Hi everyone, in reading Hosea, especially chapter 6, I was amazed at how loving and faithful God is and just how great the depth of His mercy is - even to those who have been so unfaithful to him!
Throughout the book of Hosea there is verse after verse speaking of how the people of Israel have taken the good gifts that God has given them and have used those gifts to turn away from Him and worship other gods. Their repeated unfaithfulness and injustice is highlighted again and again. So, when I got to these verses, they stuck out, because it is such a beautiful prayer to the Lord!
6 “Come, let us return to the Lord;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
3 Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth.”
Yet, as becomes quickly apparent, this was not a sincere prayer. God’s immediate response was to cry out over the fickleness of their love.
4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes early away.
5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
I have slain them by the words of my mouth,
and my judgment goes forth as the light.
6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Though in verse 3 the people’s prayer seems to encourage the knowledge of God, God’s response points out again, as he has throughout Hosea (Hos 4:1, 6; 5:4), that the people do not know Him. Instead of returning to Him, they were really just seeking to avoid the consequences of their sin:
14 They do not cry to me from the heart,
but they wail upon their beds;
for grain and wine they gash themselves;
they rebel against me.
15 Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
yet they devise evil against me.
16 They return, but not upward;
they are like a treacherous bow;
their princes shall fall by the sword
because of the insolence of their tongue.
This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
They merely wanted the grain and the wine - the very gifts that they took and offered to Ba’al! This made me think of all the times that I’ve cried out to the Lord, not in true repentance turning to him, but, like the Israelites here, simply seeking to avoid consequences, pain, or because I desire His gifts more than Him.
Yet, as Paul says in Phil 3:8, everything is as loss compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus! God is so much greater than any gift He may give! His steadfast love and faithfulness is beyond all measure! So much so, that even this insincere prayer of Hosea 6:1-3, He has answered in Christ!
For, though it is true that the healing, raising, and binding of verses 1 and 2 in the original context of Hosea are speaking of the restoration of the nation of Israel, it is also true that, as Duane Garrett states in his commentary Hosea, Joel in the New American Commentary series (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997, pg 158), “1 Cor 15:4 asserts that Christ arose on the third day ‘in accordance with the Scriptures,’ and no other text speaks of the third day in the fashion that Hos 6:2 does.” Moreover, Matthew too, in Matthew 2:15, sees Jesus as fulfilling the role of Israel in Hosea. Jesus as the greater Israel is a common pattern elsewhere in scripture as well, such as in Luke 4, during Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, where His wandering in the desert mirrors that of Israel as described in Deuteronomy. Yet, all of the tests that Israel failed, Jesus endures while showing perfect faithfulness. So, though these verses are a prayer for the restoration of Israel, God answers this prayer through the healing and raising of Christ Jesus, the greater Israel, who Himself brings restoration not only to Israel but to all who turn to Him.
For myself then, I want to live out Hosea 6:3 in all faithfulness and sincerity, pressing on to know the Lord. I know He is greater than anything else in creation! So, when my heart desires His gifts more than Him, I want to think on this verse and on His goodness - journaling the ways he has worked in my life, thanking Him in gratitude, and trusting Him that He is greater than anything else I may desire.
How have you struggled to turn to the Lord in sincerity rather than in pretense?
What helps you to remember and trust in the goodness of God over and above other desires in your life?
How have you seen God respond with grace and steadfast love, even in times where you have struggled to be faithful?
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