluted (lay (2 Kings xxiii. 10). An action significant of the mind of God, and the doom of the people. God values our smallest service if offered in sincerity, but contempt of his Son will meet with death. IV. A price which brought Jehovah's displeasure upon them. "Then I cut asunder mine other Staff" (ver. 14). The shameful payment by the people leads to the abandonment to their fate. Fraternal unity is . There is no greater punishment than that of being abandoned to one's self [Pannier Uurs- //points it ; he alone effects it. He is present all through the operation. III. The utility of the trial. 1. It is a sign of precioiisness. We never prune the bramble, nor try the worthless. 2. It is a test of genuineness. 3. It is a medium of purification. 4. It is a preparation fur service [0. Stanford]. HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 1. This word " Behold " signi- troubled, and all Judaea with him." ficth that this coming of Christ in the With a whip only he rushed into the flesh should be — 1. New, admirable, temple and drove out the money- and stupendous. 2. Sure and certain, changers. On the mount of transfigura- 3. Desirable and joyful. 4. Famous tion, in the garden, at death, and in his and renowned [JWtpp]. resurrection were displays of majesty. Ver. 2. Who may abide the day ? Secondly, it may be exemplified in his There is something awful even in refer- detection of character. All through his 'in'', to Christ's coming in the flesh, ministry his eyes were a flame of fire. First, in the occasional emanations and He silenced those who ensnared him, displays of his majesty. Herod ".was knew all men, and needed not that any chap, in.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY .- MJLACIII. 721 should testify of man. Thirdly, it may just the right heat, neither too hot nor be exemplified in the calamities which too cold, keeping the metal in the fire icere to follow the rejection of him. They the exact time, for none of heaven's pure said, " His blood be upon us," and it fell ore will be destroyed. What tender- upon them, and rests upon them now. ness, care, and anxiety. 3. The design But their unspeakable sufferings were of it. To " purify," that they may offer only emblems of those more dreadful an offering in righteousness. Right punishments to which they are exposed service springs from purified men. There " who have trodden under foot the Son may be gilt, but not gold. Hence " the of God," &c. For there is another fining-pot is for silver, and the furnace coming and appearance of Christ. Only for gold ; but the Lord trieth the those who have a better righteousness hearts." than their own can stand [W. Jay], Ver. 5. 1. Monstrous evils in their Vers. 3, 4. The refining process, source. They " fear not me. " 2. Mon- 1. The objects of it. "The sons of strous evils in their detection. "I will Levi." The purest Church and the be a swift witness against " them in pro- holiest saints need refining. Gold, the vidence and the ministry of the gospel, thing valued most, is tried or proved by 3. Monstrous evils in their residts. " I fire ; but God's people are more precious will come near to you," though you cry, than gold. 2. The method of it. " He Where is the God of justice 1 &c. sits" tempering the fire, and making it HOMILETICS. The Unchanging God. — Verse 6. God judges the wicked and purifies the righteous to carry out his immutable purpose of love. He changes not, therefore the sons of Israel do not perish. I. God is unchangeable, therefore his character should not be maligned. " I Jehovah, I change not." Sin may triumph, judgments appear long, but we must never infer from this that God has changed. God is the same in essence and act as ever. He is not less wise and mighty, just and true, than at the beginning. Whatever be the character of his dispensation, he is the eternal and immutable One, "with whom is no variableness (vicissitudes, eclipses, and decreases, like planets), nor shadow (adumbrations, like stars in different sites and positions) of turning" (James i. 17). II. God is unchangeable, therefore his covenant abides. Man's word is recalled, altered, or forgotten. Man's conduct is fickle, self-willed, and sinful. But " God is not a man, that he should lie ; neither the son of man, that he shoidd repent : hath he said, and shall he not do it 1 or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" God's covenant with Israel is " equipped and sure" (2 Sam. xxiii. 5). The ingratitude and unfaithfulness of man can never annul it. Nothing can be reversed. " The gifts and calling of God are without repentance " (i. e. immutable and unalterable) (Rom. ii. 29). III. God is unchangeable, therefore his people are not consumed. " Ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." We are fretful and impatient with one another, despair of amendment and love ; but God waits patiently, never casts off entirely, and abides by his word of promise. We provoke him to anger, but he remembers his covenant. "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not." Divine Blessings Suspended. — Verses 7 — 12. In these words God explains why his blessings have been withheld, reproves the people for keeping back tithes and offerings, and promises abundant blessings on condition of repentance. I. Why are Divine blessings withheld ? The reason is not found in God, but 46 110M1LETIC COMMENTARY: MALACHI. [chap. hi. in tire people. God is not unwilling to bless, nor slack concerning his promise, but they do not i'ullil the conditions. 1. They have rebelled against God. "Ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them" (ver. 7). Their sins were of long continuance, imitated by posterity, and defended with pertinacity. 2. They have robbed God. They defrauded God in a twofold sense. The priests did not discharge their sacrificial duties rightly, and the Levites could not officiate foi ( !od, because driven away in destitution. How, therefore, can God bless them in their, apostasy? The reward of obedience cannot be given to the disobedient. II. On what conditions will Divine blessings be given ? They are called upon to prove God, to test him, by complying with his Avish (ver. 10). 1. Return to God. " Return unto me, and I will return unto you " (ver. 7). If they return in penitence, he will return in blessings. Distance from God will hinder the fulfil- ment of every promise. 2. Pay God his dues. " Bring all the tithes into the storehouse " (ver. 10). No wonder men do not morally conform to the Divine will when they neglect the smaller duty of sacrifice. All, not a part of the tithes must be given. Nothing must be kept back, for God has a right to the firstfruits and the best of everything. Then, if these conditions are complied with, the curse will be removed, blessings like fruitful showers will fall upon them. 1. The temple will he blessed. The treasury will be filled. There will be meat, not superfluity, for those who minister in my house. 2. The land will be blessed. The devouring locusts will be rebuked, the fruits of earth shall not be destroyed, and the grapes of the vintage shall not miscarry. " Ye shall be a delightsome land." 3. The people will be blessed. "All nations shall call you blessed" (ver. 12). If we honour God with our substance and free-will offerings, we shall not lose in this world. The windows of heaven will open, and no real good will be withheld. So happy will be our condition, so fertile our farms and lands, that all men will call us blessed. " Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase ; so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine." Eobbing God. — Verse 8. "When exhorted to return, they reply in a spirit of pride and self-righteousness. Eeturn to God ! In what 1 Have we, the chosen race, the holy people, departed I n>in God1? Yes, replies the prophet, in those very things in which you profess to be exact. You do not duly pay tithes and offerings, though rebuked by the famine for neglect. You defraud God, therefore, of his dues. This is a common sin in ( Shristian worship ;md daily life. I. Men rob God of worship. Man is made to worship. God alone is the proper object of worship. To him we owe reverence, homage, and praise. But to withhold these or transfer them to the creature is to rob God. II. Men rob God of time. < >ur times lire in his hands. But time is not valued nor turned to good account. The Sabbath, expressly claimed for God, is neglected. Youth, "the morning of life, and maturity of age are given to pleasure." "Redeem the time." '• Time wasted is existence, used is life" [Young]. III. Men rob God of talents. All gifts are bestowed by God, should be improved and consecrated to him. But to devote them to sinful conversation and unlawful pursuits is to rob God. "What hast thou that thou didst not receive1? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it 1 " HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 7. 1. The charge of defection. " From the days of your fathers." Pos- Gone away and not kept the ordinances terity walking in the steps of their of God. (1) Defection of long standing, fathers, and thus entailing a curse upou CHAP III.] 1I0MILETIC COMMENTARY : MALACEL Tis generation after generation. (2) Defec- tion of stubborn spirit. " Wherein shall we return1?" In wilful ignorance and prejudice, in frivolous excuses and self- righteousness, they challenge the charge and demand particulars. 2. The invita- tion to return. " Return unto me," &c. (1) This invitation displays the great mercy of God. After such long and grievous apostasy he offers to be recon- ciled. (2) This invitation aggravates the impenitent conduct of men. No excuse can be made. '' I will return unto you." Ver. 8. Rob God! How base; what presumption, and what folly ! " In what ? God specifies two things only, obvious, patent, which, as being material things, they could not deny. In tithes and offerings " [Pusey]. A striking in- stance found in Neh. xiii. 10. Ver. 10. Prove me. 1. Prove God concerning his promise of mercy to the penitent sinner and the troubled Chris- tian. 2. Prove God concerning the blessings promised to his house. 3. Prove God concerning his predictions of good to his Church, In these and in other ways God shows marvellous love and condescension, and pledges himself in a way in which he can verify his word. "Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the peeple began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty : for the Lord hath blessed his people ; and that which is left is this great store (2 Chron. xxxi. 10). Vers. 10 — 12. How much depends upon giving ourselves an offering wholly unto the Lord ! The offerings now required are our hearts, and all that comes from them. But if the Lord was so strict in tithes, how much more with our hearts ! Dost thou wish the full blessing of God 1 then be exact in what- ever is thy duty. What is our duty1? Whatever God requires of us, in great or little, in his service or in every-day life. How can he who is not strict in duty hope or pray for the full blessing of God 1 \Lange\ HOMILETICS. Hard Sayings against God. — Verses 13 — 15. The people still murmur against God, and openly declare that there is no profit in serving him, because the righteous have no advantage over the wicked. But this murmuring is unjust, and the coming judgment will make a distinction between those who fear God and those who fear him not. Some of their hard words are given. The common sentiment of the time was that piety brings no reward, and the religious error of the time that observance of outward forms was the service which God should bless. I. God's service is falsified. "It is vain to serve God." 1. This sentiment springs from a wrong estimation of God's service. It is not a mercenary service. The Jews waited not upon God in love, but in hope of being well paid. Religion is not a bargain, but affection, obedience, and gratitude to God. It is not a mournful but a delightful service. "What profit that we have walked mourn- fully," in black and in grief1? Fasting, prescribed or voluntary, was considered meritorious, had claims upon God, and when left unrewarded, they complained against God. " Wherefore have we fasted, and thou seest not ? Wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge1?" 2. This sentiment is denied by Scripture. Paul seems to give some truth to it when he says, " If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." But from the same person we learn that " Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." God himself told the Jews that the meanest act for him would not be left without reward (ch. i. 10). In every sense, " wisdom's ways are Ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are paths of peace." " Riches and honour are with me ; my fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver." 3. This sentiment is HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: MJLACHL [chap. hi. contradicted by Christian experience. God's people have found God's service their t happiness and joy. They have tasted that the Lord is good, and that the man who trusts in him is blessed. Whatever be their outward condition, their spiritual experience gives the lie to such an impudent statement concerning God's service. " Blessed are they that do his commandments." II. God's justice is impugned. Because they met with no reward for their services; because the wicked seemed to prosper rather than the righteous; they openly declared that God's favourites were proud and ungodly men. The wicked have put God to the test, they reply, calling down vengeance from heaven; but they are built up, and flourish, and though they have tempted God by breaking his laws, yet they are delivered from misfortune. Hence they gave wrong verdicts, and set at nought the decrees of God. " We call the proud happy." We should not cavil against God's dealings Eor many reasons. 1. We cannot read the heart. How do we know who are happy, and who are not happy. Men most prosperous outwardly may be most miserable inwardly. Beneath the splendid show may be "the worm, the canker, and the grief." And men most afflicted may be most happy. The glare of prosperity should not blind our judgment. " Be not rash with thy mouth, and let qoI thine heart he hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth." 2. We forget the future. For a time the proud may be happy, but their happiness is shortlived, "only for a season," and does not satisfy. The wicked may be set up, but they build on a wrong foundation, and great may be their fall. Those who tempt and defy God, may be delivered for the present ; but God is often most angry with men when he seems best pleased; sweeps them away when their inward thought is to continue for ever. On earth what a curse, and how uncertain their prosperity ! But at the great day, how sudden, complete, and terrible their overthrow ! Headlong their fall, without escape, and without hope. " How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment ! They are utterly consumed with terrors." Divine Recognition of Christian Fellowship. — Verses 16 — 18. The prophet now contrasts the faithful few with the sceptical many. While the ungodly were uttering hard sayings, those who feared God held mutual inter- course, defended God's dealings, and encouraged one another to love and trust him. A remnant has always been found in the darkest days, whom God has noticed and blessed. I. The practice they adopted. In character and conduct they stand out in remarkable contrast. 1. They were secretly pious. They "thought upon his name." The wicked do not think upon God; or if they do, their thoughts concerning him are sin i'ul and vain. The righteous, in contrast, esteem and ever seek to honour the name of God. They meditate upon his perfections, works, and words, and their meditation is sweet. 2. They were personally sincere. They "feared the Lord," not in slavish terror, but with awe and filial reverence. They were loyal and true in their profession. The root of the matter was in them. Fear was the secret spring, the hidden power of holy life. 3. They openly encouraged one another. So powerful was their piety, that it was revealed in their speech, (ii) They spoke openly " one to another," without fear or shame, (b) They spoke often, to encourage and strengthen one another. Amid the atheism and ungodliness of the times, they mutually talked not about the politics of the nation, but of personal religion and the God they feared. II. The distinction they gained. Those who disregarded God would ridicule his people. But here is a caution to the Avicked, ami an encouragement to the godly. 1. God heard their conversation. "The Lord hearkened and heard it." God was thought to he forgetful, or an idle spectator of events. But not a sigh nor a prayer,- not a loyal word nor a feeble meeting, escape his notice. 2. God remembered their works. As earthly monarchs record the CHAP. III.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : MALACUL 725 deeds and remember the names of their servants, so the King of Heaven keeps a record of his people. The meanest service will not be forgotten. " Write this a memorial in a book." 3. God spared them on earth. " I will spare them," in con- trast with the doom of the wicked: "as a man spareth his own son," in tender compassion (Ps. ciii. 17, 18). All of mercy, nothing from merit. 4. God will reward them at judgment. In the coming day men will " return" to a right mind, and confess the justice of God. (a) They shall be separated from the wicked. "Discern between the righteous and the wicked." This not always possible on earth, will be easy at the great day. (b) They will be claimed as peculiar treasure. " They shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make np my jewels." They are precious to God, and will be owned and honoured by him. There is a solemn, an eternal distinction between those who serve God and those who serve him not. The. reward of God's servants is the greatest, the highest dis- tinction we can attain. What are all the distinctions of the world to refuge on earth and blessedness in heaven 1 Follow the example that you may share the honour and happiness of the saints. " Verily, there is a reward for the righteous : verily, he is a God that judge th in the earth." HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Yer. 14. Vain. They themselves are vain and most vain, for two reasons, and in two respects. First, they take them- selves to be servers of God. Secondly, they stick in the bark, serve him with the ontside only, honour him with the lips, and not with their hearts; they bring vain oblations, empty perform- ances, serve him with formalities which he rejects with scorn as he did the Pharisees' devotions (Luke xvi. 15) [Trapp]. Yer. 15. Proud, happy. A sentiment — 1. At variance with the truth of God. " Thou hast rebuked the proud, who are cursed" (Ps. cxix. 21). 2. Displaying ignorance. How do we know that the proud are happy1? Can we read their hearts? (Prov. xxi. 24). 3. Indicative of pride. They boast of their superior intelligence. " We call." " Pride is increased by ignorance ; those assume the most -who know the least" [6ray]. Yer. 16. The Divine jeioels. My jewels. It is a strong expression of value. Much in this world even on which God sets high value, though much that he condemns. Something which he distinguishes from all that sparkles and glitters with material lustre — from things which earthly and carnal men have most coveted and idolized. These jewels are scattered here and there, among earthly things ; not in a collected state, except in God's view. By him they are seen as one sacred company and fraternity. Unequal in degrees of purity and lustre, accounted the dross and off- scouring of society; but He to whom they belong sees them in a different light ; a beam of his radiant light falls on each, and all will see them at last. There will be a collecting, an assembling of them together. The grand act of righteous separation must bring the saints together, that the effect of re- demption may be conspicuously dis- played. Think of that stupendous know- ledge and power which will secure that none of them shall be missing, or will be lost ! Not one lost in the vastness of the scene ; not one that was even in the utmost obscurity in mortal life ; not one in the remotest corner of the earth, or island of the sea. When each sees all, each may wonder at the vigilance, the affectionate care, and the mighty power that will have brought them all together, after preserving them all separately, in infinite variety of circumstances and so many ages. Then, when the jewels are " made itp," he will pronounce, " they are mine." What triumph to hear it ! What congratulation with one another ! And what a situation that must be — in place and circumstances, felicity and glory — in which he will assign their abode within the immediate manifestation of his presence ! Looking at this pro- spect, which of us can be content that IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY : MALACIII. [crrAP. nr. his soul should be wanting when "the Lord of Hosts" shall "make up his jewels ! " "Who can bear the thought of being cast among the baser rejected things of creation, and for him to say, " That is not mine ; take it away ! " [J. Foster]. Ver. 17. Spare them. If a man spares any one, it will surely be his own son. The very relation pleads for him. He spares them as to exemption. He spares them as to correction. They are afflicted, but have alleviations. He spares them as to exertion. He con- siders their strength, and will not require of some what he ordains for others. He spares them as to acceptance. Their best actions are imperfect. Their obedi- ence needs pardon. He views all through Christ. He spared not him, that he might spare you. Never forget the kindness of God, and spare not your selves in his cause [Jay]. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER III. Vers. 1 — 5. Come. The last day will assign to every one a station suitable to his character; ranks will then be adjusted, and precedency set right ; then virtue will be rewarded and vice punished [Wilson]. A due considera- tion of this important subject is calcu- late I to rouse our minds, and to set on work those two grand engines and mighty springs of activity — viz., hope and fear [lb.]. Ver. 3. Refiner. A few ladies once met in Dublin to read the Scriptures and converse together. One lady said that the fuller's soap and the refiner of silver were only the same image intended to convey the same view of the sanctify- ing influences of the grace of Christ. " No," said another, "they are not just the same image ; there is something remarkable in the expression in this verse : ' he shall sit,' " &c. All thought it possibly might be so. This lady was to call upon a silversmith, and report to them what he said on the subject. She went, without telling the object of her visit, and begged to know the process of refining, which he fully described to her. " But do you sit while you are refining?" asked she. " 0 yes, madam ; I must sit with my eyes steadily fixed on the furnace, since if the silver remain too long it is sure to be injured," said he. " And how do you know when it is sufficiently refined ] " " Whenever I see my own image reflected in it, I know the process is completed." She at once saw the beauty and comfort of the expression [ WMtecross]. Ver. 6. Change not. In commercial crises manhood is at a greater discount than funds are. Suppose a man had said to me last spring, " If there comes a pinch in your affairs, draw upon me for ten thousand dollars." The man said so last spring, but I should not dare to draw on him this fall. I should say, " Times have changed ; he would not abide by it." But God's promises are " from everlasting to everlasting," and he always stands up to them. There never was a run on heaven that was not promptly met [Beecher]. Ver. 8. Rob. Special favours call for special gratitude and service, as those who rent the largest farms generally pay . the most for them [ Wilson]. In tithes. "Well may we think our substance due where we owe ourselves [Bp. Hall]. Vers. 9 — 12. Prove. The conde- scending goodness of God gives not only to the godly, but sometimes to the un- godly, opportunity and challenge to prove his truth and power ; and it is the duty of a minister of God, as it was of the prophet, not only to point both classes to it, but even to offer them this proving of God, confident as Elijah against Ahab, as Isaiah against Ahaz, that God will not forsake his servants, but wdl by the event put to shame all unbelief [Lange]. Vers. 13 — 15. Stout words. liash, undigested, ill-considered speech, is responsible for much of the heart-burn- ing and trouble in the Churches. Ex- pressions which convey the impression that the Lord acts unjustly or unkindly, especially if they fall from the lips of " men of known character and experience, CHAP. IV.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY: MALACI1L 727 are as dangerous as fire-brands among stubble ; they are used for blasphemous purposes by the ill-disposed, and the timid and trembling are sure to be cast down thereby, and to find reason for yet deeper distress of soul [Spurgeonj. " Language is the dress of thought" [Johnson}. Vers. 16 — 18. Spake often. "When the wicked are talking against God, the righteous should talk for him. Religious conversation is necessary, all the more, for the very reasons that chill and repress it. When a fire burns low, the coals that are alive should be brought near together, that they may be blown into a flame. So when all is cold and dead, living Christians should draw near and seek the breathings of the Spirit, and kindle each other by mutual utter- ance. The words thus and then spoken shall be heard and recorded in heaven [Lange]. " The Chronicles of heaven shall keep Their words in transcript fair ; In the Redeemer's book of life Their names recorded are " [Doddridge}. CHAPTEE IV. Critical Notes.] The ungodly admonished for the day] of judgment. Results to the wicked awful. Burn] as an oven] or furnace (cf. Matt. vi. 30). "A fire burns more fiercely in a furnace than in the open air" [Hengs.}. The proud] called happy (ch. iii. 15), and all the wicked] like stubble] fit for fire : destroyed "root and branch," i. e. utterly. 2.] To the righteous, the day an advent of justice and salvation. Sun] The Messiah set forth as most glorious and beneficent. What the sun is to the natural, he is to the moral world ; the source of light, life, and beauty. Wings] i.e. beams, "on account of the velocity and expansion with which they spread over the earth " (cf. Ps. exxsix. 9) [Henderson}. Go forth] as from the prison of darkness and misery. Grow up] Lit. leap in joy and freedom, like calves let loose from the stall. " The simile is designed to convey the ideas of freedom from outward restraint and the enjoyment of self-conscious liberty" [Henderson}. 3. Tread] The wicked, who were said to prosper, will be overcome ; destroyed by the fire of judg- ment, they will lie like ashes on the ground. The condition of the godly reversed then. 4—6.] Exhortation to avert coming judgment. Since no further communications were to be given, they were to remember those they already possessed. The law] A solemn admonition to Israel and to us, not to disregard God's word with its statutes] and judgments], its morals and religion. 5.] To avert the curse from Israel the prophet] would be sent to reform the nation — a prophet in the power and spirit of Elijah. This applied to the Baptist (Matt. xi. 14 ; xvii. 12, 13. Dreadful day] (cf. Joel ii. 31), the destruction of Jerusalem, but applicable to the last day; for "all God's judg- ments are hours, marked on the dial-plate, and struck by the alarm of that great day" [Words.}. 6. Turn] Family harmony restored, say some ; better, a reconciliation of ungodly, estranged from the piety of their ancestors and pious forefathers, by repentance. John's ministry removed family feuds, prepared multitudes for the Messiah, and thus laid the foundation for the recovery of thousands to the faith of the Gospel (cf. Luke i. 16, 17 : Acts xxi. 20). A curse] Lit. a ban, one of the most awful words the Jews could use; fell upon Judea, by which it is devoted to destruction and excluded from common use— a desolation remaining to this day. This word, which closes the prophecy, and with it the Old Testament, should ever ring in our ears, and remind us of the more awful curse of the ungodly (1 Cor. xiv. 22 : Rev. xx. 15). HOMILETICS. The Approach op the Judgment Day. — Verses 1 — 5. The prophet confirms the preceding truth, awakens sinners in their slumber, and encourages saints in their faith by the prospect of a day of judgment : to punish some, reward others, and vindicate the ways of God. I. A day of retribution to the wicked. To the ungodly "the day cometh '28 1I0MILETIC COMMENTARY : MALACUI. [cnAP. iv. that shall bum as an oven." Those who are called blessed will then he cursed, and like stubble consumed by the fire. 1. Utter destruction. " It shall leave them neither root nor branch." " There is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again ; " but if torn up by the roots there is no hope, no chance of life. So there will be no escape nor mitigation of punishment. 2. Universal destruction. "All the proud" and "all that do wickedly" will be unable to resist when God reveals his justice. That day will test every man's character and condition. Wood and hay will be consumed, gold and silver will abide and be purified. "Every man's work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it (lay it open), because it shall be revealed by fire (judgment) ; and the fire shall try (prove) every man's work of what sort it is" (1 Cor. iii. 13). II. A day of salvation to the godly. The day will be as an oven to the wicked, but a source of joy, a sun to the righteous. " Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise." The sceptical complained that judgment did not fall upon the ungodly, and that justice was not given to the godly. But health, light, and everlasting salvation are promised. 1. The light of life. Darkness and disease shall be scattered away; warmth and gladness shall shine in Divine effulgence. " Thy sun shall no more go down, for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light." 2. The joy of freedom. "Ye shall go forth " from darkness and captivity ; become free and active, frisky and playful "as calves of the stall." This freshness of first love is only a foretaste of "the joy unspeakable, and full of glory." 3. The conquest of foes. Not mere freedom from oppression, but complete triumph over enemies. The wicked often prosper and trample upon the godly ; but a reversal shall come to both classes. " He that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." III. A day of warning to all. " For, behold, the day cometh," and lest any, even sinners, should be surprised, the trumpet-blast warns every one. 1. By teachers commissioned from God. " Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet." Ministers and messengers announce the coming King, are sent to prepare the way, and call upon proud scoffers and wicked priests to heed the word. 2. By the written word of God. Prophecy and preaching may be temporary and uncertain, but the law of God is never suspended. The Scriptures warn and invite, encourage and threaten. If men forget the living voice, they must remember the written law. 3. By the corrective 'providences of God. Compassionate judgments come before the final judgment — providences which correct and do not destroy. God seeks to separate and purify men now, before the final separation and settlement, ' ' to bring the disobedient to the wisdom of the just." Heed the warning now, lest you be smitten " with a curse " hereafter. The Sun of Eighteousness. — Verse 2. There can be no doubt with respect to the application. Our Lord is elsewhere called Light, which in Hebrew poetry is used of the sun, as the source of light. What the sun is to the natural world, that the Messiah is to the moral. The invaluable spiritual blessings which he dispenses are all comprehended under the two heads here specified — righteousness and moral health (cf. Isa. lvii. 19). Both of these are indispensably requisite to the happiness of our guilty and depraved race, and from no other quarter can they be obtained than from him "who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" [Hendi rsori\. In this image we have many truths suggested. I. Christ is the source of light. Whatever be the radiance of other lights, they borrow from him. The moon in her beauty and the stars in their brilliance only shed reflected lustre upon the world. Amid ignorance, error, and sin, he is the light of truth, holiness, and God, in person, doctrine, and work. "I am the light of the world." II. Christ is the source of life. " With healing in his wings." Sin brought death into the world. Christ quickens the dead in trespasses and sins. As the sun in spring rouses dormant energies of nature, and clothes trees CHAP. IV.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : MALACHI. 729 and fields with beauty, so Christ is the essential principle and primal source of spiritual life. " In him was life ; and the life was the light of men." III. Christ is the source of beauty. To the sun we owe the bright colours which delight our eyes, and the golden beams which gladden our hearts. He tints the sky, paints the flowers, and adorns all nature. Beauty "is the fringe of the garment of God." Christ blesses the soul and beautifies the life with purity and praise. His grace removes moral deformity, and prepares for eternal perfection. IV. Christ is the source of joy. When the sun bursts through the clouds, and pours floods of light over the earth, the birds begin to sing, and children shout for joy. It smiles upon the cottage of the poor, cheers and brings new life to the fainting heart. Joy in Christ may be overcast, but will break out again with greater sweetness and splendour. " And as the morning light he shall arise — a sun " (2 Sam. xxiii. 4). HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES. Ver. 1. The oven, the fuel, the in- tensity of the heat. The throne (of the Ancient of days) was a fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. Ver. 2. Sun of righteousness. 1. As asserting and vindicating the righteous- ness of God, called in question by blas- phemers. 2. As bestowing upon his people a double righteousness (imputed and imparted), as the sun doth light (John i. 16). It is further said that he shall arise, that is, he shall appear and show himself on earth, who now lieth hid, as it were, in heaven, as the material sun doth under the horizon. 1 . He was manifest in the flesh, out of the bosom of the Father, out of the types of the law. 2. In the whole course of his life he enlightened and warmed the dark and dry hearts of men, and filled them with fruits of righteousness (John xv. 5). 3. He is still in continual motion for the good of the Church, as the sun in heaven for the good of the world. Under a cloud in his passion, he broke forth again in his resurrection. From heaven he daily darts forth his beams of righteousness, and showers down all spiritual blessings in heavenly privileges (Ephes. i. 3). Lastly, at the great day he will show himself in a special manner a " Sun of righteousness ; " clearing all obscurities, bringing to light the hidden things of darkness, causing his people's most holy faith, that now .lies hid in great part, to be found to praise, honour, and glory, cheering up their spirits after manifold tribulations, and healing all their spiritual maladies [Trapp], Healing in his wings. 1. Moral sick- ness of men. 2 . Christ the great Physi- cian. 3. Faith the method of cure. Trust, rest under his wings, for shelter and salvation. Go forth and groio up as calves. The figure sets forth— 1. Slavery. 2. Free- dom. 3. Activity. 4. Growth. 5. Joy. " Groio up ; more probably bound, as the animal which has been confined exults in its regained freedom, itself full of life and exuberance of delight " [Puse;/]. They were before in darkness and disease, both of which confine. But the Sun of righteousness arises, health is restored, they become free and active. They go forth and grow up as calves of the stall. No creatures, perhaps, in-" crease so rapidly and observedly as these, when, as here, they are well attended and fed, for the very purpose of fatten- ing [Jay]. Ver. 3. TJie great reversal. The wicked overcome, trampled upon as ashes. Victory visible and complete to the saints (Micah iv. 12, 13 : Joel iii. 14 : Bom. xvi. 20). HOMILETICS. Bemembering the Law. — Verse 4. The prophet closes with special directions to the people. Since no other messenger was to follow him, till Jesus and his forerunner should come, they must ^30 II OM I LKT1C COMMENTARY : MALACHI. [cnAP. rv. consult and remember the written word. Malachi thus closes by showing what must be done to escape the curse and secure the salvation of God at the judgment day. A needed lesson for us. I. Remember the end of the law. To be the standard of faith and practice ; to guide our feet in paths of righteousness ; to help in times of darkness and perplexity ; and never to supersede, but ever confirm, the teaching of the ministry. The law foreshadows the gospel. Malachi, the last of the prophets, exhorts us to remember Moses, and preaches Christ, in whom the law and the prophets are fulfilled. Thus in every age we learn the importance and the necessity of a careful study of the written word. II. Remember the authority of the law. "Which I commanded him." The law of Moses is the word of God, given in thunder and smoke, by the ministry of angels and the finger of God. Nature teaches that if we believe in the existence we should submit to the authority of God. Hence Numa, Lycurgus, and Mahomet derived their laws from heaven to secure obedience on earth. The Bible takes the place of "open vision," and is the representative of God in the world. To neglect it is to despise and to disobey it, to reject the authority of God. "Obey my voice, and do all which I command you." III. Remember the reward of obedience to the law. Duty is performed not by respect to some enactment, nor by general consent, but sincere obedience to the whole law, " with the statutes and judgments." Forgetfulness is the source of every evil. Faithful remembrance will lead to Christ, and prepare for judgment. "I have set before yon life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." Elijah's Ministry a Type op the Christian Ministry. — Verses 5, 6. Christ is not easily recognized in his coming among men. Hence, lest they should mistake, warnings are given, and messengers are sent to prepare the way. Elijah's ministry is again realized in the person of the Baptist. Like the prophet, John was to be endowed with extraordinary gifts to fit him for his work. His ministry is commended for the aim and the efficacy of it, and may be taken as a type of the Christian ministry. I. A ministry Divinely commissioned. " I will send you Elijah." It was pre- sumption to intrude into the priestly office of old, and to take unwarranted commis- sion is to usurp authority in the Church. Christ himself was not self-commissioned. How then shall his servants " preach except they be sent " 1 An ambassador must have express authority and instructions from his sovereign. " He who is called to instruct souls is called of God, and not by his own ambition," says Bernard. John appeared by command, in the name of a royal personage, and made a royal proclam- ation. What John's preaching was all preaching should be — the voice, the voca- tion of God to men. To the uncalled awful failure may result. "I sent them not, nor commanded them : therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord" (Jer. xxiii. 32). II. A ministry moral in its design. John Avas a reformer. Political theories and metaphysical disputes were not for him to settle. " Repent,'1 was the cry which resounded in the wilderness, "for the kingdom of leaven is at hand." 1. It prepared for Christ. " I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee." The true minister by his life and preaching will " make ready a prepared people for the Lord." 2. It saved from curse. Elijah was to come to prepare God's people, lest at his coming he " smite the earth with a curse." The destruction of Jerusalem, the curse of Judrca, and the sufferings of the Jews remind us of the Canaanites in the past, and of the impeni- tent in the future. But the minister of God will warn every man, and urge every man to flee for refuge to the hope set before him in the gospel. III. A ministry blessed in its results. " He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children," &c. Alienated from God, men are alienated from one another. The Jews had CHAP, rv.] HOMILETIC COMMENTARY : MALACHI. m fallen away from the faith of their ancestors, and were at strife with the Gentiles. But John, in the spirit and power of Elias, brought back the faithless generations of his day to the God of their fathers, and " restored (regulated, reformed) all things " (Matt. xvii. 11). Families are now disturbed by worldliness, hatred, and apostasy. Ungodly sons are at variance with godly parents. Society is estranged from God. Love, the bond of union, is broken. Ministers have to fill up the chasm, unite all classes, and bring men back to God. Their work is a reformation, a restitution to original peace and purity, "to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to (by) the wisdom of the just " (or righteous) (Luke i. 17). Thus men will be restored to mutual affection, benevolence will accompany true religion, and morally a new heaven and earth will be created by the gospel. Hearts and lives will be prepared for the coming, and people will enroll themselves as willing subjects of the heavenly kingdom. " The number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered." HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Ver. 4. 1. Men never left without a rule of life. If not the living voice, they have the written law, a law " for all Israel." 2. Men apt to forget this rule of life. " Remember the law of Moses." " Even when we have made considerable advances in knowledge, we must still retain the first principles of practical religion, and resolve to abide by them. Those that study the writ- ings of the prophets and the Apocalypse must still remember the law of Moses and the four Gospels." 11 Men are men ; the best sometimes forget " [Shakespeare]. Ver. 5. John's resemblance to Elijah. 1. In the endowments of his mind. 2. In the habits of his life. 3. In the exercise of his ministry. There were many points between Elijah and John. Both prophesied in a time of great un- belief and apostasy from the law ; both sought to bring back the people to the piety of their fathers ; both prophesied before great and terrible judgments. The historical circumstances in which they lived were remarkably parallel. Ahab appears in Herod, Jezebel in Herodias. The words of Mark vi. 20, where he speaks of Herod fearing John, and did many things, may apply without any alteration to Ahab. Their very ap- pearance, the fashion of their dress, and their mode of life were identical [Lange]. Both fell on evil times ; both witnessed fearlessly for God ; neither was much seen save in the direct exercise of their ministry ; both were at the head of schools of disciples ; the result of the ministry of both might be expressed in the same terms : " many (not all, nor even the majority, but still many) of the children of Israel did they turn to the Lord their God [D. Broivn\ Ver. 6. The words indicate the work of the Christian minister. A reconciler turning men's hearts towards God and one another. A herald to announce the approach of Christ. A pioneer to pre- pare the way. He has to awaken right feeling, warn of coming judgment, and point to Christ as the only hope of escape. " Flee from the wrath to come." The closing of the Old Testament in Malachi is unspeakably solemn. On its last leaf we find the blessing and the curse, life and death, set before us. As its first page tells us of the sin and curse of our first parents, so its last speaks of the law given by Moses, of sin, and the curse following, mingled with promises of the grace which was to come by Jesus Christ. So on the last page of the New Testament we read of " plagues written in this book," but its last words are gracious words : " Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus ! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen " [Lange]. r32 IIOMILETIC COMMENTARY : MALACHI. [chap. rv. ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER IV. Ver. 1. Proud. Heaven often regu- lates effects by their causes, and pays the wicked what they have deserved iUe], Ver. 2. Sun. The self-same sun that shines upon his court hides not his visage from our cottage, but looks on both alike [Shakespeare]. *' 0 sun ! of this great world both eye and soul " [Milton]. Ver. 4. Law. Prize the word of God by the worth of it, that you may not come to prize it by the want of it [Dyer]. There never was found, in any age of the world, either religion or law that did so highly exalt the public good as the Bible [Bacon]. Remember. Memory, like books which remain a long time shut up in the dust, needs to be opened from time to time ; it is necessary, so to speak, to open its leaves, that it may be ready in time of need [Seneca]. Ver. 5. Elijah. Since the days that John began to preach, since he began to call the world to repentance, there has been a rush into the kingdom of God. Men, roused from their spiritual slum- bers, startled by a sense of their own sin and ruin, have earnestly applied for pardon and salvation. The echo of the words he proclaimed on the Jordan still lingers and rings in the souls of men, and the result is a pressing every day into the empire of redemptive truth [Dr. Thomas]. Ver. 6. Curse. Parting words are always solemn, as closing the past, and opening out a future of expectation before us. The position of Malachi, as the last of the prophets, bids us more solemnly prepare for that dread day — our Lord's second coming — which he foretold, in one with the first, warning us that we deceive not ourselves, in un- consciousness of our own evil and re- membrance of our seeming good, until he profess unto us, " I never knew you ; depart from me, ye that work iniquity " [Pusey]. And of the twelve prophets let the memorial be blessed, and let then bones flourish again out of their place (Eccles. xlix. 10). INDEX. /. GENERAL SUBJECTS. Achor, valley of, a door of hope, 31 Actions, spring from thoughts, 73, 641 ; man's highest social, 87 Affliction, needful, 42 ; sanctifies, 108 ; two-fold effects of, 688 ; results of, 689 Age, importance of, 14 ; requirements of, 87 Amnion, judgment on, 250 Angels, ministry of, 625 Apostasy, steps in, 19 ; the threefold, 62 ; warning against, 538 Assyria, judgment on, 545 Atheism, practical, 98, 717, 723 Athens, corruption of, 135 Avariciousness,the sin of, 502 ; hurtful, 509 Backsliding, the way hedged up, 21 ; tendency to, 156 ; aggravated guilt of, 355 Beauty of Christian life, 190, 193, 654 ; Bands and, 669 ; Smart on, 657 Bethel, 65, 165. Bethlehem, 433, 437 Blessings, restoration of lost, 219, 221 ; spiritual, symbolised by rain, 223 ; God the author of, 658 ; political, from God, 661 ; priestly, cursed 710 ; Divine, sus- pended, 721 ; and curse, 640 Brotherhood, national, formed by Christi- anity, 599, 675 ; in the fatherhood of God, 714 ; Seneca on, 718 Burden, the servant's, 464 Calamity, the final, 322 Character, discrimination of public and private, 130 ; God's, a ground of con- solation in distress, 492 Chastisement, Divine, 23, 195 ; of a cove- nant people, 260 ; without reformation, 273 ; consideration of, 579 ; of the enemy, 695, cf. affliction Children, training of, 135, 138 ; God's care for, 392, 689 ; Frobel on, 136 ; gathering of, 219 Christ, headship of, 14 ; a glorious con- queror, 183 ; his reign described, 239 ; resurrection, 362 ; titles, 412 ; kingdom, 423, 598 ; the Shepherd King, 431 ; the peaceful rule of, 433, 434, 437 ; the Desire of all nations, 575 ; the Branch, 606 ; twofold of his mission, 597 ; his congregation and work, 437 ; the Builder of the temple, 627, 628 ; upon his throne, 629 ; the price of, 672 ; wounded in the house of his friends, 686 ; messenger of the covenant, 720 ; a refiner, 720 ; the Sun of righteousness, 728, 729 Church, great days of, 14 ; a revived, 32 ; idolatry in, 39 ; endangered by the world, 101 ; a corrupt, 112 ; the future, 421 ; militant, 429 ; gathering of, 553 ; Divinely protected, 588, 590; joy of, 599 ; the golden light-bearer, 610 ; future prosperity of, 642, 329 Cities, great, and great ruin, 400 City, the unprofaned, 237 ; bloody, 504 ; guilty, 548 ; doomed, 532 ; measured, 593 Community, a reckless, 299 Conduct, unbrotherly, 338 Confidence, vain, destroyed, 418 ; exulting in God's mercy, 458 Conquest of death and the grave, 182 Conscience, sting of, 66 ; testimony of, 75 ; a book of record, 84 ; a witness, 291 Conversion described, 95 ; a return to God, 166, 186 Court, the Divine, 508 Covenant, blessings of renewed, 34 ; with beasts, 39 ; breakers of, 93 ; in life, 96 ; brotherly, 251 ; God's undervalued, 326 ; unchangeable, 183; blessings of, 711 Covetousness, the deeds of, 314; the curse of, 315, 320 ; sin of, 502 ; evils of, 503, 504 Creation, the mirror and mind of God, 325; affected by sin, 49 Cups, the three, 506 Damascus, judgments on, 247 Day, a glorious, 505 ; a lost, 149 ; the terrible, 206 ; of judgment, 207 ; of the Lord, 289 ; of small things despised, 613 ; the remarkable, 692 ; of judgment approaching, 727 Days, dark, 4 ; of rebuke, 79 ; solemn, of life, 128 ; of Gibeah, 132 ; better guaran- teed by Christianity, 422 ; last, 427 i34 INDEX. Death, Bometimea preferable to life, 145; a ruling power, 1*2; typical of moral disease, 97 ; the shadow of, turned into morning, 284; not always desirable, 290; Horace on, 303; an imaginary remedy, 387 Defence, the vain and great siege, 472 Deliverance, the wonderful and great assault, 691 Deprivation, a terrihle, 51 Destruction, slow and sure, 80 ; open and violent, 82; terrible, 235 Dew, God as, to Israel, 190 ; laws of, 191 ; nature of, 438 ; Israel as, 435. Dirge, the funeral, 280 Discovery, a sad, 97 Distress, the howling of, 107 Divorce, unlawful, 71G Drunkards, solemnly warned, 202, 211, 100, 506, 510 Duty, Flavel on, 152 ; social, violated, 339 ; flight from, disgraceful, 349 ; the call to, 563, 375 ; excuse for delay in, 564 ; vindicated by Divine government, 568 ; performance of, neglected, 579 ; neg- lected, contaminates character and con- duct, 578 ; courage in, 639 ; failure in official, 711 Earnestness, nature of 77 ; with both hands, 451 Earth, a wilderness, 31 ; beautified, 38 ; fruitful seasons of, 222 ; Christians called from, 410; cursed by sin, 455; double curse of, 569 Edom, judgment on, 250 ; lessons from its ruin, 702, 337 Empires, changes of, 5 ; overthrown, 580 Encampment, the Divine, 649 Ephraim, left alone, 65 Ethiopia, doom of, 545 Evil, threatened, escaped by return to God, 275 Example, influence of, 61, 87, 99; pro- genitors imitated, 163 ; for noble, Israel indebted to God, 255 Execution, Divine, and intentions, 261 Experience, God's appeal to human, 408 ; revived, 367 Expostulation, the filial, 17 Faith, Jonah's confession of, 355; the triumph of, 467: life of, 510 Fatherhood, a common, 714 Fathers, lessons from the lives of, 587, 592 Fellowship, Divine recognition of Chris- tian, 724; needful, 727 Fire, Divine, and national fuel, 666 ; sin a furnace of, 99, 274 ; Divine justice a consuming, 282 ; God contending with, 306 ; God's people a flame of, 343 ; the pot of, 679 Flock, of slaughter, 668 ; of Christ, 424 ; a wretched, 668; the scattered, and smitten shepherd, 687 Folly, exposure of, 26 Fountain of earthly enjoyment fails, 183 ; opened for sin, 685 ; a glorious, 239 Fretf ulness, the folly of, 388 ; Divine cor- rection of, 389 Friendship, duties of, 51 ; worldly, re- nounced, 410 Fruit, summer, 312 ; from a heavenly orchard, 313 Garment, typical, 717 Gaza, judgments on, 248, 541 Gifts, God dishonoured in, 24 ; of grace, 223 Glory, vanity of earthly, 143 ; transitory, 151 ; God's, in days of old, 514 ; of Messiah's kingdom, 598 God, the end of life, 6 ; the living, 14 ; fear of, 45 ; gifts of, 38 ; forgetting, 55, 98; restoration to, 29, 158, 166; true seekers after, 83 ; retirement from, 83, 135; cast off, 115; seeking, 83, 149; perfections of, 161 ; paternal care of, 153 ; the penitent's return to, 158 ; con- version to, 166, 186 ; the only Saviour, 175; the only king, 180; armyof,214; the great things of, 221 ; camp of, 216 ; walking with, 262, 264 ; preparing to meet, 276 ; a gracious, 386 ; a jealous, 465 ; keeping from, 549 ; robbing, 722 ; building up without, 703 Good, God the chief, 105 ; seeking, and God enjoyed, 287 ; forsaken, and evil pursued, 113 ; cast off, 115, 124. Goodness, the Lord's, and fear, 45; me- morial of God's, 171 ; to the ungrateful, 177 ; of God, and anger, 466 ; the Lord's, 467 ; and beauty, 657 Grace honours a worthless people, 132 ; abounding, 189 ; reviving, 190; Divine, the source of all strength, 613 Gratitude, return for, 67, 701 Guilt aggravated, 121 Habits, power of evil, 73, 99, 100 Health and Divine favour, 189 Heart, a divided, 141, 151 ; hardness of, 302, 634, 635 ; pride of, 334 Heathen, the converted, 360 ; the doom of, 437 Help, Divine, and moral suicide, 179 Heroism, spiritual, 679 History, warnings of, 82, 100, 119, 130, 144 Holiness attained, 118; beauty of, 190; lost, restored, 637 ; in life, 697 ; to the Lord, 698 Honoured, and dishonoured, 132 Hope, the last, destroyed, 481 ; discour- aged, 552 ; prisoners of, 653 INDEX. 735 House of God, experience in, 367 ; judg- ments in, 527 ; mourning for, 557 ; a call to, 643, 644 ; worship in, 697 Humility, exalts, 173; Christian, 540; Reynolds on, 184 Husbandmen, disappointed, 204 Husbandry, moral, 149 Hypocrisy and perjury, 142 Idolatry, its nature, 5, 144 ; origin and effects, 116, 174; abolished, 32, 117; dishonourable, 133 ; unprofitable, 507 ; evils of, 715 Ignorance, of God, 26 : covering sin, 71 ; inexcusable, 63; of God, a warning to the people, 53 ; and to priests, 54 ; evils of, 73 Indulgence, sinful, 57 ; selfish, 178 ; reck- less, 299 Influence, extensive, 152 ; religious, mea- sured by self-estimation, 173; refreshing, 190 Ingratitude, its source and fruit, 26 ; to God, 178 Inheritance, the measured, 516 Injustice conceived and practised, 404 Insensibility, religious, 102 ; under national calamities, 209; sinful.299 ; rebuked, 439 Israel, restoration of, 13 ; pride of, 76 ; judgment on, 254 ; ruler of, 430 ; return of, predicted, 159 ; glory of, 402 ; glo- rious future of, 412 ; a lion, 436, 438 ; the true, 555 ; sin and sorrow of, 680 ; purified and reformed, 686 Jehoshaphat, valley of, 231 Jehu, his character and service, 8 ; pun- ished, 9 Jonah, his great commission, 347 ; disobe- dience, 349 ; roused from sleep, 352 ; a sign to the Ninevites, 373 ; second call, 374 ; obedience, 375 ; strange dis- pleasure, 385 ; prayer, 387 Joy, nature of, 138; withered, 390; God the perpetual fountain of, 520 ; of the redeemed, 556 ; national, revived, 222 ; the religion of, 661 ; fasts turned into festive, 641 Judah, judgment on, 253 Judgments, the three, 7, 12 ; impartial, 75 ; severe, 82 ; as light, 91 ; like wind, 184 ; like a flood,293 ; administration of, 233 ; timed, 304 ; great, and gredt sins, 477 Justice in apparent conflict with mercy, 157; turned to wormwood, 283 ; God's, proved to a guilty people, 550 Kings, times of, 5 ; duties of, 70 ; errors of, 83; feastings of, 100; fall, 101, 144 ; ambition, 152 Kingdom, God's, established, 575, an asylum, in danger, 342 ; regained and enlarged, 342 Knowledge, its nature, 54 ; of God, 33, 49 ; its rejection, 55 : practical, 87 ; its pride, 103 Labour, vain, 357 ; profitless, 446 Law, God's, corrupted, 69 ; perverted, 418 ; natural, 99; unchanging, 618; of Moses remembered, 729 Leaders, guilty, 417 Lies, spoken, 99, 107; fruit of, 149; injurious, 162 ; defended, 253 Life, family, 12 ; quickened, 87 ; a great want, 177 ; a seed-time, 119, 148 ; a sinner's joyless, 126 ; an artist on, 66 ; solemn days of, 128 ; a call to reforma- tion of, 148 ; help in exigencies of, 176 ; a Christian's, a pilgrimage, 257 ; sad pictures of human, 269 ; value of, 270, 282 ; contrasts in the voyage of, 351 ; moral contrasts in, 369 ; impatient of, 385 ; enigmas of, 493 ; lessons of, 574 ; without God, 703 Light in darkness, 454 ; despised, 122 ; at evening, 693 ; God as, 89, 91 ; in experience, 698 Locusts, the scourging, 304 ; God's army, 311 Loss, the irreparable, 336 Lots, casting, 354 Love to the undeserving, 6 ; wonders of, 41 ; power of, 46 ; of God and its wonderful display, 637 Magistrates, ungodly punished, 414 ; op- pression of, 285 ; warned, 415 Man, ingratitude of, 108, 154 ; weal or woe of, 104 ; distressed, 107 ; sinful, 93 ; self-corrupted, 133 ; morally sick, 81 ; incurable, 399 ; God testifying against, 74 ; God's method of teaching, 168 ; the mighty, 657 ; given up and God withdrawn, 671 March, the royal, 518 Marriage, a typical, 40 ; symbolic, 5 ; un- lawful, 714 ; unholy, 715 ; sanctity of 717 Masters, the two, 39 Maturity required by God, 450 Men, God's ways and destinies of, 194 ; covetous, 317 ; moral condition of, 426 ; wise, 443 ; as briers, 452 ; godly, scarce, 449 ; four classes of ungodly, 528 ; insensibility of, 209 ; should consider their ways, 566 ; of wonder, 606 ; of signs, 607, 609 ; observant, 671 ; con- duct of, determines God's relation to them, 579 Mercy and judgment, 9 ; or justice, 90 ; not sacrifice, 92 ; God's delight in,. 457 Message, God's, demands constant atten- tion, 199 ; the man and his, 244 ; the solemn, 333 ; the prophetic, 397 Messiah, person and work of, 626 ; glory m l.\ VEX. of his kingdom, 598 ; results of his mission, 607; the peaceful king, 650; (c£ Christ) Mind, a fretful, 388 ; deserts of, 18 Ministers, lives of, 57 ; sad transformations of, 94; Luther on, 91; charges against, 131 ; examples of piety in days of calamity, 205 ; shepherds, 266 ; true, 416, 712 ; slumbering, 482 ; worthless, 673; qualifications of, 602; sins of, 705 ; punishment of, 714 Ministry, an earnest, t lie want of the times, 77; of alarm, 213; Christian typified by Elijah's, 730 : work of the, 731 Miracle, the great, 361 Mirth turned into mourning, 27, 39; Bridge mi, 320 Mu i!i, judgment on, 252, 542 Morality, corrupt, 49, 315; and ritual, 292 ; and consumption, 445 ; commercial, 444 Mothers and children, 15, 38 Music without melody, 292 ; abused, 300 Name, the memorial, 165; God's great, honoured, 707 ; despised, 711 Nations, destruction of, 9 , punished, 50, 621 ; sins of, detected, 69 ; spurious remedies for sickness of, 81 : amend- ment, 86 ; strength, 123, 134 ; decay, 135, 138 ; lamentations, 203 ; great calamities, 201, 208; disgrace, 265; fuel for Divine fire, 666 Nature, laws of, 99, 130 ; government, 36 ; worshippers, 528 ; order of, violated, 147 ; similitudes, 169 ; joy of, 205 ; indifference to, 326 Nineveh, Jonah in, 374 ; repenting, 379 ; reformed, 380, 382 ; beseiged and plun- dered, 473 ; effaced, 474, 483 Obedience better than sacrifice, 92, 633 ; in duty, 570 ; due to God's universal dominion, 708 Obligation of man to God for temporal mercies, 153, 178, 569, 576, 579; for religious favours, 701 < Ibservant, the few, 671 < tori, statutes of, 447 Oracles, misery of consulting false, 659 < ►rder in conversion 19 ; creation, 37, 165; needful, 215 Overthrow, the terrible, 235 Oxen, God's care for, 392 PabdON, none like God's, 458, 460 Past and present, or once a curse, now a blessing, 640 Peace, its nature, 709 ; notes, 712 People, like priests like, 57 ; controversy witli a guilty, 47, 52 ; a cast off, 11, 12 ; worthless, honoured, 132 ; glory and gi ief of, 134 ; God's method of teaching, 168 ; suffering and triumph of God's, 425 ; a hopeless, 302 ; God's redeemed, 468 ; ruinous to their enemies, 676 ; defended, 453 ; established, 660 ; restor- ed and settled, 663; a listless, rebuked, 439 ; waiting attitude of God's, 552 Persecutors punished, 229 ; perils of, 596 Picture, a sad, 129 Pit, in the deep, 365 ; the horrible, 368 ; delivered from, 371, 651 ; an Eastern, 656 Policy, state without principle, 71, 82; put to shame, 143 ; short-sighted, of sinners, 155 ; honesty the best, 168 ; failure of worldy, 337 Posterity affected by sinful indulgence, 61, 296 Power, hidings of Divine, 515 ; God's, a guarantee of truth, 324 ; all-sufficient in trouble, 521 ; supreme in the world, 702, 284 ; nor by might, 611 Prayer, nature of, 164 ; words in, 187, 188 ; Young on, 171, 366 ; and natural law, 220,351 ; pagan 359; and distress, 366 ; wonderful answers to, 457 ; importunate, 486 ; spirit of, 681 Preaching, Jonah's, 376 ; earnest, 513 ; Baxter on, 79 Pride, destructive, 9, 103 ; exalted, 178 ; defeated, 110 ; of heart and conse- quences, 335 ; Starke on, 540 Process, the sifting, 327 Promises, great, on special conditions, 605 Prophet, encounter of, with priest, 307 ; a true and political priest, 309 ; lamenta- tion of, 400 Prosperity, temporal, 5 ; turned to adver- sity, 28 ; danger of worldly, 55 ; abused, 139 ; unlawfully gained and taken away, 167 ; not the glory of a people, 134 ; of the wicked short, 175 ; moral conditions of, 641 Philistia, judgment on, 648 ; converted remnant of, 648, 649 Places, sacred, polluted, 94 ; dishonoured by immorality, 65 Plumb-line, the measuring, 305, 306 Privileges, external, 327 ; glory of reli- gious, 402 ; restoration to lost, 222 Providence, its nature, 40, 106, 196 ; pun- ishing sin, 170 ; corrective measures of, 272 ; Spurgeon on, 15 ; dispensations of God's voice, 443 ; carrying out the designs of grace, 277 ; omniscient, 323; sifting, 327, 533 ; mysterious, 373 ; slow, 499 ; guards the interests of the Church, 624 ; three aspects of, 647 Punishment, nature of, 136 ; delayed, 68, 470 ; sure, 80 ; future, of iniquity, 181; grievous, and hereditary sins, 294 ; retributive, 478 ; of sin, or the flying roll, 619 INDEX. Purposes, execution of Divine, 261 Pursuits, unsuccessful, 20 ; evil, 114 Questions, urgent, 29 1,335, 354, 357 ; God's answers to man's, 440 Rain, God as, 89 ; needful, 95 ; Christ as, 89 ; withheld, 272, 279 ; asked of God, 659, 655 Recompense, the double, of God's people, 654 Redemption of God's people, 468 ; judg- ments of God a scheme of, 544 Reeds, reliance on broken, 336 Refiner and crucible, 720 Religion, decline of national, 48 ; vain, 112 ; enjoying the comforts and refusing the duties of, 147 ; honest, 168 ; growth in, 191 ; in common life, 696, 441 Remnant, the miserable, 266 ; a converted, 695 ; a saved, 226 ; the restored, 554 , of Baal, 529 ; of Philistia, 648 Repentance, late, 75 ; calls to, 217, 538, 586 ; described, 161 ; space for, 216 ; benefits of , 217 ; Brooks on, 84 ; necessity of, 538 ; evangelical, 682 Reproof, Divine, 388 Resistance to God powerless, 468 Resolutions, three, 453 Restraints, Divine, 23 ■ Restoration, the wonderful, 558 Retribution, Jezreel, or Divine, 7 ; taught by nature, 15; slow, 80; natural, 114 the fowler of, 104 ; righteous, 231, 634 national, upon sinful indulgence, 300 and Divine scrutiny, 533 Return, the ungrateful, 108 Revelation, advantages of, 407 Revival, preparation for, 263 ; of God's work, 512 ; in America, 513 ; character- istics of genuine, 644 Ruin, irretrievable, 483 Rulers, cowardly, 482 Sabbath, Bp. Henshawe on, 320 ; benefits of, 11 Sacrifice, the required, 356 ; calm and, 360 ; day of Jehovah's, 530 ; the Lord's, 531 ; Jewish, ineffectual, 714 Salvation, Divine attributes harmonized in, 36 ; source of, 226 ; the Lord's, 370 ; the great, 37 1 ; of God, 372 ; the chariots of, 516 ; certainty of, 680 Satan resisting Joshua, 601 ; an adversary, 603, 609 Saying, hard against God, 723 Scriptures, slighted, 122 ; invitations of, 180; excellency of, 196; right use of, 367 ; influence of, 413 (cf. the Word). Security, castles of false, 123 Self, exaltation of, 174 ; indulgence of, 178 ; dependence upon, 187 Selfishness, Harris on, 151 ; reign of, 405 Service, lip, 187 ; waiting in God's, 497 ; best, required, 450 ; true spiritual, 705 : methods of training men for, 147 ; weari- ness in, 440 ; God's majesty a motive for true, 708 Shame, separated unto, 133 ; of sin, 67 ; Bp. Taylor on, 510 ; effect upon nations, 143 Sight, the lamentable, 487 Silence, times of, 286 ; prudent, 530 ; before God, 509, 600 Sin, hereditary, 6, 61 ; bitter, 66 ; entailed, 18; a curse, 49, 128, 152; Divine re- membrance of, 97 ; encircled in, 99 ; slavery, 84 ; silly, 103 ; mischief of, 109 ; corruption of, 132 ; the beginning of sorrows, 121 ; its pursuit, 20, 24, 113, 118 ; its Divine detection, 69, 71 ; a lie, 107 ; imitated, 145 ; evil of evils, 150 ; and punishment bound together, 446 ; reproved by virtue, and punished by God's providence, 169, 181 ; self -de- structive, 180 ; renounced, and God sought, 281 ; manifold and mighty, 285 ; God's disapproval of, 493 Slumbering, a scourge for souls, 297 ; words to, 352, 363 ; shepherds and scat- tered flocks, 482 Society, away from God, 88 Sorrow, Christian, for fallen greatness, 667 Spirit, Holy, poured out as rain, 225 ; quickens, 182 ; dispensation of, 224, 228 ; resisted, 294 ; not straitened, 409 ; a spirit of grace, 683 ; a spirit of suppli- cation, 681 Stewardship, man's and God's claims, 576 Stream, a living, 694 Stupidity in national calamity, 209 Success, not always given, 4 ; abused, 491 Suicide, moral, and Divine help, 179 Syria, judgment on, 646 Tabernacle, the fallen, reared and en- larged, 328 ; the spiritual glory of, 329 Teachers, ministry of false, 411 Teaching, methods of Divine, 573 Thoughtlessness, human, 566 Thoughts and deed, 98 ; wicked, 109 ; and things, 169 Times, good coming, 12, 32 ; call from God in special, 245 ; men for the, 591 Titles, without honour, 704 Transformation, a sad, 94 Triumph, a song of, 519 ; worldly uncer- tain, 185 Truth, its perpetuity, 5 ; nature, 48 ; a bond of union, 48 ; Jerome on, 52 Tyre, judgment on, 249 ; Volney on, 647 Unbeliever, contrasted with believer, 499 Ungodly life and formal worship, 271 ; life of, pictured, 118 47 '3S INDEX. Universe, governed in the interests of hu- manity, 36 ; in sympathy with man, 38, 50,210,246 Vessels, dishonoured, 119 ; domestic, de- voted to God, G96 Victory, the glorious, end mighty struggle, 655; the complete, 729, 182 Vineyards in the wilderness, 31 Virtue, national, 71 ; of progenitors a reproof of sin, 169 ; gives stability, 175 Visions, of Amos, 307 ; appointed, 498 ; night, 169 Visitations, days of, 130; Divine, 266, 267, 659 Voice, God's, and human fear, 512 ; in cities, 264 ; in providence, 443 ; hearing, 447 Vows made, 361 ; debts, 370. WAB abolished, 33, 436 ; the holy, 233 ; preparation of, 471 Warning, from the doom of men, 63 ; Bishop Pilkington on, 67 ; given before execution, 262 ; to some, from the fate of others, 479 ; of past and present judgments, 632 ; indifference to, 298 "Ways, God's and man's, 105 Wickedness, great, and great punishment, 136 ; great, 477 ; justified by success, 669 Wind, feeding upon, 162 ; typical of judg- ments, 184 Wine, a deceiver, 501 ; its associates, 501 ; a cup of, 506 Wolves, evening, 490 W< ml. the, power of,91,380; Dr. Thomason, 5 ; famine of, 318 ; nature of, 403, 398 ; opposition to, 311, 407; does not invali- date God's covenant, 326; neglected, 710 ; cf. Scriptures. Words, their nature, 195 ; influence, 4 ; kind, 48 ; blasphemous, 109 ; idle, 129 ; in prayer, 188 ; God's, demand attention, 199 ; humane, 357 ; comfortable, 589 ; stout, 726 Work, personal, 14 ; God's, 456 ; wonder- ful, 488 ; accomplished, 489 ; call to, 567 ; despondency in, 573 ; Joshua established in, 601 ; God's, greater than man's conception, 638 World, folly of alliance with, 120 ; advice of, 310; wisdom of, fails, 337; described, 410 ; the new, 238 ; call to quit, 596 Worship, benefit of national, 11 ; corrupted, 70 ; external, 121 ; perverted, 122 ; true and false, 159 ; formal and ungodly life, 271 ; contempt for, 315 ; contrasts in, 424 ; God's estimate of man's, 707 Wound, the incurable, 399 Wrath, Divine goodness turned into, 177 Youth, vigour of, 32 ; influenced by example, 662, 61 Zeal of idolators an incentive to Christian life, 423 ; for God against error, 687. Zion, at ease in, 296 ; the unprofaned city, 237 ; enlarged, 328, 329 ; law out of, 422 ; foes destroyed, 426, 427 ; built by wrong means, 419 ; mourning for, 557 ; wonderful restoration of, 558 ; latter glory of, 577 ; leaders of, 678 ; metro- polis of a converted world, 238 ; defence of, 678, 341 ; future exaltation of, 694 ; conquests over enemies, 680 II. QUOTATIONS AND CHOICE EXTRACTS FROM AUTHORS. Addison quoted, 552 .Ami nose quoted, 623 Aristotle, on ignorance, 73 Arnot, W., quoted, 84, 560 Arthur, W., on power, 419 Augustine, on rest, 21, 539; habit, 73; ( nid's mercy, 158: prayer, 187, 366; pride, 546; sayings of, 66, 132, 133, 155, 620, 690 BACON, on mind, 18; vice, 138; riches, 172 ; knowledge, 195 ; law, 283 ; vanity, 51D; nature, 698; the Bible, 732 Bailey quoted, 508, 575, 578, 645 Barrow, on holy men, 172 ; peace, 438 ; integrity, 448 Baseley quoted, 617 Bates quoted, 559 Baxter, spirit of, 77 ; on earnestness, 79 ; on preaching, 513 Beecher, on penalties, 68, 160 ; hope, 124 ; humility, 470; children, 138,537; justice of God, 560 ; duties, 636 ; God's un- changeableness, 726 Bentham, on words, 142 Bernard, St., quoted, 180, 730 Beza quoted, 428 Binney quoted, 461 Blair quoted, 250 Bonar, Dr., quoted, 467, 471 Brewer, on the earth's condition, 582 ; evil example, 259 Bridge quoted, 320, 445, 510, 512, 582 Brooks, quotations from, 66, 84, 259, 419, 448, 536 Browne, Sir T., on ambition, 489 ; good habits, 538 Browning, Bishop, quoted, 470 Burroughs quoted, 14 INDEX. 39 Burton, on love, 154 ; misery, 419 ; riches, 648 Butler quoted, 278 Byron, quotations from, 324, 677, 684 Calvil quoted, 9, 272, 302, 323, 370, 433, 522, 530, 536, 540, 551, 564, 569, 587 Carlyle, on life, 140 ; silence, 530 ; edu- cation, 611 ; light, 617 ; penalty, 633 ; wonder, 644 ; the human heart, 670 ; heroism, 684 Caryl quoted, 39, 84, 93, 291, 330, 427, 504, 599, 600, 614 Cecil, on preaching, 377 ; consideration, 582 Chalmers, Dr., on ignorance, 54 ; fruit of sin, 51 ; the world's vanity, 185 ; God's ways, 522 Channing quoted, 511 Charnock quoted, 516, 600, 630 Chatham, Lord, on music, 300 Cheever, on retribution, 15 Chillingworth, on worship, 708 Cicero, on Roman laws, 424 ; methods of instruction, 636 ; doing good, 645 ; design of government, 665 Clement, on man, 59 Coleridge, on religion, 96 ; prophecy, 581 ; the past, 636 ; Divine loathing, 670 Collier, Jeremy, on truth, 48, 641 ; God's power, 295 ; hope, 653 Chrysostom, on the prayer of Nineveh, 382 ; charity, 540 Confucius quoted, 631, 632 Cowles, on nations, 9 ; pride, 272 ; Christ the Branch, 606 Cowper quoted, 303, 438, 521, 528, 669, 675; 683, 698 Cox, S., quotations from, 281, 542, 546, 556, 560, 718 Cumming, Dr., quoted, 447 De Foe quoted, 444 Devenport, Bp., quoted, 690 Dickens on cruelty, 241 Dryden quoted, 266, 413, 540, 654, 707 Duncan quoted, 279, 470 Dyer, quotations from, 271, 330, 468 Edwards, on kindness, 154 Eliot, George, on children, 39 ; kings, 631 Elizabeth, Queen, on cowardice, 649; tsial, 602 Elzaz, quoted, 264, 268, 272 Emerson, on beauty, 190; selfishness, 337 ; good men, 449 ; silence, 497 ; power, 665 Epicurus on self-love, 668 Erasmus quoted, 502 Exell quoted, 350, 353, 368, 375, 382 Feltham quoted 295, 420 Fenelon, on good example, 713 ; temper, 394 Ferguson quoted, 344 Festus quoted, 487 Fichte, on life, 58 Foster, J., on conquest, 185; deliverance, 362 ; lots, 363 ; war, 422 ; despising small things, 615, 617 ; Divine jewels, 726 French quoted, 273 Fuller, quotations from, 76, 447, 495, 662 Gay quoted, 679, 704, 725 Goethe, confession of, 143 ; on great men, 674 Goldsmith quoted, 283 Gregory, St., quoted, 470, 502, 571 Grindon quoted, 330 Grotius, on holiness, 578 Gurnal, on ingratitude, 39 ; morality, 92 ; promises, 427 ; pride, 489 Guthrie, Dr., on gray hairs, 102 Hale, Sir Mt., quoted, 617 Hall, Bp., on mirth, 39 , correction, 63, 591; prayer, 171; discretion, 286; pride, 344,543; scorners, 271 ; God's majesty, 698, 708 Hallani, on idolatry, 511 Hare, on ministry of angels, 592 ; the future, 330 Henry, Mt., quoted, 24, 26, 55, 428, 448 Henry, Philip, on self-conceit, 103 ; heaven, 410 Herbert, G., on example, 87 ; truth, 142 ; duty, 564 ; joy, 662 ; worship, 698, 709 Hodge, on holiness, 514 Hood, T., quoted, 536, 566 Hooker, on prayer, 188 ; pride, 501 Howe, on hardness of heart, 64 ; creation, 330 ; men of signs, 609 ; power, 617, 657 Hume, on principle and morality, 90 ; good men, 449 Jerome quoted, 52. 158, 275, 413, 536, 560 Johnson quoted, 470, 497, 631, 727 Jones, Sir W., on Scripture, 124 Keble, quotations from, 488, 492, 530, 655 Kingsley quoted, 623 Knox, V., on Christian joy, 600 Lamartine quoted, 718 Lavater quoted, 645 Layard quoted, 475 Legge, on God's Word, 403 ; spread of Christianity, 438 Leighton quoted, 447, 510 L' Estrange, quotation from, 559 Liddon, on the Word, 348 Lincoln, A., on slavery, 231 Locke, on Divine revelation, 573 Longfellow quoted, 387, 645 Louth, W., on conversion, 637 Luther quoted, 23, 44, 62, 374, 376, 382, 492, 499, 510, 567 i40 INDEX. Lytton, Lord, on life, 373 ; disappointment, 639 M.v CULLOCB quoted, COO McCosh quoted, 635 Machiavelli, rule of, 309, 337 Mackintosh, Sir J., on fortitude in afflic- tion, 522 Mant, Bp., on honesty, 168; providence, 428 Mant on, on station in life, 251 ; pride, 634 Martin, Hugh, quoted, 350, 354, 357, 362, 363, 375. Mason quoted, 571, 574 Massinger quoted, 490 Maurice quoted, 310 Mede, on the house of God, 171 Medhurstj on Buddha, 116 Melville quoted, 665 Mill, J. S., on worth of a state, 134 Milton quoted, 160, 251, 438, 341, 344, 377, 420, 446, 522, 540, 591, 732 Moore, Dr., on virtue, 494; political changes, 625 ; the events of life, 567 Moore, H., quoted, 394, 609 Napoleon, exiled, 119; afflicted, 18; la- menting, 21, 127 ; on war, 72 Neander quoted, 437 Newton, J., on the Bible, 124 ; a minister, 712 Nichols quoted, 559, 582 Owen, quotations from, 92, 287, 461, 512, 604 Paley, on enthusiasm, 77 ; actions, 641 ; , perjury, 142 ; Divine limits, 645 Parker, Theodore, on justice, 631, 644 Pascal, on unity, 684 Payson, on concern for men, 569 ; small things, 615 Penn, advice to children, 142 l'ilkington, Bp., quoted, 67, 470, 512 Pitt, on gratitude, 177 Plato, on wine, 662 ; covetousness, 502 Pliny quoted, 226 Polhill, on hope, 428 Pollock, on hypocrisy, 161 Pope quoted, 344, 381, 422, 433, 436, 457, 495, 523, 559, 718 Quarles, on repentance, 161 ; merit, 187 ; prosperity, 321 Raleigh, Dr., quoted, 359, 363, 366, 384 Kenan, on Christ's reign, 651 Reynolds, Bp., quoted, 178, 184, 246, 633, 684 ki liter, on nature, 353 ; solitude, 497 Rollin quoted, 674 Buskin, on evil, 61 ; justice, 172 ; God's kingdom, 428; Divine wrath, 586 Russell, Lady, on life, 394 Ryan, quoted, 265, 268, 274, 277, 285, 287, 291,295,303,314 Sanderson, Bishop, quoted, 384 Schiller, on peace, 639 ; beauty, 697 Scott (commentator), quoted, 264, 274 Scott, D., experience of, 184 Scott, Sir W., on ambition, 478 Seeker, on marriage, 718 Selden, on Romish priests, 420 Seneca quoted, 211, 502, 718, 732, 669 Shakespeare quoted, 48, 113, 138, 169, 229, 259, 287, 295, 320, 334, 384, 403, 415, 417, 469, 476, 483, 508, 527, 531, 611, 623, 673, 731 Shelley quoted, 428 Sherlock, Bishop, on love, 634 Shute, N., on God's mercy, 461 Sibbes quoted, 510, 513 Sibthorp quoted, 351, 354, 348, 362, 372 Socrates, on envy, 495 ; friendship, 687 Sophocles, on truth, 642 South, on covetousness, 56 ; wages of sin, 623 ; lies, 690 Southey quoted, 428 Speke, Captain, on ingratitude, 177 Spencer, Herbert, on rank, 50 ; right, 295 Spinoza, on men's affairs, 614 Spurgeon quoted, 15, 22, 36, 263, 297, 320, 358, 370, 600, 604, 628 Stanley, on Palestine, 523 Stillingfleet, on vengeance, 470 Stoughton quoted, 95, 211,279 Swift quoted, 173, 450 Swinnock, on worship, 645 Taylor, Bishop, on love to the world, 55 ; God's service, 77 ; justice, 166, 201 ; sin, 295, 487 ; prayer, 359 ; shame, 510 ; amendment, 592 Tennyson, on prayer, 311 ; sorrow, 372 ; duty, 636 Thomas, Dr., 14, 27, 33, 80, 241, 268, 344, 656, 732 Tillotson, on habit, 99; guilt, 75; God, 86 ; covetousness, 503 Tyndal, Professor, on matter, 515 ; prayer, 658 Vaughan, Dr., quoted, 459, 499 Virgil quoted, 359, 361, 364, 460, 580, 610 Volney quoted, 201, 227, 491, 647 Voltaire quoted, 560, 636 Warrurton, Bishop, on prosperity, 68 Ward] aw, quotations from, 592, 598, 604, 608, 612, 621, 642, 655, 660, 662, 681 White, Kirke, quoted, 571 Whitfield, on earnestness, 78 Whittier quoted, 272 Wilberforce, on mirth, 39 Wordsworth ([noted, 261, 330, 490, 566 YOTJNQ quoted, 39, 226, 258, 266, 298, 303, 313, 426, 460, 477, 503, 536, 540, 560, 592, 609, 722 IXDXJT. ', i! III. ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIVE INCIDENTS. Adrian, College of, 137 iEsop, on pride, 335 Alexander, great army of, 67; kindness to enemies, 154, 540; besieging Tyre, 232, 249 ; bestowing a boon, 456 ; con- quests, 656 Alma, wounded soldier in battle of, 111 Alphonsus, on clemency, 166 Apollo, oracles of, corrupted, 418 Arnold, Dr., affliction of, 42 ; pleasures of, 126 Augustine on sea-side, 171 Aurelius, Emperor, on the soul, 279 Baldwin II. and Turks. 234 Beecher. Dr., on saving souls, 77 Bees in Barbadoes, 185 Bolingbroke's, Lord, aversion to the Bible, 154 Bradford, in prison, 366 ; saying of, 256 Brainerd, earnest and compassionate, 84 Browne, Sir T. , a remarkable answer of, 142 Bunyan, saying of, 513 Burke, bereavement, 135 ; loss, 137 Burns, death of, 130 Byron, confession of, 130 Cesar, on earthly glory, 151 ; sword of, 458 Caliphs, the, and palace of Zebra, 143 Cambyses invading Ethiopia, 67 Campbell, the poet, on fame, 58 Cecil, on cruelty, 278 Charles V. resigning his crown, 58 ; battle of Tunis, 129 ; motto, 540 Chesterfield, Lord, on life, 66 Chili, disaster in, 1868, 325 Cincinnatus, call of, 245 Constantine building Constantinople, 593 Cornelia, children of, 134 Courtier, Persian, reclaimed, 129 Demosthenes reproves Athenians, 47 Diocletian, monument of, 677 Diogenes, on citizenship, 410 Drink, a girl sold for, 241 ; fall of a sober man by, 259 Edward the Black Prince and King John, 185 Edward VI., prayer of, 157 Edwards, on New England revival, 512 Elizabeth, Queen, on time, 149; Spanish invasion, 218 Euler and Queen of Prussia, 295 Eyam, plague in the village of, 303 Fenelon, home of, 191 God, the French philosopher on, 98 Goethe, dying request of. 69.°. Goodwin, Dr., death of, is:i Hall, Bp., on his affliction, 63 Hall, Robert, on affliction, '.Ml Henry IV. (France), death of, 84 Henry, M., mother of, 549 Henry, Philip, on prayer, 78 Herbert, G., resolve on entering life, 87 Hervey, and dying man, 76 Hill, P., earnestness of, 77 Huntingdon, Lady, and Whitfield. 42 Infidel in a storm, 363 Influence, a dying man's, 152 Johnson, Dr., death of, 693 Jones, Thomas, on providence, 496 King, the, and minstrels, 635 Latimer preaching before Henry VIII 311 Lincoln, President, assassinated, 684 Livingstone, death of, 170 London, wreck of, 270 Louis IX. (France), on truth, 136 ; in- structing a kitchen boy, 690 Loyola, Ignatius, motto of, 711 Luther, in the closet, 164 ; afflicted, 261 Maccabeus, Judas, answer of, 654 Malta, plague in, 1813,303 Mothers and children, 39 Napoleon, and little girl, 15 ; bitter expe- rience, 130 ; at Jaffa, 251 ; at Waterloo 259, 473 Newton, John, preaching in Newgate, 41 Nicephorus, Phocas, and night cry, 125 Nobleman, dying, regret of. 152 Paysox, self-will of, 389; death, 183 Paulinus, on sacking of Nola, 567 Pericles and the gods, 78 Perkins preaching at. Cambridge, 213 Persian emperor and scorpions, 259 Philip of Macedon, drunk, 10U ; at the games, 501 Philosopher, heathen, on God, 511 Pirates, story of, 635 Pitt deserted, 24 Plato reproved, 137 Priestley, Dr., 521 Pythagoras, on truth, 142 RlVET, Andrew, before the king of France, 677 Robertson, Fred., on life, 151 Rousseau, dying request, 693 Rufus, William, saying of, 129 Rutherford, letter, 591 ; Baying, 582 SAILORS, remarkable story of, 67 Seott, Thomas, death of, 138 48 1XDFX. SeveniSj Emperor, death <>r, 78 Shelley's liberality to Leigh Hunt, 42 Sim. M)i . Bp. . martyrdom, 129 Soldiers, two, in valley of Jehoshaphat, 241 Ta.meki.axe, eyes of, 324 ; mercy of, 540 Ta rington, Karl of, 140 Vane, sir Harry, execution of, 426 Vico, Marquis of, on communion with Christ, 5u9 Webster, Daniel, responsibility, 71 Wesley, John, mimicked, 279 WhitecroBS, on refining, 726 Whitfield, on trial, 690 ; at Glasgow, 213 ; home, 196 William of Normandy, 140 Williams, missionary enterprises, and chief, 186 Wyclift'e, bones of, 259 Xerxes, madness of, 33 IV. TEXTS ILLUSTRATED OR EXPLAINED. Gen. ix 9, p- 653; xliii. 30, 153 (notes). Lev. xxvi. 23, 263 Num. xiv. 24, 376 Deut xv. 9, 633 ; xxxii. 10, 132 Judges x. 16, 671 1 Sun. xiv. 38. 661 '2 Sam. xxiii. 5, 721 Job xiii. 4, 659 ; xvii. 9, 679 ; xx. 12, 44 ; x.wiii. 26, 658; xxxiii. 13, 702; xxxiii. 17,23 Psa. xi. 4, 647; xxxix. 6, 674; lxm. 8, 6 ; lxxvi. 5, 677 ; lxxviii. 55, 516 ; lxxviii. 57, no; lxxxvii. 4, 599; cxix. 18, 11 1 Prov. xi. 18, 148; xi. 31, 667 EccL v. 16, 118 ; vii. 14, 632 ; xii. 13, 105 Isa. viii. 13,712; xliii. 23, 717; xxxviii. 17, 657. Jer. xi. 8, 588 Hos. ii. 23, 17 {notes); v. 2, 68 (notes). I Joel ii. 29, 225 Amos'iii. 13, 14, 267 ; v. 9, 286 Mic vi. 8, 442 Zech. i. 6, 588 ; hi. 7, 605 Mai. ii. 15, 709 (notes) ; 716 Matt. ii. 6, 431, 433; xii. 40, 362; xvii. 11,731 ; xxiv. 15, 672 Luke i. 17, 720, 731 John iv. 24, 708 Acts xi. 29, 652 ; xvii. 28, 714 Rom. ch. i., 184; ii. 29, 721 ; ii. 32, 652 ; iii. 12, 13 ; v. 20, 619 1 Cor. iii. 13, 728 ; iv. 9, 606 ; x. 11, 586 Ephes. v. 1, 714 Col. i. 11, 660 1 Tim. v. 24, 619 Titus ii. 7, 712 Heb. iv. 13, 647 Jas. i. 17, 721 Date Due 4s 9 f i 0 20 3fl «. Cribaai M 1 o \ • M 2ft '4i ' a.| -- 'C>l ' ' APR _J|W>,,Pi j— fr r vS.^r j* . BS1151.P922 28 Homiletical commentary on the Minor M 1 111 w 1 1 (i\ii }.\ fir i\o