Hosea 14:1–8
14 14:1Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God,
for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
2 14:2Take with you words
and return to the LORD;
say to him,
“Take away all iniquity;
accept what is good,
and we will pay with bulls
the vows1 of our lips.
3 14:3Assyria shall not save us;
we will not ride on horses;
and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
to the work of our hands.
In you the orphan finds mercy.”
4 14:4I will heal their apostasy;
I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
5 14:5I will be like the dew to Israel;
he shall blossom like the lily;
he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon;
6 14:6his shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be like the olive,
and his fragrance like Lebanon.
7 14:7They shall return and dwell beneath my2 shadow;
they shall flourish like the grain;
they shall blossom like the vine;
their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 14:8O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.3
I am like an evergreen cypress;
from me comes your fruit.
Section Overview
The previous section of Hosea spoke of Sheol and Death. There God was likened to an animal in blind fury, rending and tearing. With such an animal there is no appeal, no reasoning. The last word in chapter 13 was that Israel would surely fall, and the fall would be brutal. Every citizen would suffer. The nation would be torn to pieces. Such a judgment of hopelessness is how the chapter concluded.
But the last words of Hosea 13 are not the last words of the book! Once again in Hosea the mood suddenly shifts to its opposite extreme. We must treat chapter 13 as conditional—the events described there will happen if the people do not turn. Hosea in 14:1–3 interprets the Lord’s previous prophecies as a warning that is yet avoidable. He appeals one last time for the people to heed and turn. Hosea specifically encourages the people to realize that “Assyria will not save us.”
Of course, historically, the judgment did certainly fall. The nation was horrifically dismembered. But in the time between God’s threat and its fulfillment, Israel had a brief opportunity to be saved. It seems that a few faithful Israelites did heed the message and fled, carrying the scroll of Hosea south with them (cf. Introduction: Setting and Audience).
Giving the impression that his emotions have changed, Yahweh now speaks with tenderness of his good intentions toward his people (14:4–8). He will heal and love them. He will bless them so that they will sprout and grow, take deep root, flourish, and blossom. This is a certain promise to those who turn back to him with repentant hearts and lives.
Section Outline
Response
These verses are filled with hope. They describe the good news that the Lord receives those who turn to him, and he does so in the most amazing of ways. He heals them of their sin; he turns from the anger of judgment to the love of forgiveness; he is like refreshing dew to those who have been suffering in the wilderness of sin. And those who receive such love and forgiveness cannot help but prosper, blossoming like flowers, placing deep roots like well-established, strong trees, flourishing and being fruitful as they rest under the protective shadow of the Lord, the one who sustains them.
This happens today as people turn to the Lord by following his Son, Jesus, through whom ultimate healing and forgiveness of sin takes place. This is possible only because “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isa. 53:5). His sacrifice is the one that can “take away all iniquity” (Hos. 14:2), if only we heed his call to come and follow him.
And that is the question: will we heed this call? Hosea called the people of his day to turn back to the Lord before it was too late; he urged them to receive the Lord’s forgiveness and love instead of his justice for their wrongs; he desired them to flourish under the Lord’s love and care, for this is what they had been created for. In the NT, Peter gives a similar call when he urges people to turn to faith in Jesus: “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19–20a). Yes, God will take in and heal all who come to Jesus, but the opportunity is now. Why would we wait?