But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen. The contrast between the kingdoms of Judah and of Israel, in their nature and destiny, is here expressly declared. For Israel there was no hope; although pardon awaited any man amongst that people who turned unto the Lord, for no nation has been so godless, no family so vicious, but that every penitent in it may come with confidence to God. As for the kingdom, however, it was founded in rebellion against David's house, and therefore against the Divine purpose. Its distinguishing mark was idolatry; the calves at Bethel and Dan indicated its limits, and the counsels of God, through his prophets, had been ostentatiously rejected. Hence the time had come when the people should be given over to the heathen whose worship they had chosen, and the words of the preceding verse announced their irrevocable doom. "I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away." Very different was the position of the house of Judah. With all their imperfections and sins, the Jews still frequented the sacred temple, and there by appointed worship bore witness to the existence and unity of the living and true God. Judah was, therefore, still to be God's ark, borne down the stream of time amidst the debris of fallen empires, until he should come forth from it who was the King of Judah, the Son of David, the Redeemer of the world. The Jews were to be humiliated and punished for sin, yet they should not as a people be destroyed; and so they were cheered by the promise, "I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God." The earlier fulfillment of these words is recorded in 2 Kings 19., where we read of the deliverance of Jerusalem, not by brave defense, nor by bribes, nor by auxiliaries, but by the unseen pestilence which slew a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the crowded camp of the Assyrians. Nor was the promise exhausted then, but was again fulfilled when the Jews of the Captivity, to their own amazement, were restored, not by revolt or stratagem, but by the free offer of the magnanimous Cyrus (Ezra 1:2, 3). Our text, however, has more than a local and temporary interest. The principle of Divine deliverance, through other than human means, perpetually asserts itself in Old Testament history. It was the first lesson the Israelites were taught after leaving Egypt, when at the Red Sea Moses said, "Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord! He shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." And this lesson, emphasized in the wilderness, was repeated immediately Canaan was entered, when the walls of Jericho fell before the strength of an army which lifted up no weapon against it. In elucidating this principle of Divine deliverance we observe -

I. THAT IT IS MAN'S NATURAL TENDENCY TO TRY TO DO WITHOUT GOD, to trust the bow, and the chariots of human providing. The story of the prodigal is repeated constantly. Every man says in effect, "Father, give me my portion; let me see how I can do for myself without thee." It is only by-and-by, when he finds that there are worse friends than the Father, and wearier places than the home, that, clothed in rags, with failing heart and many a tear, he says, "I will arise, and go to my Father."

1. Israel showed this tendency. They confided in their bravery and patriotism and in the strength of Egypt, believing that unitedly they could construct a dam against which this great sea of Assyria, surging in so ominously, would break in vain. It was not an unreasonable expectation from the human point of view; for it seems still accepted as an axiom that "Providence is on the side of big battalions," and that the destinies of peoples are decided by their material resources. Hosea would be rebuked as a prating preacher who was going beyond his province, when he urged that righteousness and godliness were elements which demanded consideration; by the lowest subaltern and by the highest general his counsels would be laughed to scorn, though events showed that he was right.

2. Temptations to this were never stronger than now. In proportion as our powers develop, our liability to trust to them, and not to him who gave them, increases. In our day physical sciences have grown, and the principles so educed have been swiftly and boldly applied to our necessities. We are pointed to evidences in every direction of the constancy of law and the absence of fortuity. Indeed, the religious fallacy of Judah has been formulated into the philosophy of Positivism, which recognizes nothing but that which the intellect can prove, and excludes everything spiritual and supernatural. It points out that in human distresses we should turn to science, not to God; and that the study of political economy and natural science may fairly supersede the preaching of righteousness as a means of salvation to a people. We do not disparage scientific discoveries, but rather rejoice that they are made so frequently and fearlessly. We only ask men to recognize that there is another sphere not discoverable by the intellect, which underlies and impinges upon the sphere of sensuous life, and. that, while things seen are temporal, there are things unseen which are eternal. Well may one of the characters in 'The New Republic' be represented as saying to such teachers, "Your mind is so occupied with subduing matter, that it is entirely forgetful of subduing itself - a thing, trust me, that is far more important." But the disappointment of men's shrewdest anticipations proves that the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. "The shields of the earth" (the means of defense, temporal and spiritual) "belong to the Lord."

II. THAT THE DISCIPLINE OF LIFE IS INTENDED TO ERADICATE THIS TENDENCY TO FORGETFULNESS OF GOD. God rarely disappoints expectations which are founded on a study of natural law; for to act in accordance with natural law is to put ourselves in harmony with the Divine will, law being the expression of will. Yet there should be no idolatry of law, because it works in an orderly way. Law without God is a body without life, a machine without motive power. To bring about a belief in this, "time and chance happen to all;" in other words, things occur which are not expected and could not have been foreseen.

1. In history we see that God has often baffled man. He has defied probabilities, and chosen things which were weak to confound things which were mighty. Take as an example the destinies of Assyria and Judah, which were utterly unlike what man would have predicted. Assyria, in Hosea's time, was the strongest creation of military force, and political genius. In the magnificence of her wealth, and the splendor of her palaces, she rose before men's thoughts gloriously as the image Daniel saw in his vision. But no politician would have expected what the prophet foresaw - that a stone cut without hands would come from the mountain and smite that gigantic fabric to the dust; that those richly peopled plains would become the haunts of the bittern and owl, and the lair of wild beasts. Meantime Judah, a little despised kingdom, tossed helplessly between the opposing forces of Egypt and Assyria, like a piece of seaweed between two enormous waves, was to be "saved by the Lord her God." And thence, in the fullness of time, there came forth One whom men recognized as possessing the highest power, and amidst the ruins of a greater empire than Assyria herself, Christ, the true Ruler, founded a kingdom which never shall be moved. The world's expectations were set at naught.

2. Have not our previsions often been falsified, and our best plans frustrated, so that the old adage has reasserted itself, "Man proposes, God disposes"? Happy is it if, amidst the ruins of our enterprises, we can say, "it is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good."

III. THAT MORAL VICTORIES ARE PREPARED FOR BY QUIET WAITING. God appoints quiet times for the recuperation of all life. The winter prepares for the spring. Sleep makes us ready for toil, and without it the world would go mad. So in the moral world. Work has been done most bravely and successfully by those who have had seasons of trust and waiting. Elijah had to learn that there was more power in the "still small voice" than in wind, or earthquake, or fire. Saul of Tarsus had to rein in his fiery spirit, and for three years was learning God's answer to his question," Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Neither Luther in the Wartburg nor Bunyan in the prison was wasting time, but gaining strength. Let us learn to wait as well as to work; and instead of being careful and troubled about many things, sit at Jesus' feet to hear his word, and "in quietness and confidence will be our strength." It is not by our subtle reasoning that we shall conquer our doubts, nor by our doings that we shall win salvation, nor by our efforts of speech that we shall save souls; for "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God." He has mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them neither by bow, nor sword, but by the Lord their God.

IV. THAT ITS HIGHEST EXEMPLIFICATION IS SEEN IN CHRIST'S REDEMPTION OF THE WOULD. Had he come in manifested glory, the skeptic would have been silenced and the wrongdoer abashed; but he was made lower than the angels, that he might suffer death upon the cross. Born in a stable, he was nursed by the poor, depended on the wages of a carpenter for his food, and played with the common children in Nazareth. Having begun his ministry, he called to himself none of the leaders in the ecclesiastical, or intellectual, or social life of his age; but appointed Galilean fishermen as his representatives. Then he let his foes do their worst. No angelic forces hurled back his assailants, no trumpet-peal startled the court during the mockery of his trial; but he was taken "by wicked hands, crucified and slain." And when he had passed away from earth, his disciples, without human advantages, won the world's attention and established the kingdom of the Lord amongst all peoples. "It pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believed." Consider:

1. The principle which underlies our text has its application in the experience of every Christian life. We are justified, not by the works of the Law, but by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We conquer our easily besetting sins, not by strenuous resolve or Christian association, but by him who, working through these, says, "Without me ye can do nothing." We are saved from the fret of care, not because we are strong and brave to bear it, but because we have learnt to cast all our care upon him. We obtain rest from mental difficulties, not by reasoning, but by trusting, and leaving much contentedly to God's future revelation. And in our last conflict salvation will be ours, not through the memory of past service, nor through our clear perception of what awaits us in the unseen world, but through the realized presence of him who came to receive us to himself and to give us the victory.

2. And finally let us apply the principle to the accomplishment of Christian work. The foes of Christ are still around his Church, and they will be conquered, not by the bow of intellectual, or social, or civil power, but by the Lord our God. You will never conquer skepticism by logical demonstrations; nor cast out heresy by persecution or the thunders of excommunication; nor put down vices by civil law; nor compel the heathen to submit at the Feint of the sword. But against these evils they will prevail who trust, not in men, but in God; who, conscious of human helplessness, look beyond all that is seen as those who can re-echo the psalmist's words, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help." For beyond the reach of mortal weakness and transient power he reigns who of old uttered this promise, "I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen." - A. R.

The first three chapters are symbolic, and directed chiefly against the Ten Tribes, whom Hosea addresses as Israel and Ephraim. Hosea condemned their departure from the Almighty, as being a sort of spiritual adultery. One sign was an undue reliance upon material and temporal helps in times of emergency. Against this characteristic of a corrupt religion, and a declining national life, the text is directed.

I. ALL HUMAN AND MATERIAL SUCCOURS ARE ALONE AND BY THEM SELVES INADEQUATE. In their better days the people of Israel reposed all their confidence in Jehovah. Now they had lapsed into idolatry. Their spiritual vision had by degrees narrowed itself down to merely material views of things. They lost spiritual insight, and saw only the seen. They trusted in their military strength, and in political alliance with the great powers. From the human stand point this conduct was not unreasonable. In our own age this error prevails. It is reserved to our time to systematise these views into a philosophy, which, calling itself positive, excludes from its domain the least element of the super natural. It is found that there is a constancy in the operations of nature. Law has been discovered, where it was thought that there was but fortuity. So we are bidden to turn to science, where once we turned to God. Instead of praying, we are to study, and to adjust ourselves to ever-operating laws. If we would remain prosperous as a nation, say the positivists, we must have recourse to material helps, practise political economy, reform our social administration, and push to their farthest limits the practical application of scientific principles. But all this trust to science and scientific helps against the evils and emergencies of human life, is miserably and woefully mistaken. There is no incompatibility between true science and true religion. But a mere trust in means, or secondary causes, is vain and presumptuous. The shrewdest anticipations of man are constantly disappointed. Material succours — those helps which arise out of an observation, classification, and adaptation of secondary causes merely, are by themselves utterly unworthy.

II. HELP FROM GOD IS ALONE SUFFICIENT. God is the disposer of all events. At any moment this Supreme Power may, by a volition of His creative will, disappoint the cleverest calculation of the cleverest sociologist. God deigns to employ human and material agencies in the execution of His purposes; but because He works in a regular and orderly manner, we are not to think only of the mere means and instruments, and forget that Divine omnipresent agency, without which the mere instrumentality would be as the body without life, or as the machine without motive-power. It is then God, and God alone, who is worthy of trust. The means are with us, the issues are with the Lord. God can work with means, and He can also work without them. Man may calculate and scheme for results, but in vain, except as God may succeed his efforts. If we would make the best of both worlds, we must most distinctly remember that our only reliable help is to be found in the Lord, and in Him alone.

III. IN ALL CASES IT IS OUR DUTY TO TRUST ONLY IN GOD. Hero we see the practical bearing of the truth enforced by the prophecy. The lesson of the text is, that we are not to trust to any use of means for the result or results which we may desire. Secondary causes are only efficient as they are so made by the informing agency of God.

(D. Clark, M. A.)