Hosea 2:14<\/a>
\nThe children of God would not voluntarily go into the \u2028wilderness\u2013it is a place too barren for them to enter, \u2028except as allured in a special manner by the grace of \u2028God, and led by the power of God. \u2028Nor do they for the most part know where the Lord \u2028is taking them. They follow His drawings; they are \u2028led by His allurings; they listen to His persuading \u2028voice, trusting to Him as to an unerring Guide. \u2028But they do not know the \u2018place of barrenness\u2019 into which \u2028He is bringing them\u2013this the Lord usually conceals from \u2028their eyes. He allures and they follow, but He does not \u2028tell them what He is going to do with them, or where \u2028He intends to take them. He hides His gracious purposes, \u2028that He may afterwards bring them more clearly to light.
\nLook at the place where He brings His people\u2013the \u2028wilderness. This is a type and figure much used by \u2028the Holy Spirit, and conveys to us much deep and \u2028profitable instruction. \u2028The wilderness is an isolated, solitary spot, far, far \u2028away from cities, and towns, and other busy haunts of \u2028men\u2013a remote and often dreary abode, where there is \u2028no intruding eye to mark the wanderer\u2019s steps, where \u2028there is no listening ear to hear his sighs and cries. \u2028The Lord, when He puts forth His sacred power upon \u2028the heart, to allure His people into the wilderness, \u2028brings them into a spot where in solitude and silence \u2028they may be separated from everyone but Himself. \u2028The \u2018wilderness\u2019, we take as an emblem of being alone \u2028with God\u2013coming out of the world, away from sin and \u2028worldly company, out of everything carnal, sensual, and \u2028earthly, and being brought into that solemn spot where \u2028there are secret, sacred, and solitary dealings with God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The wilderness \u2028\u2028(J. C. Philpot, \u201cThe Valley of Achor\u201d 1861) \u201cTherefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead \u2028her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.\u201d \u2028Hosea 2:14 The children of God would not voluntarily go into the \u2028wilderness\u2013it is a place too barren for them to enter, \u2028except as allured […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author-j-c-philpot"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1082"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1083,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1082\/revisions\/1083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}