Reading through the Bible in One Year: Mark 9-10

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters,

The Website is still down, so this will be sent when it comes back up.  Hosea is wrapping up his prophecy as he finishes the book.  This is an interesting chapter because it looks beyond the immediate fulfillment and focuses upon the future of Israel.

Hosea 14:1-3

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,

For you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

2Take words with you and return to the Lord.

Say to Him, "Take away all iniquity,

And receive us graciously,

That we may present the fruit of our lips.

3"Assyria will not save us,

We will not ride on horses;

Nor will we say again, 'Our god,'

To the work of our hands;

For in Thee the orphan finds mercy."

In verse 1 they are encouraged to return to the Lord and to turn away from the sin that Hosea has spoken about through his book.  Hosea points out a future realization that will come to them, first that only the Lord can take away their sin.  And only the Lord can extend grace to them, forgiving them in spite of the way they had turned away from Him.  The fruit of their lips speaks of speaking to the Lord with their mouths, the actual use of the tongue to declare that they are His people.  This is contrasted with their use of their  mouths to kiss the calves back in 13:2.  In the previous chapters Hosea spoke about how that they had called to Assyria and Egypt for help, Hosea 7:11, then they called to the Lord so that He would give them kings instead of going directly to the Lord, 8:4-5.  Hosea predicts that they will abandon looking for go-between's and take their case directly to God. 

Hosea predicts the time when the people will truly return to the Lord, treating Him as a personal God of their lives.  They will realize that without Him they are like orphans, and that the work of their hands cannot produce a god.   

This set of verses speaks of what the people are going to do.  It speaks of how the attitudes of the Jews are going to change toward God.  They go from being rebellious and seeking their own way to sincerely following the Lord.

Hosea 14:4-7

I will heal their apostasy,

I will love them freely,

For My anger has turned away from them.

5I will be like the dew to Israel;

He will blossom like the lily,

And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.

6His shoots will sprout,

And his beauty will be like the olive tree,

And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.

7Those who live in his shadow

Will again raise grain,

And they will blossom like the vine.

His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

Look at what the Lord will do.  The simple realization of His people back in verses 1-3 are matched and exceeded by the Lord.  Israel is viewed as a world power once again.  This set of verses predicts that they will be powerful, drawing other nations under their wings, and that they will be prosperous.  This was a long term prophecy looking forward to the day when Christ rebuilds the Jews.  It is a prophecy that we can watch come to pass as the nation of Israel is growing and prospering. 

This is an example of  how that God is standing and waiting for us to make a decision.  Once we make our decision to follow Him, He picks up the ball and takes over.  As long as Israel followed their own leading He allowed them to flop around, fail and make mistakes.  But once they turn to Him, all that changes, He takes over and builds them up. 

Looking at verse 7 makes an interesting statement, those who live in the shadow of Israel will prosper as well.  This could be speaking of other nations supporting the nation of Israel and being blessed by the association.  It could also be speaking of Gentiles who come under the religious belief of Israel and are blessed by their God.  Face it, Christianity is based Judaism, we are under the shadow of the Jews and are spiritual Jews.  Our blessings come from a Jewish God, through Him, we have life.

Hosea 14:8-9

O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols?

It is I who answer and look after you.

I am like a luxuriant cypress;

From Me comes your fruit.

9Whoever 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 transgressors will stumble in them.

The essence of the book is summed up in these two verses.  God has nothing to do with idols, and He is the one who looks after Israel.  One thing to keep in mind with these verses, the Jews were God's people to start with, they walked away from Him and incurred His wrath as a result of their sin.  When the consideration between the righteous and unrighteous, it was a matter of those who God had chosen who were either walking with Him or not. 

Verse 9 is interesting, those who are discerning will follow the Lord.  Yet those who are not discerning will use the same information that the righteous have and trip over it.  Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, we know that.  Yet He is spoken of as a stumbling block for the nations.  The reason behind that is behind this verse, if people don't understand who Jesus is, and come to know Him on a personal basis, then they will stumble over Him.   

In a way it is a mystery, it's really difficult to understand how that the Gospel can bring people to Christ and others it drives away.  The truth is the truth, sin is sin, and God is God.  There are huge arguments over this ranging from people claiming that God pre-selected the Christians and only reaches out to the ones He called, to the doctrine that the entire world has been saved.  I believe that God calls, and those who are willing to respond to Him will be saved.  Those who refuse to acknowledge God will not be saved.  There are huge dissagreements over how this works, and one day when we get to heaven, we'll ask God who was right, (funny, it won't matter to us at that time).  It's just like the Jews in the book of Hosea, as long as they want to follow their own ways, God allows them to go.  Yet once they turn to Him, things change, God takes over and gives them life, righteousness and blessings.  The difference between the world and Christianity is in a simple decision.  There is one difference between Christianity and the Jews in the Book of Hosea, they were His people from the start.  The Jews were God's people who walked away from God.  We as Gentile Christians belonged to the devil before we accepted Jesus as Savior. 

It wasn't long after this book was written that Assyria came to pound the Jews unmercifully, fulfilling the prophecies in this book.  Shortly after that, they went into the Babylonian captivity, was delivered by the Persians.  Today, Israel has been formed into a nation again, after thousands of years.  The final prophecy in this book where Israel returns to the Lord may be fulfilled in our lifetimes, or our children's.  It won't be long.

Father, as we consider Your word, open our eyes so that we can understand and apply it to our lives.

In Him,

Joe Turner.