The prophet takes such measures as seem likely to be effective, in order to rouse Israel to a sense of the guilt and folly of forsaking Jehovah. He pictures them as exiles in an Eastern land, far from their beloved country, far from the sacred metropolis, and the temple with its priesthood and its sacrifices. He supposes the days of holy festivity to have come round, with which the chosen people associated national memories of Divine deliverance, or happy acknowledgments of Divine bounty. On the recurrence of such seasons of holy mirth and obedient observance and welcome fellowship, the caprices might well be supposed bitterly to rue their rebellion and apostasy, which had revolved them in calamities so dire and privations so seductions of the enemy. The time of trial will come, and then what will ye do?

I. WHAT WILL YE DO WHEN EARTHLY PLAN AND PLEASURES FAIL? In the hot pursuit of worldly ends in life, in the absorbing enjoyment of the delights this world can yield, men forget their Maker and his claims, their Savior and his love. But when the time comes - as come it soon may - when favorite projects dissolve as dreams, and when no more pleasure is to be found where it has long been sought and often experienced, what will ye do?

II. WHAT WILL YE DO WHEN ABANDONED BY EARTHLY FRIENDS? The countenance of companions in health and high spirits is cheering, their hilarity is contagious, their presence is fitted to banish gloomy apprehensions. But such friendships are often superficial; times of adversity put them to a test too severe. Those who are willing to partake of hospitality and to heighten conviviality are seldom the friends "born for adversity;" they often vanish when sympathy is most needed, when solitude is most dreaded.

III. WHAT WILL YE DO WHEN RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES ARE FOUND TO BE EMPTY FORMS? It is sometimes supposed that any time will do for religion, that religious aid and consolation are always at the service, at the beck and call, of every one of us. But it is not so. If we neglect and abuse our privileges, they will forsake us. The man who has long disused his Bible, and given up prayer, and forsaken public worship, may, in the time. of anxiety and trouble, have recourse to what has been long neglected. But he may find that these ordinances and privileges are to him nothing but a form. They have not changed, but he has grown unspiritual, hardened, and morally incapable of using privileges within his reach. What then will he do?

IV. WHAT WILL YE DO IN THE PROSPECT OF DEATH AND JUDGMENT? In youth and in good spirits, men sometimes hear of these dread realities - for such they are to the impenitent and unpardoned - without at all realizing them, or believing that they have anything to do with themselves. But in sickness and in old age, eternity often draws near to the imagination and to the heart. Memory brings up evil deeds and words and thoughts. The foreboding soul feels, and feels justly, that the account must soon be given, that the judgment-seat must soon be faced. And yet there is no preparation, no defense, no plea. What a position! and what a prospect! Faithfulness and kindness induce the preacher of the Word to remind the careless hearer of the coming days, and the revelation they will bring; to urge upon him now, whilst it is of some use to consider the solemn question - What will ye then do? - T.

Calvin thinks the allusion is to the time of exile, when the people would be deprived of all their sacrifices. But the better point is that the sacrifices of Ephraim being

1. unauthorised, and

2. unaccompanied with righteousness, could not be accepted;consequently they could have no joy in their lesser or greater festal times, because all the joy of such times depended on their reconciliation and acceptance with God. What joy can there be in any of the joy times of life when we boar in our hearts the sad conviction of our wilful and persistent estrangement from God? And men do carry that secret conviction even when, to their fellows, they seem to be bold and self-satisfied. There is no sunshine on human life when God's smile is hidden. Illustrate from the anxiety of Job concerning his children. They were feasting, but he did not feel sure that it was feasting after sacrifice, enjoying themselves with the smile of God's favour resting on them. So he offered sacrifices to ensure the acceptance which they had missed. In the ordinary ritual of the Jews a feast followed sacrifice, as in the case of Samuel. This was the case with simple sacrifice and with the special sacrifices of solemn days. No joy could be in the feast if the sacrifice had failed to gain acceptance. It is the supreme rule for all the joy times of human life. They never can be to us what they ought to be, unless we enter on them with the full sense of acceptance with God. It must, always be, "sacrifice before feast."

(Robert Tuck, B. A.)