Hosea 2:14-15 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably to her.… Apply these words to ourselves, as setting before us the way Almighty God will work upon our souls to bring us to repentance, or to a deeper knowledge of His ways. I. HE WILL ALLURE THE SOUL AND BRING IT INTO THE WILDERNESS. This implies that it is elsewhere, — it is in the world. What is meant by the wilderness? It is spoken of our hearts. God will make us, even while living in this world, with all its pleasures and vanities around us, as dead to all as if we were in a wilderness. "I spake unto thee in prosperity, and thou wouldest not hear." This is His lament. Therefore He will destroy all those things wherein we trust, that we may hear His voice and live. There is self-denial involved in following where the Spirit leads us. It allures onwards to the wilderness. Follow willingly. II. IF GOD HAS THUS DEALT WITH YOU, IT IS THAT HE MAY SPEAK TO YOUR HEARTS. In silence, in solitude, in the desolation of your hearts, He will come and build up their ruined breaches, and dwell therein Himself. "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth." God speaks to the heart; He allures it to Him; and when it has found no rest for the sole of its foot on the waters of this troubled world, bids it return to its true rest in His wounded side. (R. A. Suckling, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.WEB: "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. |
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