_When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria._ THE GREAT DECEIVER AND SPOILER OF THE NATION We identify the deceiver as strong drink. I. The dangerous and insinuating character of intoxicating drinks. “The thief cometh in.” Compare t... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they consider not in their hearts that I do remember all their wickedness._ THE EVIL OF INCONSIDERATION What the prophet affirms of God’s ancient people is gravely distressing. I. The fact asserted. God remembers the wickedness of men. Wickedness denotes what is hateful and destructive. Men... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned._ MORAL DECLENSION Much real pain is caused, to a rightly constituted mind, by the failure of fondly cherished anticipations. To trace the causes of moral declensions is a most important exercise. As these are discovere... [ Continue Reading ]
_Grey hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not._ NEGLECTED WARNINGS I. Grey hairs are a sign of decay. God has for wise purposes given distinctive features to the different periods of human life, from the cradle onwards to the grave. Human life between the ages of forty and fifty is a... [ Continue Reading ]
_They do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek Him for this._ OUR SIN I. The duty of seeking God. In the Scriptures this stands for the whole of religion. Religion is thus substantially expressed for two reasons--because it is with God that we have principally to do. Our principal dependence... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart._ A SILLY DOVE The race of Ephraim is not extinct. Men are to this day very much like what they were in the days of the prophets. I. A saintly similitude. “Ephraim is like a dove.” The dove is the figure constantly chosen to set forth the beauty of... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will spread My net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven._ THE FOWLER OF RETRIBUTION Trans. “As they go, I spread My net over them, I bring them down as fowls of the heavens.” As they go to Egypt or Asshur, seeking help in their difficulties. Here the work of retribution... [ Continue Reading ]
_They have not cried unto Me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds._ DEATH-BED REPENTANCE When called to encounter dangers, every possible precaution should be taken beforehand. Seasons of peril and distress often wring from the most hardened expressions of sorrow and remorse. These a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against Me._ DIVINE DISPENSATIONS ABUSED I. God’s dispensations with men are characterised by variety. The events of human life are of a mixed and conflicting character. But all are under the direction of the Great Fath... [ Continue Reading ]
_They return, but not to the Most High._ PARTIAL REPENTANCE Sin, in its worst, forms, was rampant in the land, and the very rulers rejoiced in the wickedness of their people. The cause of all this social and national decay was in their original departure from the fear of the Lord. That was the root... [ Continue Reading ]