For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own. Ephraim has hired lovers. Sermons
I. IT IS THE INFATUATION OF SIN TO FORSAKE THE FREE AND UNDESERVED FAVOR OF GOD. The folly of such a course is apparent to all whose minds are not under the influence of prejudice and passion. When the fountain of living waters is accessible, how wretched is the self-delusion of those who turn away from it! II. THIS INFATUATION IS STILL MORE APPARENT WHEN IT LEADS SINNERS TO TRUST TO VAIN REFUGES. The cisterns which are sought when the fountain is forsaken are broken cisterns, which can hold no water. Such was the powerlessness, the insufficiency of the gods and the kings whom Israel sought. And in that they represent the men, the systems, the societies, the pursuits, which sinners are ever wont to exalt to the seat of God. III. TILE INFATUATION OF SINNERS LEADS THEM TO PART WITH EVERYTHING IN ORDER TO OBTAIN NOTHING. Israel spent her treasure, drained her resources; and for what? Only to endure the bitterest humiliation, the most cruel disappointment. There was none, in the day of her sorrow, that could help, deliver, or comfort her - none! And this was all she obtained for her apostasy. The lovers, the friends, whom she "hired" were unfaithful and unhelpful. So is it with all who put their confidence in men and in princes. Men give up character and friends, a good conscience, a bright hope; they part with all, and what do they receive in return? The pleasures of sin for a season; but very soon weariness, disappointment, and misery. And "the end of these things is death." - T.
A wild ass alone by himself. What a figure of the untamed soul which refuses the easy yoke of the blessed Redeemer. Man's untamed spirit spurns the adorable Lord's love. You cannot conceive a truer picture of the altogether untractable than this. The wild ass will go its own way. But this is according to nature. What we are Called to contemplate is the fallen being man, described as a "wild ass alone by itself." Ephraim and the Ten Tribes are compared to the wild ass for many reasons.1. They refused Christ's easy yoke; their hearts were untamed; they were stubborn in their rejection of God's inviting grace; they were full of obdurate folly; they were headstrong and unruly, not consenting to any restraints; they chose their own course, running up and down after sin, mad upon their idols, as the wild ass traverses the desert only to gratify its own low nature. 2. The wild ass is excessively swift; and although numbers of them commonly herd together, yet it is usual for some one of them to break away and separate himself from his company, and run alone or at random by himself. It is when he thus breaks away that he is such an easy prey to the lion. Ephraim, in seeking to be all for himself, became the more sure prey of the devourer; and whenever the sinner breaks away by himself, thinking thereby to be masterless and free, he is in a fair way of being left to his own devices and given up by God. 3. The wild ass is the lion's prey in the wilderness, and the soul faithless to Christ, seeking its own things, is as a wild ass alone by himself, or for himself, for his own gratification, his own pleasure, and the end of these things is death. (Alfred Clayton Thiselton.) People Hosea, ZechariahPlaces Assyria, Egypt, SamariaTopics Alone, Ass, Asshur, Assyria, Donkey, Ephraim, E'phraim, Herself, Hired, Lovers, Money, Sold, Wandering, WildOutline 1. Destruction is threatened both to Israel and Judah for their impiety and idolatry.Dictionary of Bible Themes Hosea 8:9 4633 donkey Library The BibleOh! how ten-thousand-fold merciful is God, that, looking down upon the race of man, he does not smite it our of existence. We see from our text that God looks upon man; for he says of Ephraim, "I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing." But see how, when he observes the sin of man, he does not dash him away and spurn him with his foot; he does not shake him by the neck over the gulf of hell, until his brain doth reel and then drop him forever; but … Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855 And First, Can it be Said that Mammmon is Less Served by Christians... That the Unskilful Venture not to Approach an Office of Authority. That Whereas the City of Jerusalem had Been Five Times Taken Formerly, this was the Second Time of Its Desolation. A Brief Account of Its History. "For they that are after the Flesh do Mind the Things of the Flesh,", The Instrumentality of the Wicked Employed by God, While He Continues Free from Every Taint. A Few Sighs from Hell; Hosea Links Hosea 8:9 NIVHosea 8:9 NLT Hosea 8:9 ESV Hosea 8:9 NASB Hosea 8:9 KJV Hosea 8:9 Bible Apps Hosea 8:9 Parallel Hosea 8:9 Biblia Paralela Hosea 8:9 Chinese Bible Hosea 8:9 French Bible Hosea 8:9 German Bible Hosea 8:9 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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