FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Scripture Reference: Hosea 11-14

3. God’s Promises for the Future

Please read Hosea 14:1-9 for the background to this section.

Though His people may turn away from Him, God will not abandon them, even though He disciplines them, for He is true to His covenant and His promises. “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” – 2 Timothy 2:13.

God pleads with His people to return to Him and forsake the sins that were causing their downfall. He had already told them to plow up their hard hearts and seek the Lord (Hosea 10:12) and to turn to God for mercy (Hosea 12:6), but now He talks to them like little children and tells them just what to do. The Lord gives them promises to encourage them to repent.

He will receive us (Hosea 14:2–3). God had every reason to reject His sinful people, but He chose to offer them forgiveness. Instead of bringing sacrifices, they needed to bring sincere words of repentance and ask God for His gracious forgiveness. “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise.” – Psalm 51:16–17.

He will restore us (Hosea 14:4). God restores the penitent to spiritual health and heals their backsliding (Jeremiah 14:7). When a person collapses with sickness, it’s usually the result of a process that’s been working in the body for weeks or months. First an infection gets into the system and begins to grow. The person experiences weariness and loss of appetite, then weakness, and then the collapse occurs. When sin gets into the inner person and isn’t dealt with, it acts like an insidious infection: it grows quietly; it brings loss of spiritual appetite; it creates weariness and weakness; then comes the collapse.

For example, when Peter denied his Lord three times, that sin didn’t suddenly appear; it was the result of gradual spiritual deterioration. The denial began with Peter’s pride, when he told the Lord he would never forsake Him and would even die for Him. The next stage was sleeping when he should have been praying, and then fighting when he should have put away his sword. Peter should have left the scene (“I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.” – Matthew 26:31; Zechariah 13:7); but instead, he followed to see what would happen and walked right into temptation.

When we confess our sins to the Lord, He forgives us and the “germs of sin” are cleansed away (1 John 1:9) but, as with physical sickness, often there’s a period of recuperation when we get back our strength and our appetite for spiritual food. “I will love them freely” describes that period, when we’re back in fellowship with the Lord and enjoying His presence. We see the smile of His face, for His anger is turned away.

He will revive us (Hosea 14:5–8). Hosea pictures the restoration of the penitent as the emergence of new life in a dry field on which the refreshing dew has fallen. In the summer and early autumn in the Holy Land, the dew is very heavy and greatly appreciated (Psalm 133:3; Isaiah 18:4). That’s what the word “revive” means: to bring new life. The rich vegetation appears, producing beauty and fragrance where once the farmer saw only ugliness and emptiness. The fallow ground becomes a fruitful garden!

The closing verse presents us with only two alternatives: rebel against the Lord and continue to stumble, or return to the Lord and walk securely in His ways. The first choice is foolish; the second choice is wise.

“I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore, choose life . . .” – Deuteronomy 30:19.

Adapted and modified excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Amazed, “Be” Commentary Series.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: Hosea 11-14

2. God’s Disciplines in the Present – Continued

Please read Hosea 12:1-13.16 for the background to this section.

The reasons for discipline (Hosea 12:7–13:6) – continued. After the death of King Saul, the Ephraimites refused to submit to David’s rule (2 Samuel 2:8–11); in fact, they had a strong prejudice against the tribe of Judah, the ruling tribe (2 Samuel 19:40–43). When the Northern Kingdom was established, so powerful were the Ephraimites that the kingdom was even called by their name.

But Ephraim abandoned Jehovah for Baal, and that brought spiritual death. They gladly participated in Jeroboam’s man-made religion by sacrificing to the golden calves—even offering human sacrifices—and kissing the calves in worship. But idols are nothing, and those who worship them become like them—nothing (Psalm 115:8). Hosea compared the people to the “nothings” with which they were familiar: morning dew that the sun burns away; chaff that the wind blows away; smoke that disappears out the window and is seen no more.

One more sin that Hosea condemned was the nation’s ingratitude. It was the same old story: the Jews were glad for what God had done for their forefathers—the Exodus, God’s provision and guidance in the wilderness, the abundant wealth in the Promised Land—but they didn’t really show Him sincere appreciation. In their trials, they turned to God for help, but in their prosperity, they became proud and turned away from God to idols. Moses had warned them about this sin, but they committed it just the same (Deuteronomy 8:10–20).

The name “Ephraim” means “fruitful,” and this was a very fruitful tribe. Through Jacob, God had promised abundant blessings to Joseph and his sons (Genesis 48; 49:22–26), and that promise was fulfilled. It’s too bad the people didn’t use what God gave them for God’s glory.

The kinds of discipline (Hosea 13:7–16). Once again, Hosea uses a number of similes and metaphors to describe the trials that God was sending on His disobedient people. Like a ferocious beast, He would suddenly attack them (see also Hosea 5:14), a reference to the invasion of the Assyrian army. The rulers of Israel would be weak, temporary, and ineffective (see also Hosea 8:4). Now the time had come for the nation to have no king (Hosea 3:4), a situation that would last for centuries.

The woman in travail is used often in Scripture to picture extreme pain and sorrow (see also Isaiah 13:8; Jeremiah 4:31; Matthew 24:8), but Hosea adds a new twist. He sees the woman too weak to deliver the child and the baby too stupid to come out of the womb! All the travail was wasted.

The invasion of the Assyrians will be like a hot, dry wind from the desert that will smother the people and dry up the watercourses. All the nation’s treasures will be plundered, and their greatest treasure, their children, will be slain mercilessly. Why? Because the nation would not return to God.

Paul quotes Hosea 13:14 in 1 Corinthians 15:55 to emphasize the victory of Jesus Christ over death and the grave because of His resurrection, but Hosea’s words in this context may have a different meaning.

When New Testament writers quoted Old Testament statements, the Holy Spirit directing them had every right to adapt those passages as He wished, since the Spirit is the author of Scripture. Surely God sees much more in His Word than we do! For example, Hosea 11:1 refers to Israel’s Exodus from Egypt, but Matthew used it to point to Christ’s coming out of Egypt when a child (Matthew 2:11–15).

The next statement, “I will have no compassion,” as the NIV states it, supports our interpretation that Hosea 13:14 refers to judgment and not victory over the enemy. This doesn’t suggest that God no longer loved His people, because God’s love for His people is the major theme of this book. But the time had come for God to discipline the nation, for they had rejected every other manifestation of His love. “For I will not take pity on them!” is the way the New Living Translation (NLT) states it.

God revealed His love to Israel in His past mercies and now in His present disciplines. Hosea closes his book with a third evidence of God’s love.

To Be Continued

Adapted and modified excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Amazed, “Be” Commentary Series.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Where noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Where noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation®, NLT © 2015 by Tyndale House.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.