May 15
30
The Alluring
James Smith, 1860
The Lord having chosen his people for himself — will bring them to know him, confide in him, and love him. So, when they have backslidden and wandered from him — he will employ means, that his banished ones be not expelled from him. Thus he brought Israel out of Egypt, and consecrated them to himself; and thus he led them out of Babylon, and again set them apart for his praise. These things were types, and show unto us, how the Lord deals with his people now, both at their first conversion, and at their restoration afterwards. How striking are the words of the Lord by his servant Hosea, on this point, “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably to her;” or as the margin reads, “I will speak to her heart.” Hosea 2:14. What will the Lord do?
“I will allure her.” The eye and the heart of God, are upon his people — before they know it, and when they little think of it. He loves them with an everlasting love — therefore, he will draw, or allure them. He will draw them from their . . .
carnal pleasures, vain pursuits, and wordily company.
He will secretly persuade them . . .
by a divine operation upon their minds; or by disappointments, vexations, convictions, distress of soul, and bereavements; or by discoveries of his glorious grace, the blessedness of his people, or the felicity of Heaven
— to leave the pleasures and pursuits that are carnal — and seek for himself, and spiritual things. He will entice her, or draw her, by the revelation, and exhibition, of Jesus — in his glory, beauty, and exact adaptation to her.
“I will bring her into the wilderness.” Not an uninhabited spot — but what is elsewhere called “the wilderness of the people.” So, that though surrounded by society, the soul feels ALONE — it has an inward persuasion, that it is an isolated being. The allured soul feels that no one is like it — no one ever had such feelings, such fears, such corruptions, such temptations, such doubts. Therefore as Jeremiah says, “Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him. Let him bury his face in the dust — there may yet be hope.”
The believer, like a person in a wilderness, has a painful sense of BARRENNESS. Beneath, there is no green and pleasant verdure — but scorching sands; above, no shower bearing clouds — but a burning sky. All is barren, and tends to barrenness. So the soul finds it — the means of grace are barren; prayer, preaching, and conversation, all are barren. Even the Bible appears to be a barren book.
So the man feels exposed to DANGER — danger from Satan, sin, the world, and death. Danger from the law, and danger even from Christian friends.
There is also a painful sense of DESTITUTION, and the man becomes wearied, bewildered, and exhausted.
This wilderness is a place of INSTRUCTION, here the soul learns many a painful — but important lesson. Here it learns dependence on God, the emptiness and insufficiency of the creature, and the need of a divine agency to carry on the work. It learns that there is no bread but from Heaven, and what comes down appears to be small and unusual; so that with Israel, as we gather and feed on it, we are ready to cry, “Manna,” what is it? what is it?
Here God works wonders, in preserving, supplying, correcting, restoring, and guiding. Here the bridegroom finds his bride, raises her to his side, allows her to lean upon him, holds secret, soul-sustaining communion with her, and conducts her to the promised land.
“I will speak to her heart.”
He speaks a divorce from all creatures — that we may enjoy union to, and find happiness in himself alone.
He calls us away from centering in self — to fix our faith and affections on himself.
He speaks, so as to prevail with us to leave all others, and give ourselves up . . .
to be ruled by his will,
to feed at his table, and
to be satisfied with his goodness.
He speaks comfort, and speaks comfortably to us. By a Barnabas, or by the Comforter — he speaks, and, brings home a word of promise to the heart. This encourages faith, emboldens hope, and persuades the soul to close in with Christ. Or some sweet word flows into the mind, assuring us that he . . .
has pardoned our sins,
will take us as his own,
will guide us by his counsel, and
afterwards receive us to glory.
Reader, has the Lord ever allured you, and drawn you away into a wilderness, revealing himself to you? Has he ever spoken to your heart, words of peace and love? Jesus spoke to the heart of the poor woman, when he said, “Your sins, which are many, are all forgiven,” and to the poor man, when he said, “Your faith has saved you, go in peace.” Such pleasant words are as a honeycomb — sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. Such good words will make the heart glad.
We must be weaned from the world, from the creatures, and be brought into secret, heart-affecting, soul transforming communion with God. We must therefore find the world a wilderness, a desert, a land of drought. We must turn from man to God, and in God as revealed in Jesus, find a friend that loves at all times, and be able to say, with the apostle, “Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.”