Finally, the last chapter of Hosea is as I had hoped it would be–a chapter devoted to repentance, restoration and God’s love for Israel.
In the first line of Hosea 14, Hosea urges Israel to return to God.
Isn’t that all any of us can do with the people we know and love? Or even with ourselves?
You can’t force anyone to trust in the Lord. I find I can only suggest and witness as best as I can.
Besides, I can be just as wayward as any Gomer in town with my periodical backsliding.
Apparently, in chapter 14, God works through His anger and calls off the lion, leopard, and bear–at least for those Israelites who repent.
Hosea 14:4-5 I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, Because My anger has turned away from them. 5 I will be like the dew to Israel; He will blossom like the lily, And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
I’m not sure exactly how verse 4 is supposed to work–does God heal backsliding Israelites (and therefore ME), because He loves them (me) freely or does He heal because Israel (me) is repenting?
Hosea uses almost legal language here. He says God WILL heal their apostasy–and there aren’t any conditions stated.
Charles Spurgeon comments on verse 4 in Grace Abounding:
“This sentence is a body of divinity in miniature. He who understands its meaning is a theologian, and he who can dive into its fullness is a true Master in divinity. "I will love them freely," is a condensation of the glorious message of salvation which was delivered to us in Christ Jesus our Redeemer. The sense hinges upon the word "freely." "I will love them freely." Here is the glorious, the suitable, the divine way by which love streams from heaven to earth. It is, indeed, the only way in which God can love such as we are. It may be that he can love angels because of their goodness; but he could not love us for that reason; the only manner in which love can come from God to fallen creatures is expressed in the word "freely." Here we have spontaneous love flowing forth to those who neither deserved it, purchased it, nor sought after it.”
So God calls off the lions, leopards and bears–I guess for the same reason we have more compassion for people who suffer a disease and cause problems, (like alcoholics and depressives) than we do for people who just do bad stuff because they are morally deficient.
Our disease, then, is sin.
Which makes God, at least in Hosea 14, the Great Physician–rather than the Great Butcher of the Heathen (from the previous 13 chapters).
God then, rather than the previous purveyor of doom and destruction, becomes the healer–the dew on the grass of parched and sinful souls allowing Israel (me) to blossom, again, like the lily, and able to take root in righteousness like the cedars of Lebanon.
Robin Rutledge writes in Hosea:
“God is likened to the dew that watered the land during the dry summer. Because the dew evaporated in the heat of the day, it is also used to describe both Israel’s fickleness and its transience. Here, though, God’s blessing brings the spiritual and physical refreshment that will enable renewal and restoration. The result is that Israel will blossom like the lily. This may refer to the nation’s future glory. However, unlike flowers and in sharp contrast to the withered roots, Israel’s roots will become like the trees of Lebanon, ensuring stability and permanence.”
I also note that there is a sense here that only God’s healing can bring about the spiritual change that will enable Israel (me) to return.
My responsibility here is to give myself to God willingly, spontaneously, and generously.
(Which obviously, I don’t do as much as I should–which is precisely why I need God’s healing in the first place).
All of this, like Hosea sitting with Gomer and working through her infidelity and his anger, is intensely personal.
There’s no easy way to come through our sinfulness unscathed. Nowhere in Hosea does God promise Israel (me) that they won’t face JUDGMENT.
Oh, they will face judgment, just like I have, but even when Israel is destroyed and razed to the ground; Israel will be restored.
That is the final promise of Hosea in verse 9:
Hosea 14:9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; Whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, And the righteous will walk in them, But wrongdoers will stumble in them.
It’s not like Hosea hasn’t given Israel (me) fair warning (14 chapters worth) and a blueprint for how to surmount unfaithfulness and sin.
I have to know I’m a backslider and I have to avail myself of God’s freely given grace.
Lord, we come before You with humble hearts, seeking Your forgiveness for our wandering ways and backsliding.
Lord, renew us like the morning dew and help us to flourish like the blossoming lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon (which can live for CENTURIES). May Your grace, given freely, transform our hearts.
Amen.
PS. I received in the mail the other day my copy of Catholic Miscellany (the magazine of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston) and there was an article about capital punishment and I realized how far apart I am from what this author was claiming about justice. I don’t know if I should traipse into this area because I might have my hardened attitudes challenged, but nevertheless, I should at least explore some of the Scripture that refers to capital punishment and reconsider my feelings about putting other people to death.
Some days I want to put everyone down; other days I want to buy everyone breakfast and just sit and talk.
Who knows?
But as always, onward!