The heavenly dewfall.
The former part of the chapter describes the experience through which a Church or a soul must pass before the fulfillment of this promise. The repentance, the vows, the hopes of the penitent are here crowned by Divine goodness. With a startling and sudden transition, in the fourth verse, Jehovah is represented as interposing amidst the prayers of those returning to him. So our Lord describes the father as unable to listen to the close of the prodigal's confession, before he breaks forth in a gush of generous pardon and blessing. How encouraging the truth this suggests for all who turn to God! We accept our text as a figurative description of the revivifying and beautifying influence of the Holy Spirit upon the human heart. Let us notice, therefore, some of the characteristics of the dew.
I. DEW IS UNSEEN IN ITS COMING. We see its effects when every leaf and flower glitters in the early sunshine; but the dew came unperceived, when darkness was over the earth.
1. Probably the most powerful forces are those which are unseen. The noblest part of man is hidden from human gaze, and of him who is the directing Power of the universe it is said, "No man hath seen God at any time." If it be argued that because God is, and always has been invisible, he must be non-existent; it may also be argued that the conscious ego does not exist, because it has never been seen. It is true that no research or analysis in the natural world has discovered God; it is equally true that no investigation of the human body, living or dead, has ever revealed the subtle consciousness of whose existence each man is, however, certain. Both are beyond the range of experimental science. We do not know how the Spirit of God affects us; we cannot discover the nexus by means of which holy thoughts and impulses from above becomes ours, yet we are confident that they are of God and not of us. In our holiest and best hours the Holy Spirit comes to us, but secretly, "as the dew lighteth upon the grass."
2. The evidence of the work of the Spirit is to be found in its effects; e.g. the conversion of Saul of Tarsus; the profound teaching of the unscholarly writers of Holy Scripture; the triumph of Christianity through the influence of such men as were its first representatives; the moral transformation of some we ourselves have seen. One example of genuine conversion will do more to prove the work of the Spirit than all the tomes of theology ever written.
II. DEW IS SILENT IN ITS FALL. We can hear the pattering of rain or the rippling of streams, but the dewfall does not disturb an insect's sleep.
1. The Church, as well as the world, depends too often on noise and bustle, as the signs or the causes of success. The preacher whose eloquence attracts the multitude, around whom are clustered societies and organizations to do all manner of work, is not always the man most richly blessed of God. Be that as it may, the signs that the work is of God are to be found, not in the outward, but in the inward—in truer thoughts of sin and holiness, in a loftier standard of Christian integrity, in the generosity and self-sacrifice of Christ's disciples, in the purity and love which are being silently inwrought by the power of the Holy Ghost. Hence we should be slow to measure success in our own efforts or those of others.
2. As a rule, spiritual blessing is richest when outward joy is least. The dew falls not during sunshine, but in the night. Note the spiritual richness and power of the Church in times of persecution. Refer to the development of Christian faith, peace, hope, devoutness, in the dark seasons of affliction. The world must be hushed that we may hear God's voice. Earth must be darkened before the dew of heavenly blessing falls.
III. DEW IS REVIVING IN ITS INFLUENCE. We see nothing comparable to that with which Hoses was familiar, living as he did in a land where no rain fell for months together, and where the withholding of dew meant the death of vegetation. Without it corn would not reach maturity, and olives and vines and fig trees would yield no fruit. A more terrible curse than that pronounced by Elijah in Ahab's reign could not have been inflicted. Christ Jesus foresaw the dearth of comfort arid hope and energy which would prevail in his Church if his disciples were left to themselves. Hence he gave the promise of the Comforter, whom he would send from the Father, to lead his disciples into all truth, and to convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. The garden, glittering and beautiful after its dewy baptism, may illustrate such spiritual refreshment as we see in Peter coming from the upper room at Pentecost, or in John rejoicing even in the exile of Patmos. What are the graces and gifts—the fruits of the Spirit in us, which need the heavenly benediction? Whence their impoverishment? Where their source of revival? "Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."
IV. DEW IS REPEATED AND ABUNDANT IN ITS FALL. Its departure, as well as its coming, is rapid and secret. Hence Hosea elsewhere uses it as an illustration of transient religious feeling. To give a dewfall once in a season would be of little use.
1. It comes night after night, and tags is in accordance with the Divine method. Thus God gave the manna, which could not be hoarded or stored up for future use. By this means the people learnt their constant dependence on God. Still we are taught to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread"—a prayer which includes spiritual as well as temporal sustenance. Israel could not live on yesterday's manna. You cannot live on the relics of your old faith. Your character will break down if it rests on the memory of your past experience. The feeling aroused when you first thought of God was enough to bring you to him, but not enough to keep you near him. The prayer which brought pardon must be daily repeated for purification from sin. And in our weakness this is necessary, lest we should lapse into a prayerless life, and go on our way in a spirit of presumptuous self-dependence.
2. It is not that God cannot give grace abundantly, or that he willingly withholds from the feeblest and most worthless what they want and can receive. He does not stint the world of dew. The humblest flower has its drop; unsightly things are baptized with that blessing; the rough bracken shares it equally with the rose, and the tiny flower on the window-sill of the pauper is as much blessed as the garden of the peer. Free to all, it is a fit emblem of the fullness of the Holy Spirit which God will in nowise withhold from him who seeks. "I will be as the dew unto Israel."
CONCLUSION. If God is prepared to give, are we prepared to receive? Let us not make a mistake about the Holy Spirit similar to that which men formerly made about the dew, which represents him. They supposed that the moon and planets poured it down upon the earth, regardless of its condition. But at the beginning of this century, Dr. Wells, by three years' experiments, established the theory which, as Dr. Tyndall says, "has stood the test of all subsequent criticism, and is now universally accepted." It was demonstrated, in short, that dew was not dependent on the condition of the heavens only, but on the condition of the earth; ay, and of the various things upon the earth. It was shown that the aqueous vapor condenses on things which are cooled by the radiation of their own heat, and on those only; so that if anything, a cloud, for example, comes between them and heaven, which prevents the giving off of their heat, the dew does not come; or, if they do not themselves freely give off their heat, though all around are blessed, they are not. Carry the thought into the higher sphere of which we have spoken. If there be no outgoing of warm earnest desire on your part, if there be not an honest putting away of any cloud, be it of doubt or of sin, which lies between your soul and heaven, though others may be blessed, you will fail to receive the fulfillment of the promise, "I will be as the dew unto Israel."—A.R.
The bedewed Church.
This is a description of the condition of a Church which has received the fulfillment of the promise, "I will be as the dew unto Israel." Its blessedness is so full and so varied in its manifestations that no one emblem would suffice to represent it. Hence the text is crowded with imagery. The bedewed Church has these characteristics.
I. GROWTH. "He shall grow as the lily."
1. This presupposes life. A lifeless log would not grow, however rich the soil, favorable the season, abundant the sunshine and dew; but if these conditions be given to a lily bulb, though it be unsightly in appearance and deeply buried in the earth, it must grow, because it lives. No Church can expect the blessedness described in the text unless it is living, consisting of those who have more than a name to live, whose consciousness of God's presence and devotion to his service prove that they have passed from death unto life.
2. This indicates multiplication. A lily multiplies itself, and so foot by foot conquers the soil about it. Similar extension is a sign of vitality in a Church; for if the life of Christ be in it, it will never be self-absorbed, content with enjoyment, or even with self-culture, but will propagate itself in the waste places around.
3. It implies variety. The lily genus contains an unusual variety of species. Sometimes a single scale will produce a new plant. Some lilies are stately, others lowly; some grow in heat, others spread their broad leaves over the surface of a quiet pool. Far greater varieties are seen in the forms in which Divine life displays itself to the world. Some Churches are ornate in their acts of worship, others stern in their simplicity; some lay stress on accurate definitions of theology, others on the human side of their mission, etc. Yet all these but imperfectly represent the fullness of Divine life which was in Christ. These are not antagonistic forms of life, but imperfect developments of the one life.
4. It suggests purity. All Churches are agreed in seeking this which the lily so often represents. "The pure in heart shall see God," and "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." Happy is it for men that "the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth from all sin."
II. STABILITY. "He shall...cast forth his roots as Lebanon." The lily grows fast, but is fragile; indeed, stability is seldom reached rapidly in nature. The succulent plant, which swiftly reaches maturity, is killed by the first frost; but the oak, which wrestles with the wind and laughs at the storm, is the growth of years or centuries. In the spiritual sphere, however, God can create a Church swiftly, whose beauty is not transient: "It grows as the lily, but cast forth its roots as Lebanon." The allusion is, not to the cedars of Lebanon, but to Lebanon itself. Standing on the summit of that mountain range, you see below you blooming flowers, solemn cedars, here a patch of waving corn and there a terraced vineyard, here a quiet dell and there a busy village. These change, but Lebanon abides; for it sends out its rocky ridges, like giant roots, down deep beneath the distant sea. That is Hosea's emblem of the stability of the Church, of which Christ said, "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The outward forms of Christian life may change, but Christ the Son of God, the one Hope of humanity, the one true King of the world, is rooted deep in the hearts of men, and the purpose of God and "his kingdom is that which shall never be destroyed."
III. EXTENSION. "His branches shall spread." No man can be good without doing good. If he has high moral tone, intense spiritual earnestness, strong, deep-rooted convictions, an attractive Christ-like character, his influence will spread in spite of himself—over his home and business relationships. This power is quite distinct from social or intellectual influence, and may exist without it. Hence it is that the rough-handed fishermen of a despised country are swaying the destinies of the world. "I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me." Show how far-reaching is the quiet influence of a Christian mother, whose only sphere of activity is her own home. Note: Influence is not less because it is morally bad. Not only do the branches of the cedar spread, but also the branches of the upas tree, whose shadow is deadly. God forbid that the extension of our influence should prove the extension of our evildoing, and therefore of our retribution.
IV. BEAUTY. "His beauty shall be as the olive tree." No tree in Palestine was more valuable than the olive. Its oil was used as food, was poured on sacrifices, was employed in the coronation of the king, and afforded sustenance for light. No wonder it is so often used in Scripture as an emblem of prosperity. Here, probably, the reference is to the abiding beauty of the character created by God's Spirit—the olive being evergreen, as beautiful in winter as in summer. In natural disposition we often see gaiety and pleasantness supplanted by moroseness and irritability, when the experience of life has been bitter. But we have seen Christians whose luxurious home has been exchanged for straitened circumstances, whose vigorous health has failed, whose family circle has been broken up; and yet, in thankfulness for what is left, in serenity of spirit, in trustfulness for the future, we see the unfading beauty of the olive. "He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season: his leaf also shall not wither."
V. ATTRACTIVENESS. "His smell as Lebanon." In the valley between the two ranges of Lebanon, aromatic plants abound; myrtle and lavender and sweet-smelling reeds send forth delicious fragrance, and every passing breeze is perfumed and carries over the world a message concerning the tender mercy of God. It was with some thought of this that the Church is represented as praying, "Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; and blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out." Doubtless the graces of the Spirit are signified in that verse and in this, but the reference is chiefly to the diffusive influence of love, the greatest yet the quietest moral power we know. There is, unhappily, in the spiritual world, as in the physical, a beauty that is cold and almost repellant. There are Churches and Christians whose intellectual culture and social respectability none would dispute, but they are the last in the world to whom the troubled, the sinful, the skeptical, would turn for sympathy. They are deep-rooted as Lebanon, pure as the lily, but they have none of the smell of Lebanon, and do not bewray themselves and attract others by their sweetness. We cannot do Christ's work without his Spirit, without revealing sympathy and love like his. If we are to have any power for him, it must be spiritual power. If we are to lay hold of men and save them, it must be by the arms of brotherly love. "Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it!"—A.R.
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON
Counsels to the sinful.
It was the office of the prophet to be faithful at once with man and with God. He was bound not to flatter man, not to conceal or palliate human sins. At the same time, it was his to declare the whole counsel of God as the Ruler of all men, the Judge of the obdurate, the Healer of the penitent.
I. A REMINDER OF THE FALL. The Book of Hosea's prophecies is full of reproaches and expostulations addressed to backsliding, idolatrous Israel. The people are charged with iniquity, and they are put in mind of the "fall" into which their ungodliness has brought them. As surely as men wander from the ways of God into the ways of error, unrighteousness, and folly, so surely do they, sooner or later, meet with a fall. It is a plain truth that the godly stand upright. Under a Divine and righteous rule it cannot be well with those who neglect and despise the moral law. Our first parents "fell" by sin, and in this they furnished an exemplification of the consequences of disobedience as a lesson to their posterity.
II. AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO REPENTANCE. In the very language used in this expostulation and entreaty there is much to cheer and to justify the approach of the penitent sinner unto God.
1. There is the designation "Israel," the use of which seems a reminder of the Divine favor.
2. There is the appellation given to Jehovah—"the Lord thy God;" thine, even though thou hast shown thyself so insensible and so ungrateful.
3. There is the term which the counselor employs—"turn," "return," unto the Lord, implying that the right and proper path is Godward, that to have forsaken that path was deviation and error, that steps must be retraced. What stress is laid in Scripture upon sincere repentance and conversion—upon the turning of the soul unto him against whom sin has been committed, needs not to be shown; yet the sinful need that such directions should be repeated, both to preserve them from any other and any false way, and to encourage diffident and desponding souls in their access to God.
III. A DIRECTION TO CONFESSION AND ENTREATY. "Take with you words."
1. This is an encouragement to the expression and outpouring of the feelings of the heart. Mere words, that is, meaningless and insincere words, are vain; but words which are the utterance of a penitent and lowly soul, are acceptable.
2. Words should utter the self-abasement which is the sinner's proper attitude of heart before a righteous Lord. Confession is indispensable; for only the hardened and insensible can withhold it.
3. Words should plead for pardon and acceptance. The prophet himself puts such language into Israel's lips, and at the same time represents the willingness of an offended God graciously to hear and royally to answer.
APPLICATION. To show what light is furnished by the gospel of Christ to make evident alike the sinner's condition and also the grounds and assurance of Divine favor and forgiveness.—T.
The supplication and the vow.
Words alone are vain. Yet, in the order of nature, words are the expression of thought and sentiment and resolve. Especially must words uttered to Heaven be sincere and truthful; for he is the Searcher of hearts, whose favor the sinner beseeches with contrition and with confidence. Let it, then, be understood that the words here suggested as suitable for the repenting sinner's address to God are the utterance of deep emotion and sincere resolution.
I. PENITENT CONFESSION. Israel acknowledges that there has been misplaced confidence. She has trusted in alliances with Assyria, in military resources, in the vain aid of the idols of the surrounding idolaters. In all this she has been her own enemy, and has been proving her own folly. The confession, which is the indispensable condition to acceptance, is here made.
II. REPENTANCE AND RESOLVE. Israel not only sees the fact and feels the reproach concerning herself; she resolves upon a change—a turning from human aid and an abandonment of self-confidence. Apart from this there is no hope of a safer way, a better life.
III. ENTREATY FOR FORGIVENESS AND ACCEPTANCE. Israel loathes her sin, and desires that both the sin and its consequences should be removed. Israel is weary of enmity with God, and desires that there may be peace, that she may be accepted and dealt with in grace and love.
IV. THE SUPPLIANT'S VOW. It has ever been characteristic of human nature to deal with the higher Power as though that power were human, and to be appeased with offerings and with promises of service. Vows have been and still are made under the influence of this superstitious belief, Yet this is no argument against such vows as that here put into the lips of Israel: "So will we render the calves of our lips." Sacrifices of obedience and of praise are just on the part of man, and are acceptable to God. None who is graciously pardoned and accepted can withhold this tribute. There have doubtless been those who, in their ignorance and unspirituality, have hoped to bribe Deity with the proffer of their praises. But none the less does it become the pardoned penitent to express his gratitude to him who is plenteous in forgiveness.—T.