The Elbert County tribune., 1915-12-10
LESSON FOR DECEMBER II
JEHOVAH YEARNs ovER ISRAEL

cords Of man. with bands OF love-
Hosea if:4.
A contemporary OF Isaiah and Amos.
Hosea continued to prophesy after
the first captivity of the northern
kingdom. His style is abrupt and fig
urative. Israel Is Jehovah's adulter-
Gus wife. repudiated, but finally to be
purified and restored. This lesson is
part of the second section of the
book (4:1-13:8), which is q descrip
tion of the sinful people
!. "The Perverse child,- w. ~.
The remnant" (ch. GLIB had cried
out for relief. (See lisa. 1:9; Rom.
2:5).f Jehovah's reply (begins 6:4) is
severe arraignment of Israel's back
sliding az contrasted with his grace
To understand this lesson read the
entire book repeatedly In verse / of
the lesson Jehovah recalls to the ma
tion the days of its childhood Be-
cause OF his great love Deut. I'D
he called them out of Egypt, the land
of bondage, into Canaan, the land OF
blessing and liberty. Yet Israel sensed
not its duty nor its obligation of graft
tude. We are living under greater
obligation because of the greater re-
demption God has provided for us in
the person of his Son. God here calls
Israel my son" (Ex. 4:22); we have
the right to call ourselves sons John
ZIP; l. John BID. Matthew'S gos-
pei applies these words to him who
alone was fully and in the true sense
Gods son. Jesus is the summary of
hn t,aI ,,,f hot r rI@ f,,1I
realized Gods purpose in Israel Matt.
2:15).
AS contrasted with what son is
or should be verse 2 gives picture
of Israel's wandering. The whole his
tory of the nation is one of going after
false gods. Il. Sam: 8:7-9 and many
other references.) In those childhood
days ". 81 Jehovah taught them how
to walk, and healed their hurts. but
they knew not"-God. as tender Fa-
ther, had watched over, taught, guild
ed and healed (Ex. 1914; Isa 46:3;
63:9). Even SO, in this present age
God is a God of mercy and long suf-
fering (Rom. 2:D, yet the mass of
men know not" what God is doing
for them. In verse 4 the child has
grown older and as mothers often
tether child lest 1t run away, SO Je-
hovah endeavors to draw Israel to
him with cords of love-" His cord
of love now is the mighty power of
Calvary John 1882. Jehovah not
only drew but even sought to entice,
for he laid mcat unto them"-Jesus
will deliver us, for he bore our yoke
(Matt. 11:28-3O) and is for us the
Bread of Life (John 6:35. $50. Love
does not mean that the backslider
shall be free from punishment BE
cause they refused to return
the sword shall abide" ". sc and Heb.
1850. Even so God did net permit
them to go back 20 Egyptian bond
age ". 81. Israel was bent to back
sliding" In spite of the constant call
to worship and serve him none would
exalt him."
u. Tho Pleading Parent, w. 8-12.
None can fathom the depths of the
cry, How shall l give thee up, How
shall l deliver thee" ". 81. Israel
would persist and still Jehovah pleads
that perchance they would heed his
cry (Jer. 9:7; Lam. 3:33). Admah
and Zeboim were irretrievably over
thrown with Sodom and Gomorrah
( (Deut. 29:33), shall Israel likewise
perish? No! ". 81 for Il am God. not
man." God does not, like man.
change-his covenants arc not Scraps
OF paper" his love is everlasting (Nu.
4 23:19). 1t is not God but man who is
responsible for his destruction. The
Holy One in the midst of thee" is
there to save, not as an avenger. God
has not come into our midst in wrath
Gods passionate desire is to save
not to destroy. His purposes are
those of love and redemption and as
with Israel of old, SO in this age. he
will carry out these purposes in spite
of our backsliding (Rom. 11:2s-29),
| Verses 10 and IL are prophetic of the
ultimate repentance and restoration of
acknowledgement shall pass upon their
foes (Joel 3:16) and those of the dis
persion (see parallel lisa. 11:11-16)
shall gather, as doves to their win
dows." and be once more 'in their
houses" 1. e., set up as nation in
their God-given land. Ephraim ". 12)
sought to rule without or by casting
,ff Jehovah Il. Cor. 4:S).
In Judah was the legal priesthood
and the legitimate king. but the apos.
tasy of Israel was more culpable be-
cause of the example of Judah which
ne had set at nought.
III. Promised Deliverance. In a
most striking way Hosea flashes a
note of hope and love through the
| cloud of gloom which hung over the
nation as it drew closer to its doom.
because the people refused to repent.
Amos delivered his warning and re-
turned to Judah.
Hosea was part of the nation