_Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself._ THE ABUSE OF WORLDLY PROSPERITY Our version is faulty here. Elzas renders, “Israel is a luxurious vine, whose fruit is very abundant.” So our subject is the abuse of prosperity. Some men are very prosperous. Every branch of their lif... [ Continue Reading ]
_Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty._ A DIVIDED HEART It is one grievous fault with the Church of Christ at the present day, that it is not merely divided somewhat in its creed, and somewhat also in the practice of its ordinances, but, alas! it is also somewhat divided in heart.... [ Continue Reading ]
_They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus Judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of a field._ SOCIAL SINS AND THEIR RESULT I. Social sins. 1. Vain speech. “They utter empty speeches.” Not only are words of falsehood, blasphemy, and unchastity sinful, but empty... [ Continue Reading ]
_The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Beth-aven._ These verses dilate, with keen irony, on the fate of the first half of Israel’s sin, the calf. It was thought a god, but its worshippers would be in a fright for it. “Calves,” says Hosea, though there was but one at Bethel;... [ Continue Reading ]
_The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed._ REDEEMING QUALITIES GONE Beth-el means the “house of God,” and by iniquity, manifold and black, Beth-el was turned into Beth-aven, which means the “house of vanity.” This is an instance of deterioration, and more than mere deter... [ Continue Reading ]
_O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah._ SIN AND PUNISHMENT “The days of Gibeah” recall the hideous story of lust and crime, which was the low-water mark of the lawless days of old. That crime had been avenged by merciless war. But its taint had lived on, and the Israel of Hosea’s day... [ Continue Reading ]
_Render thus,--Ephraim indeed is a heifer, broken in and loving to thresh, and I have spared the beauty of her neck; but now will I make Ephraim to draw._ CHANGES FOR EPHRAIM Israel’s punishment is enhanced by contrast with her former prosperity, which, as a mark of the Divine goodness, is compared... [ Continue Reading ]
_Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground._ SPIRITUAL HUSBANDRY There is not a more melancholy delusion than this, that in religious life the grand object may be secured without the use of the appointed means--that men may possess Christian privileges and real... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity._ DILIGENCE IN SERVING SIN Whereas the Lord had, by His prophets, frequently inculcated that exhortation, to taker pains on their own hearts, to bring forth the fruits of piety and righteousness; they, on the contrary, took pains enough in servin... [ Continue Reading ]