Wrath, Repentance and Restoration

The last couple of weeks in Hosea we have seen a growing list of complaints against the people. The people have gone astray and participated in cultic worship practices. They have been led astray both by their priests and their leadership. They worship these false gods and goddesses while declaring that they are true followers of Yahweh as well. We have seen how the marriage between faithful Hosea and his unfaithful wife, Gomer, is a window into the marriage between faithful God and unfaithful Israel. Thus far, though, these complaints have been building up on top of one another. Our text tonight represents the climax of these complaints and shows us the coming wrath of God, an invitation of restoration and a promise of coming restoration.

There are several expressions of hope in this text as well, a welcome sight for sore eyes as we have made our way through the barren wilderness of Hosea 4-5. We will see that the main point of this message is that God does not delight in partial obedience or partial fulfillment to His covenant. He instead delights in loyalty and worship from the heart. Just as that was the case in Hosea’s day, that is the case today. The Father desires genuine worship from within. Let’s read this text.

Hosea 5:8–7:1a NASB95

8 Blow the horn in Gibeah, The trumpet in Ramah. Sound an alarm at Beth-aven: “Behind you, Benjamin!” 9 Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke; Among the tribes of Israel I declare what is sure. 10 The princes of Judah have become like those who move a boundary; On them I will pour out My wrath like water. 11 Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, Because he was determined to follow man’s command. 12 Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim And like rottenness to the house of Judah. 13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, And Judah his wound, Then Ephraim went to Assyria And sent to King Jareb. But he is unable to heal you, Or to cure you of your wound. 14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away, I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver. 15 I will go away and return to My place Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me. 1 “Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. 2 “He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him. 3 “So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth.” 4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early. 5 Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. 6 For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. 7 But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant; There they have dealt treacherously against Me. 8 Gilead is a city of wrongdoers, Tracked with bloody footprints. 9 And as raiders wait for a man, So a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem; Surely they have committed crime. 10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; Ephraim’s harlotry is there, Israel has defiled itself. 11 Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, When I restore the fortunes of My people. 1 When I would heal Israel, The iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, And the evil deeds of Samaria, For they deal falsely; The thief enters in, Bandits raid outside,

Wrath (5:8-15)

The very opening verse of this text notes the urgency of the message. The “trumpet” had many uses, but it appears as though the use in Hosea 5 is to serve as a military signal. In the ancient world, radios did not exist. Social media did not exist. Fox News did not exist. The way that nations would prepare for a coming attacker would be by lighting a fire atop a hill or by sounding a ram’s horn or a trumpet. This opening verse shows that the people of Israel are being invaded. The enemy is portrayed as advancing in and the 3 cities mentioned are likely not the only ones at risk. Hosea’s opening verse serves as a declaration of the wrath of God by using a foreign power to bring about his divine wrath (as Deuteronomy 28 shows us and as we are familiar with both Assyria and Babylon).

God’s wrath will be poured out on these people and they are assured of the fact that they will be rebuked. Verse 10 notes that the princes of Judah have become like those who move a boundary. During this era boundaries were typically marked by natural geographical features, however that was not always possible in the desert or wilderness. Because of this, there were boundary stones that would sometimes be placed to mark the distinction between nations. If someone, such as a prince, moved the boundary stones between themselves and a neighboring country then that would be a very cowardly way of stealing land from the enemy, wouldn’t it? Instead of talking to the enemy or going to war you simply move the boundary stones and act as though nothing has changed and that you own this new land. This is deceitful and God declares that this is how the leadership have been. They have corrupted the people and have been deceitful. Furthermore, among the tribes of Israel, it was well known that God had set apart sections of the land for each tribe. Because of this, moving the boundary stones is encroaching on the land of another tribe which would be going against something set by God.

The result of this action is that God will pour out His wrath like water. Both Israel and Judah will face the wrath of God. This is an interesting way for wrath to be poured out. Whenever we think of the coming judgment or wrath of God, we are quick to think of fire and earthquakes but not water. When have we seen water serve as a tool to bring about the wrath of God, though? Several times! The great flood and the crossing of the Red Sea come to mind quickly. There is no escaping His wrath just as there is no escaping a flood.

V. 11-15 show how God is going to bring His judgment upon the people. Ephraim is oppressed and crushed in judgment - this means that they had already experienced the covenantal curses of Deuteronomy 28. This leads to a helpless situation. The people were being oppressed by others and they were being judged by God. God is said to have been a moth or pus to Israel and an infection to the house of Judah. The misery and oppression that the people will feel is God’s doing. This was not a random infection or misfortunate event. This is something inflected by God. Think of the plagues, God is not this nice, welcoming gentleman who only does “good” things to people. His wrath is terrifying! Think of a nasty infection in our day and age, you feel weak and you simply want to get better. Now imagine that God is the one who has made you sick to punish you for your covenantal violations. What would your response look like? Verses 13-15 give us one possible answer.

This sick nation has illness, wounds, sores and verse 13 shows that they looked to foreign powers for a cure. Many people do that same thing in our world today. We know, as Christians, that God causes all things to work together for our good (even sickness and failure), yet whenever we are sick or whenever things don’t go our way we are quick to look to others instead of looking to Him. We don’t like to see God as the bringer of “bad” things, but we know that whenever whenever something bad happens, He is working it for our good. This means that we are to seek Him in the storm, repent of our wrongdoings and follow Him.

Our Lord is like a lion to Israel and a young lion to the house of Judah. He is the real foe. Some people might have survived the sickness, but verse 14 shows that this lion will tear to pieces and there will be no one able to deliver the people. The people have continued to turn to false gods for safety, but they must understand why they are suffering and who is bringing this judgment. It is from God. This must be acknowledged so that the people will repent and turn to Him and Him alone! This type of covenantal curse comes from Deuteronomy 32:24. It shows that there is a coming judgment that will be far worse than anything experienced yet. Even though the people are surrounded by enemies, it is God who is the source of danger. We see “I” a lot in this verse. There are 3 promises in this verse. Destruction, withdrawal (carry away) and inescapable capture. The people had been experiencing a steady decline, but there would come a point in time in which the final judgment would hit them like a lion.

Yahweh closes this section by declaring that he will turn back and go to his place or his lair if you want to continue the lion metaphor. After Israel has been judged, He will await their response. He will go away until they acknowledge their guilt and seek His face. Sometimes punishment is necessary in order for people to truly seek God. In this passage, it will be the children of Israel who will return to God - not the people of Hosea’s day. Killing off a generation of Israel is the means of offering salvation to the Israelites. Do you remember the punishment for the generation who refused to enter into the promised land? They were forced to wander through the wilderness for 40 years! Many people passed away as a result of their disobedience. Many people passed away in the exile due to their continued disobedience. Unfortunately, many people pass away today and stand guilty before the Lord. At that point in time, it is too late. The hope for us and for the future generations of Israel in Hosea’s day is that God promises restoration to those who return to Him, acknowledge their guilt and seek His face.

Genuine Repentance…? (6:1-10)

The natural response to the end of Hosea 5 would be repentance, would it not? God promises to restore the people if they turn back to Him. The knee-jerk reaction would be to simply return to the Lord and offer an apology of sorts. That is exactly what we find in the first 3 verses of Hosea 6. The people come forward and respond to God’s rebuke. They say that they should return to the Lord. Some scholars speculate that these 3 verses act as a song of sorts that Hosea composed as he included himself with all of Israel and declared “Let us return to the Lord.” This is the first and only time in this entire text where it is not God speaking through Hosea. Verse 1 shows that there will be a reversal of sorts that takes place: God will heal what He has torn. He will bandage the injuries of Israel. He will restore life to these people in verse 2.

The first 2 promises are banked on covenantal promises. Hosea knows that there will always be a remnant of God’s chosen people. Even when bad things happen and when suffering and chaos abound, there will be a remnant. Israel does not control God. He will heal them up, but it might be much later and for a future generation than Hosea’s.

Verse 2 shows that the Lord will revive the people after 2 days and raise them on the 3rd. It is impossible for us, as Christians, to read this text and not wonder if it acts as a foreshadowing of Christ’s resurrection on the 3rd day. 1 Corinthians 15:4 states that Christ arose on the 3rd day in accordance with the Scriptures. No other text speaks of the 3rd day in the fashion that Hosea 6:2 does. So, even in this text of Wrath and Repentance, there is an emphasis on the resurrection. This is why knowing your Old Testament matters! It paints a more full picture of the New Testament.

These verses show the restoration of Israel which will come in the future. There will be “2 days of death” which likely represents a short captivity, but the promise is that they will be restored. With Christ, He was literally dead for these 2 days and was literally raised back from the dead on the 3rd day. The great news from the New Testament is that those of us who are in Christ Jesus will be raised from the dead as well as 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 show us.

Verse 4 shows us God asking a simple question. What shall He do with these disobedient people? This is a question that parents ask whenever they have a child who disobeys, is it not? What shall we do with our child? This question reflects the hopelessness of the people. Every judgment and action God has used to this point has failed to get the people to repent. The people have been successful, yet they eventually ignored God. They experienced stress and they turned to others for help. Whenever God promised them hope or coming judgment, the people continued to do things their own way! Verse 4 shows us that God will bring destruction their way in the form of the Assyrians.

The people’s loyalty is compared to a morning cloud. This is similar to James talking about how life is but a vapor. It is here one moment and gone the next. That is similar to the loyalty of the Israelites to God. They are loyal one moment but the next they disappear and go their own path. They are disloyal time after time. Because of this, something else must be done. Have you ever found yourself in this situation? You’re following God’s plan, but you fall off somewhere along the way and find it extremely difficult to get back on that path? This is the story of Israel, except x100 and the fact that the people have rejected God’s prophets time and time again. Because of their continued disobedience, God must judge them and do so severely.

Verse 6 shows that God delights in loyalty rather than sacrifice. Israel’s covenant with God was different than other religions. Most religions show that if you obey then god will bless you and do their part. Judaism is different though because He instilled stipulations and covenantal requirements. What this turned into, unfortunately, was a people who simply went through the motions. They did these sacrifices and rituals because they were “supposed” to do so rather than genuinely desiring to worship God. All along, though, God simply wanted inner obedience and loyalty rather than sacrifices and burnt offerings. Church, today God does not desire millions of people to attend churches around the world on Sunday morning and be completely deaf to serving Him at work on Monday morning. He’s disinterested and disgusted by that. He desires and wants our loyalty and obedience.

Verses 7-10 of chapter 6 show that the people have transgressed the covenant just as Adam did. The people of Israel betrayed Yahweh and negated the covenant. They were guilty of treason! We don’t like to think of this idea, but it’s the same thing that Paul talks about in Romans 5-8. Through the sin of one man (Adam), sin spread to all of mankind. We are all guilty of treason before a holy God.

The coming locations in this section point to some accusations and wrongdoings in these places. The people had done so much wrong. The people and the priests had turned their back on Him. They were guilty of harlotry and this is a horrible thing before a holy God.

Yet, God is not done with them...

Promise of Restoration (6:11-7:1)

The end of chapter 6 and the start of chapter 7 gives us a promise of restoration. Hosea’s message follows the covenantal sanctions with predictions of restoration after punishment. The exile and judgment will not be avoided, it must come, but there is a promise that it will not last forever. God is not done with them. There is a coming harvest where God will restore His people. Not only will Judah be healed and restored, but Israel will be as well! The sins of the people will disappear. They will be forgiven and healed. This future restoration is central to Hosea. Yahweh had purified Israel during the 40 years in the wilderness as Numbers 14 shows us, and Hosea seems to make the point that Yahweh will eventually purify Israel as well through destruction and exile. Only then will the remnant conform to the covenant and reap the blessings of restoration.

Sometimes, in order to be obedient to God’s plan, it requires us to go through a period of suffering and exile. We don’t like to think of that part, but we see it throughout Scripture. We see it in Numbers, we see it in Job, we see it here in Hosea and in many of the prophets. Exile is not God leaving His people, it is God punishing His people for their own good. What comes out of exile? Restoration. Whenever we go through a difficult period in life, we must understand that God causes all things to work for our good. This means that we must see that something good can and does come from our circumstances. Repent of our wrongdoings, seek Him and be restored. This doesn’t mean that the exile or the suffering will be shortened, but it does mean that we can have comfort in the midst of it because we know that our God is with us and He is for us. We can survive the worst that life throws at us because our God has already defeated sin and death.

Conclusion

Just as partial obedience is actually disobedience, Israel’s partial fulfillment of the covenant was in fact no fulfillment at all. The people treated the covenant like dirt and they were disloyal to God. Because of this, God rejected Israel and punished them accordingly. He would no longer protect them and He would withdraw from them. Even though the people messed up routinely, God promises them future blessing and restoration. They would seek His face and have their sickness healed.

The promise for us today is that we can call upon God whenever we want through the person and work of Jesus Christ. We have the hope of victory because of Christ’s victory. While we still disobey and fall short, we have the assurance of forgiveness because of the cross. Because of this, we should be quick to offer forgiveness and restoration to others because we have been forgiven and restored by our Father.

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