Scripture Text : Hosea 2:14-23
I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD.
Hosea 2:20
Victor Hugo’s novel Les Misérables is a portrait of grace, forgiveness, and redemption, illustrated by the story of Fantine. She lives and dies in squalor as her daughter, Cosette, is raised by strangers. Cosette is ultimately saved by compassion, courage, and sacrifice that turn the illegitimate daughter of a prostitute into a beautifully happy bride.
Hosea prophesied that Israel was destined for a similar transformation from harlotry to glory, from devastation to peace. The prophecy in today’s passage is a poetic blend of comparisons and contrasts.
Hosea’s prediction for Israel’s future greatly resembled Israel’s past. God promised to call Israel into the wilderness and then present her with lush vineyards, just as He had done when Israel left Egypt and migrated to the doorstep of Canaan’s extravagant natural resources (cf. Exodus 3:17, 13:5). The main difference would be that faithfulness would no longer be one-sided in the relationship between God and Israel. The list of characteristics in verses 19 and 20 create a new image of a loving marriage, nothing like the grumbling inconsistency of Israel’s history. Indeed, all creation would be included in the redemption from chaos and unrest to harmony and love (vv. 18, 21, 22).
Hosea used poetic word plays to describe this restoration of love. The valley of Achor was the “valley of trouble” where Achan’s selfishness brought dishonor and judgment (cf. Joshua 7:26), but Hosea called it “a door of hope” (v. 15). The word translated “master” in verse 16 was actually the Hebrew word, baal. This differentiated God’s love from that of His pagan counterpart—the relationship between God and His people would be more like husband to bride than master to slave.
Finally, Hosea used the names of all three of his children to illustrate how God’s merciful love would restore His people to a love unlike anything they had ever experienced or deserved. Israel would sincerely recognize God as their One and only Lord.
Reflect
1. Does God’s grace and mercy drive us to be greatly grateful to our God?
2. Do we see God’s love through the open invitations of repentance of sins towards Him and leading us back to Him?
3. Do we recognize our need of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only way to God?
4. Do we fall into the trap of rushing to judge others, forgetting the Lord’s justice and abounding love to us in Christ Jesus?
Remember
Even though Hosea is primarily a book about judgment against Israel, it is also the message of God’s abundant love. We will discover Israel’s redemption, and that God is and always has been a God of extreme compassion and mercy. The accounts of God’s wrath follow warning upon warning, with innumerable chances for repentance.
This abundant love, compassion, mercy and redemption of God is only through His only Son, Jesus Christ.
As sinners, we should remember our Lord’s justice and abounding mercy before we rush to proclaim self-righteous judgment upon others.
Read
Deuteronomy 26:17-19; Romans 3:25–26; Romans 5:10-11
Pray
Dear God, thank You for Your Son, Jesus Christ, in whom I am loved, an object of Your compassion and mercy, and a recipient of Your redemption. Thank You for the call of repentance and leading and making me understand that I am a sinner and I that need Your forgiveness I can have only through Jesus. In my Lord Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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