From this point the mind of the prophet reverts largely to the past. He sees mirrored in it both God's love and the people's sins. Allusion is made Lore to God's early love for Israel, and to the sins of Gibeah and Baal-peor.

I. THE EVIL OF SIN IS SEEN BY COMPARISON WITH FORMER SINS, THE HEINOUSNESS OF WHICH ALL ADMIT. Two such outstanding sins of the past were those of Gibeah, and, at a still earlier period, of Baal-peor. The former (cf. Judges 19., 20.) was a sin revealing depths of corruption in Israel such as had not previously been heard of (Judges 19:30). It shocked the national conscience. It led to fierce vengeance being taken on the transgressors, and on the Benjamites who sided with them. The latter was a sin of wider scope, and scarcely less heinous in its character (Numbers 25:1-18). It combined idolatry with whoredom in a peculiarly daring and offensive manner. It led to the destruction of twenty-four thousand in the camp of Israel by a plague, and to the after extermination of the Midianites. These were the "deep corruptions" which were now reproducing themselves in Israel. The people might refuse to give the right name to the iniquity as practiced by themselves, but they could scarcely fail to reprobate it when presented in these earlier instances. It was a peculiarity of these sins that they had been judged by Israel itself. It was the tribes that pronounced sentence on the evildoers at Gibeah; and Phinehas had executed judgment on Zimri, as afterwards the men of war did on the Midianites. This, accordingly, was a case to which Paul's principle applied, that ability to judge of an offence in another renders one inexcusable if he does the same thing (Romans 2:1). We are often, however, willing to condemn in others sins which we inconsistently tolerate in ourselves.

II. THE EVIL OF SIN ONLY BECOMES FULLY APPARENT AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF DIVINE LOVE. This is brought out in ver. 10 in the case of Baal-peor. The enormity of that sin was only fully seen when set against the manifestations of Divine love which had preceded. "I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at her first time." There is indicated here:

1. God's choice of Israel. He "found" them "in the wilderness; ' he "saw" them there, and chose them.

2. God's delight in Israel. The nation was pleasant to him as grapes in the desert, or as the first-ripe fig. His choice and his affection were both manifested in many wonderful ways. It was this love shown to Israel which made such acts as the making of the golden calf, and, again, the shameful apostasy of Baal-peor, so inexcusably wicked. To see sin in its full enormity we must count up the mercies of God against which we are offending - must reflect, above all, on God's love to us as displayed in Christ.

III. THE PRINCIPLE OF CONTINUITY IN SIN. Israel's apostasy, Hoses seeks to show, was no new thing. It began at a very early period (cf. Hosea 10:9). The strain of it bad continued in the blood of the people ever since. It was proved to be a constitutional disorder which no mild treatment would eradicate. We gain insight into the virulence of depravity by studying its hereditary manifestation. - J.O.

(Judges 19., 20.): —

1. When men to whom we seek for protection deal falsely with us, their wickedness is great in the eyes of God.

2. We may meet with worse usage from those who profess religion than from those who profess it not.

3. God may regard those as unholy and unclean who make a fair show of religion.

4. For men to stand up impudently and boldly in the defence of wickedness committed is abomin able in the eyes of God.

5. To join with others in defence of evil is worse than to stand out ourselves in evil.

6. Those who defend evil may for awhile prosper, but they must at last perish.

(Jeremiah Burroughs.)