"I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man."—Hosea 11:9.

HE LORD, speaking of himself as "God, and not man," mentions as the special point in which he is above and beyond man, that he has greater grace, greater long-suffering, and greater willingness to forgive: "I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man." In a thousand respects, God is greater than man; for us to enter into that theme, would require a very considerable length of time; but the Lord here puts this truth most prominently forward, that he is "God, and not man," in that he is infinitely more forbearing, infinitely more tender, infinitely more ready to pass by offenses than any man ever can be. What men cannot do by reason of the narrowness and shallowness of their goodness, God can and will do by reason of the height and depth and length and breadth of his immeasurable love.
Note that truth in our text, and then note another. When God can find in man no reason for showing mercy to him, he still finds a reason for displaying his mercy, for he looks for it in his own heart. He does not say, "I will not return to destroy Ephraim, for he is not as bad as he might be, and there is really something hopeful about him." No, the Lord does not let the bucket down into that dry well; but he fetches the argument for his mercy out of himself: "For I am God." "It is not what he is, but what I am, that decides the case," says Jehovah; "I will have mercy upon Ephraim, because I am God, and not man." Guilty one, your hope of pardon lies in the character of God; and the more quickly and completely you recognize this fact, the better will it be for you. Do not be looking into yourself to find some reason there why God should have pity upon you, for there is no reason within you but what Satan can answer and overturn. Rather look to God, especially as God looks to himself, for your hope lies in what be is whom you have offended. I know that he is just and holy, and that this truth at first condemns you; but he is also good and gracious, and this truth brings joy and brightness to you. The only rays of light you can ever get must come to you from the sun. You will not find any in your own eyes, for they are blind; it is from the sun himself that your very power to see, as well as the light by which you can see, must come. So, God fetches his argument in favor of mercy from himself; you have one specimen of it in that grand passage where he says, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion," drawing the reasons for the display of his mercy out of the great deeps of his own sovereignty.
Our text reveals this, as (God's reason, drawn from his own nature, why he forgives men: "I am God, and not man." I have known a despondent soul often to turn this great truth the wrong side out, and find in it a reason for despair rather than for hope. "Look," says the awakened sinner, "if I had only offended against my fellow-man, I should have some hope of pardon; but my sin is so terrible because it is committed against high heaven. It is with God that I have to deal, and I can say with David, 'Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.'" It is because you have to deal with God, rather than with men, that some of you think you must be shut up to despair. That mistake of yours only shows what a poor, faulty guide unbelief is; for it turns your back to the light, and makes you walk on in darkness. Faith, on the other hand, argues after the manner of God, and says, "If I had offended against man, I could not have expected him to forgive me. If I had injured man as I have injured God, I could not have hoped to be pardoned; but since I know that God is love, and that he is infinite in grace, I see that there is a wondrous depth of sound reasoning about this divine declaration, 'I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man.'"
I am going to speak upon this one theme, to hammer away upon this one nail. There will be no great variety in my subject, and no particular freshness of thought in considering it; but I shall dwell upon just this one truth, that there is hope for guilty men. There is hope for every man, woman, and child who will come and confess sin, and trust in Christ, on this ground,—that he with whom we have to deal is "God, and not man." This I shall have to show you at considerable length, and under many particulars; but the whole purpose of my discourse will be to show you the hopefulness in this great truth that, as sinners, we have to deal with God, and not with men.
I. For, first, MAN CANNOT LONG FORBEAR HIS ANGER.
I am not speaking now of certain passionate people who have no control over their tempers. Oh, dear! there are some persons whom I know, whose blood seems to lie very close to the surface; it is soon up, and very hot. With them it is, as men say, "a word and a blow": sometimes, it is the blow without even waiting for the word. They are so very irritable that any little offense puts them on the defensive, or makes them ready to attack others. They cannot bear anything that annoys them; some, because they are so little, and as the proverb truly says, "A little pot is soon hot;" and others because they think themselves so big that, if anybody comes between the wind and their nobility, that person has committed an altogether unpardonable offense. Oh, dear! if we had to deal with a God who was like these men are, we should have perished long, long ago; but our text means even more than that. The Hebrew of this passage is very significant and expressive, and it might be rendered thus: "I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not the best of men," for with even the best of men, the noble spirits who can bear a good deal more than ordinary individuals, yet there is a point of forbearance beyond which they cannot and will not go. If you have offended them once, twice, thrice, it may be that they are patient with you, and forgive you; but when the offense is repeated, and the provocation is multiplied, even the best of men is apt to ask, "Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times?" He who put that question thought that he had gone a long way when he suggested sevenfold forgiveness; but the Savior said to Peter, "I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, until seventy times seven." You remember what the apostles said when they heard this saying; they prayed, "Lord, increase our faith;" as much as to say, "It needs very great faith to be able to forgive an offender until seventy times seven." We have offended against God far more often than seventy times seven, yet has he borne with us. We who are here are the living monuments of divine mercy, and might truly write upon our brows, "Spared by the long-suffering of God;" for if he had strictly marked our sin, he must have destroyed us and if he had even dealt with any one of us who has been unfruitful, he must have said, as did the owner of the fruitless fig-tree, "Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground." But here is the mercy of our case, we have to deal with the God of patience, who is long-suffering and very pitiful, who is, in fact, as our text declares, "God, and not man." This should make us bless his name continually for the great forbearance he has shown toward us, and this goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering of God should lead us to repentance. We may not continue in sin because God's grace abounds, but his abounding grace should make us loathe and leave sin.
II. Next, if we had to deal, not with God, but with our fellow-men, we should very often find that, WHEN MEN GET INTO A LOW, NERVOUS, SENSITIVE STATE THEMSELVES, THEY ARE USUALLY QUITE UNABLE TO BEAR WITH OTHERS. A person's temper often depends a great deal upon the state of his health. If a man is perfectly well, sound in mind and body, he can put up with a good deal; but there are times when the head aches, or when the tooth aches, or when the heart aches, or when there is an overpowering sense of nervousness upon you, and then you know what a very little thing will put you out. "Oh, take that child away!" you cry, petulantly, "I cannot bear its noise." That ring at the bell has startled you, that cry of the costermonger in the street has quite irritated you, and now you are in a very fit state of mind to act the part of a tyrant. One who was discussing a certain trial said, "I wonder what the jurymen are having for breakfast this morning, for their food will have a good deal to do with the verdict they will give;" and, no doubt, unless a person is himself pretty well, and in a good mental and spiritual condition, his weakness or his sensitiveness will make him deal severely with others even for a very small offense. What a mercy it is that the One with whom we have to deal is "God and not man"! Our glorious Jehovah is never weak, impetuous, unjust, ungenerous. He is always magnanimous, kind, gracious, forbearing. He is never in such a condition that he feels ready to be irritated with his creatures; but, self-contained and self-possessed, dwelling in the eternal sublimities of his own unsullied happiness, the God over all, blessed for ever, he is in that state of mind—if I may so speak of him after the manner of men,—that he is willing to pass by iniquity, transgression, and sin, he is a God ready to pardon, waiting to forgive the guilty. Could you truly know him, and see how free he is from those human frailties which lie at the roots of all irritability, and unwillingness to forgive offenders, you would understand what a mercy it is that he is "God, and not man." Come, poor soul, approach thy God; thou hast not to come before an angry judge, thou hast not to approach an austere person who is ready to take offense even at little things; but thou art coming to the infinitely-blessed God, who delighteth not in the death of any, but would rather that they should turn unto him and live.
III. There is a third reason why we should rejoice that the Lord is "God, and not man. It is this: MEN ARE NOT ANXIOUS TO RECONCILE TO THEMSELVES THOSE WHO HAVE OFFENDED THEM IF THEY ARE PERSONS OF BAD CHARACTER. A man who has been injured may, in the greatness of his mind, say, "I hope that person did not realize the wrong that he was doing. I hope that he is a good man; he must surely have misunderstood the consequences of his action; probably he only made a mistake, so I am willing to see him, and frankly to forgive him, and to put the matter right as soon as possible." But suppose that you have been grievously wronged by some mean, base individual, whose character you know to be altogether beneath contempt; I know what you say to yourself, "Well, I shall not put myself out of the way to seek him; I do not particularly care what he thinks or says about me. Perhaps it is just as well that such a person as he is should remain at a distance; I do not want his company, for I prefer his room. Let him go, he really is not worth my seeking to be reconciled to him." Ah, sirs! if God had said that concerning us, he would have spoken justly indeed. For us, creatures of the dust, to have offended our great and glorious Creator; for us, worms of the earth, to have offended the infinite Jehovah, and to have done it wilfully and continually, as we have done, might well have made the Lord say, "There, let them go. If they will be my enemies, let them be my enemies; they cannot harm me, and their curses will fall on their own heads. If they speak evil of me, what does it matter to me while I have the songs of angels and of cherubim and seraphim? If they despise me, what is their opinion worth one way or the other? Let them go." But, dear friends, the Lord does not deal thus with us, for he is "God, and not man." What a wonder of grace and mercy it is that he should actually desire that we should be reconciled to him, that he should desire it with anxiety, should long for it, and that his whole heart should go forth with the desire! The Lord is not willing that we should be his enemies, he is not willing to treat us as his enemies; but, to speak after the manner of men, he is anxious to reconcile us to himself, and therefore he sends to us his ambassadors with tears beseeching us to be reconciled to him. Oh, this is Godlike! this is divine!
IV. In addition to the points I have mentioned, I must remind you that THERE ARE SOME MEN WHO ARE WILLING TO BE RECONCILED TO THOSE WHO HAVE OFFENDED THEM IF THE OFFENDERS WILL CRAVE FORGIVENESS. Notice what they say, "That person has done me grievous wrong; I am quite willing to pardon him, but let him ask to be pardoned. I do not think it is my place to go after him; I am the offended person, and it cannot be expected that I should humble myself to him. If he comes to me, and seeks forgiveness, I shall be going a great way if I do heartily forgive him; but as to being the first to move in this matter,—well, it is not to be expected of me." No, friend, it is not to be expected that you should do so, for you are only a man; but the Lord is "God, and not man," and therefore he is the first to move in the direction of the reconciliation that is to end the quarrel. It is the offended One, the grievously-offended One, who comes to the offender, and says, "Let us be friends; I will blot out this offense, I will remove this sin. Come to me. Accept the reconciliation I am prepared to give." I feel half inclined to stop here, and to say, "Let us sing again the last verse of that grand hymn that we sang before prayer, and roll out the refrain in full thunder of grateful thanksgiving,—

Verse 1. When Israel was a child,—
When the nation was yet young, and had scarcely started on its march among the peoples of the earth: "When Israel was a child,"—
1. Then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
God's love does not depend upon the standard of our spiritual attainments. While we are yet children in grace, the Father's love is set upon us, as it was upon Israel in its beginnings as a nation.
2. As they called them, so they went from them;
Such was the perversity of this child-nation, whom nevertheless God loved that though galled by Jehovah, he went away, and refused to obey the divine call. The Israelites in Egypt "hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage;" and, even after their great deliverance, they were constantly turning aside from the path pointed out by Moses, who bade them be faithful to their God.
2. They sacrificed unto Baalim,—
They offered sacrifice to many Baals, first to one and then to another, for men will readily change their idols when they know not the true God.
2, 3. And burned incense to graven images. I taught Ephraim also to go,—
This child-nation was taught by God how to walk;—
3. Taking them by their arms;
As nurses hold up their little children when for the first time they try to stand or toddle along.
3. But they knew not that I healed them.
This was a singular thing, and it shows the great blindness of man, that he does not know his own Physician. It was so with Israel: "They knew not that I healed them." Surely, brethren, it seems impossible that we should not know our Divine Healer; yet our blindness is extreme by nature, and leads to many a folly.
4. I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.
As men do to their cattle when they have been ploughing, and they come to the end of the day's work, then the bit is removed, or the yoke is lifted off the shoulder, and fit fodder is provided for the cattle that they may be refreshed. This is what God did to his people Israel; he brought them out of Egypt, where they had to perform hard tasks, caused them to rest from their labors, and gave them both material and spiritual meat to eat; yet nevertheless they were ungrateful to him. We say that ingratitude is the worst of sins; but, alas, it is one of the commonest of evils, and we ourselves are ingrates to our God.
6. He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return.
If we try to escape from our trouble without hearing the voice of God in it we shall run into another; if, by our own plotting and scheming, we escape from Egypt, then the Assyrian shall be our king, and there is small choice between Assyria and Egypt. It is always best to take with submission the sorrow that God appoints, lest, by fleeing from the bear the serpent bite us, and so we go from bad to worse.
6. And the word shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.
That is a very striking expression, "Because of their own counsels." It should be a solemn warning to us not to follow the devices of our own heart when we see the consequences of Israel's walking after his own way.
7. And my people are bent to backsliding from me:
They seemed as if they must do it, as if their hearts were set upon it; they were "bent" upon it. Oh, that our bent and bias were towards holiness, and not towards backsliding!
7. Though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.
See how Israel puts God away, and will not hear Jehovah's voice.

Now observe the change in the chapter, for God speaks of his faithfulness even to backsliding Israel. He does not give his people up, and he still yearns over them in tenderest pity and forbearance.
8. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.
And this divine turning and repenting, remember, were toward a people who did not turn to the Lord. God turned towards a people that would not turn towards him, and his repentings were "kindled together" towards the nation that would not repent. Oh, the unspeakable, the unthinkable grace of God! He doeth for us "exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think."
9. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man;
Our hope lies in the fact that God is God. Sometimes, that truth is a terror to men; they are distressed at the thought of the great and holy God, yet in this truth is their only hope of salvation. The Lord says, "I will not return to destroy Ephraim, for I am God, and not man."
9. The Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.
That is, the Lord says, "I will not come into it to see all its iniquities, lest in my wrath I smite and destroy it." How tenderly doth God bear with wicked men! How great is his long-suffering! How graciously he seems to close his eyes, as if he would not see that which must bring upon us swift destruction if he looked upon it in his righteous anger!
10. They shall walk after the LORD:
It is a great blessing when men begin to seek the Lord whom they formerly shunned. This proves that there has been wrought in them a complete change of heart.
10. He shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.
God's terrible voice often makes men tremble, and that is one proof of the working of his grace in their hearts, for they tremble before him, and flee unto him.
11, 12. They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the LORD. Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.
There are still some left to serve Jehovah; there is a remnant according to the election of grace even in the very worst of times. "Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints." May we be found among the faithful few! Amen.